Are Walking Canes Appropriate for Fashion

A photograph illustration of different canes.

Pixabay

If you checked in with Irving Berlin around 1927, he would insist you mix with the Rockefellers only with a walking stick in your mitt while puttin' on the ritz. These days, the one time proud pikestaff is no longer a mode accompaniment signaling affluence and more than of a false arrayal for Pimp of the Twelvemonth contestants or cosplayers at Comic-Con.

However, the author of a new and comprehensive tape of walking sticks suggests they could make their mode dorsum into the hands of the fashionable. In A Visual History of Walking Sticks and Canes, Anthony Moss divides the devices between useful and decorative—while insisting the cane as a fashionable status symbol will non fade forever into history.

Calling his book "the definitive guide to (maybe) the earth's first fashion accessory," Moss identifies the mid-19th century as the peak of the walking stick's gilded era in U.S. and the U.K.

"From about 1850, a man was considered undressed if he didn't carry a walking cane," Moss says. "In the Fine art Nouveau era of 1890 to 1915, there existed a guideline of social fashion that dictated a rustic cane, in gnarled wood with a leather complect, should be worn in the morning— but not used after 10 a.thou."

According to Moss, the turn of the previous century's walking stick rules got complicated. The gentleman's peers would question his taste if he showed that rustic pikestaff during the working mean solar day. The decorated manner equus caballus would transition to a day pikestaff for concern. If a human being wanted to exist fashion-conscious, he would "vesture" a pistol grip cane with an ivory knob. Finally, a theater pikestaff "with a thin and straightforward ivory knob" would prove appropriate for the evening.

Of course, in an era earlier PETA, none of that was good news for elephants or their tusks. If a man wanted to show some styling finesse, he could involve an unhappy rhinoceros and carry the "ultimate prize" of the rare and costly horn handle cane.

"During that menstruation, sculpted heads, rounds or (L-shaped) opera handles were passe," Moss adds. "However, one classical model yet remains fashionable—the crutch, which one could concord firmly or hang from the arm when lighting a cigarette."

The author pinpoints 1915 as the year when the walking stick gradually stopped tapping the bricks literally and began striking the bricks culturally.

"The motor car era of 1915 negated the daily walk where one usually sported a cane, and the umbrella became king," he explains. "Though the 1920s was still the age of the walking stick—lasting fundamentally until the start of World War II—the world was irresolute."

Moss claims one style subculture keeping the cane alive is the continuation of 17th century Dandyism, championed over the decades by the likes of Noël Coward, Andy Warhol, and Quentin Crisp.

"Today's 'not bad' or 'dude' is elegant, consistently well—and originally—dressed," he says. "He perfectly forms his manners, while placing particular importance on refined language and leisurely hobbies. Many modern dandies notwithstanding wear a cane to complete their attire."

Calling himself "A Bang-up British Slap-up," Robin Dutt is an art curator, writer, and lecturer working with The Guardian, Elle, Marie Claire and the BBC Earth Service. He is currently working on a book exploring the legacy of the keen.

"A walking cane is the elegant partner of the nighttime, particularly on a visit to a theater or the opera," Dutt says. "It adds to the sense of occasion. With the groovy in heed, the cane is an extension of the wearer'due south personality, style, intent, and poise."

In defense force of the swell division, Dutt insists the walking stick was cheapened in the hands of a "pretty gentleman or fop." He defines them as 18th- and 19th-century examples of male types who "aped their betters, just destroyed the efficacy any cane might take lent" because of the way it was carried.

"Several style and pop videos do indeed partner canes with that 'pimp' backlog of fur coats and oversize hats and swagger to prove a point," Dutt adds. "Only, the item itself becomes lost in translation. A admirer volition always be a gentleman, no matter the abundance of his bag. He carries a cane with ataraxy—and people know information technology."

Like Moss, Dutt partially blames the umbrella for cutting the cane from regular utilise.

"Inevitably, fourth dimension interferes with everything," he says. "The popularization of the umbrella had a good deal to do with the cane'south demise because—even though special canes could firm a sword, a map, a musical instrument, a watch, a compass or a tot of brandy, it was a one dimensional artifact to aid walking. An umbrella is a dual-function cane providing support and shelter."

In the era of cellphones and smartwatches, Moss wonders if canes could return to popularity if enhanced with a picayune engineering science.

"In my new book, there are many walking cane patents and illustrations of multi-purpose or gadget walking canes," he says. "They include torches, musical instruments, music boxes, artist watercolor sets, cameras, tools, and measuring devices. And then, miniaturization can hands accommodate tracking devices or music players if there is a marketplace for a modernistic gadget walking stick."

Citing the pikestaff'due south decorative and functional identity, Dutt claims a pedometer, calorie fire tracker, satellite radio, phone, or other gadgets nosotros use today tin fit into the knob of a very gimmicky cane—perhaps fitted with a low-cal to hail a taxi, a bit to permit purchases or a recording device to dictate a company written report or novel pages."

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