Interview with Ray Frensham

July 9, 2013 by Ville Raivio

‘I was born in 1952, in London, so that makes me 61 now, although when I was young I am sure I never envisaged I would live to be This old!

Products from Pukimo Raivio

Kiton, grey sports jacket, size 50EU
Ralph Lauren, Black Label suit, size 52EU

Occupation…that’s a tough one. I have always wanted to fput in my passport, under “Occupation”: Professional Bohemian, although British Passports don’t have that section anymore. Some call me an eccentric (possibly because I am a member of The Eccentric Club), but I have never considered myself to be an eccentric — just Individualistic.

I am at a time in my life where, having been through so many jobs and roles it becomes (what the Americans call) a Checkerboard CV/Resume; from investment banking to starting up and running a record label and song publishing company, from Risk Management of media projects and working with Lloyds Underwriters to writing and record producing; from Foreign Exchange dealing to TV production and presenting; radio producing and presenting; from menswear retail to lecturing; from song writing to…I struggle to find a “theme” here, but — if there is one — it’s work where creativity meets business.

But I must admit I do rather like it when people say “well, we’re not quite sure exactly What Ray does”. Perhaps I like the idea of being an International man of mystery, or perhaps I just haven’t decided yet. Perhaps it’s too late anyway.

I always did have one ambition: to be paid lots and lots of money to simply turn up and “be”. My current ambition is to perfect the art of doing absolutely nothing.

I suppose my present position finds me somewhere between: Author (best-selling since 1996!), script doctor, men’s accessories designer and consultant, and with the occasional bit of film extras/background artist work thrown in when it’s interesting. I suppose the word “freelancer” was tailor-made for me.

Just put my name into Amazon or Break Into Screenwriting and Teach Yourself Screenwriting and see what you get.

At the moment I am waiting on/working on a couple of projects:

1. Waiting for Rose Callahan’s and Natty Adams’ book to be published in September (across Europe) and October (in North America). It’s not the first time I have been featured in a book — it’s interesting that, in recent years, rather than write about things or people, I am the one being written about.

2. I am also collaborating with a French silk maker on a series of Bespoke Bow Ties, probably no more than about three ties per swatch; that should launch about September too.

3. Oh, and a writer I know wants to feature me as a main character in his next novel. Let’s see how I survive that one. I am expecting an avalanche of pure filth and depravity as I have scant reputation to protect anyway.

After that, who knows what may come along. I’ve been talking with an American College about a possible visiting Lectureship (in screenwriting), that would be very nice if I could spend winter semesters in the sun!

At least I have reached a point in my life where any “work” I do, I can do because I Want to do it and not because I Have to do it. It’s a good place to be, but it’s taken a long road to get here. So if something comes along that interests me, I’m on board (for example, I was recently asked to write the sleeve notes for the first CD from the Alex Mendham Orchestra — a band of renegades whom I thoroughly support).

For hobbies:

1. Music has been a passion since birth — I had my first wind-up gramophone when I was about two and a half — and I used to choose the 78s because I liked the colour of the labels and not because I could read them or anything…consequently I have such a broad taste in music, it’s indefinable.

2. I’ve always had a passionate (and historical) interest in movies and TV — something that I managed to make a living out of.

3. People. People are endlessly fascinating. That’s why I love people-watching, preferably done over a cup of cappuccino in the moderate sunshine (ideal location: Harvard Square, Boston USA).

An interesting omission here: Books (to paraphrase Noël Coward, “Books are not for reading, they are for writing”).

[I went to] a Standard primary school in East London in the 1950s; then I was lucky to get into a Grammar School (the more academic option in those days). It was one of the London Guild schools, all-boys, and their whole ethos was based on the English public school system; even though I never realised just how posh and highly-regarded the school was until after I’d left it, in the political climate of those mid-1960s Grammar schools in general were hanging on by their fingernails.

The school itself was an exam factory: after you’d finished your O levels at 16, it was assumed you would take your A levels at 18, and when you left it was assumed you would go to University. Even then I was kicking against the system: I knew I would probably go to University at some point, but I wanted to do it when I felt I ready for it.

I guess I was somewhat of a disrupter at school, but my school was one which actually channelled that individuality and embraced it into the system. They allowed me, in a sense, to make my own decisions: I decided I wanted to try for the Royal Commonwealth Society Essay prize, and I won it (the prize was a free Caribbean cruise, which started my life-long love of the Caribbean and of travel in general). On reflection, perhaps that’s what began my feelings of not being tied to one specific country; I feel a citizen of wherever I am at that time (to quote the advice I once got from my publishers: Think Global, Think Timeless).

After school, I took a job in the Civil Service (at the Ministry of Defense) for a while, then a few other jobs, I went back to College to retake some A levels, then went off to University. I did a newly-created course called Comparative American Studies — big ambitions but budget cuts turned it into a kind of hip-History course. That degree course has had no subsequent influence on my later life.

However, University in the 1970s was an era of long hair, scruffiness, student power, rent strikes etc. But I always had short hair and wore a suit and my bow ties around campus. I remember I was once hauled before the student body, when it was trying to organize a rent strike, and denounced as “an anarchist” — a label I have always been happy to live with.

I am an only child, I’ve never married, don’t have a partner, and no children that I am aware of. I don’t know what that says about me: maybe I am not the easiest person to live with, perhaps I’ve never had enough money to accommodate another person, perhaps I am too used to doing my own thing and getting away with it for too long! Loner? Probably. Observer? Definitely.

I know I am not necessarily a naturally “club-able” sort of a person, not a great joiner-in of things that don’t really interest me, so I don’t attach myself to groups or movements that seem to be proliferating these days (the Eccentric Club is an exception, precisely because I never sought to join it. Indeed, I never even knew it existed until I was invited!).

So for me, after all these years, living solo/on my own is probably my “natural state” (one must always appreciate the difference between Alone and Lonely and choose the right one, of course). At least I don’t have to please anyone else except myself. Not that I would say no if the right man came along.

Being an only child, I guess my parents just put up with [my style enthusiasm]; they probably saw it as “just a phase he’s going through” and were thankful I wasn’t out on the streets beating people up or getting arrested (although it’s been a close-run thing sometimes).

Occasionally my father would use the word “Fop” in an attempt to be derisory, which only encouraged me to be more so — but then he was a very snappy dresser in his younger years (I have a marvellous photo of him in his demob suit and trilby and resembling a young Gene Kelly). I, obviously, must take after my mother.

To be honest I can’t remember a time when I was never Not interested in menswear; my eye would always be drawn to photos or ads and I found myself inspecting the cut of a coat or the fold of a silk handkerchief in the top pocket, and maybe it’s the influence of my love for old Hollywood films but I love that glamour of black tie, frock coats, morning coats and white & tails — the more formal the better!

Five distinct pivotal moments I can recall:

1. Purloining my first bow tie from Woolworth, a black slim line one — and, don’t tell everyone, it was a clip-on!

2. Getting my first proper suit when I was about eleven: a beautiful midnight blue mohair three-button single breasted number (probably bought for a wedding) — I still remember the shop (Sternfields in Bethnal Green) where my parents bought it.

3. On holiday on the Isle of Wight in 1964 — the year of the Mods&Rockers battles — when I was twelve, seeing some beautiful multi-coloured, multi-panelled silk pocket handkerchiefs in a shop window. I bought three of them. I spent all my holiday savings and starved for the rest of the holiday (I still have them).

4. The day I learnt how to successfully tie a bow tie. I was probably about 16 or 17, and I remember looking at myself in the mirror and saying something like: “From now on, whenever I have cause to wear a suit or a smart jacket, I will only ever wear a bow tie and a silk pocket handkerchief” (since then, the only times I have ever work a straight tie was for the rest of my school days or for a funeral).

5. When I was 21, applying to go to a University, and asked for a Personal Reference from one of my College lecturers, the opening sentences she wrote are burned into my psyche: “Please do not be put off by Raymond’s apparently brash or abrasive nature; he uses this as a defence mechanism, to disguise the fact that he is actually a deep-thinking — and deep-feeling — individual”. It was like a butterfly being pinned to a board. But it also held a mirror up to my growing self and I thought “So This is what I’m like.” Ever since that day my life has been an attempt to balance out those two sides of my character and not be afraid to show that inner-self to the outside world.

I suppose I just don’t “do” fashion — it is fleeting and a whim. I prefer something a little more permanent: traditional with variations on a theme; something with a little more depth and resonance.

I suppose [my knowledge comes] mostly from observing, reading books and talking to the professionals like tailors, pattern cutters and boot makers (my uncle was a cobbler). During my student years I also worked in some menswear departments like Liberty and Aquascutum. I think I would secretly love to make my own clothes, but I am too old now. These days I just come up with the ideas and work with the professionals to let them make it happen.

The words I would use to describe my dress are probably the words I would use to describe myself: distinctive, unique and (above all) individualistic.

People may use the word “Eccentric” (probably because I was invited to become a member of the Eccentric Club) but I’ve never described myself as such — just individual. I’ve already said all that.

As for RTW (it took me a while to work out it meant Ready To Wear!, so alien am I to the concept), being my age, size and body-shape I am usually forced into the bespoke option; and finding vintage clothes in my sizes is simply like searching for hen’s teeth (if I have found anything suitable, it is never in London but the flea-markets of Europe).

RTW, in general? I have to say I am Not a fan of labels, they simply don’t figure in my landscape — why should I become a walking advertising hoarding for someone else? (unless they pay me, of course!). If I see something I like, the fabric is fine, it fits and the price is good, I might consider it, but if there is something special I want I will go to the ends of the Internet to find it out (see later in this section).

I suppose the only “brand” I would recognize is Brooks Bros (I’ve been wearing that, on and off, since 1973; but their quality has definitely deteriorated in the last ten years). Indeed, that is the one logo (a — dead? — sheep being weighed) I do not baulk at wearing sometimes, precisely because few people in the UK actually know what it means. And I’m always supporting dead sheep.

The only other “designer” whose clothes seem to fit me well is Ermenegildo Zegna — but his prices are preposterous so I won’t even try them on.

I do like discovering new and emerging talent, what I call “micro-labels”, and watch them grow into a wider audience; for the past few years I’ve been championing FineandDandyshop, the Cordial Churchman, Artfully Disheveled, Le Noeud Papillon, Berg&Berg, Wilkinson Hatmakers — those are just the ones I can recall off the top of my head.

And I like a bargain: I’ve just come back from the USA and in the Outlet sales I came across 100% cotton jackets in beautiful pastel shades for barely $40 (about £25) each (less than the cost of the fabric itself) — I almost bought the entire colour palette: pink, lavender, sky blue, orange, lemon, lime..after a visit to the dry-cleaners they came back beautifully pressed.

As I’ve mentioned, I will spend ages trying to get exactly what I want: I searched high and low for a certain pair of Bass loafers — a limited edition version in Navy blue leather — but could not find any in my size. Eventually, Bass HQ connected me to a distributor and I found one last pair online. Photos don’t do them justice, you really have to hold them and see how the blue patina changes as the light falls on them — just beautiful to behold. They are the Tonik of shoes and worth the search.

And if I cannot find exactly what I am looking for, or what I have in mind, then I design it myself and find a maker who can create it. So far I’ve designed and had made various styles of stiff collars (mostly Victorian-influenced), more bow ties than I can remember, spats (in various colours), waistcoats, a hat, some shoes…those are the ones I can remember. A couple of them have said they should call that particular design “The Frensham”…it’s a nice thought.

The advice I would always give a young man starting to build a wardrobe (and often on a restricted budget) is: stick to the classics, buy the best quality single item that you can afford rather than two or three cheaper versions of it — and you will be wearing that garment for many years to come. Also, when it comes to suits: bespoke may appear very attractive but best start by buying off-the-peg (RTW) and find yourself a good alterations tailor, you can’t go wrong with one of those.

I think I have always been interested in traditional styles, especially formal clothes. My instructions to my tailors have always been: I want it very traditional but with a few quirky twists that I shall add. I’ve also said to them: “I want a suit that I shall still be wearing in five year’s time, in ten year’s time and — who knows — in twenty five year’s time. I can still just about fit into some of the suits I had made in the mid-1980s and they still look like they could’ve been made recently — or in the 1940s…most of them are double-breasted.

I was once taken up to the loft of my (then) tailors, to see their original pattern books going back to the Victorian and Edwardian times. The words: “in shit”, “pig” and “like a” come to mind.

I think the Victorian era chose me, really: the way I see the world, feel about things. Besides, I have always worn stiff collars since I left school (they seemed to partner the bow ties), and I think the frock coat is something I can still wear in London or anywhere and not get confronted or beaten up about. But then I am rather ancient, so people probably dismiss me as “eccentric” (that word again).

I think I would secretly like to be able to go around town as a Regency dandy, the silks, the white face, wig, the lot — but I think that would leave me too open to being threatened or beaten up! (I am a coward, you see, and my body doesn’t “do” violence).

I just really like the design of those Victorian/Edwardian clothes, the flash of the silk facing on the lapels, the silk buttons, the lovely waistcoats of Edwardiana, a beautifully tied cravat (ascot), an exquisitely crafted stick-pin and, of course, the silk top hats…it’s all in the details (something that people today should consider about their own modern outfits: it’s all in the details).

But the bottom line is: I don’t stick to any rigid doctrine (or get too obsessive about “historical accuracy”), I just wear what I feel like wearing on any given day — at least I have enough frock coats to be able to wear them often and with quasi-casual wear underneath. You also have to think of climate and comfort, so the chances of me wearing a high, stiff collar when the sun is belting down is somewhat slim. It depends on the event I am going to. I do have a lot of jackets and blazers, so it’s not all frock coats and striped trousers. Often I might wear my morning coats with striped trousers!

An interesting reflection: when I was involved in the record industry (and the Rockabilly/Rock ‘n Roll clubs of the late 1970s-early 1980s) I always wore bow ties but with 1950s clothes. Somewhere along the line since then I moved on to the Victorian/Edwardian era. The older I get, the further back in history I seem to travel; who knows, by the time I am on my deathbed, I might be into the Neanderthal look.

Life! — Life itself is what inspires me, the simple act of being able to get up each day and still breathe and drink in everything. Open your eyes and experience, lift up your gaze from ground level and notice the architecture. I can get an idea from anywhere: from watching an old movie or a painting or the wind blowing on my cheek. Just be aware and live the moment.

Be stimulated by curiosity: every day is a day in the classroom, so be interested in everything and everyone, and be prepared to be open to anything — except physics and chemistry (which is surely the path to ruin).

Icons? I’m going to cheat and put down the people I listed on my Facebook profile under the heading Role Models (in no particular order and completely the first names that came to mind):

– Niccolò Machiavelli

– Charles-Geneviève-Louis-Auguste-André-Timothée d’Éon de Beaumont (later known as Charlotte-Genevieve-Louise-Auguste-Andree-Timothee d’Eon de Beaumont)

– Jack Buchanan

– Gore Vidal

– Francois Rabelais

– Chuck Bass

– Marquis de Sade

– Gene Kelly

– Benjamin Braddock

– Devlin Waugh

– Willie Donaldson

– Sir Francis Dashwood

– Myra Breckenridge

– Oscar Weirde

– Emperor Tiberius

– Mans Zelmerlow

– Ampney Crucis

– Al Bowlly

– Antinous

– Justin Bieber (or was that Timberlake?) – probably both

– James Joyce

To repeat: Style, as opposed to “fashion”, please note. Fashion I reject, I am just not interested in fads.

Style is individual and unique to you; you just have to explore who you are. It cannot be forced on you by some “style guru” or dictated to you by egotistical designers…

As I’ve said, I’m Not obsessively proscriptive about clothes or “being authentic”…however, I do draw the line at:

(i) pre-tied bow ties. God, I hate them (as does HM The Queen) — they are an apology on a piece of elastic.

(ii) those preposterously short-cut jackets of present modes (utterly hideous).

(iii) the increasing drift that silk handkerchief manufacturers are doing, of moving towards the “European” — i.e. smaller — sizes. A silk square should be at least 15”-18” or it is nothing at all.

(iv) Underwear that is Not the Boxer short. My own personal preference are for the Brooks Brothers Tie-back Boxer and their French-back Boxer (go to their website and put those terms in the Search box, $30 each).
Since 1975 I have championed these 1930s-inspired garments. They used to be available in only very limited numbers once every few years. After years (decades, even) of constant badgering from me, they are now freely available on their website (but not in their shops). Please buy them and prove my point to Brooks that there Is a market out there for them

Numbers (ii) and (iii) are all about cutting corners, saving money by cutting down on materials; and numbers (i) and (iv) are simply personal fetishes of mine!

When I think about “style” — which, to honest, I hardly ever consider — it is like trying to nail the wind. It is something that cannot be defined in words, you simply know it when you see it. It is as much innate as it is about the clothes we wear. You could say that the clothes you wear are an outward expression of your inner self; assuming you know who you are first.

So, I find myself always returning to that well-known quote from Hardy Amies: “A man should look as if he has bought his clothes with intelligence, put them on with care and then forgotten all about them”.

I just wear what I feel like wearing on that particular day. In that sense I suppose you could say that the clothes reflect my moods. Perhaps when one is feeling “down” you should dress even more brightly, it will pep you up.

My adage for life has always been: “whatever you feel makes you happiest, try it — as long as it does not hurt or harm other people”.

I wish that young men were taught how to tie a bow tie in lessons running up to, say, Prom. They could incorporate that with lessons about manners, etiquette, how to be a charming host/chaperone/whatever. You can Never have too many good manners.

I always encourage and support younger men who wish to be a little more adventurous in their dress — and, yes, it is a hurdle of confidence to go out in public and wear a suit or a bow tie or something not deemed “the norm”; especially at the start. Do it step-by-step and bring others along with you, get them used to your style slowly — you can get to where you want to be without frightening the horses.

Certainly, the more you wear something or a look, the more confident you become in it and eventually you don’t wear that look anymore, the look wears you; it becomes naturally part of you, of who you are. Eventually you realise that this unique look has become your “signature” look. People expect to see you like that, so if you suddenly change it, they will often say “nope, it doesn’t work, bring back the unique you”.

I always tell them: when you’re growing up — especially those teenage years — it’s all about fitting-in and peer-group approval (am I wearing the right this, am I saying the right that…), but the great thing about aging is: the older you get, the less you actually care about what other people think or say about you. And when you can get to that point of being able to say: “you know what? I don’t care!” it is a remarkably liberating experience. OK, so, by the time you hit 50 it all starts to go wrong and you hit the Medicated years; and by the time you’re 60 you get used to bits of the body sort-of casually…dropping off…so enjoy your body and enjoy your fitness while you can.

So don’t be afraid to seek out what makes you different, what makes you unique from others, and gradually you learn to assert your individuality with confidence. You will often find that what makes you different from the others is what will indicate and shape the arc of your future life and career.

“Style” is not just about clothes, it is about the way you conduct yourself with the world. And remember: it’s all in the Details.’