Nutter

The European trip from last month becoming ever more of a memory and an almost unreal thing, I thought that I would finally settle the matter and finish up on the postings related to it- so as not to be bogged down by the past.  Hopefully, in doing so, this will open up a new range of possibilities and thoughts, in addition to presenting myself with more places in which to visit or to hopefully re-visit.

Now, one of the names that often pops up in my interest in sartorial things is that of Tommy Nutter, who is quite obviously a crazy genius of sorts and was instrumental in redefining Savile Row- at least, for the time that he was alive.  His work with Edward Sexton (no longer on the Row, but on Beauchamp Place, near Harrod's) and the other masters Chittleborough and Morgan (who still work on the Row), when seen up close and personal, strikes one as so outrageous and so courageous that it really would take only the most trendy fool (at the time) or someone who was so proof positive of one's own style to wear.

Tom Ford has, of course, revealed his "inspiration" from the work of Nutter's, which is obvious in the lapels- but, really, if one is talking about lapels, Nutter's are absolutely brilliant- higher than the sky, they point heavenwards to its absolute Mount Rushmore of a peak.

This small show at the Fashion and Textile Museum in London was particularly good, in that I had never seen even one of the Tommy Nutter suits in real life, and here was a veritable load of them, as worn by cultural icons of rock when they were still rocking- as compared to being camp dinosaur icons.  There were many represented from the collection of a Prince of some Indian country or other, but, alas, I could not find any photos of the fellow who decided to outfit himself oh so flamboyantly.

Even better was the spirit of Tommy himself, smiling throughout, knowing that even years later, nobody had really taken away his energy or his luster.