Original Owners of Vintage Clothes

[Quetzal]

I don't know if this is already a thread, but I'm wondering if anyone has seen vintage clothes being donned by someone who appears to be the original owner, or at least their son.

Today, I saw a man wearing a 1950s narrow black tie with a motif and a skinny tie clasp, with a suede 1970s sport coat at church. I also saw a man wearing a plaid (I've seen the same pattern in some Pendleton ad) wool loop-collar shirt with his bomber jacket (not exactly vintage, but it was black with red sleeves that proudly stated something along the lines of "WWII ARMY, 1943". Another time, I saw a man wearing high-rise wide-legged olive wool pants, probably from Korea as his Trucker Cap stated something like "Korea, Marine, 1951". In Chicago, I saw a man wearing beat-up light gray Pork-Pie (he appeared to have pinched it many times) with a dark gray band, brim up, wearing a short-sleeve white shirt with a blue 1940s printed tie (poor guy must've had arthritis or something; it was not tied very well and he was walking very slowly) and black polyester pants with horn rims. During a concert (I'm a musician), two conductors were wearing vintage suits; one was wearing a 1950s skinny shawl collar with a 1950s clip-on, while the other conductor was wearing what appeared to be a 1940s tailcoat (wide, faille lapels) with a modern pre-tied bow and a modern, soft shirt. Both men were fairly short and seemed to be a little big for their suits (age does that, I guess). My Physics teacher (probably a Baby Boomer) in High School once wore one of his father's 1930s foulards. He commented on how I dressed like his father back when he was a kid whenever I wore my dress clothes to school. He even pulled me aside once and gave me his father's fine-leather tie case (we both think it's a tie case; it says "TIES") that he thinks was used by his father in the 1920s and 1930s (he was going to throw it out, as he was cleaning his attic).

Has anyone else seen similar sights or has a similar story?

-Quetzal

 

[Two Types]

Last winter I spotted a bloke who looked to be in his eighties wearing a heavy belted overcoat that dated back to at least the 1950s. And a couple of years ago i spotted an elderly Anglo-Asian man wearing a white tropical weight suit that appeared to have significant age. And my dad wore his 1950s leisure shirts until about five years ago when my mother finally decided they were getting too worn out.

 

[Fastuni]

A couple of days ago, when waiting at the underground/subway, an elderly man was standing in front of me.
He was wearing a grey sportcoat with amazing beltback (straight yoke, multiple pleats, halfbelt and center vent).
The back looked very good... thinking it was 30's for a moment I was tempted to ask him about it.
But as I stepped to his side to get a better view of the front of the jacket, it became immediately clear that it was from the 1970's.
But nice nontheless. I am sure he is the original owner.

 

[Fading Fast]

NYC has a lot of very old gentlemen of means who I have for years noticed can be a way to catch a glimpse of vintage clothing in action. The other day I saw a man, easily deep in his 80s, with an aid helping him. He was wearing a seersucker suit that looked, to my amateurish eye, to be from the 1960s - the lapel, sack suit style and wear all said 1960s to me.

Also, I see these same men wearing hats all the time. Despite my love of vintage clothing, I know nothing about hats, so it will be hard for me to provide details - but I see what are clearly old hats on these men all the time.

I will keep a sharper eye out now and report any new vintage clothing finds back here.

 

[tommyK]

NYC has a lot of very old gentlemen of means who I have for years noticed can be a way to catch a glimpse of vintage clothing in action. The other day I saw a man, easily deep in his 80s, with an aid helping him. He was wearing a seersucker suit that looked, to my amateurish eye, to be from the 1960s - the lapel, sack suit style and wear all said 1960s to me.

Also, I see these same men wearing hats all the time. Despite my love of vintage clothing, I know nothing about hats, so it will be hard for me to provide details - but I see what are clearly old hats on these men all the time.

I will keep a sharper eye out now and report any new vintage clothing finds back here.

Where are you seeing these guys today? I have remarked on this same thing in another thread but I haven't seen them on a regular basis since the 80's. I wish I still saw these gents. In a way I aspire to be one of them one day.

 

[Fading Fast]

Where are you seeing these guys today? I have remarked on this same thing in another thread but I haven't seen them on a regular basis since the 80's. I wish I still saw these gents. In a way I aspire to be one of them one day.

Not every day, but at a least a few every week - especially on the weekends - on the Upper East Side (walk on Park Avenue on Sunday around church time and you'll see them). I see them regularly on the UES.

 

[resortes805]

There is an older gent, I see him in LA's little Tokyo all the time, that always wears the same blue and burgundy "thunderbird" jantzen sweater from the 1950s or 1940s. I suspect he bought it new.

 

[Quetzal]

Where are you seeing these guys today? I have remarked on this same thing in another thread but I haven't seen them on a regular basis since the 80's. I wish I still saw these gents. In a way I aspire to be one of them one day.

Yes, indeed; my folks and several adults who I talk to recall seeing older men, especially in the 1970s and the 1980s, still wearing their now beat-up hats and coats, with odd coats and suits (the newest being early 1960s cuts) with their old ties and sweaters. T.V. shows of the era showed the "old crowd" wearing vintage clothes (in an episode of Barney Miller, one old timer is wearing a worn-out brown porkpie, a black skinny knit tie, a cardigan, and a tan 1950s jacket). Many people (even 60 and 70-years olds!) still consider hats and "vintage"-style clothes (essentially, "modern" means black suits and pants, ties going past the navel, and just everything wrong with 1990s and 2000s "dress" clothes) an "old-guy" thing; the movie "Tough Guys" (1986?) with Burt Lancaster, Kirk Douglas, Charles Durning, and the late Eli Wallach poke fun at this.

To the car-guys out there, my Dad remembers seeing several old clunkers in Chicago in the 1970s, these ranging from 1946-1959 (bulbous to tailfin) cars; of course, very old and beat-up, like their clothes. He even remembers a neighbor driving around in a two-tone baby blue 1958 Imperial, and another guy still driving his very rusty 1952 Studebaker (but cars, like the clothes, were "old-guy" things, and, he remembers, that clothes and cars were sold for VERY cheap; who the heck would want to have FINS, all of that CHROME, or wide, cartoonish WHITEWALLS on their car??).

Alas, these sights are VERY rare; the other day I saw a guy wearing plaid bell-bottoms, a 1970s shirt, and one of those buttonless vests from the 70s, wearing very 70s-looking boots with this ensemble. But then I do see some men wear 1970s sport coats (obviously polyester), with 1980s and occasionally 70s ties with a 1970s clasps at church (one guy was wearing a feathered CORDUROY hat!), and of course their glasses are those wide ones from the 1970s/80s.

-Quetzal

 

[Quetzal]

Heck, when I was a Badger Boy (a program originally designed to counteract Hitler's Youth Rallies), one of the veterans (a VERY fit and lively fellow) pulled me aside and said, "WHOA! I bought a hat just like yours 70 years ago when I came back from Japan! Maybe I'll start wearing it again if I can find it, along with those crazy painted-ties that I bought when I was young! We sure thought that we looked sharp back then!" A very cool conversation.

-Quetzal

 

[-30-]

Heck, I still have shoes, Church's Consul, that I bought during the 70's/80's, one pair, with it's original soles; another 2 pair, also Church's,

of the Fighting Seal model; one of those having been rebuilt just before Dack's Shoes went belly-up.

And ties; don't even mention the ties from the 70's/80's.


Regards,
J T

 

[cookie]

I have some of my Dad's skinny Sears Thai silk ties from the 60s I treasure. My sons love the 60s suits especially dark colours and they know they have to use the skinny ties to get it right.

 

[Mathematicus]

My grandfather used to wear suits almost every day and I remember him wearing either some bold look jackets and late 50s-60 suits with period tipical ties. Some time ago I looked around what remained of his clothes (he passed away in 1998) and found only the ties and a couple of suits (clearly not those I remembered). I imagine most things were thrown away.

 

[Eddie Derbyshire]

My Grandad has a collection of old Viyella shirts definitely from the 1970s/1980s, from when some members of my family used to work at the factory in Somercotes - he still wears them in Winter! Also, for my wedding, he wore a tie and tie-clip that MUST have been from the 1950s/1960s. He doesn't wear ties on a regular basis anymore (he was a shop-keeper, and wore one every day when he was working) and my Mamma made him clear out all his old ties (that if he had occasion to he would have doubtless worn) that included a number from the 1950s. They came to me of course

Also, every time I see my great-uncle Keith, he's wearing a leather jacket that is definitely from the 1970s!

Women on the other hand - I don't know. Both my Grandmothers are pretty modern in the way they dress, and I don't think they would still own anything from their youth (other than my Granny having her silk Wedding Dress from 1951).

 

[brendanm720]

I can remember going to church as a kid and seeing all of the old retired men wearing suits from the 50's and 60's (and the 70's). In the summer, there was one guy who would wear a tamer green and teal sharkskin suit (Otherwise there was a lot of linen and fresco-looking stuff). In the winter, there was a lot of tweed and felt.

My grandpa (who is 90) will wear and mend and wear and mend and wear and mend his clothes. Almost all of his stuff is vintage (except for the two pairs of suspenders I bought him for his birthday). Granted, this is work wear we're talking about, and he doesn't want to get something nice all greasy when he's out rebuilding one of the tractors (which are also vintage from the late 50's). Since Grandma passed away, the neighbors (who aren't far behind him in age) and my aunts have been "helping" him out by taking all of the completely worn-out clothes out of his closet and getting rid of them when he's not looking.

Grandma did get some more modern things, but also tended to make her own clothes (she was a very good seamstress) from the patterns she bought back in the 50's and 60's (and I suspect, the 70's). Grandma was also one to recut one garment to fit someone smaller, or she'd cut up something worn out and make a quilt from it.

Grammie was the same way, but was always a bit more stylish than Grandma was. If she was working around the house, she'd have a "Rosie the Riveter" look (blouse, jeans, hair up in a handkerchief), and if she was going out, she'd put on slacks and a blouse. In the summer, she'd wear shorts instead of long pants. I don't think I ever remember her wearing a dress, but she did when my mom was young. (there are photos)