Culture : ‘Brolly’ Fades: There Goes the Empire . . . : The slim, black umbrella, long a part of a gentleman’s uniform, is yielding to garish, stubby little products. Can England survive?

Here in the urban rain forest that is Britain’s capital city, the once-hallowed umbrella is in danger of becoming little more than a means of staying dry.

Although still a symbol of prim and proper Britishness, the umbrella’s importance as a required accessory for the fashionable gentleman or lady is diminishing. These days it’s thought of mostly as a tool, a piece of equipment that gets the job done.

Gone are the days when no respectable Englishman ventured forth, rain or shine, without his bowler hat and slim, black “brolly,” as umbrellas are casually known here.

The bowler has been disappearing for decades and has now taken on something of a quaint air. The umbrella is in no danger of disappearing, mind you. Sales are brisk, and the local weather--coming as no surprise to Londoners--is expected to remain awful. But the umbrella’s devaluation in social importance marks a dramatic change for a country built so firmly on tradition.

A casual survey on the streets of London shows that, unless it’s wet, few people feel it necessary to traverse the city with umbrella in hand. When someone is carrying one, it’s often brightly colored or extremely short--not at all the famous sleek, black model that could double as a walking stick. The favored model today is the compact umbrella with pullout handle that can fit easily into a briefcase or decent-sized handbag.

“These days, everything is much more informal,” says David Williamson, co-editor of Debrett’s Peerage Ltd., the publisher of “Debrett’s Etiquette and Modern Manners,” Britain’s definitive rulebook to proper behavior.

So who cares about all this? Well, those in the umbrella business are paying careful attention.

“Five or 10 years ago,” says Trevor Palmer, managing director of Tag Umbrellas, “If you went down to London Bridge Station in the morning, you’d find that 30% or 40% of the businessmen getting off the trains had a walking-length, black, tightly rolled umbrella. Now you might find 5%.

“People don’t seem interested any more in brand names,” Palmer goes on. “All they’re interested in is the bottom line--the price. Now they’re looking for cheap and nasty umbrellas. The day of the disposable umbrella is upon us.”

A world away from cheap and nasty, on New Oxford Street in London, is James Smith & Sons, umbrella makers and retailers since 1830. In a Victorian building that still retains many of the 1860s glass and wood cases, the umbrella store serves as a reminder that the age of the respectable gentleman and his proper brolly lives on here, at least.

Employee Jonathan Wardle describes the store’s array of tasteful umbrellas. The normal length for a gentleman’s umbrella is 25 inches, he says, but they can be tailored to suit.

Wardle’s expert advice for umbrella care: Keep a brolly rolled tightly when not in use, but never roll it until it’s dry. That means leaving the umbrella open indoors until the water has dripped off and evaporated.

The people Wardle meets each day are umbrella connoisseurs who uphold British brolly tradition. “A lot of gentlemen would feel naked without their umbrellas,” says Wardle.