Archival English Cookery

Those of us who cook at Archival Clothing love the classic Time Life series of world cookeries. I've cooked out of "The Cooking of Japan" for some time, and am hoping to soon start work on "Terrines, Pates and Galantines." But I was recently sidelined by "The Cooking of the British Isles," although I'm less interested in the food than in the context shots. American hunting clothing is wonderful, but there's still a place for a bespoke tweed shooting suit.


If any butchers read this, please consider reviving the stripey apron:

Archival Gamekeepers

This Vivienne Westwood Paris Match photo has been in my collection of print ad ephemera for many years. I love Westwood's refab Rules of the Game look. My main edit would be to substitute her waxed Barbour Tarras game bag for something sturdier and more stylish (see insert below).

Christine in Rules of the Game (Renoir 1939)

Here are a few historical gamekeepers who might have inspired Westwood's ensemble.

Found Gamekeeper



Schumacher in Rules of the Game (Renoir 1939)

Dressing from the present:

Tweed Inverness Cape (ventile lined)



Haggarts tweed plus twos


A better game bag (Brady Sandringham)

Shopping From Frank Leder

by Tom Bonamici

Of course we're all about shopping from the past, but the magic happens when an opportunity comes around to shop successfully from the present. Somewhere in between Danny, Champion of the World, Lady Chatterley's Lover and The Rules of the Game, I became entranced with the conflict of the gamekeeper and the poacher.


Ever since it came online, I've been totally stuck on Frank Leder's POACHERS series. He's really killing it with some of the details in this collection. Check out POACHERS at his splash page, but make sure to get into the archives, too. Hinterland: Fleisch and Hinterland: Vagabund are some of my favorites, but honestly, it's all good.



There's so much hunting clothing in the city that it's refreshing to take inspiration from the poachers, who wear their city clothing in the country. When the apocalypse comes, we'll no doubt have forgotten our Tin Cloth and Bean Boots at home. So join the Archival Clothing team on the south side of Eugene's Spencer's Butte: we'll be the people bagging deer while clad in tattered tweeds and leaky brogues.

Archival Game-Hawking

by Lesli Larson



Game-hawking might be an archival hobby worth reviving. In Eugene, even my dental hygienist raises chickens in a backyard coop. Why not expand fowl-keeping to include birds that fetch their own dinners? At minimum, game-hawking provides us with new possibilities for heritage ensembles for 2010. Archival files show a promising range of outfits roughly based on the gamekeeper's wardrobe of tweeds, tall boots and jaunty caps. Excessive, protective layering--even on warmer days--is advisable to guard against underbrush and misdirected talons. Dress shirts and ties are encouraged. I leave sartorial takes on the falconer's gauntlet up to the individual.


Here are some vintage images of the game-hawking club at Oxford University. In this case, I will not be shopping from the club's Medieval falconry garb:





Who can resist a sport that requires an extra set of accessories for the companion animal?

Traditional hawk furniture

Falconry in film:

A Canterbury Tale (Powell and Pressburger)