Finally!

[Marc Chevalier]

.
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/mens-fashion/mad-men-style-01132011

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

Finger crossed. I just hope they don't do the same mistakes as the 70s. For now it is only about big lapels, isn't it? Do you think the trousers waist will also rise again?

 

[Marc Chevalier]

.
If Tom Ford raises the waist, the other menswear designers will follow. Ford is 'the man' right now: his tuxedos were all over the Oscars show (again).

 

[Thibideaux]

I'm actually a big fan of the narrow lines that the television program Mad Men brought back. I always thought Sinatra in the sixties was about as dapper as it got. Thin lapels and ties were my thing. But to be honest, the real old school cut double breasted jackets are starting to grow on me, especially the more I hang around here. The one's from the 20's and 30's with the high button stances and what not are particularly of note to me.

Can't say I particularly care for the ones on the link there, however.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I'm actually a big fan of the narrow lines that the television program Mad Men brought back.

If only it were "Mad Men" that had brought the style back! The 'look' would have been around for only five years. Alas, it was designer Thom Browne, not "Mad Men", who brought narrow lines to the ready-to-wear fore in 2004.


In other words, we've had nearly eight years of this stuff. No more, please.

 

[Thibideaux]

Heh. I guess I certainly got taken to school on that one. I suppose I could try to regain composure by saying that Mad Men likely proliferated the styling, brought it to us common folks if you will. I don't know a whole lot about Thom Browne or Tom Ford, other than the occasional snippet I discern from GQ.

Thom Browne also has a thing for trousers with such a lack of break that they skirt dangerously close to high-water territory, yes?

Either way, I don't mind a change in high fashion's tastes. And I don't mind if they don't change. There are looks I like and looks I don't. I don't much care how old or new or played out they are. But I can see the use of fresh trends, if only to make it more accessible to us mouth breathers within 8 or so years.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Heh. I guess I certainly got taken to school on that one.

Didn't mean to.


On a side note, it's interesting (and weird?) that the "Mad Men" phenom has done just about nothing to help the vintage '60s suit market. For the past five years, eBay and Etsy have had scores of vintage late '50s-early '60s suits and sportcoats come and go without a single bid.

 

[Thibideaux]

Didn't mean to.

Oh it's no problem. I've got no quarrel about deferring to the more experienced party on such matters, and hopefully learning a thing or two.

 

[herringbonekid]

Marc, are you hoping that designers will produce better (more 30s inspired) clothing so that you can buy some of it, or in the hope that the populace will become better dressed as a knock-on effect ?

 

[Feraud]

On a side note, it's interesting (and weird?) that the "Mad Men" phenom has done just about nothing to help the vintage '60s suit market. For the past five years, eBay and Etsy have had scores of vintage late '50s-early '60s suits and sportcoats come and go without a single bid.

Yes I've noticed that too.
It makes me think cinema has little influence on the vintage market. Japan is probably the bigger influence on these crazy prices we've seen.

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

.
If Tom Ford raises the waist, the other menswear designers will follow. Ford is 'the man' right now: his tuxedos were all over the Oscars show (again).

Yes. I noticed. But his trousers are still "normal"


What about Ralph Lauren? Is he considered less influental these days?

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Is [Ralph Lauren] considered less influental these days?

For menswear? Yes.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Marc, are you hoping that designers will produce better (more 30s inspired) clothing so that you can buy some of it, or in the hope that the populace will become better dressed as a knock-on effect ?

The latter. I'm hoping so for the sake of Loungers who don't fit into most vintage '30s clothing, can't afford the few vintage pieces that do fit, and aren't finding any modern equivalents in stores.

 

[Johnny J]

.
http://www.esquire.com/blogs/mens-fashion/mad-men-style-01132011

Nice wide lapels, but I also agree on what was said about the trousers. Hopefully they will go with the high waisted and full cut.

 

[herringbonekid]

I'm hoping so for the sake of Loungers who don't fit into most vintage '30s clothing, can't afford the few vintage pieces that do fit, and aren't finding any modern equivalents in stores.

trouble is, for it to be affordable to the average guy it has to filter down from the Tom Fords, to the Gaps, Targets and Top Mans. i still don't think high-waisted wider trousers are going to make it to the mainstream any time soon. personally i wouldn't want them to. i like that they look unusual on the few. but i'm an elitist snob.

workwear is a different matter... i don't think the vintage workwear aesthetic (chambray shirts, shawl-collar cardigans etc.) has ever been so taken up by the mainstream as it has in the past 4 years or so.

 

[BigFitz]

The latter. I'm hoping so for the sake of Loungers who don't fit into most vintage '30s clothing, can't afford the few vintage pieces that do fit, and aren't finding any modern equivalents in stores.

Yes on that. I keep scanning some vintage sites and Ebay and think to myself "either there weren't very many 44R's back in the day or they've all been scarfed up long ago." Keep thinking about that diet too.....

 

[Oldsarge]

Diet, Schmiet! We're just physically larger (and not just fatter) than that generation. I mean, my very dapper grandfather was wearing those suits in the '20's and 30's, his brothers were tailoring them, my father wore them until WWII broke out. Cred established? Fine. Now I'd like to point out that G'pa was 5'5", my father just a hair under 5'8" and I'm six feet even, as is my son. Finding classic era clothing that fits the modern chap is hard--and expensive. It's easier to just go see MyTailor.com and have them made. Doesn't cost any more, either.

 

[GoldenEraFan]

Finally indeed! I got into the whole late '50s/'60s MadMen look when the show first premiered back in 2007. Around 2010, I started getting bored with the look and after learning more about vintage jackets and ties and the difference in cuts etc. I realized that I actually liked the '10s-'40s styles all along. These days, if I wear MadMen era vintage sportcoats, I try to make it look more Edwardian. I agree, the '30s styled double breasted definitely deserves a comeback. I can't count how many times GQ would dump on them between 2007-2011.

Also, ironically the last season of Mad Men ended in 1965. It's now progressing into the late '60s, in which the '30s style made a short comeback with the popularity of Bonnie and Clyde in 1967.

 

[MikeBravo]

trouble is, for it to be affordable to the average guy it has to filter down from the Tom Fords, to the Gaps, Targets and Top Mans. i still don't think high-waisted wider trousers are going to make it to the mainstream any time soon. personally i wouldn't want them to. i like that they look unusual on the few. but i'm an elitist snob.

I think with the current love of low-slung hipster type trousers, trying to bring high waisted trousers back is a too much of an ask just yet

Elitist snob or individualist depends on your viewpoint. I think your an individual.

 

[herringbonekid]

Elitist snob or individualist depends on your viewpoint. I think your an individual.

the catch 22 of the vintage wearer: we bemoan the current state of clothing being produced today for the masses, yet if everyone did dress in the type of clothes we like, we wouldn't look individual anymore.