[General] three-piece suit/ handlebar mustache/ derby/ high-backed wicker chair

[vil]

Dear teachers,


Would you tell me whether I am right with my interpretation of the expressions in bold in the following sentences?


There is a stately old gentleman in a three-piece suit. There are a white hair and a white handlebar mustache. There are also a derby on his knee and a walking stick at his side. He stares out at the world from a high-backed wicker chair, flanked by potted palms and two small terriers.

three-piece suit = if the vest was never invented there would be no such thing as three piece suits.

handlebar mustached = a long curved mustache resembling the curved ends of a handlebar.

derby = felt hat that is round and hard with a narrow brim

wicker = a weaving technique using rattan round-core sized from the large rattan palm

high-backed wicker chair always has a high back and is always supplied with a headrest = a basket work grandfathers chair

Thank you for your efforts.


Regards,


V

 

[Ouisch]

Dear teachers,


Would you tell me whether I am right with my interpretation of the expressions in bold in the following sentences?


There is a stately old gentleman in a three-piece suit. There are a white hair and a white handlebar mustache. There are also a derby on his knee and a walking stick at his side.

Properly speaking, this should say "He has white hair and a white handlebar mustache. There is also a derby on his knee and a walking stick at his side."

three-piece suit = if the vest was never invented there would be no such thing as three piece suits.

Never use generalizations such as "never." We don't know what might have happened in history; perhaps a garment other than the vest might have been invented and included as a standard part of men's haberdashery. However, you are correct in that a traditional three-piece suit is comprised of trousers, suit coat (jacket) and vest.

handlebar mustached = a long curved mustache resembling the curved ends of a handlebar.

Correct.

derby = felt hat that is round and hard with a narrow brim

Correct. Commonly called a "bowler" in BrE.

wicker = a weaving technique using rattan round-core sized from the large rattan palm

Yes.

high-backed wicker chair always has a high back and is always supplied with a headrest = a basket work grandfathers chair

A high-backed chair of any sort does not usually include a headrest. It just has a high back; that is, the back of the chair is taller than normal. Chairs with built-in headrests are more along the lines of a La-Z-Boy.

 

[Tullia]

In Br. Eng., the correct word for an American vest would be waistcoat.

To us a vest is a type of undergarment covering the torso worn under clothes to keep warm. You will also hear us refer to vest-tops which are tops in the shape of a vest (i.e. sleeveless with shoulder straps)