Peacock Males & Perfect Gentlemen.

The Man of Fashion: Peacock Males & Perfect Gentlemen

Colin McDowell

Thames & Hudson 1997

Continuing my love affair with all things written by Colin McDowell, I got a copy of his book on menswear through the ages. As expected, it's glorious. I have learnt many a titbit of information. Did you know that tweed was first named in the 1830s when a Scottish clerk misread the word "tweel", the Scottish form of twill, and put a d instead of an l? Did you know that a codpiece, despite being alarmingly phallic, was actually never intended to be sexual but was in fact, a man's way of establishing his male-alpha dominance? I did not. Endless factoids!

p.s. I've always been a bit obsessed with menswear, I have been checking out this blog for a few days mistermort.typepad.com. It's goooooood and fixes my menswear cravings.