Big guns wear tweed trews Britain’s top shots have put aside “outdated” plus-fours and are sporting ankle-length trousers. They’re comfortable and flattering, and perfect for that late-night fuel stop, saysRosie Nickerson HERE’s a definite trend emerg- there are many reasons for this new jeans for years. One well-known lady shot was ing for more experienced shots departure in shooting fashion. tweed trou- seen by several million viewers on tV walk- to wear long tweed trousers out sers certainly flatter those whose figure may ing-up grouse in a pair of white jeans. the bag shooting. they confer a degree of have expanded since their svelte youth. Plus- wasn’t huge at the end of the day but she looked smartness and individuality in a fours have the unfortunate tendency to make fabulous all the same. Austrians often sport wayt that no other piece of shooting apparel all but the most tall, willowy guns look rather either teeny-tiny lederhosen shorts or go can achieve, imbuing the tweed trouser portly. Women shots abandoned plus-fours Top gun’s choice: Lord James Percy (below) Brigade with a sense of chic that sets them long ago and have been turning up on shoots feels the need for trousers in tweed barbour apart from ordinary plus-foured mortals. in slim-fitting moleskin trousers or nubuck www.thefield.co.uk 83 in for the long-length plus-fours in a thick, Right: William van Cutsem is one of the earliest cotton twill. Spanish guns are partial to elon- pioneers of the tweed-trouser trend. Below: Lord Margadale wears his as a shoot spectator gated, suede plus-fours and their spouses turn up in divine, soft-suede skirts in mossy hues. have to wear gumboots. On these occasions, Finally, British men are catching on that tweed some tweed-trouser fans revert to plus-fours. plus-fours may not be the most flattering attire. However, even then some will stay with the Jeremy Shaw of Carters Country Wear tells trousers, such as Sir Michael Farquhar: me, “tweed trousers are getting more popu- “they’re quite narrow at the bottom so it’s not lar. I’ve made more for people in the last couple a problem as they do fit into the wellie.” of weeks than in the last couple of years. It Another very keen member of the tweed tends to be the estate owners more than anyone trouser Brigade is Richard Compton of else who wear them. Maybe it’s more practical Newby Hall, Yorkshire. He looks terribly if they’ve got meetings to go to before or after smart in his, and “started wearing [them] shooting. the tweed does tend to be a bit about five years ago. I probably saw someone louder. I’ve been told by clients that once you’ve wearing them – maybe it was Ralph worn tweed trousers, you’ll never go back to Northumberland – and thought, ‘how incred- plus-fours. they say they are warmer and you ibly practical’. You don’t get heather down have complete freedom of movement.” your boots and your socks don’t get destroyed. the growing fans of this form of trouser are I hate wearing gumboots as they’re so uncom- truly evangelical. Extolling the virtues of free- grave john of courtesy fortable walking in the hills. I think as long as dom of movement and the fact you can blend chair de miler/colin bruce you make the effort it’s OK. they’re not jeans; in at service stations, William van Cutsem and they are smart. I don’t wear them his three brothers are some of the earliest pi- FoR tweed trousers with a matching jacket but I oneers of this new trend; they started wearing n You will stand out from the crowd. wear a tie, occasionally a bow- them in their teens. William van Cutsem n You will be more comfortable as your tie, and maybe a matching hat.” explains, “I’ve been wearing them from the knees are not constricted. In fact, of all the people I’ve age of 18 – for ease really; they are more com- n You won’t get heather bits scratching met who sport this fashion, fortable, and driving back, when you stop off your legs and sticking to your stockings. none wears his tweed trousers at petrol stations, as long as the tweed isn’t too n You can wear them for other occasions, with a matching jacket. I ridiculous you can blend in more.” not just shooting. suppose it would look Another pioneer of the tweed trouser is Sir n You will look thinner, as they are a far like he was off to Michael Farquhar from Wiltshire. “I aban- more flattering cut if you have a figure that church or to have tea doned plus-fours a long time ago. I don’t like is anything less than perfect. with the vicar. But stockings or any constriction around the n You won’t get odd looks in service stations. there is an excep- knees. I think trousers are much more com- n You won’t get your ankles nibbled by tion to every rule fortable. they’re just easier, especially when I relentless midges. and Paul Carlbom stop at a fuel station, I don’t feel so out of place.” n You won’t have piles of woollen shooting (or Scaramanga Everyone I spoke to mentioned this important stockings to hand wash. because of his advantage, and I can completely identify with S w a r o v s k i - it, as many’s the time I’ve been eyed up at AgAiNsT tweed trousers encrusted 12- petrol stations – for all the wrong reasons. n You might look a little like rupert Bear. bores) is one. He It seems normal at most shoots for guns to n You’ll be unable to show off a well-turned is rarely seen change into trousers before the shoot tea so calf or ankle. not wearing his they can hit the road back in “ordinary” garb. I n You may feel uncomfortable in gumboots. three-piece tweed am told that this is heartily encouraged at sir Joseph Nickerson (top, centre) donned n You might be taken for a spectator. suit, irrespective Sandringham, where the correct form for the white spats on the moors, while King Alfonso of whether he’s on XIII of spain (above) also set his own style n You might get teased by your fellow guns. shoot tea is for the guns to change into flan- home ground in SW3, nels. One can only assume that the Duke of in Sweden, or on one of Edinburgh doesn’t find them comfortable for are, of course, far more practical for walking on my father, Sir Joseph Nickerson, who took his visits to Verbier. So sitting about in either. Having read Young on the moors. Because you are not exposing to wearing old-fashioned white spats to cover besotted is he with his Prince Philip by Philip Eade, I was surprised to your calves, clad in their woollen stockings, his ankles when he was wearing his signature tweed suit that many sus- learn that on his first visit to Balmoral, Prince you don’t then need the additional protection clothing on the moors – tweed shorts. Believe pect he sleeps in it. Philip wore flannels not plus-fours to go shoot- of gaiters, which are fiddly to put on and have me, this was a unique look in the Seventies And there’s no doubt ing, so he was clearly ahead of his time. the effect of thickening the calves and ankles, and Eighties and the spats were highly that if you’re going to the Most tweed-trouser wearers team them up so that any elegance conferred by wearing a impractical as wearing them necessitated a expense of having kit made, with ankle boots rather than gumboots, which pair of plus-fours is forgone. this was not lost man with a silver-button fastener to hook up a pair of tweed trousers is and unhook all the tiny buttons. far more versatile than For pure convenience and practicality, plus-fours, and can be ‘I’ve been told that once you’ve worn tweed tweed trousers have the edge. the only time worn at the local point-to- trousers, you’ll never go back to plus-fours’ that tweed-trouser converts lean towards point, a matins service or on plus-fours is when it is wet and muddy, so they Christmas Day. 84 www.thefield.co.uk www.thefield.co.uk 85 Spotted iN tweed treWs... richard Compton (right) Michael Cannon duke of Northumberland Lord James Percy william, ed, Nicholas and Hughie van Cutsem Lord Churchill Mark Firth Lord Ashcombe Paul Carlbom sir Michael Farquhar Lord Margadale For some guns, though, the tweed trouser isn’t a complete abandonment of the plus-four, just a refreshing change. Mark Firth says, “I haven’t abandoned plus-fours, I just find tweed trousers a nice alternative. I just wanted to do something different. I was wearing them recently and someone said, ‘Only a Yorkshire earl can get away with that’, but I think they’re perfectly respectable and smart; they’re just different. I never wear wellies – just ankle boots. this season, there was only one place where it was so soggy, muddy and smelly that I regretted it.” Perhaps one of the unspoken rea- sons for this change in trend is that the tweed trouser Brigade are seeking subliminally to distance themselves from ordinary shots who wear what they perceive as the “correct kit”.