Mention Viyella and everyone has an instant image of a comfortable middle class women clad in well cut, comfortable, an women's coats d long lasting clothes, not exactly cutting edge, more timeless classic, guaranteed not to scare the horses in the countryside or the rotary club annual dinner in town.
Founded in 1784, it was once as much part of our lives as, well, Aertex shirts and Trilby hats. So, if Viyella can disappear, what about some of those other stalwarts of British dress sense?
Aertex had become part of the middle class wardrobe by the end of the 19th century. In the Second World War the Desert Rats marched across the deserts of Egypt in the company's bush shirts and jackets. In the Fifties no mum wanted to send their child to school in anything but their shirts, and in the Sixties it was the choice of Wimbledon champions.
Its future looks healthy thanks in part to its continuing popularity for sports wear, and in part due to the likes of Big Brother presenter Jeff Leach and Dirty Pretty Things lead singer Carl Barat favouring them under the heat of studio TV lights. Another firm with ancient roots doing surprisingly well is the children's shoe makers Start-rite, which traces its history back to 1792. In the 1920s it moved into making children's shoes, and bought the Start-rite name.
In 1936 the first advertisement featuring the iconic tins toddling down the road appeared. By 1952 it had given up making adults shoes to concentrate totally on the children's market. In 1997 it introduced the Rhino rages for older children. Mums, it seems, will still spend money on well-fitting shoes for their youngsters.
There's not a single black and white British film to be seen on TCM that does not feature scores on men in trilbies. The soft felt hat with a narrow brim, deeply indented crown and a pinch at the front came into fashion in the Twenties. It began as a casual hat to wear to the races, but by the end of the Second World War it had taken over from homburgs and bowlers.
Its days seemed numbered when hat wearing stopped being an every day habit in the Swinging Sixties. Ironically, it was musicians who brought it back into fashion: jazz, ska, and soul artists loved them, and rude boy, mod, skinhead, 2 Tone and, more recently indie rock and emo fans have adopted the trilby. It, too, looks safe.
A chillier future may face the old services favourite, the British Warm. The classic overcoat took its fabric and styling from the greatcoats worn by officers in the First World War. Lightly shaped, they fell to just above the knee, were double breasted with six buttons, peaked lapels and epaulets. The advent of efficient heating systems in public buildings and cars dealt the British Warm a bitter blow.
It evolved into the short camel hair double breasted coat so loved by Arthur in Minder and Del Boy in Only Fools and Horses, further ruining its image.
But hard times and colder winters could see a return to popularity. But the convincing winner in the longevity steals is a piece of headgear that was once exclusively associated with straw chewing yokels wanting to protect their hair while milking cows.
The classic flat cap has a loose crown pinned to the peak. It can be worn forwards or backwards, or at any angle - a big advantage when pressing ones head into the mud-spattered flanks of a herd of milkers. Coupled with a muffler it became a classic image of the urban working class, as captured in Chas & Dave's stage costumes.
But it has now achieved cult status. Samuel l Jackson is a big fan, so is gangster film maker and Madonna ex Guy Ritchie, plus are rappers, DJs, and Premier Division millionaire footballers. Jermain Defoe, signed up by Tottenham for 15.75 GBP on a salary of 3 million GBP a year, was recently photographed sporting both the flat cap and the muffler. You just can't keep a good fashion down.
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