Show us your suits

[slicedbread]

Just won this suit and was hopign you guys could sound off as to the era this suit came from...I figure maybe 60's? Regardless, I love windowpane patterns and this is a welcome suit to my collection, especially with the side fasteners...

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl...MEWN:IT&viewitem=&item=270033271713&rd=1&rd=1

 

[Orgetorix]

Nice suit! Definitely leave that bottom button undone, though, when it gets to you. The way the pattern changes direction and points at the crotch in that picture indicates it's cut with open quarters and the bottom one isn't meant to be fastened.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

the pockets would strike me as 1970s.

smartcookie, i'm always happy to make the ladies weep with joy . . .

bk

 

[Fletch]

1937(?) French Blue Waffle-Weave DB

The Baron and others may remember this one from a past thread.

I agree with the late 30s date based on the high button stance and high but narrow shoulders, as well as the plain front, straight legged trousers.

This is as received, right out of the box.

Yes, it's really this blue!

 

[Jovan]

You may need the sleeves lowered a tad. Or your shirt cuffs tightened a bit. Otherwise, great fit out of the box! That no break is beautiful.

 

[Fletch]

Sleeves yes. Probably move in the buttons a tad too.
The trou are waaay big - I've belted 'em in. The let-out showed some marks and unfaded selvage but at my size it'll all be hidden.
No mothing but 2 pinpoint holes in the back of the jacket!

 

[Feraud]

Fletch, I love that suit! That's a lotta blue!!

 

[Alan Eardley]

Dating clothes by features

I'm always amazed when people date male clothing by the design features - button stance, width or style of lapel etc., especially from a photograph!

I go into small, traditional mens' outfitters in Small Town UK quite often, and see brand new, off-the-peg clothes in styles that encompass most of the features (belt back, peaked lapel, V-waistband etc.) or style (narrow armholes, high shoulders etc.) that are regularly used to define the era of a garment. Those features are still being incorporated into traditional clothing. Remember that many old guys insist on buying just the same styles they were wearing 50 years ago!

In other words, you can buy a brand-new '1940s' suit in 2007! Therefore, to me, the only sure ways of dating a garment are by provenance ('my grandfather got married in it') or by the label (although pocket contents are sometimes a pointer...)

Just an observation.

Alan

 

[slicedbread]

I
In other words, you can buy a brand-new '1940s' suit in 2007! Therefore, to me, the only sure ways of dating a garment are by provenance ('my grandfather got married in it') or by the label (although pocket contents are sometimes a pointer...)

Just an observation.

Alan

Yes, one can buy a '1940s' suit in 2007 and that's a known fact, but what are the chances of the suit you find in a vintage shop being from a modern very expensive local shop? Also, labels would clearly let you know one way or the other...On the forums people usually leave that detail out because it's usually a given...

Back to the topic, what do you guys think of this combination on my suit?

 

[reetpleat]

I'm always amazed when people date male clothing by the design features - button stance, width or style of lapel etc., especially from a photograph!

I go into small, traditional mens' outfitters in Small Town UK quite often, and see brand new, off-the-peg clothes in styles that encompass most of the features (belt back, peaked lapel, V-waistband etc.) or style (narrow armholes, high shoulders etc.) that are regularly used to define the era of a garment. Those features are still being incorporated into traditional clothing. Remember that many old guys insist on buying just the same styles they were wearing 50 years ago!

In other words, you can buy a brand-new '1940s' suit in 2007! Therefore, to me, the only sure ways of dating a garment are by provenance ('my grandfather got married in it') or by the label (although pocket contents are sometimes a pointer...)

Just an observation.

Alan

I really have to disagree. It may be a little different in England, and there are some exceptions. But rarely will a man insist on exactly the same style, then the fabric, weight of the fabric, lining, and other overall trends tend to make the suit look a little different to the trained eye.

That said, if a person intentionally got the same style and fabric many years later, it could fool you. I have a three piece suit I will be selling here soon that everyone will be convinced is a thirties, but the dates say 61. Actualy the jacket tag says 60 and the vest says 61.

But most suits in America were mass produced anyway, so the odds of getting a custom anachronistic suit are slim.

Yes, we all might be fooled occasionally. But when we are we will never know anyway. So yes, take anything without tags with a grain of salt, but why worry about the extremely rare occasional exception that you will never even know you are wrong about anyway. Especially if your goal is to wear to obtain a certain look.

In the same way that a car guy can spot the year of a car two blocks away, or a chiropractor can identify subtle muscular issues, you would be amazed at how I or many better than me can take all this in in a glance at a suit. the human mind and eye are amazing things.

 

[reetpleat]

Sleeves yes. Probably move in the buttons a tad too.
The trou are waaay big - I've belted 'em in. The let-out showed some marks and unfaded selvage but at my size it'll all be hidden.
No mothing but 2 pinpoint holes in the back of the jacket!

Try the jacked on with several shirts. It might just be that taht sleeve hangs long.

I agree that this is most likely a thirties number. Very thin man. Especially with the short skirt.

I love it and love the way it looks on you.

The fabric I have seen such as this before. It probably would have been pretty pricey. Not so common in the forties, but as another thread discusses, some elaborate fabrics were popular in the twenties and thirties.

 

[Benny Holiday]

I need not comment on the Baron's clothes; with the exception of my fascination with the zoot suit, his taste in fine menswear make him a man after my own heart. His wardrobe in exceptional and I enjoy every post.

Upr Crust, those suits are as refined and tasteful as they come. Classic style, indeed.

The waffle-weave in your blue suit reminds me of the weave in Jake Gittes' tan sportscoat in Chinatown, Fletch. Sharp colour, looks great with the light grey lid. That's a colour combination I often do myself.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Looks good Fletch. Try some brown shoes . . . that shade of blue really deserves to be astride some brown. Also, i remember in the original thread that the right nipple cover got obscured by the lapel. What's with that?

Obviously the overall impression of the suit was 30s, and finding that fabric in a 1937 Sears catalogue helped. I must say, this is one of the only fabrics i've come across that i wouldn't wear. Nicely different, though.

If i remember aright this one had no labels of any kind, so we're left with the inevitable caveats. Which i think were utilised in the original thread. And yes, US menswear is very much easier than Brit gear to date accurately. There are so many brit suits i've handled that i would swear blind were from the 30s that end up being md 50s or later. With US suits, it's obviously about the overall appearance of the piece and then those little details that changed one by one as time went on (fabric weight, vents, lining etc.).

bk

 

[resortes805]

In the same way that a car guy can spot the year of a car two blocks away, or a chiropractor can identify subtle muscular issues, you would be amazed at how I or many better than me can take all this in in a glance at a suit. the human mind and eye are amazing things.

My sentiments exactly.:eusa_clap

 

[Fletch]

[...] i remember in the original thread that the right nipple cover got obscured by the lapel. What's with that?

The lapels look to have been rolled to the bottom at some point, in the fashion of the later 40s. A good clean-and-press ought to remedy that.

I'm considering pairing this up with off-whites for spring wear - a subtle change from the tried-and-true blazer look.

(Artist's conception)

 

[upr_crust]

My attire for today, a somewhat retro ensemble . . .

Forgive my repetition of a posting that I made to askandyaboutclothes.com, but today's ensemble would seem to be in line with the sensibilities of the readers of these fora, hence my posting.

Navy rope stripe six-button, two-to-button D/B suit, side vents, ticket pocket, trousers without belt loops - side tabs and brace buttons (St. Laurie, circa 1993)
Lavender and bold white striped shirt, white spread collar and double cuffs (H&K)
Navy silk jacquard tie, silver spots (BB)
Navy silk jacquard braces, gold Golden Fleeces (BB - of course)
White cotton pocket handkerchief, folded into three points
Navy diamond-patterned OTC socks (BB)
Black wing-tip balmorals (New & Lingwood - sale at Jay Kos)

Penhaligon's Eau Sans Pareil (sadly out of current production - from my dwindling stock of the stuff)

I've no camera today, but I will see if I've got photos of me in today's suit someplace, and post them in I can find them.

BTW, thanks Benny H. for the compliment on my previous postings.

 

[Fletch]

Jay Kos has sales?! [huh] Had no clue.

BTW, how you say thees Kos? I think of it as "Kohss."

 

[Orgetorix]

I'm considering pairing this up with off-whites for spring wear - a subtle change from the tried-and-true blazer look.

Fletch, I think that would look great. It's actually a bit less eye-assaulting than a complete suit in that blue, which I like.

 

[reetpleat]

The lapels look to have been rolled to the bottom at some point, in the fashion of the later 40s. A good clean-and-press ought to remedy that.

I'm considering pairing this up with off-whites for spring wear - a subtle change from the tried-and-true blazer look.

(Artist's conception)

I love that you did that. I didn't even realize it was an alteration at first.

I actually thought you were Leonardo De Caprio as Howard Hughes for a minute there.

Nice to know if you ever ruin the pants, heaven forbid, you will still have a usable jacket.

 

[Jovan]

A linen navy jacket and white/off-white trousers can look really good.