スティーヴン・フライさんのインスタグラム写真 - (スティーヴン・フライInstagram)「A dangle of cravats today. Old hands may remember the purple Tootal one I displayed many weeks ago. I even went so far as to post a picture of myself wearing it. I chatted about the history of the Croat light cavalry soldiers after whom the neckcloth is named, the word croat morphing into cravat. In another post (about @newandlingwood) I mentioned Beau Brummel, that superb arbiter of Regency style, and posted a photo of his statue on Jermyn Street. Brummel was notorious for taking enormous care over the folding and tying of his cravats. Back then there were different styles of knot that took some mastering. They had splendid names: the Mathematical, Le Trône De L’Amour (the throne of love), the Waterfall – that sort of thing. The story goes that a friend called on Brummel one morning for a cup of chocolate and a gossip. He found him in his dressing-chamber facing the mirror and carefully tying a knot. The floor was a sea of dozens and dozens of discarded linen neckcloths. Brummel’s valet caught the visitor’s startled gaze and murmured “Our failures, sir…” I can’t remember if I read that story in the excellent Ian Kelly biography of Brummel or whether perhaps it popped up in the Stewart Granger biopic (Peter Ustinov played the Prince Regent). Whether it’s true or not it reveals the exquisite care the well-dressed Regency dandy would take in the folding and arrangement of his neckcloths. Lest you think of Brummel as some kind of foppish overdressed poltroon, dripping with enamelled snuffboxes, quizzing-glasses and peacock colours, it should be noted that what he brought to style was a severe, but beautiful simplicity. Black and white, the cleanest of lines. Not unlike the purity of the best Regency architecture. He made the mistake of insulting his erstwhile friend, the Regent and died in penurious exile. Can’t tell you much about these cravats, which are unlabelled except for the bright red example (Tie Rack). The dark red spotty one I wore for a GQ cover back in … what year was it? Swipe left for the embarrassing evidence… WTF?」6月18日 13時16分