Auxiliary Collection: Percival’s New Utility Clothes
Introducing Percival’s Auxiliary line
What is Utility style in fashion?
What does utility mean in clothing?
How to style mens utility jacket?
Introducing Percival’s Auxiliary line
auxiliary
/ɔːɡˈzɪlɪəri,ɒɡˈzɪlɪəri/
adjective
providing supplementary or additional help and support.
That’s straight from the dictionary — the very horse’s mouth of the English language itself. Auxiliary and utility clothes do exactly what the definition says — they provide supplementary and additional support to your everyday life. We’ve spent the past year developing longer-lasting materials — which we’re sourcing more ecologically — and refining the fits, and now we’re ready to bring you the Percival Auxiliary Range. It’s full of those wardrobe staples that you’re going to wear on a near constant rotation — hoodies, embroidered tees, sweatshirts and sweatpants etc. — this is the very bedrock of your wardrobe.
What is utility style in fashion?
Utility style is functionality and practicality that looks good. Non-restrictive, durable, and more pockets than a small snooker club. Like pretty much every lasting style, utility was created out of necessity — the need to concentrate labour and materials to the war effort during WWII. The government actually hired some of the biggest names in fashion at the time — including Hardy Amies and Norman Hartnell — to design utility clothing for the masses. The garments had to be functional, versatile, and they had to last. Much of the manufacturing labour force were busy fighting the Nazis during WWII, and there were heavy regulations on how much material was to be used for clothes production, so garments were designed to be minimal, with pockets and hoods added to make the most of the material space afforded to designers. The utility scheme didn’t end until 1952, by which point the seeds of utility style were very much sown.
What does utility mean in clothing?
Functional clothing design
Utility clothing isn’t just about the military. It encompasses any clothing built for a purpose usually to do with labour — postman shoes, fisherman vests, cargo pants, fisherman jumpers… a lot of fishing stuff, actually. Essentially, utility clothing must be functional. That means pockets, interior pockets, hoods, maybe even the odd carabiner. You need to be able to move freely. So if your daily routine involves you commuting to work, you’re going to need durable clothing that won’t boil you alive on a busy tube/metro/bus.
High quality fabrics
If it’s not made of high-quality materials, it’s not going to last. Auxiliary and utility clothing should be one of the last things to go when the world is just cockroaches and zombies. Our Auxiliary Range is made with the finest fabrics available. Obviously, Elon Musk has probably got a kevlar, raygun-resistant sweatshirt — that’s not our vibe. We’re using 100% organic cotton, and we reckon it’s comfier than kevlar, to be honest.
Styling utility clothing
How to style a utility shirt?
Utility shirts are thicker than your average shirt, so they’re going to hold their shape pretty well. Consider pairing with some slightly looser fitting trousers and a shoe with a silhouette that leans toward the chunky. Wear buttoned, or open with a plain, neutral tee underneath.
How to style mens utility jacket?
Similar to a utility shirt, a utility jacket is going to hold its shape pretty well so take those some factors into consideration. If you’re layering, probably avoid double utility-ing on the shirt and jacket combo. You can have too much shape and too many pockets — like a nightmarish kangaroo. You can pair with cargo pants if you want to lean into utility style, or you can tone it down a little with a pair of cords or perhaps some 5-pocket twill trousers.