| If you have any reservations don't hesitate to contact us via email or telephone. © 2001-2008 Don's Footwear Online. All rights reserved. Elevator shoes can increase your height Return Policy Security Contact Us Elevator shoes |
HANDKERCHIEFS
HISTORY
First evidence of the use of handkerchiefs comes from the appropriately named Chou dynasty in
China. The fierce Assyrians, Biblical foes of the Israelites, were likewise gentlemen in this regard,
while the Romans mopped their brows on sudaria, which translates roughly as ‘sweaters’.
Nothing is known of the habits of the Britons until suddenly we come upon the courtiers of Richard II
blowing their noses on their sleeves .The king urged an end to this practice, but was deposed.
The Italians, caught up in the clear new thinking of the Renaissance, were first to separate functions
on the one-for-show, one-for-blow principle. The ‘drapeselli’ attended to business, while the
‘fazzoletti’ was purely for decoration. Fazzoletti might be carried in the hand, or tied to the upper arm,
or even to the leg, pockets not yet being available.
In no time, fazzoletti were shot through with gold and silver thread, trimmed with lace and laden with
pearls. Ladies gave them to their lovers, mistresses received them from kings: the handkerchief as
love-token was born. In some instances, sumptuary laws were enacted to try to control the excess.
The town council of Halbertstadt in Germany decreed that “the handkerchief of the first estate shall
not exceed two marks in value, that of the second estate not one mark, and the handkerchief of the
third estate shall not be worth more than half a mark. Ladies and maidens using pearls to be fined
one mark”.
From the 16th century, the handkerchief of finest white linen found safe harbour up the sleeve,
usually the left sleeve, of the gentleman of quality, while from the Americas came a new habit which
greatly widened the use of handkerchiefs. This was snuff-taking, which began as a health fad, and
became a mass habit until supplanted by cigarette-smoking in the 19th century.
A handkerchief for cleaning up and dusting off after partaking of a pinch of snuff was as essential an
acce4ssory as the snuff-box. Snuff handkerchiefs were dyed light brown or in bright colours to hide
the stains, and the jaunty patterns turned out by the calico printers continued in fashion after snuff-
taking had passed away.
The spread of cotton and advances in textiles meant that men of all classes could carry a
handkerchief. As an instance, Jonas Hanway, umbrella pioneer and general fusspot, wanted “cheque
handkerchiefs…however small” issued to every sailor in the British Navy as a sanitary precaution.
All that was left was to place the handkerchief on permanent display as the ‘pocket handkerchief’.
This came about as a natural consequence of jackets with breast pockets supplanting the frock coat.
With the 20th century, the handkerchief became what the menswear trade would call a significant
style item, meaning that it was subject to a constant buffeting of fad and fancy. As Apparel Arts
ominously put it: “The pocket handkerchief is an index of fashion change.”
Officers returning from the First World War reverted for a while to placing the handkerchief up a
sleeve, which is where they had been obliged to stow it when it buttoned-down uniform, but soon it
was restored to the breast pocket, there to remain.
There was a vogue for fancy handkerchiefs in the 1920s. During the 1930s, a silk related in colour to
the shirt and tie was frequently chosen. This tendency gave rise to a risible extreme, with
handkerchief, tie, shirt, socks and even boxer shorts identically matched.
How to fold the handkerchief became an issue of lively debate. Some favoured the ‘TV fold’, a
straight-line presentation identified with some television personalities, others the ‘puff’, or some
arrangement of ‘peaks’.
There were short-lived experiments, such as the ‘speckerchief’, an eyeglass case disguised as a
furled pocket handkerchief. The ‘Amore’, promoted as “a distinctively new idea for every man of
derring-do”, was a singular achievement in bad taste. It consisted of a hand-rolled silk handkerchief
bearing a pair of widely-spaced impressions to simulate lipstick smudges.
Such a handkerchief was of course never intended for smudging of any description. The one for
blowing, of more serviceable construction, was tucked away elsewhere.
HISTORY
First evidence of the use of handkerchiefs comes from the appropriately named Chou dynasty in
China. The fierce Assyrians, Biblical foes of the Israelites, were likewise gentlemen in this regard,
while the Romans mopped their brows on sudaria, which translates roughly as ‘sweaters’.
Nothing is known of the habits of the Britons until suddenly we come upon the courtiers of Richard II
blowing their noses on their sleeves .The king urged an end to this practice, but was deposed.
The Italians, caught up in the clear new thinking of the Renaissance, were first to separate functions
on the one-for-show, one-for-blow principle. The ‘drapeselli’ attended to business, while the
‘fazzoletti’ was purely for decoration. Fazzoletti might be carried in the hand, or tied to the upper arm,
or even to the leg, pockets not yet being available.
In no time, fazzoletti were shot through with gold and silver thread, trimmed with lace and laden with
pearls. Ladies gave them to their lovers, mistresses received them from kings: the handkerchief as
love-token was born. In some instances, sumptuary laws were enacted to try to control the excess.
The town council of Halbertstadt in Germany decreed that “the handkerchief of the first estate shall
not exceed two marks in value, that of the second estate not one mark, and the handkerchief of the
third estate shall not be worth more than half a mark. Ladies and maidens using pearls to be fined
one mark”.
From the 16th century, the handkerchief of finest white linen found safe harbour up the sleeve,
usually the left sleeve, of the gentleman of quality, while from the Americas came a new habit which
greatly widened the use of handkerchiefs. This was snuff-taking, which began as a health fad, and
became a mass habit until supplanted by cigarette-smoking in the 19th century.
A handkerchief for cleaning up and dusting off after partaking of a pinch of snuff was as essential an
acce4ssory as the snuff-box. Snuff handkerchiefs were dyed light brown or in bright colours to hide
the stains, and the jaunty patterns turned out by the calico printers continued in fashion after snuff-
taking had passed away.
The spread of cotton and advances in textiles meant that men of all classes could carry a
handkerchief. As an instance, Jonas Hanway, umbrella pioneer and general fusspot, wanted “cheque
handkerchiefs…however small” issued to every sailor in the British Navy as a sanitary precaution.
All that was left was to place the handkerchief on permanent display as the ‘pocket handkerchief’.
This came about as a natural consequence of jackets with breast pockets supplanting the frock coat.
With the 20th century, the handkerchief became what the menswear trade would call a significant
style item, meaning that it was subject to a constant buffeting of fad and fancy. As Apparel Arts
ominously put it: “The pocket handkerchief is an index of fashion change.”
Officers returning from the First World War reverted for a while to placing the handkerchief up a
sleeve, which is where they had been obliged to stow it when it buttoned-down uniform, but soon it
was restored to the breast pocket, there to remain.
There was a vogue for fancy handkerchiefs in the 1920s. During the 1930s, a silk related in colour to
the shirt and tie was frequently chosen. This tendency gave rise to a risible extreme, with
handkerchief, tie, shirt, socks and even boxer shorts identically matched.
How to fold the handkerchief became an issue of lively debate. Some favoured the ‘TV fold’, a
straight-line presentation identified with some television personalities, others the ‘puff’, or some
arrangement of ‘peaks’.
There were short-lived experiments, such as the ‘speckerchief’, an eyeglass case disguised as a
furled pocket handkerchief. The ‘Amore’, promoted as “a distinctively new idea for every man of
derring-do”, was a singular achievement in bad taste. It consisted of a hand-rolled silk handkerchief
bearing a pair of widely-spaced impressions to simulate lipstick smudges.
Such a handkerchief was of course never intended for smudging of any description. The one for
blowing, of more serviceable construction, was tucked away elsewhere.
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
How to dress like a gentleman- A guide on the history of the Handkerchief and to dress like a true gent
 |
| |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
