In the latest season of Peaky Blinders, Birmingham’s most famous criminal gang is back with more roaring 20’s style as they careen towards a stock market crash and one of the classiest eras of men’s fashion: the 1930s.
The Peaky Blinders, like any good criminal gang, has a uniform that inspires both admiration and fear. Over 5 seasons and a decade of history, their style (and 1920’s style in general) has come to influence modern fashion in many ways. The prohibition high & tight hairstyle is back; boots are becoming increasingly popular; newsboy and flat caps are making a comeback.
Unlike the bold fashion choices that came to represent criminal rivals of the Peaky Blinders, the understated monochrome palette lacked flash and austentation even as leader Tommy Shelby and his gang began to climb the social ladder. It’s also got a distinct appeal for the modern gent for its timeless look. Today let’s take a deeper look at the style of the Peaky Blinders, the history behind the gang, and how you can replicate their look in a modern way today.
The Real Peaky Blinders
In Birmingham in the late 1880’s and 90’s, gangs ruled the streets in the midst of an industrial revolution that had failed to lift its many laborers from poverty. The show, based loosely on true accounts, is set 3 decades after the real Peaky Blinders operated as a gang. Their use of razor blades sewn in the peaks of their caps is unfortunately 2 parts myth and 1 part truth. As you can see below, the gang did wear their trademark caps, but disposable double edged razor blades weren’t marketed until 1903 and even if they could have afforded them, they wouldn’t have had the means to sew the thick metal blades into their caps.
The original Peaky Blinders were originally a single gang that later evolved a generic term for criminal youth in the area. They were known for their style, which included the peaked flat caps, ties, and bell-bottoms. They often used brass buttons on their jackets and just as today’s gangs are known for their symbols, the Peaky Blinders became identifiable for their style in the slums of Birmingham. However, the original was never able to rise to the same level of success and prominence as the fictionalized gang.
The Style of the 1920s
In retrospect, the style of the 1920’s was special because it represents an important inflection point in men’s fashion history. By the time the decade was running out, fashion had nearly completely transitioned away from stiff, Victorian styles and into the modern era.
The tailcoat had all but disappeared for everyday wear, and suits were tailored with a loose, draped cut that enlongated the legs, compressed the waist and emphasized the shoulders. Even though nearly 100 years have passed, almost every element of the typical 1920’s (and the Blinder’s) wardrobe is wearable today – save for the starched, detachable shirt collars and the Albert watch chains.
That being said, though styles were becoming more modern, the environment the British public lived in was still harsh and required heavy, durable clothing. Central heating was years from being ubiquitous; industrial towns like Birmingham were coated in soot and grime; the impossibility of keeping clothes clean meant that almost all clothes were dark, heavy, and simple. Working class men owned only a few outfits, a single overcoat, and one pair of boots, all of which is reflected in the choices the Peaky Blinders make with their clothes.
Peaky Blinders Style: Subversively Class-Conscious
So what does the style of the Peaky Blinders say about them? It’s not always obvious on screen, because the Blinder’s crew is mostly to be found amongst friends that all choose to stick to the house style rules.
Tommy Shelby, his brothers and his crew all wear a uniform based on a three piece suit, oxford laced boots, a newsboy cap, a detachable collar shirt, and a heavy overcoat. Detachable collars were expensive at the time, so the secondary characters of lower means often wear shirts without the collar. Even though the gang has wealth and status, they deliberately choose to wear nicer (though not flashier) versions of what the poor members of their community wear. Newsboy caps are the symbol of their gang, so even when the can afford to buy expensive fur felt hats that the rich wear, they choose to keep their caps.
The Peaky Blinder aesthetic is just one take on the style of the 20’s, and it neatly wraps together the gang’s sense of identity. Their style is clearly meant to separate them from equally wealthy English gentleman. However, their chosen mix of fashion works so well because the Shelbys are no gentleman. Instead, they are gangsters who want to use their clothing to underline their status in the industrial slums while rebelling against the authority of the traditional upper-class establishment.
Tommy and his family members accessorize their basic outfit with single Albert chains and pocket watches, tie bars, and ties. Ties are usually tone-on-tone with the rest of the outfit, until later seasons. As the seasons have progressed, the Blinders have started evolving past solids and into the prints and stripes that will dominate the 1930’s.
Arthur Shelby is the only outlier in that he wears bow ties. In this case, rather than emphasizing authority, the bow tie is meant to underline the fact that hot-headed Arthur is Tommy’s subordinate. Ties help convey Tommy’s seriousness while Arthur’s bow tie gives him the appearance of the little brother, despite the fact he’s actually older.
Style changes as time passes in the show are slow and subtle, and they consistently honor their working class origins by sticking with dark colors, subtle patterns, and garments characteristic of their hometown. While among the upper classes, Tommy and the Peaky Blinders make choices that openly flout class conventions of the time, such as wearing black gloves, which informs those around them that they have no interest in fitting in. As a rich man, Tommy can afford lighter colored gloves that were a visual indicator of higher class. Rather, they are there to challenge the establishment using their unique style as one of their many weapons.
Tommy Shelby’s Style
Tommy Shelby, played brillantly by Cillian Murphy, is the stylish, yet muted kingpin of Birmingham. Even though he sticks with the Peaky Blinders uniform, his look is differentiated in several ways. He is typically the only male character who wears an overcoat with a black velvet half collar. His high-and-tight is swept forward over his forehead, rather than back like the rest of his gang. He occassionally wears pinstripes, but in general he doesn’t need to use his clothes to project authority when his actions do it so clearly.
In the early seasons, Tommy’s most typical look includes the detachable collar, three-piece tweed, and no neckwear. Tommy eventually evolves to wear more kneckwear, most notably knit ties, tone-on-tone ties, and eventually the stripes and neats that would become popular in the 30s.
Even though Tommy Shelby and Luca Changretta are gangsters of similar standing, the Birmingham gang looks dated and dowdy juxtaposed to the brash American style the Italians bring with them in season 4.
Changretta embraces the new turndown collar, the Fedora hat, bold pinstriped double-breasted suits, brighter colors such as blue and red, and modern jewelry such as cuff links and multiple rings on each hand. His style is not unlike his famous (and real) counterpart, Al Capone.
Lo and behold, in the promos for season 5, Tommy is shown wearing pinstripes, a turndown collar, and a striped tie – all decidedly modern touches for a gang that uses their clothes to signify their loyalty with their working class (and unstylish) roots. He is also shown wearing an overcoat with a red lining, which is the first time he’s used such a bright color.
The only addition of color is perhaps a blue tie or striped shirt, which he always wears with a white detachable collar. His sleek undercut hair style is extreme, yet they are popular even today.
How To Dress Like the Peaky Blinders
Dressing like Shelby or any other member of his faction is far easier than some of the bolder suits and outfits worn by other Gentlemen of Style we’ve covered like Harvey Specter, Hannibal and even the cast of Downton Abbey. Though the look is suit-heavy in it’s original form, the individual elements can be paired with more modern garments for a more wearable look.
Pair Neutral Tweed or Flannel with Faint Patterns
Forget having to coordinate colors, the Peaky Blinders are all about monochrome attire. Pair gray, navy and brown three-piece suits with vintage stripes, houndstooth, faint windowpanes, and thick glen checks.
The spinning of yarns wasn’t as advanced in the 1920’s and hence the fabrics were much thicker and the patterns less detailed. Contemporary fabrics are much lighter weight, which means they lack the drape you see in the show. You cannot replicate that look with modern cloth unless you go with tweed. You may wonder if it’s worth attempting, but we wholeheartedly believe so; tweed is one of the best ways to add texture to a modern wardrobe even if you’re not angling for the Peaky Blinder look.
Your best bet to recreate the look is to invest in a heavy, vintage tweed suit with short lapels, a matching waistcoat, and pleated trousers. Keep the finished pant hem rather short with no break; it was practical to wear short pants in muddy Birmingham but nowadays, it just happens to be in fashion.
Add a Heavy Overcoat
Tommy Shelby loves to wear a black single breasted overcoat made of heavy wool cloth, a black velvet half collar, and peaked lapels. It’s similar to a chesterfield, but it lacks the notched lapels. Stylistically, this city overcoat does not work at all with a tweed suit, but Shelby is a villain who has no class, and his combinations are a reflection of that.
If you want to exude a similar style, then go for it; we recommend choosing gray, brown or navy rather than somber black. Otherwise, a covert coat is the better choice for real life outfits.
Accessorize with a Tweed Cap
The Shelbys prefer a newsboy and flat caps that were known as a working man’s hat. Today, these hats remain quite stylish and are worn year round in various colors, styles and materials. Hence, the first hallmark of a Shelby is the tweed cap either in herringbone Harris tweed or a grey Donegal tweed.
This style of hat is perfect for fall, winter and spring, especially as an althernative to the hair-crushing, boringly ubiquitous beanie.
Opt for Winchester or Solid White Shirts
As far as shirts go, you sometimes see a white dress shirt with single cuffs for cufflinks and a stiff, starched, white detachable collar. However, you can see the Shelbys more often in all sorts of striped shirts. Although difficult to find these days, British legal outfitters still carry these fancy striped shirts for detachable collars, and since it is such a unique item, you definitely have to get one of those. A shirt with an attached collar simply has a very different look and won’t suffice.
Add Black, Laced Boots
A pair of black above ankle length captoe oxford style boots in black with leather soles are an absolute must for a Peaky Blinders outfit. Make sure they are not spit polished but rugged with some patina and a bit of dirt if you want to recreate the authentic look.
Accessorize with Ties & Bow Ties
The Peaky Blinders Arthur sometimes wears finely printed bow ties made of English silk.
At times, Tommy wears a tie. In the early seasons, he wore solid grenadine ties, knit ties, and solid silks.
In later seasons, he started wearing the large neats that became popular in the 30s.
Even though it is Peaky Blinders style to wear three-piece suit without neckwear, it will always make you look amateurish to do so.
Conclusion
Peaky Blinders and its leader Tommy Shelby are not the kind of men worth idolizing; they were the opposite of gentlemen. They are, however, icons of British gangster style on the small screen, and they certainly are much better dressed than the average man on the street today. They remind of us of the visual power and influence of the styles of the 20’s and early 30’s, which are the basis of most modern men’s fashions. Even if you have no intent of replicating the Blinder’s style, there is no denying they are an incredible source of vintage-cool inspiration.
If you like this piece, make sure to check out our other TV-series and movie clothes reviews.
Peaky Blinders Style: The Look of the Kingpins of Birmingham published first on https://mistiewyatt.tumblr.com/
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