Eddie Schmidt, Hollywood's tailor.

[scotrace]

Thanks!


My dream is to grab the (loquacious) ghost of Arnold Gingrich, the founding editor of Apparel Arts and Esquire, and have a mighty fine Q&A.

.

Not to worry, my friend, you're already channeling him.

 

[Nashoba]

agreed!

 

[MudInYerEye]

Such sugary sweetness. Yuck.

 

[Tomasso]

I'll bet that Jack Taylor is a font of info on the old time Hollywood/studio tailors. Somebody (Marc) should go have a chat with him.

 

[happyfilmluvguy]

Why doesn't someone write a book about fashion in the 30s and 40s? There are a few but we need more.

 

[Tomasso]

Marc

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Such sugary sweetness. Yuck.

Well earned, though.

.

 

[Marty M.]

Wow.

Just got back in town. Great thread. Marc, move to Minneapolis (Please).
Marty Mathis

 

[Diamondback]

Or, another idea. Marc, have you ever considered just typing up essays on individual points of Golden Age style, with an eye toward either a series of magazine articles or building a website on sartorial refinement?

 

[Feraud]

Marc has an article in Classic Style.
That sartorially refined website has already been created..

 

[Tomasso]

That sartorially refined website has already been created..

What's the address.

 

[resortes805]

It's been a long time since I've learned anything new here about vintage suits, etc.

.

Word.

On the topic of Macintosh suits, I saw a teeny tiny Macintosh suit coat on Melrose a few months ago. If it's still there I'll pick it up and snap some pics. The shoulders were quite broad and the nipped waist was miniscule.

In the 1920's, the sharpest dressed of the 1st generation of Filipino immigrant laborers wore expensive tailored suits called "Macintosh suits." They often chose Brown to compliment their complexion. I have no idea if these Macintosh suits are related to the Macintosh tailors in Hollywood.

 

[mike]

Matt Deckard, BK, Orgetorix, me, and a few other great guys ... we really do love to share our knowledge about vintage mens clothing and history.


But I wish that the Lounge were attracting more such "historians/experts/teachers" to it. We seem to have fewer vintage menswear "teachers" now than in the past. It's been a long time since I've learned anything new here about vintage suits, etc.


Where are you guys? How can we get you to come over here and post? Teach us, for pete's sake!

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Well I don't have anything to add, but I really appreciate and enjoy what YOU are teaching me

off topic but attempting to appeal to the right crowd...
Any of you fine folks going to see King Vidor's the Big Parade this friday @ UCLA's Billy Wilder theatre?!

 

[mike]

And yes, the supremely sporty suit jacket which Clark Gable wore in It Happened One Night ... it was made for him by Eddie Schmidt. :eusa_clap

.

Do you think it would have been possible he have also made Ronald Colman's suit worn in Lost Horizon aswell?

 

[Rick S.]

Really great thread...I have learned more on these pages than I have gleaned in 20 years of messing with film wardrobe.

The only thing, that I can add to the discussion, is that MacIntosh seems to have had a sweetheart deal with Paramount. Out, of about a dozen suits I have handled, all but one was from a star under contract to them at the time. Nearly every Bob Hope and Bing Crosby suit has been from them. The only exception, so far, is a Harry Cohn (mogul of Columbia Pictures) June 1945 paramilitary 'Ike' style short coat. Based, on the date, I would guess it was to be worn by him in a Hollywood post VE-DAY parade or for some sort of 'home guard' service.

Also, I have read that the great MGM 'A' list actors, of the 1930s, were given stipends, for wardrobe, to use the tailor of their choice, hence Gable's fondness for Eddie Schmidt. In the book, 'MEMO FROM DAVID O. SELZNICK', the April 17, 1939 memo refers to E.S. being Gable's tailor "from the time he was an obscure actor".

I, would be interested in hearing the details of how this was altered for GWTW, an account someone alluded to earlier.

rick

 

[cookie]

Really great thread...I have learned more on these pages than I have gleaned in 20 years of messing with film wardrobe.

rick

That is a huge wrap for our resident vintage experts, Rick. I am sure they will be chuffed to hear that.

 

[savon333]

Eddie Schmidt Adolphe Menjou A Star Is Born (1937)

Along with the Clark Gable Jacket I'm still trying to get information on I also have Adolphe Menjou’s screen worn Tuxedo jacket with tails from A Star Is Born (1937). This jacket was worn by Adolphe Menjou’s character Oliver Niles during the Academy Awards dinner scene where Vicki Lester (Janet Gaynor) is presented an Oscar for best actress. (note: Janet Gaynor won the Oscar that year as best actress for her portrayal of Vicki Lester). Jacket was designed and tailored by Eddie Schmidt. I will post some pictures of the jacket soon. Still in top condition...Rich

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Fascinating!


Adolphe Menjou was also a loyal customer of Oviatt's, and a close personal friend of its co-founder/owner, James Oviatt. In fact, they dabbled in a couple of little business ventures together. In the mid '30s, for example, Menjou "designed" a new kind of cigarette lighter: Oviatt's sold these lighters exclusively, at least for a while.


By the way, Eddie Schmidt himself died in 1938. Some felt that after his demise, the quality of the business's tailoring took a turn for the worse. For this reason, one of MGM's production chiefs tried (in vain) to convince Clark Gable to not hire Eddie Schmidt, Inc. for his Gone with the Wind costumes.


.

 

[Rick S.]

(note: Janet Gaynor won the Oscar that year as best actress for her portrayal of Vicki Lester).

Sorry...she did not.

She won her only award, in 1929 as Best Actress, for STREET ANGEL, SUNRISE, and SEVENTH HEAVEN.

 

[Jovan]

Re: the first post -- those are some extremely well proportioned peaks. Eddie Schmidt seemed like an incredibly talented tailor. Where are all the Eddie Schmidts now? Well, we may not see much discussion of them until 50-60 years later as well! lol That, and thespians are drifting more towards wearing designer stuff these days, both in the movies themselves and their everyday lives.