1947 dated Bespoke Brown Pinstripe Suit

[GoldenEraFan]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/VINTAGE-194...pt=Vintage_Men_s_Clothing&hash=item3cd5e72ef6

 

[Tomasso]

Nice. Probably MTM rather than bespoke.

 

[Guttersnipe]

I was thinking the same thing, AC. Although it's tough to say for sure without knowing more about the shop that originally made the suit, Herbert Custom Tailoring Co. of Cincinnati. I'm not familiar with them.

One thing I have noticed is that vintage suits I know to be truly bespoke (due to knowledge of the maker, etc.) don't usually have those sewn in initials; that seems to be something which was more common with made-to-measure shops.

It's a great suit, though. I really like the alternating light and dark fancy weave stripes!

 

[Guttersnipe]

Yep, it's made-to-measure. I found this 1953 add here:



Jeez, Google is a wonderful thing!

 

[Baron Kurtz]

IIRC "International Tailoring Co." was a big MTM factory in the Chicago environs. Inside that "Herbert" jacket inner pocket is probably a ITC label with the customer's name etc.

Again, IIRC, the majority of jackets I've seen that feature those initials are from MTM factories.

 

[Guttersnipe]

Interesting, BK. So did a lot of these smaller shops show customers fabrics samples, take measurements and note requirements, and then send off orders to larger MTM firms, like International Tailoring Co., English-American Tailoring Co., etc. for the actual fabrication? That's a similar arrangement to many of today's high end men's haberdashers; they take measurements and you receive a suit labeled to the effect "Made exclusively for X by Y."

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Certainly that would have been the case for most British provincial haberdashers/general clothiers. That, of course, is how Burton's kept prices low, though their manufactory was "in house" as it were.

Many custom tailors, even, would be making liberal use of cut, make & trim services (CMT). Heavily advertised in Tailor and Cutter. To this day, Savile Row tailors send the stuff out round the corner to be made up, as they have for many years, certainly since the 20s.

I can't imagine the system would be any different in the US. If anything I'd imagine such a system to be very much more advanced in the US in the 30s/40s.