{"id":1171,"date":"2013-04-04T12:07:46","date_gmt":"2013-04-04T09:07:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.keikari.com\/english\/?p=1171"},"modified":"2013-06-28T22:57:37","modified_gmt":"2013-06-28T19:57:37","slug":"interview-with-francis-bown","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.keikari.com\/english\/interview-with-francis-bown\/","title":{"rendered":"Interview with Francis Bown"},"content":{"rendered":"

‘I think I must have been born with an interest in good clothes, for I have no\u00a0<\/span>recollection of a time when sartorial matters did not fascinate me. I like order,\u00a0<\/span>discipline, “correctness” and fine workmanship. All these come together in a\u00a0<\/span>beautiful bespoke suit or a pair of bespoke shoes.\u00a0<\/span>I spent many years as a clergyman of the Church of England (I resigned my parish\u00a0<\/span>and converted to Roman Catholicism, because I believed that the creation of\u00a0<\/span>women “priests” was an act of apostasy). When I was a parish priest (of an inner-<\/span>city parish which was far from affluent), it was my constant endeavour in public\u00a0<\/span>worship to offer to God only the best. Part of that endeavour involved the use\u00a0<\/span>of the most beautiful liturgical vestments I could obtain. This I viewed as an\u00a0<\/span>imperative \u2013 both because it reflected the dignity of what was happening and\u00a0<\/span>because it assisted in that \u201cglimpse of Heaven\u201d which is a part of every Mass.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"Interview_with_Francis_Bown_at_Keikari_dot_com\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Now that I dress in secular clothes, smartness is a requirement which reflects my\u00a0<\/span>own desire for seemliness and \u2013 more importantly \u2013 which speaks of my respect\u00a0<\/span>for all the people with whom I have to do, whatever their function or social rank.\u00a0<\/span>It is therefore a question of morality. The prevailing cult of scruffiness degrades\u00a0<\/span>its practitioners and indicates an unpleasant indifference to the dignity and worth\u00a0<\/span>of others. When I go to a restaurant, for example, it is deeply depressing to see\u00a0<\/span>those who consider it acceptable to arrive as a slovenly shambles and who then\u00a0<\/span>expect to be treated with the utmost respect by waiters for whom they clearly\u00a0<\/span>care not a jot.<\/span><\/p>\n

I began to write about sartorial matters for the news agency, Reuters. I was\u00a0<\/span>already producing restaurant reviews for the agency\u2019s website, and it was\u00a0<\/span>suggested to me that I should also broadcast my thoughts on sartorial matters to\u00a0<\/span>the site\u2019s readers. When the site eventually closed, I decided that Bown\u2019s Bespoke\u00a0<\/span>(www.bownsbespoke.com<\/a>) should be born.<\/span><\/p>\n

I love true bespoke, but, of course, I understand that for many gentlemen \u2013\u00a0<\/span>particularly younger gentlemen \u2013 true bespoke is simply too expensive for their\u00a0<\/span>current circumstances. But remember that a ready-to-wear cotton tunic shirt\u00a0<\/span>can be obtained relatively cheaply from one of the lawyers\u2019 shops on or near\u00a0<\/span>Chancery Lane in London and a separate white, starched collar from the same\u00a0<\/span>shops will not cost more than \u00a312. To wear such a shirt with a stiff collar has been\u00a0<\/span>the first step to sartorial greatness for many a young fellow.<\/span><\/p>\n

I urge everyone who cares about his appearance to study the Ten\u00a0<\/span>Commandments on Bown\u2019s Bespoke. There I counsel perfection \u2013 of course, I do\u00a0<\/span>\u2013 and some will find this annoying. But, if a thing is truly desired, it is strange how\u00a0<\/span>often life has a pleasing habit of fulfilling one\u2019s dream, sometimes in the least\u00a0<\/span>expected way.<\/span><\/p>\n

I am by nature conservative, and my taste in clothes is conservative. And I want\u00a0<\/span>the best. It is fortunate, therefore, that I live in London \u2013 for the best means a\u00a0<\/span>bespoke suite from Henry Poole in Savile Row, bespoke shoes from Cleverley\u00a0<\/span>& Co. in the Royal Arcade and bespoke shirts from Harvie&Hudson in Jermyn\u00a0<\/span>Street. Dressed thus, a gentleman is ready to encounter the high and the low and\u00a0<\/span>\u2013 with the good manners which go with sartorial propriety \u2013 to treat both with\u00a0<\/span>respect and courtesy.’<\/span><\/p>\n

http:\/\/bownsbespoke.com\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Picture: \u00a9 Jack Hill<\/p>\n

~ originally published in Finnish on the 13th of October 2011<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

‘I think I must have been born with an interest in good clothes, for I have no\u00a0recollection of a time …
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