Nicholas Parsons wants to ‘bring back the cravat’
I have been a fan of Cravats for twenty years, since my Grandfather gave me one of his, which I still have and wear. I have not worn them as frequently as I probably could have done over the majority of those years, but when I came up with the idea of The Perfect Gentleman, I thought that one of the things I would do is start wearing Cravats at least once a week on a Friday, hence #CravatFriday was born and over the course of the last 2 years it has grown thanks to the support of such people as The Cravat Club, a purveyor of a wide and most excellent selection of Cravats. We were a struggling voice in the mass of Men’s Style, that was until last week.
Last week, the Cravat wearing world stood up and took a bow, mainly because the graceful gentleman that is Nicholas Parsons mentioned in the Telegraph that he thought that the ‘open neck shirt look’ is “really rather ugly” and that Cravats were the way to go and he would start a “bring back the cravat” campaign, even if he was on his own.
He and the menswear world soon discovered that he was not on his own and ourselves and various other Cravat aficionados sprung to social media to cheer on Nicholas and then the BBC got involved with a piece on the BBC News website and a piece on Radio 4’s Today programme with the un-dressed neck of Evan Davies quizzing Nicholas and Amber Jane Butchart about this sartorial item. They both defended the cravat after some derision by Evan. Unlike Evan, we do hope that this and other pieces will bring it back into the minds of men.
Just as the bow tie was made ‘cool’ by Matt Smith’s Doctor Who, and gave men another option for neckwear, I believe the Cravat is a choice that men should feel free to wear around their necks and at the very least be made aware of.
Cravats are exceptionally easy to wear as well, there is no complex knots to tie or a worry that you might spill your lunch on them.
#1PG wearing the lovely cravat sent by The Cravat Club
For me it provides a touch of style when you don’t want to wear a tie, it is casual yet smart and can come in a vast variety of colours, styles and patterns. It can also be worn by smart city gentlemen all the way through hipsters and rockers and everyone in between.
Unless I am unable to for style etiquette reasons, I will always wear a cravat on a Friday and sometimes other days as well. I will frequently wear one when out of a weekend evening with Mrs #1PG. My collection has slowly built over the years and I now have some dozen cravats and my collection grows from all round the world. Indeed, the kind people at Cravat Club sent me a cravat this week for our support and I gratefully appreciate it.
Finally, Myself and all the team at the Perfect Gentleman stand shoulder to shoulder with you Nicholas and we join your voice and cry ‘Bring Back the Cravat’. (#bringbackthecravat)
Respectfully yours,
#1PG
