Snap Your Cap

This post will be the usual mish mosh format.

First I'd like to catch up with some of the garb I've been sporting for work the last few weeks.

With the weather becoming unusually cold for this time of year, I've been sporting my new shawl lapel cardigan I picked up from Old Navy. While it's only about 55% wool with a synthetic mixture and a little too long in certain measurements I love this sweater and highly recommend it! It really compliments the "classic animator" look I try and attempt. 

Though Halloween was practically cancelled due to the hurricane, me and my coworkers did get to have some spooky fun at a party thrown by our bosses. Costumes were mandatory, and after racking my brain trying to figure out what to be on such short notice, I went with an idea I had since last Halloween, a steampunk army engineer.

Nothing super special about my costume. It's really just a mish mosh of some World War Two gear I got several Halloweens ago, with my dad's Vietnam army shirt from around 1970, a couple pocket watches, tweed pants, leather gloves, real glass and metal goggles, and a cheap costume civil war union cap. Though being at a cartoon studio, I kind of wished I went as a cartoon character like I did last halloween. Anyone remember Chuck Jones' "The Dover Boys" (1942)?

Now I'd like share some recent hat finds.

First this tweed flat cap, made by Empire Caps. The little belt on the back says '50s to me, though I'm not entirely sure when that came into vogue exactly.

                                Maybe it's because I'm a New Yorker, but I love the logo on this cap!

 The belt on the back looks almost functional with the extra material, unlike some other caps I've seen where it's just a short piece of material with a buckle sewn to the back. I think this more realistic belt is because it's custom made, rather than ready to wear.

Next is a real pearl of a fedora.

A '40s/'50s Dobbs fifth avenue in virtually near mint condition. It even came with the original hat box (pictures later)

                                     Nice and tall 4 3/4 inch crown with a nice big brim.

 Virtually mint condition, probably one of the cleanest vintage hats I've ever own.

Now that my blog is finally up to date, I can make my future posts more organized and simple!
Until then, enjoy my current music obsession. Harry "The Hipster" Gibson perfomring, "Piano Boogie Jump"

The '20s Suit

Been a while since my last post. Between Hurricane Sandy and crunch time at work I've been putting off updating this blog. So without further ado, I'd like to present a new suit I acquired recently, or rather, my "new" old suit, from the roaring twenties. Finding good photo reference of actual 1920's era menswear itself isn't common. Sure, there's old magazines, photo's and movie's, but finding detailed photographs of the clothing today takes a lot of searching. Most of the time, I've seen '20s suits reffered to as "Zoot Suits" or "Mobster Suits" and presented as having gigantic lapels and thick pinstripes. It's probably due to the average Joe with only hollywood magic to reference making the '30s and '40s being slapped together with the '20s.  Though watch any old pre-1934 movie, mobsters tended to have more variety in their wardrobe. So here is a treat for you roaring twenties fanatics, an up close and detailed look at a real 1920's suit from 1926.

6 X 2 double breasted, with medium sized lapels, quite a classic style that never really went out of mainstream fashion, except roughly around the 1955-1967 period, when small lapels ruled and the double breasted suit was cast aside for the more simple 2 and 3 button single breasted numbers. This suit is a prime example from the period. Dated July 30th 1926, it's hard to believe it's 86 years old! While classic, there are some features that set it apart from other eras. The shoulder padding is very minimal, giving a more natural silhouette, and the cuffs feature only 2 buttons, which from what I've seen stuck around for a bit in the '30s and early '40s. Then again in the '60s and '70s. 

 This suit features a high-gorge (the area where the lapels cross in my book) and the mid size lapels work nicely with the natural silhouette of the suit.

 Small simple label.

A vintage clothing enthusiasts best friend, a dated tag.

               Like the jacket, the pants are in excellent shape. Plain front, medium sized cuffs, big loops.

 Now, a suit from 1926, you'd expect a button fly right? Well to my surprise it came with a zipper. Some of the vintage suit experts, (I'm just an amateur) think the zipper might be original as it had been invented by that time. Though that synthetic herringbone material that the zipper is part of doesn't look period at all, but c'est la vie.

Wow, I actually made an organized single topic post! Next one will return to the usual anything goes format, featuring more vintage hats and Halloween stuff.