'Why dress down when you can dress up?': Group of dapper gentlemen in Victorian suits honour Benjamin Disraeli in decadent summer saunter


A group of vintage aficionados kitted out in vintage-retro suits strolled around Mayfair in the name of sartorial freedom today.

The 24 gentlemen dressed in braces, bow ties, top hats, three-piece suits, cravats and shiny brogues met at 2pm at St. Pauls' Cathedral in London for a walk through town.



Some sported beards of various volumes, while other carried canes and hip flasks. One chap in particular looked to have got the inspiration for his look for the day from Jeremy Piven's interpretation of Mr Selfridge in the hit ITV drama of the same name.

The saunter, involving dressing in your finest clothes and indulging in extended, relaxed walks around town , was inspired by the summer saunters promoted by fashionable British Prime Minster of the 1800s, Benjamin Disraeli.



The group of 24 dapper gentlemen pose outside St. Paul's Cathedral today ready to stroll

I t quickly caught on to become one of the most popular and fashionable pastimes of Diraeli's era.

Led by tailor-turned-stylist Timothy Lord and a writer for Chap magazine known as Albion, today's walk was arranged in the hope of reviving the Victorian practice.

It was advertised on Albion's website Geovictwardianism, a blog for men who are fans of the Georgian, Victorian and Edwardian eras who like to behave 'with good manners and dress well'.



'These are not effete parvenus or aristocrats, these are certain types of people who wish to be classless and stylish, but with substance,' writes Albion.

The self-styled 'anti-dandy anarchic agitators' walked casually and chatted among themselves all the way from the steps of St. Paul's Cathedral to Mayfair's Berkeley Square in a 'demonstration of solidarity with all men who dare to dress differently'.

The looks on display paid homage to men's fashions from the 1700s through to the modern day.

The demonstration of solidarity welcomed all men who dare to dress differently

Bold and independent, three men who are clearly fans of Victorian fashions pose in their dapper suits, top hats and cravats

'It takes guts, determination and well-designed footwear to complete the course,' writes Albion.

'Benjamin Disraeli, that elegant trend-setting doyen of the young and fashionable in the late nineteenth century (and Victoria's favourite prime minister) was more than fond of sauntering.

'Charles Dickens sported exuberant clothing and he would be proud that they these protesting promenaders are re-igniting the streets of London with sartorial splendour, respectfully offering a return to and re-invention of classic menswear and the lifestyle which accompanies it.

'So what is the outward expression of their inner philosophy? Simply this: men do not sing from the same hymn sheet. Do they look like choirboys? Men should sing in a wonderful harmonious disharmony, a cacophony of styles, which express their enthusiasm for life.



Some gents opted for heavy jackets, not the optimal attire for soaring summer temperatures. Others simply opted for a shirt, exposing their braces

Gentlemen dressed in three-piece suits and beards of various volume

'Vintage-retro: What's that? Before during and after vintage some men dressed - and continue to dress - well in an individual idiom. The fashion fascists do not dictate to these free-style romantic radicals for whom cliché clothing and totalitarian toggery are banned. Trousers and ties to turn heads and melt hearts, shirts and shoes to seduce maidens and bewitch beauties.

'The Saunter is no cake walk, it is a tea and cake walk: a very British Beano.'



Timothy Lord said: 'Why dress down when you can dress up?'

The 2.5 mile route started from steps of St. Paul's, following Fleet Street, the Strand, the Mall, St. James's, Albemarle Street and ending at Berkeley Square.

Benjamin Disraeli, (1804-1881), pictured in his younger and older years (L-R) was a statesman and literary figure, who served in government for three decades









