Show us your suits

[Rudie]

1937 Navy DB with Red and Black Chalk/Pin Stripes

I found this 1937 DB on Haight St. when I was in San Francisco in March. It has six buttons and can be fastend to the bottom or middle button. It's a relatively light weight worsted. By modern standards it would probably be considered heavy weight anyway, but it feels like about 14 oz. There's a small moth hole in the lapel but I found me an invisible weaver to fix it. This is the very first suit ever where I had to have the waist taken out a little. Usually they have to be taken in. I also had the cuffs and sleeves taken out. Luckily there was enough fabric to keep the cuffs. My tailor didn't even have to make fake cuffs!

Watch pocket

 

[Rudie]

 

[SteveAS]

Great looking suit, Rudie.

 

[Mario]

Great looking suit, Rudie.

:arated: Well done! Is that the suit you brought to Robby for the alterations?

 

[Rudie]

Yep.

 

[Mario]

Er...did you find that reweaver here in Berlin? And how much did you pay for the job? I know that the prices can get pretty hefty.

 

[Rudie]

Yes, there are several here. Just google "Kunststopferei". Most are in Charlottenburg/Wilmersdorf but there's also one on Skalitzer near Schlesisches Tor. My trousermaker gave me the address. I haven't been there yet, though.

 

[Mario]

Skalitzer? Perfect! That's in my neighborhood!

 

[DocMustang]

Couple of new suits back from the tailor's:

This one was a great find at a thrift store. I am a sucker for three piece suits and the fabric on this was amazing. I tried it on and it fit perfectly in the shoulders but was a bit baggy around the middle. The trousers were huge at the waist, very short in the inseam, uncuffed, and only had 2 inches of hem. There was just enough to give me the proper length with 3/8" to turn under. I hand stitched the hems, but I think fusable hem or fabric adhesive might have worked as well. What is unbeleivable is that according to the tag, this suit started out life as a 50 regular and is now about a 44!

Finally there is this one. This was one of my Holy Grails, a three piece , pure unbleached linen suit. Very comfortable here in Pensacola. Yes, that is a live oak in the background. All I need now is a set of tortise shell glasses and I'll look like an overweight, balding, Atticus Finch.

 

[Benny Holiday]

I've been busy and not too much time to catch up on what's been happening on the Lounge lately. Great to see the sharp suits still coming. Salieri, that is a truly fine 30s suit and reminds me of the SBPL Bogart wears in The Maltese Falcon (except Bogie's is a 3-piece). And Rudie, your San Francisco find is great! ya gotta dig those red and black stripes against the blue!

 

[Shangas]

Finally there is this one. This was one of my Holy Grails, a three piece , pure unbleached linen suit. Very comfortable here in Pensacola. Yes, that is a live oak in the background. All I need now is a set of tortise shell glasses and I'll look like an overweight, balding, Atticus Finch.

In the film, Atticus's pocketwatch is a prop. But offstage, Harper Lee presented Gregory Peck with her father's gold pocketwatch for his excellent protrayal of Atticus Finch on-screen. She also said that Atticus reminded her so much of her father, with his pot-belly and his glasses and the three-piece suit, that he just HAD to have the watch to finish off the look.

I think both suits are very fetching! I think I like the blue one better, though. If I had a white suit, it'd be a pure white one.

 

[Salieri]

I've been busy and not too much time to catch up on what's been happening on the Lounge lately. Great to see the sharp suits still coming. Salieri, that is a truly fine 30s suit and reminds me of the SBPL Bogart wears in The Maltese Falcon (except Bogie's is a 3-piece). And Rudie, your San Francisco find is great! ya gotta dig those red and black stripes against the blue!

Thanks! By chance I managed to find a waistcoat in just the right cut and colour to go with it. It's a herringbone weave as opposed to the straight twill of the suit, and you can see this on close inspection, but generally it goes really well. Even the linings are an almost perfect match. I'll post some updated pictures soon.

 

[DocMustang]

I think both suits are very fetching! I think I like the blue one better, though. If I had a white suit, it'd be a pure white one.

The blue one is amazing, and is probably my favorite suit as well. I cannot emphasize enough how great the fabric is on that suit I will have to post a close up photo. The pants and vest also go together well.

In contrast, the linen suit is a Calvin Clein which means that it is cut for a fellow built like the guy who adorns every men's room door. I had to buy 44" flat front trousers and have my tailor convert them to pleated front and have the waist taken in to get a pair of pants that fit properly. I still feel like I need 2 more inches of rise. The vest on the CK suit is also short and only has 4 buttons. I really run the risk of having a gap between my trousers and waistcoat. I may try and see if I can obtain a waistcoat 1 size larger and have it taken in to get the length I want, still 4 buttons seems a bit slight for a proper waistcoat.

Oh, and the pocket watch in my photo belonged to my great-great grandfather. It is interesting that Atticus wore his pocket watch to court during the trial. I seem to remember in the book, Atticus gives Jem his pocket watch on Jem's 12th birthday. Scout remarks that "for sometime afterward Jem was compelled to check the time as often as possible" or some such.

 

[justuhgeek]

Great finds Doc

 

[Shangas]

Atticus says that it's custom for a boy to receive his father's watch when he comes of age. In the book, he occasionally gives Jem his watch (because like all boys, they want all of daddy's really cool stuff). The book says that "on the days Jem carried the watch, he walked on eggs".

 

[alanfgag]

1930s Petrocelli suit

This suit has a cleaning stamp from 1937... I've owned it for more than half its life at this point. My girlfriend (now my wife of almost 40 years) found it at a rummage sale when I was a college student. It cost 75 cents. I wore it to our industry awards event in NYC last week (it still fits!). It's the only photo on the Fedora Lounge that shows my head without a hat on it.

cheers,
Alan

 

[HarpPlayerGene]

Alan, that suit is tremendous. It's a perfect fit and style for you. Great color, finish, drape. And from the '30s at that!! Just wonderful - thanks for sharing that with us!

 

[fluteplayer07]

The blue one is amazing, and is probably my favorite suit as well. I cannot emphasize enough how great the fabric is on that suit I will have to post a close up photo. The pants and vest also go together well.

In contrast, the linen suit is a Calvin Clein which means that it is cut for a fellow built like the guy who adorns every men's room door. I had to buy 44" flat front trousers and have my tailor convert them to pleated front and have the waist taken in to get a pair of pants that fit properly. I still feel like I need 2 more inches of rise. The vest on the CK suit is also short and only has 4 buttons. I really run the risk of having a gap between my trousers and waistcoat. I may try and see if I can obtain a waistcoat 1 size larger and have it taken in to get the length I want, still 4 buttons seems a bit slight for a proper waistcoat.

Oh, and the pocket watch in my photo belonged to my great-great grandfather. It is interesting that Atticus wore his pocket watch to court during the trial. I seem to remember in the book, Atticus gives Jem his pocket watch on Jem's 12th birthday. Scout remarks that "for sometime afterward Jem was compelled to check the time as often as possible" or some such.

Nice outfits. If we ever get a Michigan gathering together, you need to bring that watch! I'd love to see it in person.

 

[resortes805]

This suit has a cleaning stamp from 1937... Ia Lounge that shows my head without a hat on it.

Fascinating, it does not look 1930's; perhaps an earlier suit (1910s-1920s?) that someone continued to wear into the '30s?

 

[Mario]

Alan, that suit is tremendous. It's a perfect fit and style for you. Great color, finish, drape. And from the '30s at that!! Just wonderful - thanks for sharing that with us!

Gene! Good to see you again!