Cultural Thursday!

Tonight Savoir Faire is off to the Ballet! The Mariinsky ballet is here in Toronto this week presenting Swan Lake. With all the hype over “The Black Swan” movie and also the fact that it has been years since I have seen Swan Lake, it is going to be a nice break from the craziness that is hovering over my desk at work.

Of course there have been many interpretations of the work since its original inception by Tchaikovsky including the serious and the comedic.

One production of which I am itching to see is that of British choreographer Matthew Bourne. Bourne seems to push the envelope with his interpretations of classics, creating incredibly stylish, visual productions that challenge our already pre-conceived ideas. See my post on Bourne’s Dorian Gray.

http://david-toms.blogspot.com/2010/11/whos-pretty-boy-then.html

Bourne's Swan Lake radically reinterprets the original myth. The focus of the ballet is turned away from the Ondine character to the man – the Prince. It is the Prince who struggles against repression and hopes for liberty, and who needs love to make him safe. However, as in the Ondine myth, the sin of betrayal cannot be expiated except in death. Bourne’s scenario is an unofficial interpretation as he does not believe in scenarios for his productions and prefers the audience to interpret the story for themselves. Stylistic inspiration also came from the Alfred Hitchcock film The Birds.

One of the most noticeable changes Bourne has made has been the replacing of the traditional female corps de ballet with a cast of menacing male dancers. We have a preconceived idea of swans as somewhat fragile creatures and this is exemplified in the traditional staging of the ballet. The original ballet also creates a highly romanticized version of conventional heterosexual love. Placing a male in the lead role puts love between men in centre stage. According to Bourne, "The idea of a male swan makes complete sense to me. The strength, the beauty, the enormous wingspan of these creatures suggests to the musculature of a male dancer more readily than a ballerina in her white tutu."

The good thing is, while there have been several radical changes in Bourne’s interpretation, there are central themes that have not been changed. Both are about doomed, forbidden love, and both feature a Prince who wishes to transcend the boundaries of everyday convention through that love.

Bourne has also commented that "I could see an opportunity to create a human story, with the

potential for great dramatic power and range, indulge my satirical and humorous ideas”

Bourne has created an intense psychological drama. His choice of male swans is exactly what Tchaikovsky’s music requires. These are menacing bare chested dancers (and the black leathered version of The Swan at the party) are the perfect medium for the Prince to discover and celebrate his sexuality.

And although the Prince is unashamedly gay, Swan Lake is universal in its appeal and accessible to all persons who know what it means to be misunderstood, confused about sexuality and love, and long for intimacy and relationship.

Trotting the Globe!

As a schoolboy growing up in Australia and going to Boarding School we all had ports in which to carry our belongings in, to and from home for the holidays and also smaller versions to carry our books between classes and back to the dorms. They were also used extensively by schoolchildren until the advent of back packs to carry their books. What is a port you ask? Well basically it is a suitcase, as to why it is called a port I can only guess. I think that it was a small suitcase designated as hand luggage to be carried when disembarking off an Ocean Liner when travelling.


Invariably these small suitcases were made by Globetrotter. Going about its business since 1897 this British company has been quietly creating luggage of distinction, to become one of the best luggage companies in the world! They really do not subscribe to trends or fads, as their reputation has been built on good solid craftsmanship and design.


These are for the man who wants the perfect piece of solid reliable luggage. Carried by the solidly rich and famous from Douglas Fairbanks, Captain Scott, Sir Edmund Hilary to Winston Churchill, they are a travelling staple, having been to the ends of the world and back.

Each case is handmade with just the handles taking 5 days to make in antique Victorian presses. Cases themselves are made out of heavy fibreboard with multiple layers of bonded paper.

Of course over time they have updated some of their designs to move with the times, however the craftsmanship and general overall savoir faire of these cases styas the same. Recent lines for JCrew and Hackett have retained classic British styling and workmanship while remaining classic.

I wonder what has happened to my old Globetrotter port? I have a feeling it is in a barn at home in Australia, hopefully being discovered by an over inquisitive nephew!

Knot a Bowtie!

They say “never trust a man wearing a bow tie” however I am inclined to do just the opposite. Being a wearer of bow ties myself I consider myself to be one of the most trustworthy people I know! Delving into the meaning of this phrase was a little frustrating and I could not come up with a reasonable explanation. The explanations that did come to light I am not going to record on Savoir Faire as I will let my readers investigate for themselves.

As with my previous post on Bowlers, here is a little history on this staple of my wardrobe.
The bow tie originated among Croatian mercenaries during the Prussian wars of the 17th century: the Croat mercenaries used a scarf around the neck to hold together the opening of their shirts. This was soon adopted (under the name cravat, derived from the French for "Croat") by the aristocracy in France and thus flourished in the 18th and 19th centuries.

It is uncertain whether the cravat then evolved into the bow tie and necktie, or whether the cravat gave rise to the bow tie, which in turn led to the necktie.

Now we have all worn a bow tie at some stage in our lives, whether as a child, to our high school formal or to a wedding. I remember the huge dark blue velvet number I wore to my high school formal which seemed to have eclipsed everything in sight.

Public opinion equates the bow tie with formal evenings and weddings. Now however I notice the opposite. Neckties are slowly encroaching into the foothold that bowties held in this area, and bowties are venturing into day to day wear.

After a hiatus of about 30 years I have taken to wearing them again. Inspired by the Lanvin bowties available from H&M last year (of which I finally hunted one down on ebay), I cannot seem to get enough of them now. I am still having trouble tying my own and must confess I do have some ready tied ones; however I am not going to get into the argument of self tied against ready tied.

Warren St John of the New York Times wrote “To its devotees the bow tie suggests iconoclasm of an Old World sort, a fusty adherence to a contrarian point of view. The bow tie hints at intellectualism, real or feigned, and sometimes suggests technical acumen, perhaps because it is so hard to tie. Bow ties are worn by magicians, country doctors, lawyers and professors and by people hoping to look like the above. But perhaps most of all, wearing a bow tie is a way of broadcasting an aggressive lack of concern for what other people think."

Does the wearer perceive himself as the embodiment of intellectuality or eccentric? Or both?
Whatever the reasons for wearing a bowtie these days, the item is experiencing something of a comeback with men, for a variety of reasons. From young hipsters who disdain conventionality to the man about town, they are now available in all shapes and sizes from a variety of retailers.

And to travel with your bow ties? The ultimate accessory from Goyard!

If wearing a bowtie is not ‘your thing’ there is no reason you cannot use them as below and bring a bit of the savoir faire into everyday life.

Gwnewch y pethau bychain mewn bywyd

Tomorrow is Saint David's Day, and Wales and myself will be celebrating!

Without going into a long drawn out history of Saint David, he is the patron Saint of Wales of which there is a shortage of real historical evidence. This is more than made up by the colourful legends that abound about his life and work. What is known is that he was born at Henvynwy in Ceredigion sometime between 462 and 512 and is believed to have died on Tuesday March 1 in 589.

It is tradition in Wales to wear leeks or daffodils on your clothing for Saint David’s day.





According to legend St David advised the Britons on the eve of a battle with the Saxons, to wear leeks in their caps so as to easily distinguish friend from foe. This helped to secure a great victory. It is also a surviving tradition that soldiers in the Welsh regiments eat a raw leek on St David’s Day. The Welsh for leek (the original national emblem) is Cenhinen, while the Welsh for daffodil is Cenhinen Pedr. Probably over the years they became confused until the daffodil was adopted as a second emblem of Wales.

Either will do, so celebrate the day with a little savoir faire and wear a leek (not too sensible) or a daffodil, and in the words of Saint David "Gwnewch y pethau bychain mewn bywyd" or "Do the little things in life."

Let's Go Bowling!

What is more quintessentially English than the Englishman sporting a bowler hat and pinstripe business suit? What would Charlie Chapman or Laurel and Hardy be without their respective bowlers?

The bowler hat (typified by the rounded crown) was devised in 1849 by the London hat makers Thomas and William Bowler to fulfill an order placed by the firm of hatters Lock & Co. of St James's. Lock & Co. had been commissioned by a customer to design a close-fitting, low-crowned hat to protect his gamekeepers' heads from low-hanging branches while on horseback. The keepers had previously worn top hats, which were easily knocked off and damaged. Lock & Co. then commissioned the Bowler brothers to solve the problem. And thus a classic iconic form of headwear was born!

Now significantly recognised as being the uniform of the English businessman, the bowler is much more than that.

The bowler has showed up in more than one unusual setting and has been adopted by the most unlikely people. The bowler, not the cowboy hat or sombrero was the most popular hat in the American West. Cowboys and railroad workers alike preferred the hat because it wouldn't blow off easily in strong wind, or when sticking one's head out the window of a speeding train.

The bowler, called a bombin in Peru and Bolivia, has been worn by Quechua and Aymara women since the 1920s, when it was introduced to Bolivia by British railway workers.

Magritte was significantly enamored with the bowler as it appears in two of his most famous and recognised paintings “The Son of Man” and “Man in a Bowler Hat”.

Helena Rubinstein was known for her signature bowler hats which she wore continuously in later life. The once traditional masculine accessory on Madame’s head was given a more feminine fashion aesthetic, which was immortalized by Liza Minnelli in Cabaret.

On one side the bowler is the representation of the polished self assured businessman and a symbol of the establishment, however in “A Clockwork Orange” it is the establishment’s antithesis. The symbol is turned upside down, where the hat and its wearers symbolise everything the establishment is not. Anarchy and violence.

Men, look very polished and fashion savvy when wearing a bowler as it denotes a sense of self confidence. As we all know placing an article of apparel on ones head is not done unselfconsciously. Whether the wearer is making a statement about his liberation, or being glib or ironic, the fact is that both the union man and the banker all have worn the same hat at some stage or another.