HUNTING CLOTHES 131 



but if the ordinary tailor be patronised, he must be 

 told to make the sleeves an inch or even an inch and 

 a half longer than in a morning coat, so that they 

 come well over the wrists, and to make the coat 

 wider than usual in the hips and under the arm-pits. 

 Personally, we are alwa}s measured for our eoat on 

 a dummy hack, such as most tailors possess. The 

 same advice applies in the case of the short coat 

 worn with breeches and gaiters ; for the coat should 

 fit when the wearer is in the saddle, not when he 

 is on the ground, and as the hips are extended in the 

 saddle, the ordinary coat must wrinkle up the back. 

 The art of dressing is to wear the right thing in the 

 right place, and the right coat in the hunting-field is a 

 roomy garment, which allows full play to the limbs. 

 To use a hunting phrase, the coat, like the rest of the 

 "kit," should be pre-eminently workmanlike. 



The essence of a good boot is a happy combination 

 of comfort and shape. Hunting boots, whether jack- 

 boots or top-boots, should be of black patent leather. 

 Brown jack-boots are intended for polo, not for the 

 hunting-field. We need hardly say that top-boots are 

 never worn with mufti, though, as we have seen a 

 man in the hunting-field in white cords, top-boots, a 

 drab jacket, and a velvet cap, it would appear that to 

 some people the most rudimentary advice is necessary. 

 All hunting boots should be kept on trees when not 

 in use, otherwise they will soon get out of shape and 

 crack. Peel has the reputation of being the best 

 maker of hunting boots, though he, like most boot- 

 makers, is apt to sacrifice comfort to style. Few men 

 have what is called a good leg for a boot, which means 



