Poirot Puts His Foot In It

In "The Adventure of the Clapham Cook," the first episode of the TV series Agatha Christie's Poirot, the great detective and Captain Hastings journey to the Lake District in England. From the train station in Keswick, they walk to the remote cottage of Eliza Dunn, the former cook of Mrs. Todd. In so doing, they pass through picturesque grazing land. 

Hastings may view this herd of sheep as charming, but Poirot would rather not pass through them.

Inevitably, Poirot's beautiful shoes get mired in mud, as well as what the animals left behind. Despite the pride he takes in his appearance, Hercule Poirot carries on, and continues his walk to Eliza Dunn's home.

Some may see Hercule Poirot's choice of spats at fussy or pretentious. Certainly spats look nice, and they were fashionable English attire in the 19th and early 20th centuries. According to Wikipedia, they fell out of favor in England in the 1920s. Although "The Adventure of the Clapham Cook" was written in the early 1920s, the TV series largely set their stories in the 1930s. So depending on how you see Hercule Poirot's choice of footwear, spats are either fashionable, or they're not.

One thing you can't argue with is that they are practical. At least, in the sense that they protect Poirot's socks from mud (and worse). This would not only come in handy on the dirty London streets, but also on muddy grazing land in the Lake District. 

Perhaps spats also represent a fashion statement. In an interview, actor David Suchet claimed that spats were a key to finding the character of Hercule Poirot. Certainly, if new types of footwear were coming into fashion, Hercule Poirot would look more distinctive if he clung to the fashions of an earlier age. And as older people often feel as though people of the next generation are less moral and proper than themselves, spats could also signal that Poirot will not accept any lessening of his standards of ethics and propriety.

In his commentary for "Murder on the Orient Express," actor and director Kenneth Brannaugh stated that he wanted his Poirot to be less fastidious, or prissy, in his attire. Thus spats were replaced with more era-appropriate footwear. Yet it's interesting to note that in the opening minutes of the movie, and Brannaugh's first appearance as Hercule Poirot, the great detective walks down a street in Jersalem and steps in something an animal has left behind. Is this a mere coincidence, or an intentional homage? In either case, it signals that Hercule Poirot will tread through the filth of this world, in order to seek out the truth.

Dragon Dave