Latest news with #Swaine
BBC News
20-04-2025
- Business
- BBC News
Doncaster's Corn Exchange to officially open after 2-year revamp
A historic corn exchange is set to officially reopen this Easter after two years of restored Corn Exchange, which features five new shops and a café, will reopen to the public on Grade II listed building has had a £5m revamp which was completed last Swaine, director of place at City of Doncaster Council, said: "This is exciting news for Doncaster and a fantastic opportunity for people to visit the city centre over the Easter weekend." The renovation included fixing the roof, improving drainage and restoring the old windows and stonework. New features such as a staircase, LED lights, better heating and accessible toilets have been classic architecture has been maintained and artisan Victorian-style shopfronts have been added to the former concert hall, which was built in 1870. The shops will be open from Tuesdays to venue will host events including music performances and monthly indoor Hobson, leasing manager at Market Asset Management, which runs the building, said: "The attention surrounding the Corn Exchange has been overwhelmingly positive so far and we're proud to launching this iconic venue with such a fantastic mix of traders."We've worked closely with the council to restore the Corn Exchange back to many of its original features. The high-quality feel of the building's interiors and the buzz it has created for the city is quite special." Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North
Telegraph
11-04-2025
- Entertainment
- Telegraph
A gentleman's guide to the age-appropriate hat
We've all seen the pictures of Charlie Chaplin on Wall Street, snapped in a bid to help with the war effort in 1918. The volume of the crowds is impressive enough, but the number of hats would make you think it was mandated attire. Baker boy hats, bowler hats, fedoras, trilbys, they are all there. It's a stark contrast with today, where in the same image you'd be lucky to see a tie. We men have forgotten the delight of a good hat, but there is a rising tide of sartorialists who seek to right this particular oversight and encourage a return to this level of uniformity, perhaps if only to cover up the mullets that everyone seems to insist on today. Brad Pitt recently made a rare misstep in the style department by donning a dubious bucket hat, normally the preserve of Gen-Z boys aping the 1990s style of their dads. It wasn't quite the thing for a man of 61, even one known for his fearless style. So how should a stylish man who's somewhat grey around temples tackle hats that are age appropriate and smart enough? Here are the five you need to know about. But what styles are the smartest as we settle into spring events and look ahead to wedding season, regattas and various other formal goings-on? The sleek fedora The fedora is your classic inter-war period hat, which started being worn in the late nineteenth century. Its eponym is a fictional character Fedora Romazoff, who wears a similar style in the play Fedora, that played all over the world in the 1880s. The fedora has a little brother called the trilby, which is essentially the same but just different brim proportions. Whilst Britain signed up to the trend owing to its wearing by Edward VIII, it was ubiquitous in America, and lent itself to everything from gangster chic to female emancipation and the sponsor hat for the American Dream in 1930s style advertisements. Hats were popular because they were an expression of social standing, the pinch at the front is for ease of removal back in the day when you'd customarily remove your hat when entering a building and greeting a woman. There are several variants of the hat including the bash fedora, distinguishable by the straight indentation in the crown rather than the teardrop one, which you will know best as the iconic Indiana Jones hat, made by Herbert Johnson a subsidiary brand of Swaine. It can be worn all throughout the year but ranks as the least formal in this list, more appropriate for country wear than suits or separates. Federico Anello fedora, £440, The top hat The top hat began to make an appearance in the late 17th century, with fashion norms shifting away from the knee length jacket called the justaucorps to the dashing frock coat. With it went the common use of tricorn hats and the top hat became the fashionable style for the well-heeled, whether in the city or country sports – though hunting top hats are made of firmer, weightier shells. It marks the most formal occasions, and for many years was the statesman's hat of choice when conducting official activities. Most top hats are made from rabbit felt but you will see in vintage images that top hats were remarkably shiny and luscious, and this is because they were made with a silk plush. Alas, these are extremely rare to find as the last factory that existed which made the plush was owned by two brothers. The exact reason for the Cain-and-Abel animosity is unclear, but they fell out and one burned down the factory in spite. The machines were lost and people have tried to reverse engineer the fabric but no one has managed to replicate it, which is why the value of vintage examples are in the thousands. A top hat should only be worn with morning dress or white tie. Top hat, £750, The bowler hat This distinctive fellow was conceived in 1849 by Edward Coke, the son of the first Earl of Leicester. The gamekeepers on his estate traditionally wore top hats, but as they had to ride fast through the woods between drives, they kept getting knocked off and damaged. Coke promptly went to historic hatmaker Lock & Co and asked them to come up with a hat that could deflect the low hanging branches. It has become the headdress equivalent of the lounge suit, and should not be worn with a morning suit. It was at one point part of what city workers would wear every day, but now is reserved for the Cavalry Memorial and Black Sunday Remembrance parades in May, to be worn by officers. It should be worn only with a lounge suit; effectively the smart everyday suit you're used to seeing in formal settings. Felt bowler hat, £99.95, The Panama hat The Panama actually comes from Ecuador, and traditionally comprises a tight weave of Carludovica Palmata plant straw. Its name derives from the Panama Isthmus that was used as a corridor of trade and commerce during the California gold rush. Prospectors needed a hat to protect themselves from the sun and a man named Manuel Alfaro saw an opportunity so set up a business shipping thousands of these hats to the United States. Teddy Roosevelt was pictured wearing one on a visit to the Panama Canal which increased its popularity too. As a summer hat you'll often see it worn at sporting events such as Wimbledon, Henley and Lord's. Sometimes they will be personalised with the regimental or club colours on the ribbon. Much more appropriate than a fedora for 'summer smart' outfits, such as navy blazers with chinos or lighter-coloured suits. Classic panama hat, £445, The Homburg This is a handsome hat, synonymous with the distinctive silhouette of Sir Winston Churchill, that is rarely worn these days and more is the pity. That is unless you are the stylish Hollywood director Paul Feig and can pull it off. It is also known as the Eden because it was worn frequently by Prime Minister Anthony Eden, certainly the best dressed politician of all time. Prior to that it was a favourite of King Edward VII and George V, both of whom were presumably tapping into their German ancestry, as that is where the hat originates, as a style of hunting headdress. Eisenhower wore one to his inaugurations, and it was most famously worn by Michael Corleone in The Godfather. Perhaps it's time for a return to traditional modes of dress. Homburg hat, £44.95, How to fit a hat properly Hats are fitted using an extraordinary piece of apparatus called the conformateur. A miniature paper pattern of the shape of your head can be stamped by the hatter, who then cuts out the shape and sets what is called a formillion around the paper pattern. Subsequently the hat is fitted around the formillion to create the correct shape.
