WARTIME LOOK

Battles of fashion

They might have been messy butchers, but the English generals in the Crimean war were very elegant.

This forgotten war remains unforgettable for the look.

We are still calling the jumper with buttons down the front ‘cardigan’, named after James Thomas Brudenell seventh Earl of Cardigan who led the Light Brigade in the famous cavalry charge (for the occasion he wore, the 11th Hussars uniform with the cherry coloured trousers).

As for the raglan sleeves, they were named after the commander of the expedition, FitzRoy James Somerset, Lord Raglan who lost one arm in Waterloo. Hence the empty sleeve.

Poor Raglan rather confused, in Crimea he was referring to his Russian enemies as to the French who where his allied.

Incompetent yes, but so stylish…