Reproduction classic workwear

[mike]

Repro. Not mine.




Great point mike! My company (I work in a white collar field) is doing "business casual" for the summer. This pics you posted are what I've been wearing to work. Dress pants and shoes, sport coats, workshirts, and fedora/caps. The current corporate khaki and polo shirt look is not for me.
There is always a way to get around The Man's corporate mold.

Yes, same here pretty much! It's a great alternative and low and behold.. you retain some self respect! lol

 

[flat-top]

"Distressed" worker jeans from JC Penny's American Living line.

I got lucky with these...brand new on Ebay for $2.99. And not so different from RRL. SCORE!

 

[mike]

I think it's safe to say there is no end in sight of just how far the Japanese will go..!

Check out as much of this site as you can, TONS of great stuff mixed in with some interesting experiments too...

http://www.dappers.jp/contents.html

 

[flat-top]

http://www.dappers.jp/contents.html

Oh my goodness!

 

[mike]

Oh my goodness!

It's truly crazy! The mind boggles! (but they do have some very weird stuff in there too)

 

[Jay]

Dapper Indeed

Looks like all the best stuff really IS made in Japan.

 

[flat-top]

It's truly crazy! The mind boggles! (but they do have some very weird stuff in there too)

I probably wouldn't (couldn't) purchase any of that stuff, but sites like that provide me with such inspiration!

 

[mike]

I probably wouldn't (couldn't) purchase any of that stuff, but sites like that provide me with such inspiration!

My #1 issue would be what the stuff fits like. Considering their clothes are made for a Japanese audience, it's a ton of money to fork over to hope that you wouldn't look like Frankenstein's Monster. (short arms, etc not bolts in the neck )

 

[Feraud]

I probably wouldn't (couldn't) purchase any of that stuff, but sites like that provide me with such inspiration!

Agreed. The stuff is truly inspirational.

 

[flat-top]

 

[mike]

I dig their pin check trousers.


But wait! You guys say inspired - inspired to...... is there a NY-area company taking shape? Is golden era work wear going to be outsourced out of Japan and getting American's working again by starting up the production line here at home!? Please say yes!

 

[mike]

Obviously the pocket design is terrific (although a modern interpretation) but to me, it's the buttons they use that really send it!

 

[flat-top]

http://www.hyrcollective.com/daily-blog/2009/07/self-edge-new-york/
I HAVE to check this out!

 

[mattfink]

Where's this one from P?

 

[mattfink]

Never mind, my brain is still mis-firing after three days of BBQ and Tecate. lol

 

[Fletch]

My #1 issue would be what the stuff fits like. Considering their clothes are made for a Japanese audience, it's a ton of money to fork over to hope that you wouldn't look like Frankenstein's Monster. (short arms, etc not bolts in the neck )

Pardon my riffing again...
I'm thinking there may be a tacit understanding among Japanese designers that "vintage American" is a style that now suits Japanese men more than Americans - physically. The typical American male is no longer the body type that once kicked Japan's ass - scrappy, rawboned, work-hardened and usually under 5'9".

So in a way, they may wonder why the hell any of us want this clothing back. That classically Japanese restraint and sensitivity, that makes art of so much everyday living, would not dress defensive linemen in clothes tailored for a nation of welterweights.

I want this style to spread as much as any of us, but it has to be said that we're awfully late getting back to it. It really is theirs now in many ways.

 

[Feraud]

I don't think American styled repro work wear is popular in Japan because of the sizes. Remember these reproduced garments can be made larger if necessary. Many of the jeans are made in sizes that fit Americans.
Wearing originals are another issue..

Societies contain major and minor trends and American Workwear is one Japan. If such a trend were to hit here (meaning the demand) we would see more workwear-ish goods. That is not to say the quality or accuracy would match the Japanese repros. Demand does it's part to fuel the supply.

 

[Fletch]

I don't think American styled repro work wear is popular in Japan because of the sizes. Remember these reproduced garments can be made larger if necessary.

True. But as I see it, the question is one of scale.

Think like a designer - a very purist, perfectionist designer who grew up with Zen gardens and Hokusai as ideals. Proportion and whole are as important as detail. Do classic details - gracefully pointed neckstrap shirt collars, French pleated beltbacks, etc etc, which tend to be fine and subtle - really suit larger sized people, or do they just look silly amid acres of cloth, like flower boxes on a concrete overpass?

Case in point - two men from the same orchestra in 1932 wearing their uniform suit - a classic, short-skirted, SB peak lapel of the era. (Not workwear, altho worn to work.)

Joe Haymes, leader, was 5'6" and about 125.

Mike Doty, sax man, was taller and nearly twice Joe's weight, about 250.

I think it's obvious that the style suited Joe much better than it did Mike.
Joe was closer to, in fact a little below, the average sized man of the day; Mike was off the chart.

Now I like how Mike looks just fine, altho I'd have given him a couple inches more room in the coat. But to a designer, Mike looks painfully wrong, like 250 lbs of man in a 125 lb bag. The design, strictly speaking, doesn't scale up.

 

[mike]

The way I envision it (and I could be missing the boat) I don't think the work wear craze there is necessarily that they are attempting to look like the Americans in WW2 that fought their relatives, but rather mainly turn of the century through to the forties as pretty much just a fashion trend. But with a focus on pretty much reproducing what people are wearing all through Shorpy.com, not just the WW2 years.

Another question I wonder about is why/does this resonate to them or is it just a fashion trend?

I think it's interesting what Pike Brothers are doing (http://www.pikebrothers.com/) in pairing work wear fashions with golden era hot rod racing. In doing so, they're taking it just out of a fashion thing and putting it in action.

 

[Feraud]

I doubt the guys who are making workwear are designers are working within the Zen mode. We are probably not talking effete runway designer types here. Denim producers catering to hip young people are probably not thinking about tea and flower gardens but what looks good! Vintage American workwear looks cool! I doubt there is much more to it than that. I've not read any workwear guys quote Hokusai as an influence.

I think the weight/scale/proportion issues noted below is a subjective one. Personally I don't see an issue with stocky guys wearing pointed collars or suits with pleats, etc. in them. We should definitely dress to flatter our shapes, The idea that Americans should no longer embrace the look and abandon vintage wear to the Japanese who recognize themselves as the heir apparent of vintage Americana doesn't quite ring true.

True. But as I see it, the question is one of scale.

Think like a designer - a very purist, perfectionist designer who grew up with Zen gardens and Hokusai as ideals. Proportion and whole are everything to you. Do classic details - gracefully pointed neckstrap shirt collars, French pleated beltbacks, etc etc, which tend to be fine and subtle - really suit larger sized people, or do they just look silly amid acres of cloth, like flower boxes on a concrete overpass?