My "new" tux

[Feraud]

I wouldn't wear a fedora with this, but a homburg is appropriate, right? I have 'em in black and gray and blue (and in brown, but even I wouldn't do that), so I oughta have something that'll work. (The photos don't show it all that well, but the tux itself is a dark blue.)

I've worn a fedora (porkpie) with a tux. The hat comes off indoors so no one is the wiser. If space or funds are an issue I would not buy a homburg for the rare black tie event.

 

[tonyb]

Pleased to report that I've found the right shirt to wear with this tux.

The coupla-three formal shirts I already owned (prior to buying this latest one) all have quarter-inch pleats and winged collars, and that just looks wrong under this double-breasted jacket with those wide lapels. So I'd been in search of wider pleats and a lay-down collar.

I followed a couple of 'em on eBay but let 'em go because the bidding got beyond my comfort zone. (Couldn't see paying more for the shirt than I paid for the suit.) I dropped into a couple of places today -- a consignment shop that had one shirt that kinda fit the bill (all cotton, the right collar and pleats), but the 40 dollar price tag seemed a bit much to me, especially as close examination showed it to have been iron scorched on one sleeve and cuff.

But perhaps the finest vintage shop in Seattle (for men's attire, anyway), a place in Fremont called Private Screening, had two or three that were certainly satisfactory, all priced between $18.95 and $24.95. I left with a dead-stock Arrow. Getting it out of that original packaging was its own form of entertainment. The plastic overwrap was crinkly with age, and the two straight pins in the shirttails were quite reluctant to budge, having grown accustomed to their place over the decades. (We resorted to pliers, and one of the pins snapped in two.)

The tag identifies it as a Sanforized Arrow Shoreham. It fits well, and it set me back only $18.95 (plus sales tax). I suspect they marked it at the lower end of their spectrum because it has a hint of age yellowing on the collar, which I am confident will go away with a good long soak in a solution of water and detergent and Borax and Oxyclean and color-safe bleach.

Oh, another reason to recommend this place ...

I also bought a vintage Montecristi there, in very, very fine condition, with a quite handsome three-tone grosgrain pugaree, for $58.95. It's a bit small for me, but at that price I just couldn't let it go. It would easily be worth the expense of resizing it, and I'm not averse to just preserving it in its essentially unworn condition until it finds its way into some other hat fancier's worthy hands.

I told the pleasant young woman minding the shop that I would gladly talk up the place. It truly does stock a wide assortment of quality vintage men's attire -- from formal wear to old leather jackets. None of it is offered at giveaway prices, but I saw nothing excessively priced, and several items that might well be called bargains.

 

[tonyb]

Just gotta gloat ...

The discoloration on the shirt collar disappeared in the wash. So it truly is good as new.

And, thanks to tips from the fine folks here, I found this page ...

http://www.blacktieguide.com/Vintage/Attire.htm

Scroll down and note the Arrow Shoreham model shown in the advertisement from 1938. Sure look like the same shirt to me.