The Art of Wearing
Aidan O’Connell wearing his Frazer-made charcoal grey hunting tails with Prussian collar and Prince of Wales cuffs and champagne boot tops hunting with the Orange County Hounds in Virginia / Noel Mullins photo
I have some great memories and so many amusing stories of traveling to different countries to hunt and report on foxhunting with Frazers tailor shop’s most prominent client: Aidan ‘Suntan’ O’Connell. I captured images of Aidan wearing bespoke tailoring in all aspects of the sport and at social events in Europe and the US as he has perhaps one of the most complete bespoke wardrobes that I know of. He also wore a ponytail with a velvet bow that he grew during a period of contemplation in England.
He is the true Corinthian―has ridden three times over the Aintree Grand National fences. The well-known London fashion photographer John Minoprio once remarked to me that every time he passes the statue of Beau Brummel, the Regency arbiter of men’s fashion in Jermyn Street in London, he is reminded of Aidan O’Connell. But taking personal pride in his appearance and being dressed for the occasion is something Aidan has done all his life.
Even in his student days in high school, he wore a three-piece pinstripe suit and a bow tie, and when he attended University College Cork and drove a Jaguar, it made him even more popular with his fellow students who were interested in horseracing or hunting as they were sure of a lift to a race meeting.
He took UK society by storm in 1978 when he trained a winner at Towcester Races dressed in a Savile Row bespoke grey pinstriped suit, red bow tie, and a white Fedora hat. Lady Hesketh was so impressed that she invited him to dinner. When Anna Wallace, the lady that Prince Charles proposed to twice unsuccessfully, was being chaperoned by Aidan on an extended hunting holiday in Ireland, he had Frazer’s tailor matching hunting jackets for them. Aidan’s grandmother, a lady ahead of her time, had a saying: ‘The feathers make the bird!”
Awarding of Hunt Colours
To be awarded your hunt colours is usually a prestigious event. Many hunts awarded colours only to the few. In fact somebody had to pass away into that great hunting field in the sky before another eligible member was asked to take their place!
When Lord Daresbury was Master of the County Limerick Foxhounds and Hugh Robards was hunting hounds, it was a time considered as the heyday of hunting in County Limerick. Lord Daresbury was very selective as to who was awarded hunt colours. In 1979 he summoned Aidan and said, “As some members are retiring, we better keep up the tradition, and you should go and see Frazer’s and get measured for your red hunt tails and I will organise the brass hunt buttons.” Not only were members expected to turn out properly on the hunting field, but it was also important to have dinner attire―black tie and tuxedo jacket―for after-hunt dinners.
Aidan recalled that one season after hunting forty days in Limerick he attended forty black-tie dinners, and he remembers a season when he hunted ninety-six days, with thirty-six different packs, on forty-nine different horses in seven countries. On another occasion he hunted Monday with the Duhallow, Tuesday with the Scarteen, Wednesday with the County Limerick, Thursday with the Clares, Friday with the Stonehall Harriers when taxi driver Johnny Conway drove him to Shannon Airport in Ireland still in hunting attire, and he flew to Florida and hunted Saturday and Sunday with the South Creek Hunt which included a hunt ball Saturday night, a flight back to Shannon, and was on a horse with the Limerick Foxhounds on Monday morning at 11.20 am (just twenty minutes late)! As Aidan hunted usually ninety-five days in a season, one can understand why he needed a specialised hunting tailor to keep him supplied with bespoke hunting attire.
Aidan has also been awarded hunt colours of the Genesee Valley Hunt in the USA, the Frazer Valley Hunt in Canada, the Asbach Hunt and the Hamburger Schleppjagdverein Hunt, both in Germany, and he keeps those jackets with friends in those hunt countries ready to wear when he is visiting.
Aidan wears his Genesee Valley Hunt colours by Frazer when hunting with the GVH hounds in New York State. / Noel Mullins photo
The Wardrobe
In his hunting travels, Aidan normally wears his County Limerick Foxhounds red double-breasted hunt tails with a green collar and brass hunt buttons, red or bottle green waistcoat, butterfly collar and stock, with white britches by Frazers. In addition, he wears a silk top hat by Patey of London, and champagne topped riding boots with white leather garter straps made by Tuttys in Kildare and Davies in Wales.
Aidan has added a number of coloured double-breasted hunting tails to his wardrobe, one champagne, a charcoal grey, and a green set, all with Prussian collars and Prince of Wales cuffs tailored by Frazers. For leisure Aidan occasionally wears a blazer and cravat, or a black cape with a metal clasp made by Frazers, and his silk top hat is made by Patey in London. His frock coats with County Limerick Foxhounds green collar and hunt buttons made by Frazers can also be worn Autumn hunting, particularly when he is traveling, but with a brown bowler hat made by Patey. For evening wear or when he is invited as guest speaker at a function, which happens frequently, he wears a white tuxedo or blue velvet smoking jacket finished off with satin lapels and a buttonhole carnation that is a different colour for each day of the week. When horse racing, he wears a long, fawn Cashmere coat and a Fedora hat, always topped off by a bow tie and his signature carnation and handkerchief.
Aidan OConnell, wearing his Frazer-made velvet smoking jacket, welcomes guests to his birthday celebration at the Red Fox Inn in Middleburg.
Final Fitting for Blazers
Talking to him a few weeks ago he was upbeat about 2021. He informed me that he was just going to visit Frazers to have his final fitting for his new blazers, one navy and the other charcoal grey fitted with sets of County Limerick Hunt brass buttons. He maintains that there are few pleasures in life that compare to getting fitted for a bespoke suit, blazer, or hunting attire, as the sheer feel of the quality fabric and the snug fit have an uplifting effect when finished off by his trademark carnation. He even had Frazers make his wedding attire in 1997―matching pinstriped double-breasted suits, and also a matching side saddle apron for his wife and matching custom black silk top hats which made quite an impression as they rode from the church in the village of Adare in County Limerick to Adare Manor for the reception.
Bespoke tailoring, well-fitting, superb fabrics, uniquely styled and giving the wearer a long, lingering experience. Aidan’s grandmother spoke wisely when she said, ‘The Feathers make the Bird!”
Posted April 30, 2021
Noel Mullins is a photojournalist, lifelong foxhunter, and author of The Dublin Horse Show, The Irish Hunter, In Search of the Kerry Beagle, and other books on Irish horse sport. Visit him on the web.