Tragic alteration of belted-back suit

[Marc Chevalier]

.


The suit in the link below is from the 1930s or early '40s. Don't know when the tragic alteration was done to its lapels: maybe in the early 1980s, when narrow notch lapels were briefly fashionable on double-breasted jackets.


http://cgi.ebay.com/1930S-BELTED-BA...ptZVintage_Men_s_Clothing?hash=item19b7d96515


The terrible thing about this alteration is that it wipes out the classic style the outfit once had. I predict --hopefully wrongly-- that the seller will get a relatively low price for it.


.

 

[Feraud]

Oh man that is terrible! lol :eusa_doh:

 

[Marc Chevalier]

.



Yes, and completely irreparable.

.

 

[zetwal]

Ouch!

 

[Marc Chevalier]

.


If only the lapels had been left alone ... that suit would be wonderful for any buyer, and would fetch the seller hundreds of dollars. But now? As it is? Probably not.

.

 

[Feraud]

Let's post these for posterity on how you should not alter a vintage garment.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

It looks so odd...............the proportions are all askew...

 

[Matt Deckard]

You should buy it.

 

[mike]

.


If only the lapels had been left alone ... that suit would be wonderful for any buyer, and would fetch the seller hundreds of dollars. But now? As it is? Probably not.

.

Well, it's not to say the seller is the person that is responsible. It could have occurred sometime between the 1960's and today. In which time it could have passed through multiple hands.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Well, it's not to say the seller is the person that is responsible.

Oh no, not at all. Again, it was probably done in the 1980s. Who did it doesn't matter at this point.


(Incidentally, newspapers in the early 1960s carried advertisements by tailors offering to turn "out of style" double-breasted suits into single-breasteds, and to narrow + notch the lapels. These same ads promised to take the pleats out of trousers, and to narrow the legs.)


.

 

[Bird's One View]

Dreadful modification.

 

[mike]

I've actually toyed with the idea of starting a thread collecting images of golden era clothes incorporated into the style of the 60's Haight Ashbury and later the Punk movements. It could be heartbreaking!

 

[Carlisle Blues]

You should buy it.

Who should buy it??

 

[Matt Deckard]

I think Marc could pull it off. He looks good in everything... Yet we still need to see him in a kilt.

 

[Carlisle Blues]

I think Marc could pull it off. He looks good in everything... Yet we still need to see him in a kilt.

Ok Matt I thought you were putting me on..I agree Marc is the one!!!!!!!!

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Kilts aren't my style. Thanks, though!

 

[Dr Doran]

AN HIDEOUS CROSSBREED OF MONSTROUS PROPORTIONS.

Why, oh why couldn't miscegenation laws have been directed against this sort of monstrosity, instead of against white people who fell in love with black people?

 

[Forgotten Man]

And people ask me why I hate the 60s!

That suit seems to have only the lapels lobbed off... So much that they cut past the button holes! I've seen modernized 40s suits but, they just cot off the peaks of the lapels... but the upward button holes are still there! Boy, that suit got knocked for a loop!

A friend of mine bought a 40s suit that's from England or Germany and it still is a double breasted, but the lapels narrowed and, get this, they rounded off the bottom corners at the opening of the coat... much like a single breasted coat, what a shame!

Now, what I want to know is why the original, or second owner felt that the fancy back of this coat was "IN" but the lapels weren't?:eusa_doh:

If I only had a time machine, there would be some serious #@$% whoopin' goin' on in the 60s-80s! lol

 

[cptjeff]

I've certainly heard of that kind of thing happening in the 60's. Narrowing lapels of older suits to be somewhat in fashion despited not being able to afford a new suit.

I understand it, and sympathize, being a student without much cash myself.

However, it does look god awful on a DB suit.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I've certainly heard of that kind of thing happening in the 60's.

It happened a lot in the 1980s, too. Most tailor shops (and even some drycleaners) had signs in their windows, saying "We narrow necktie widths." They also made wide lapels narrower.

.