1930's inspired mens shirts and ties...? Where???

[PADDY]

Any idea where I can get myself kitted out with 1930's/40's men's shirts and ties (original or repro)...?

Just trying to get my wardrobe sorted at this end. All advice, pointers and links appreciated!! thanks.

 

[Matt Deckard]

Thrift stores are the easiest place to find the ties. As for the shirts they are a much harder to find, though it may be easier in your parts.

Modern shirts are fine mixed with a vintage tie. Only the most accute of eye can tell the difference when it comes to the shirt... that is unless the collar is uber pointed.

I prefer the long points on a collar and hope they come back. They just need to have the dynamic curve on the underside of the collar like they had in the 30's and not the bland straight cut that the long collars of the 70's had.

 

[Fletch]

Magnoli's has a small selection. Otherwise I think you'll have to go full custom.

Robert Talbott has some great tie fabrics, but of course, all in a modern lgneth and paddle shape.

 

[Matt Deckard]

Interesting thing i noticed at brooks Brothers...

Their Boys ties are the length of vintage 1930's ties. The width are pretty good as well..

Work great with high waisted trousers and for the guy who's tired of tucking the back end of his tie in his trousers.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I'm with Matt. If you know what to look for, the 30s ties are out there. Less so in the UK than the USA, in my experience, but they're out there in UK charity shops.

As for shirts, it's very rare to find a good original in the thrifts/charity shops. I think all of mine have come from eBay, except a couple from americanvintageclassics.com. Blighty bay has a constantly rotating group of vintage shirts. If they have attached collars they tend to go nuts in the UK, so most of the affordable stuff is the detachable collar kind. Here's one i picked up last night. It's in rotten condition which is why it went so cheap-ola (not rotten enough to make me not wear it, though):

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=001&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWN%3AIT&viewitem=&item=110071234979&rd=1&rd=1

Salv, i think, is plugging (well, not plugging, but he links to them relatively often) some company in the UK that makes good repros. Pretty pricey from what i could see, and they don't ship outside the UK.

bk

 

[flat-top]

While vintage shopping with fellow lounger resortes805 in CA, we found a few 30's/40's pointed collar shirts, but not "dress shirts", more like double pocket sport-ish shirts. The kind you can wear a tie with for sure, but not smooth white dress shirts. Loop collars, but when buttoned, have that great long pointed collar, so not your average loop collar gab shirt. I got a burgundy one that I love.

 

[Fletch]

Ie, these have a neckband collar, instead of just the 1-piece fold-over "camp" collar?

When I try to wear a tie with the camp collar it buckles in front and creeps up in back.

 

[flat-top]

Ie, these have a neckband collar, instead of just the 1-piece fold-over "camp" collar?

When I try to wear a tie with the camp collar it buckles in front and creeps up in back.

Yes. These I'm sure were meant to be worn both ways, where camp collars seem only meant to be worn open. I'm not even sure why they even put the top collar button on those!

 

[Salv]

...
Salv, i think, is plugging (well, not plugging, but he links to them relatively often) some company in the UK that makes good repros. Pretty pricey from what i could see, and they don't ship outside the UK.

bk

That'll probably be Old Town who do a nice pull-on shirt in linen, aertex or brushed cotton. It's a very English-style shirt without the long pointy collars found on American shirts of the '30s.

They also have some lovely ties - again, very English looking.

There's also The Vintage Shirt Company who make shirts mainly for theatrical use. They also have a good pull-on shirt - scroll down almost half way for the 1920's Spearpoint collar attached shirts -

They also sell lots of accessories - braces and collar studs etc.

It's always worth checking good old M&S - this cotton oxford has a decent collar shape but only comes in blue:

 

[Fletch]

A modern-day straight collar can work as long as you have at least 3" in length – any less and collar bar wearers like me will find they tend to slip off with wear.

Notice that the standard style you see above is really semi-spread - the points are a good bit apart to accommodate more types of knot. I do like the roll toward the neck band though - that'd be harder to sell in the USA where the standard dress shirt has a stayed collar.

Original 30s ties are obtainable, often at better prices than their longer and more interestingly designed 40s cousins. But they have to be looked for closely, because there's not much cachet or market for them.

I didn't mention originals because the OP was looking for something 30s inspired.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

(original or repro)...?

bk

at least 5 characters

 

[Fletch]

I'm going to Evelyn Wood and ask for my money back.

 

[reetpleat]

Yes. These I'm sure were meant to be worn both ways, where camp collars seem only meant to be worn open. I'm not even sure why they even put the top collar button on those!

Not quite. The sport collar I believe you are referring to, without a collar band, were often worn with a tie or buttoned up, but with no tie. In fact, a company, I think Habband advertised that style as a convertible shirt showing a drawing of a guy on a construction type site with a tie, and without.

It was also popular with lounge coats and other gaberdine type jackets. It would never be worn with a suit, but with sportswear. You ahve to tie your tie a little looser and let the whole thing lie on your shoulders.

 

[reetpleat]

I didn't mention originals because the OP was looking for something 30s inspired.[/QUOTE]


Well, it may be that he works in an office or something and needs modern lookling, but vintagy ties. Or he may just not know how easy it is to find vintage ties.

When I used to dela in v intage in SF, we could get a good price due to the swing revival thing. Now I can barely give away all but the best 40s styles.

In fact, I have a bag of mediocre (to me) ties that need cleaning and or pressing. I don't want to bother adding them to my collection as it is too much work, but I will dig them out and offer them free to anyone who wants to do the work for a ree tie.

 

[flat-top]

Not quite. The sport collar I believe you are referring to, without a collar band, were often worn with a tie or buttoned up, but with no tie. In fact, a company, I think Habband advertised that style as a convertible shirt showing a drawing of a guy on a construction type site with a tie, and without.

It was also popular with lounge coats and other gaberdine type jackets. It would never be worn with a suit, but with sportswear. You ahve to tie your tie a little looser and let the whole thing lie on your shoulders.

Yes, I own a many of these, some deadstock with those very directions on the paper tags. But still, these are the types of shirts you would wear as sportswear or open under a jacket more often than not.

 

[resortes805]

Yes, while repro vintage sports shirts are getting easier to find, 30's-40's style dress shirts are still quite an oddity. I've seen this 'goodfella' type of shirt at Siegal's in SF:

Yet I've never purchased one, so I really can't comment on them.

However, during the neo-swing craze of the late '90s I did pick up a handful of D'amante brand dress shirts with the long point collars. I wore them all out except for this burgundy one:

The year after these came out, D'amante made these ones with a curved, longish collar (does anyone know what this type of collar is called?):

Last year I picked a couple of shirts with this style collar, one in black and another in Lavendar. It has a 'goodfellas' type of collar with an odd two tone effect, looks kinda cool with a tie.

I really got to give it up to guys like Magnoli and Hideki for reproducing vintage men's dress shirts becuase there is definately a void out there when it comes to these.

 

[J. M. Stovall]

I'm diggin' up this thread to see if anyone has any new ideas or resources in this department.

 

[Matt Deckard]

If you want to go with a custom fit and some old details on a new shirt I'll be showing a few my own line at the next QM meet.

Anyway, check it out.
http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php

 

[benstephens]

Matt,

Can you do these shirts in silk?

Kindest

Ben

 

[scotrace]

My experience with London Shirts is that the one I have is wearing well after several months of weekly wear. The collar is long and soft enough to use a collar bar perfectly, and it tends to get out of place at times just like vintage ones. There are no slots for a collar stay.

Best part is the $19.95 price tag. At 5 for $100, it's hard to quibble.

<----- Floppy long collar white shirt from London Shirts in Avatar.