From the Archives: Rugby Ephemera

In honor of the World Cup, I'm reposting selections from Frederick Humbert's awesome collection of historical rugby print ephemera. Humbert's flickr catalog and blog, Rugby-Pioneers, include photographs, programs, cigarette cards, advertisements and even hand painted lantern slides of vintage rugby action. Even if you don't follow rugby as a sport, study the photographs as a guide to looking stylish in a sports uniform (blazers and wool knits in lieu of track jackets and sweats).

Archival Jackets: FWK Engineered Garments Bedford (in linen)

The FWK Engineered Garments Bedford is one of my (Lesli's) favorite jackets. While the fabric changes each season, the cut, detail and fit remain the same. It's July and I'm wearing a Bedford in slub linen. But I'm already looking forward to the corduroy version which will be available in August. As we've noted before, the Bedford brings to mind the Archival Clothing party doctrine that any garment in a line should be available in any fabric. Here's the Bedford in linen:

Simple patch pocketing

Unstructured form

Scaled to fit women, the Bedford duplicates the styling of the gent's version

Civilizing detail: spare buttons in two sizes

ST modeling a size 2 FWK Engineered Garments Bedford

EG's own proposed summer ensemble for the Bedford

Here are my favorite stockists for the FWK Engineered Garments line: Boutique U & I (Montreal), Jack Straw (Seattle), Bows + Arrows and Envoy of Belfast (Ireland).

Archival Cadets Revisited

Military service runs in my family. My father was a colonel in the Army and my sister attended the Air Force Academy. I toyed with the idea of attending a service academy but doubted my ability to survive past the day they outfit you with your uniform. I might have reconsidered military school if I could have enrolled in the Life Photo Archive version of Sandhurst military academy. I love the bookish style and striped blazers of the Sandhurst cadets. And who wouldn’t want to spend their school days playing chess, pedaling bicycles in formation or jumping motorcycles by horseback?

From the Life Photo Archive

Archival Cadets I

From the archives of the Illustrated London News

Cadets at Sandhurst bicycling to "Physical Jerks"

Sword drill at the R.M.C.

Gentleman cadets taking a boxing lesson

Ensuring that the future officer has a tough physique

Getting ready for parade at the R.M.C.

In the Seasmanship room at the Royal Naval College, Darthmouth:

Cadets learning the use of all deck-fittings in modern warships

Archival Cadets Revisited

Military service runs in my family. My father was a colonel in the Army and my sister attended the Air Force Academy. I toyed with the idea of attending a service academy but doubted my ability to survive past the day they outfit you with your uniform. I might have reconsidered military school if I could have enrolled in the Life Photo Archive version of Sandhurst military academy. I love the bookish style and striped blazers of the Sandhurst cadets. And who wouldn’t want to spend their school days playing chess, pedaling bicycles in formation or jumping motorcycles by horseback?

From the Life Photo Archive