J Swan- I’m sure you look devine in your dress!!
I have recently discovered a new weight loss trick (I don’t necessarily recommend it). It involves working full time for a law firm, going to law school, and commuting 2 hours a day. Really cuts down on the time you have to eat, haha.
My goal-fit into the hunt ball dress I bought two years ago as a goal dress…haven’t made it there yet!
[QUOTE=SteeleRdr;3011835]
I have recently discovered a new weight loss trick (I don’t necessarily recommend it). It involves working full time for a law firm, going to law school, and commuting 2 hours a day. Really cuts down on the time you have to eat, haha.[QUOTE]
SR, have tried a similar version - is not working - multi-task behind the wheel - eat in the car - weight loss will evaporate! 
[QUOTE=J Swan;3011782]
news flash - the heck with the helmets!
I finally found a dress for the hunt ball. Now I just need a paper bag to stick over my head. 
Amazingly, I don’t looked like a beached whale. More like…a beached porpoise.[/QUOTE]
HAHA, beatcha, I just found one that hides both my tummy AND my butt!
One man’s meat…
[QUOTE=Equibrit;3009367]
Tasty ones; http://www.pateyhats.com/?cat=3
J Swan - if you want a good drool go here; http://www.fieldandcountryantiques.co.uk/index.php?osCsid=8b666399ddc1431a28a396ada1fb473f[/QUOTE]
See, now, you couldn’t pay me enough money to wear a Patey - when I was a kid, I coveted one, but now I’m ohso older and wiser, to my eyes they look about as dated as white eyeshadow, and about as anachronistic and unbecoming also.
As far as the CO ones go, the approval rating depends on which country you’re showing in, I imagine - I’d rather have an approved-in-the-UK CO than an approved-nowhere Patey.
Field and Country often have some nice stuff, you’re right there, but they’re very pricy - you can find the same or better for much less elsewhere.
Well - bless your heart.
You lost me there, Equibrit -
[QUOTE=Equibrit;3012910]
Well - bless your heart.[/QUOTE]
Meaning? “Bless your heart” is usually meant as an online euphemism for “you offensive sod” - did I offend you somehow?
You’ve lost me, I’m afraid, so I’ll make a couple of guesses…
Was it my comment about the Patey helmets? The ones you like and the ones I liked once, but don’t like any more? What’s wrong with not liking a helmet? You didn’t take offense with all the posts decrying the “skunk” helmets!
Or was it my suggestion that you can buy most of the stuff listed by Field & Country cheaper elsewhere? Did you not notice that I also said their stuff is nice?
If you perhaps took my comments as personal attacks, all I can say is don’t be so daft. I was expressing my opinion about helmets and shops, not about you.
Or was it something else entirely? Please, do enlighten me.
So MFH says, well, come on, here’s a whip and a cap! Happy day- in jeans and parka, on a REALLY NICE mare, she jumped wire and everything! And the rest of the assembled crowd was insanely jealous of my parka and ski gloves!
Of course, when you look at the actual history, all this turnout snobbery looks quite a farce. You wore the best warm and functional clothing for the job of hunting ! Now hundreds of years later, everyone in any particular New World hunt has to adhere precisely to the dress code of … of … of when, exactly ? Of a hundred? two-hundred ? three-hundred years ago ? You’ve to dress appropriately for a different era (as yet unspecified) and a different climate.
Why ?
Tradition ?
Then WHOSE ???
Meanwhile, in the older hunts, you can tell the locals from the rich americans on hired horses, by the fact that the local boys are warm and toasty and the american hunto-tourists are extremely correctly dressed and rather beautiful in a slightly soggy Harry Hall catalogue kind of way.
Speaking of Field & Country…what do you think of this deal?
And how much to ship over here?
http://www.fieldandcountryantiques.co.uk/product_info.php?currency=USD&cPath=44&products_id=238
Postage from the UK
Beautiful jacket, but I’m not sure it’s actually meant for riding - it’s very open above the two buttons (I’d like a couple more for a riding jacket), but that could be the way it’s been tacked around the dummy. Harris Tweed is VERY warm (those tough little island sheep know a thing or two!), but it’s also fairly stiff, so the drape can be odd if it’s not been tailor-made for you. You should ask them for precise measurements of chest, shoulders, waist, drop, sleeves, etc, and how many vents it has at the back.
As far as postage from the UK is concerned, guesstimate the size and weight and check at http://www.royalmail.com/portal/rm - airmail and surface mail. Unless you can persuade the seller to declare it as a gift, you may have to cough up for Duty.
Romany, I agree about the open front… but the price, wow… honestly you cant find anything with what looks to be quality around here, used/or new for that price…and if you people have, you need to spill it!
You’re kidding?! That’s amazing! By the time you get it across the Atlantic it’ll be near $300, wow.
Go to any thrift shop in the UK, and lovely old tweed jackets are a dime a dozen - last time I was there you could easily find one for well under $50.
Or - what about finding any old quality tweed jacket on Ebay UK in a tweed you like the look of, and having it re-tailored to fit you? I know someone who did that, and was thrilled with the result, and she saved a fortune. If I knew a good tailor, I’d think of going that route myself.
ETA…just thinking, if you were good at sewing, you could carefully unpick all the stitching and use a Jean Hardy or a Suitability pattern and re-make the jacket as a hacking jacket yourself. I’ve got a gorgeous HH herringbone tweed jacket - it fitted when I was, oh, 18 years old, 10 sizes smaller, and 50# lighter.:no:
(now I’m inspired 
would DH ever notice if I did that to one of his tweed jackets?)
[QUOTE=Beverley;2997920]
Well, gee, Emily, you’ve asked for constructive criticism and then come up with an excuse for each flaw noted. Make up your mind whether you really want tips or not.[/QUOTE]
Well put! Precisely what I was thinking when I read the above posts…:eek:
[QUOTE=Romany;3015313]
You’re kidding?! That’s amazing! By the time you get it across the Atlantic it’ll be near $300, wow.
Go to any thrift shop in the UK, and lovely old tweed jackets are a dime a dozen - last time I was there you could easily find one for well under $50.
Or - what about finding any old quality tweed jacket on Ebay UK in a tweed you like the look of, and having it re-tailored to fit you? I know someone who did that, and was thrilled with the result, and she saved a fortune. If I knew a good tailor, I’d think of going that route myself.
ETA…just thinking, if you were good at sewing, you could carefully unpick all the stitching and use a Jean Hardy or a Suitability pattern and re-make the jacket as a hacking jacket yourself. I’ve got a gorgeous HH herringbone tweed jacket - it fitted when I was, oh, 18 years old, 10 sizes smaller, and 50# lighter.:no:
(now I’m inspired would DH ever notice if I did that to one of his tweed jackets?)[/QUOTE]
Well, sewing is not in my repitoire… so maybe a trip to London is in order… 
Well, actually, your post is the only one I read that smacks of snobbiness.
If you really want to be modern, you’d hunt the damn fox with a rifle like normal people.
Perhaps you could be just a little more polite to your US guests; by doing their best to be turned out beautifully, it’s out of politeness and respect for your hunt. If they’d shown up in blue jeans and T-shirts, no doubt you’d criticize them as typical sloppy Americans.
So do you offer to loan them an article of clothing that’s more appropriate, or do you just stand in a huddle and make fun of them?
Geez. A friend and I were thinking of taking a hunting trip to Ireland one of these days. If that’s the type of welcome we’d receive - no thanks - I’ll stay here and hunt with rivenoak and RAR. Those two, I’m sure, would lend me some boots for my horse, some sunglasses and a flask of water - and we’d gallop off into the sunset. And if they were my guests, I’d do the same for them. No snobs allowed.
If any of y’all want to do a COTH road trip to Saddlery Liquidators in Haymarket, VA - you might be able to find some really nice things. The Old Habit is having a fabulous sale too. If you’re looking for a specific size, or a piece of tack or something - you could send me a list ahead of time and I could see if they have it before you make the trip. Not just hunting stuff; they have all sorts of clothes for showing, kids stuff, boots, pilllows, a pretty decent collection of saddles, blankets - all kinds of horse things. They sell jumps now too. (I don’t know if their prices are competitive)
I’ve heard other UK’ers say pretty much the same thing. It seems as though we Americans are terribly hung up on turnout, whereas the UK’ers aren’t. My hunting penpal in Devon just laughs when I tell her about some of the obsessions I hear about. I agree that basic dress codes need to be observed, but I sure do like my oilskin duster; my Mountain Horse insulated tall boots; my polar fleece helmet cover/baklava thingy. I am able to HUNT and not be distracted by cold feet or a cold face or a soaking wet hunt jacket.
If we truly want to be traditionalists, then we need to do away with saddles, bits and stirrups. After all, the first mounted hunters didn’t have any of those…
Good post!
Got a question for the turnout nazis–
Do people these days braid for anything but the high, holy days?
When I started hunting, say forty-five years ago, I braided the mane for every single hunt. Only nine braids or so, but I braided. And most of the time I’d put the tail in a mud knot. French braiding the tail was only for super formal.
When I started hunting again, nobody braided for anything other than extra special, WOW meets.
I’ve never noticed obsession with turnout unless someone was competing for Best Turned Out, or for appointments classes at shows. Of course - that’s the whole point so it’s no surprise.
I know no lady rider that keeps a chicken sandwich and sherry in her sandwich case, either. Vet wrap, knife, baling twine, Epi pen, benadryl - oh yeah. Lots of that. Riders with handwarmers, yup. Seen that. Long johns? Oh yeah - lots of UnderArmour under the Christmas tree last christmas. I got some of my shirts at Wal-Mart. I got my stock pins at the fabric store; they’re kilt pins. Stronger and cheaper. Gloves - feed store. Tweeds, some new, some used. Tack - some new, some used.
I hunt with a pretty formal hunt and have never had my clothes checked for the “right” labels (whatever those are). As I said before - more than one landowner has told me that they appreciate and enjoy the lovely scene of horses, hounds and riders going across their land. And we are there at their pleasure.
vineyridge - I think you’re right on the braiding. Seems that it’s just for high holy days. I’d actually like to braid for Saturdays; because I need the practice.
vineyridge -
Funny you should ask about Sundays. I asked that question just last week, and was told nobody really braids on regular hunt days anymore. Just opening meet. I’m with JS – I would love to braid at least once a week but… I would end up just looking too formal. I might as well just pull my guy’s mane a bit shorter and leave it at that.
What’s in my sandwich case? I pulled all the stuff out the other day for the amusement of one of my friends: a pair of wire cutters in a sock (because I haven’t had the leather wire cutter holder made yet), extra copy of my hunting license and a 5 dollar bill (in a plastic baggie so it didn’t get damp), 2 smashed chewie bars, 5 peppermints (in good shape), and an extra set of gloves (polar fleece). My flask as it’s own case.
I will confess to wearing a “blinged” stock pin – tiny emerald colored rhinestones --and zippered hunt boots. My long underwear is pure silk. Beyond that, I’m as traditional as they come.
Speaking of sandwich cases, does anyone know where to find some that are somewhat reasonably priced? and please not that one from State Line Tack from a couple of months ago. I ordered it and it was pretty sad, even for $30. The tupperware that came with it was ok though.
Jaegermonster - I bought mine off a lady on FOL for 150, I think. Had the old sandwich case in it.
New - I’ve not seen them for less than Horse Country prices. Used - I see a lot at the local consignment places. Should I add you to my list of people to shop for?
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