Show us your suits

[Mr. Rover]

A work of art :eusa_clap

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Re: the last (boys?) one you showed, Ray. What is the line of lightness around the base of the jacket in the shot from the back?

There's no mention of a maker, right? I have one with similar proportions (though differing button stance) from the 50s which was made by "Fraternity Prep. Clothiers".

bk

 

[Mr. Rover]

That line around the bottom is actually the lining- I have to get that tacked one of these days. It doesn't leak in the front- only in the back. Ahh- the problem with fully lined suits.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Ah. I thought so.

nice hat, that, too.

bk

 

[Hemingway Jones]

Carried over from another thread



This is a suit I bought around 1992 or so. It is Italian tweed with very high armholes and it fits me very well. I have been wearing it for years with little visable wear.

The hat is a Borsalino and the tie is a nice woven wool with the frayed edges that Amanda picked out for me at a vintage shop in Phoenix.

I was surprised to learn that it like this one from Seabiscuit.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

That's a nice suit. What's the locale?

bk

p.s. Do you have wool/country-type hats. A long hair, wool or rougher felt hat would be perfect for those surroundings.

 

[Hemingway Jones]

That's a nice suit. What's the locale?

bk

p.s. Do you have wool/country-type hats. A long hair, wool or rougher felt hat would be perfect for those surroundings.

Thanks! That's an excellent suggestion. I need some sort of hat like that.

The setting is Newport, R.I. at "The Breakers."

 

[Mr. Rover]

Nice combo there, Hem. No pipe?

 

[reetpleat]

This is a suit I bought around 1992 or so. It is Italian tweed with very high armholes and it fits me very well. I have been wearing it for years with little visable wear.

The hat is a Borsalino and the tie is a nice woven wool with the frayed edges that Amanda picked out for me at a vintage shop in Phoenix.

I was surprised to learn that it like this one from Seabiscuit.

I am pretty much strictly a vintage collector. But I would sport that suit. Very nice. SUprising you found something like that. I guess there are always rouge designers out there.

 

[Jovan]

Does everything have to be original vintage? It's nice to have something made for you rather than someone else in the past, you know.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Does everything have to be original vintage?

Who said that it did?


I'll share a little secret with you, Jovan. If I could get new clothes with the same cut, fabric, quality and price as the vintage stuff, I'd stick to the new. I don't buy vintage out of some desire to mystically "bond" with the past through its "totems"; I just like the look, feel, manufacture and cost of the stuff. Old or new, it's all the same to me.


.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I am particularly interested to see Mr. H's (was it he?) latest suit. Apparently it's being made up in a 20 Oz fabric.

I agree with Marc. If modern off-the-peg were consistently of anywhere even close to the standard of 30s/40s i'd probably still be buying modern. It's simply not good enough. Cheap, flimsy, plastic fabrics and boxy, unfitted, unflattering cuts are simply not worth $100 and more. MIght as well wear a hop-sack. At least that'd be vintage-accurate, eh?

bk

 

[Mr. Rover]

And you can't beat the vintage prices most of the time

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Vintage clothing --unless it's deadstock and in perfect shape-- can have a lot of disadvantages. Where do I begin? Damage, smells, strange past alterations, odd sizes and measurements, etc.


Often these inconveniences are still worth the relatively low "sticker price." Even so, I envy the ease that comes with new clothes: no damage, smells, and so on ...

.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

That's what being picky is all about. Obviously when buying from eBay one cannot avoid most of these issues. You pays your money . . .

bk

 

[Jovan]

I think you guys completely disregarded my last sentence, in which I said "made for you." I never implied you should wear modern off the rack instead. Tailors will often have the fabrics you're looking for, and if they're good, be willing to experiment.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

that's absolutely the point. The vintage clothing we're mostly finding is off-the-peg, not bespoke; Not even MTM. Frankly, there're probably only a few members who could afford, or have the inclination, to go bespoke. The few bespoke vintage items i've seen were much closer to their off-the-peg contemporaries than are current off-the-peg to current bespoke offerings. (And it is undoubtedly the off-the-peg that's gotten worse, not the bespoke better)

(for the record, i will always argue that bespoke is best, if they can provide the fabric i would demand).

But this above is the reason most of us vintage-istos will stick with vintage. The quality for the dollar is just not to be beat.

bk

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I think you guys completely disregarded my last sentence, in which I said "made for you." I never implied you should wear modern off the rack instead. Tailors will often have the fabrics you're looking for, and if they're good, be willing to experiment.

PRICE, PRICE, PRICE.


I just sold a wonderful '30s 'Hart Schaffner Marx' suit for $301. Do you actually think that any modern tailor, anywhere, can make a suit like that
-- with the same quality -- for such a price? Or even for several hundred dollars more?


The answer is no. So don't go spouting nonsense implying that tailors within my budget -- and yours -- have the wherewithal to make a suit which truly matches the quality of a really good vintage one. You can kid yourself all you want, but don't go around trying to kid others. It's a waste of their time.

.

 

[Jovan]

I wasn't rude to you, don't be rude to me. Thanks.

 

[Jovan]

that's absolutely the point. The vintage clothing we're mostly finding is off-the-peg, not bespoke; Not even MTM. Frankly, there're probably only a few members who could afford, or have the inclination, to go bespoke. The few bespoke vintage items i've seen were much closer to their off-the-peg contemporaries than are current off-the-peg to current bespoke offerings. (And it is undoubtedly the off-the-peg that's gotten worse, not the bespoke better)

(for the record, i will always argue that bespoke is best, if they can provide the fabric i would demand).

But this above is the reason most of us vintage-istos will stick with vintage. The quality for the dollar is just not to be beat.

bk

Thank you for posting something constructive in response to me.

I do agree, a $300 bespoke =! quality of best OTR clothing houses from back then. But I suggest it mainly for those, like me, who have consistently been unable to find a vintage OR modern suit that really fits them, even considering alterations. For the record, I think the one I own will last quite a while, and is pretty damn well featured (like rubber strips to hold one's shirt in the waistband, and reinforced pant hems, as well as sweat guards) constructed for the price I paid. Better than most OTRs three or even four times its price. It does have the requisite floating canvas, too.