Why we love the 'Peaky Blinders' style so much
The fifth season of Peaky Blinders lands on Netflix with a flock of fans eager to discover the misadventures of Thomas Shelby and his minions. series of Steven Knight It has not only captured the attention of its followers for its plot, but for the style worn by this gang of Birmingham mobsters (now in London) early XNUMXth century.
Its pristine tailoring –generally made up of three piece suits–, shirts with interchangeable collars and lace-up boots have transcended the screen to reach the stores. Knight himself joined the tailor shop Garrison Tailors to create the clothes the Peaky boys would wear today. the signature Kent & Curwen, of which David Beckham is a partner, has dedicated a part of its fall / winter 2019 collection to the Shelby gang: in 'By Order of the Peaky Blinders' you can find knee-length coats, neckerchiefs, and ankle-length pants. As if that were not enough, the collection of Margaret Howell it's packed with tuxedo jackets, extra-long coats, and mandarin-collar shirts (just like the detachable-collar ones men wore in the early XNUMXth century). And these are just a few examples, because the opulence of mafia tailoring has been present for a few seasons in most international collections. But, Why do we like the 'Peaky Blinders' style so much?Peaky Blinders
© Courtesy of BBC
The gangster differs from the well-dressed man of the beginning of the last century in small details that are decisive, and the worst (or best) of all is that the catwalks partly recover this spirit to dress it one hundred years later.
The sunset of streetwear and the beginning of the era of elegant men is a reality. Little by little we are abandoning the tracksuit to switch to the suit. Therefore, it can be said that we are at the dawn of a new stage in which the opulence of a good suit will be rewarded in the short term, from a well-cut coat, from excess fabric versus the relaxation of a sweatshirt and jeans. We are the new gangsters when it comes to style. The crisis commands and, before it, elegant dress is worn.
If we quickly look at history, most of the leaders of these mafias came from humble families and ended up amassing large amounts of money. It was the triumph of the lower classes in an economically class society, so there was no better way to demonstrate their (dirty) success than by investing it in pomp and apparatus. Suits with excess fabric (cross-breasted or three-piece), jackets with marked shoulders and large lapels that show that they do not skimp on fabric, and, of course, excessive fabrics: stripes diplomatic, princes of wales, Crow's feet o window paintings.
The protagonists of 'Peaky Blinders' comply point by point with the aesthetics of this bygone era installed in our imagination, but with one caveat: they dress her by british standards, not italian. Thus, his suits are three-piece, with a skinny but wide lapel and tasty tweeds, wool, Prince of Wales and partridge eyes. All this in a color palette that eschews the white, purple or lime eccentricities of the Al Capone era and focuses on the arc that goes from tan to navy blue.
The chesterfield coats (with notched lapel or opulent spearhead) fall to the knee in their darker colours. A classic to which Shelby adds the detail of an astrakhan fur collar, in order to demonstrate his power through his wardrobe, but which are essentially like the ones you wear today or the catwalks walk in their fashion shows as if they were the newest in the world.
The 'Peaky Blinders' style is popular for one simple reason: its aesthetic is very recognizable and in the time line it is in a time when men dressed well out of habit. You had one or two suits, but impeccably cut and tailored. Some suits that established the sartorial ideals with which we commune today. If we add to this that everything is passed through the british sieve, cradle of classic high tailoring stripped of great follies, we have as a result a wardrobe from a bygone era that today has become a basic to always resort to to get it right. His pieces – together and separately – are as valid today as they were in his time.. That's why we like and always will like the 'Peaky Blinders' style.
Source: www.revistagq.com