I have been threatening to do this for quite awhile but have finally pulled the trigger. Come vist “The Jaunty Rooster” on Etsy - a shop devoted solely to vintage menswear with a focus on suits and formalwear. I am having a ton of fun with this…
Vintage 1960s RUDOFKER Mens Shiny Steel Blue Slubbed Silk and Black Satin Black Tuxedo Jacket 40 - 42
Menswear update in progess - new vintage suits and tuxedos being added this weekend.
Check out my menswear section: http://www.etsy.com/shop/FrocknRock?
Vintage 1960s Mens PIERRE CARDIN Notched Collar Grey Gray on Black Rockabilly Tuxedo Jacket 40 - 42
Menswear update in progess - new vintage suits and tuxedos being added this weekend.
Check out my menswear section: http://www.etsy.com/shop/FrocknRock?
Will be adding menswear all day today…have added two new fantastic 3 piece suits…I love both of these.
Check it out and check back throughout day…good stuff coming!
http://www.etsy.com/shop/FrocknRock?section_id=10286441
Fantastic!!! I love this.
(Source: cooperfrederickson, via theodinspire)
Just added these to my Etsy shop. Incredibly cool pair of 1950s mens shoes from French Shriner. Great size and great price too! Check out the very cool advert I found featuring the shoes from 1954.
See here: http://www.etsy.com/listing/89787990/vintage-1950s-mens-french-shriner-gambol
British War-time Greeting Card Depicting Dogs Dressed In Uniform Having A Pint At The Bar…
So many good things here. Dogs. Scotch terrier. Scotch terrier in a kilt. Sailor dog. Dogs drinking beer. Take out the parrot and it’s like the inside of my brain.
My newest “vintage mission” is to find a pair of authentic old blue jeans. This is no easy task and requires a ton of education before setting out spelunking through thrift stores and estate sales. It is easy to be fooled by all the fake “vintage” denim on the market not to mention all the vintage-inspired lines that have been marketed by many denim companies in recent years. As part of my-self education, I have come across some interesting photos and facts about our historical love affair with denim - here are a few of my favorites:
“Old-timer’ Forty-niner panning for gold, busting his butt in original denim jeans.”
Most credit Levi Strauss for the invention of the blue jean. Strauss originally came to California to sell canvas for use as tents and wagon covers to the thousands of prospectors invading the state. The prospectors were incredibly hard on their pants which often had split-seams and holes in the butt and knees. Strauss recognized a need and, after consulting with a tailor, he was ready to provide a solution. Original Levi’s were made from tough and durable brown tenting canvas. After achieving success with his new product, Strauss discovered a durable cotton fabric known as “serge de Nimes” that was being produced in the South of France. He began importing it by the boatload and Levi’s denim jeans were born. The rest, as they say, is history…
The above photo shows a group of warehouse workers bailing cotton and wearing unriveted denim. Levi’s were orignally rivet-free and often suffered from fraying and bursting seams at the stress-points. After a suggestion from a tailor, in 1873 Strauss added copper rivets to his denim jeans. He was so thrilled with his rivets that, legend has it, he added a rivet at the base of the fly. This was discovered to be an awful idea after a wearer stood next to a campfire and the rivet overheated. I can only assume this is where the term “hot pants” derives…okay, maybe not.
Since its first use by Levi Strauss, denim has become a staple of the American wardrobe. Denim jeans, shirts, and jackets have been worn out of necessity by the poor and out of desire for status by the the rich and famous. Above is one of my favorite photos of Elvis Presley wearing both denim jeans and a denim jacket. Today I would probably avoid this look as I am not fond of the two denim look but hey - it is Elvis, who am I to judge?
Hippies loved their blue jeans. Although they would cringe at the thought, finding an authentic pair of 1960s hippie jeans is considered quite a find in the vintage world.
This iconic ad from Calvin Klein featuring Brooke Shields helped spark the 1980s designer jeans craze. Jeans became a huge status symbol and the brand of jeans you wore meant everything. I was in high school at the time and it had to be Calvin Klein or Guess - anything else was just embarrassing!
This pair of Levi’s was discovered in 1998 in an old Nevada mining town and came up for auction in May of 2001. The final price? $46,532 paid by the Levi Straus Co. This should bring us full circle and leave no doubt as to why I am “in search of” authentic vintage denim.
Tommy Hilfiger sums it up perfectly, “The great thing about jeans is that they look right no matter how you choose to wear them. Whether baggy or tight, jeans should look like they’ve been yours for 100 years.”
Information and Photos from:
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ADVANCED THRIFTING TIP
When you’re thrift shopping think outside the box. These are all vintage silk scarves/bolts cut from kimono’s. I picked them up for a song (like $3 or $4) at a yard sale (actually, the polka dot one top-center I picked up for a song from goodwill).
Just about perfect for some colorful pocket squares. I can either take them to a tailor to toss on some rolled edges, wear them as is (who’s going to know?) or try sewing edges on myself.
And then I’ve got 7 of unique, offbeat, custom silk pocket squares.
Not bad for $5
This is my neighbor modeling one of my favorite men’s vintage pieces. It is an early 1970s 3-piece suit from Harold Tillman. Tillman is one of the godfathers of British fashion and is still quite active in the fashion scene. The suit is quite small - it has a 29” waist and 35” chest so I had no available males - live or other - to model. In a stroke of pure genius (okay, slight overstatement), I put it on my neighbor and tada…love it!!! Would still love to see it on a guy but I don’t know if they still make grown men with waists smaller than 29” - do they?
Yes, I know I am not much a photographer - no feedback on that topic required.
Leafing through some more old magazines today and came across a February, 1971 issue of Life Magazine dedicated to nostalgia. I was interested to see that, at that time, they were nostalgic for the 1930s and 1940s. There are some great photos…here are a few of my favorites.
This is a pair of “art deco” inspired men’s shoes which I REALLY love. These are actually 1970s shoes doing “art deco.” At first I thought they were cutouts (which I did not love at all) but upon closer inspection realized they are two-tone. Unfortunately, no maker/designer information is included otherwise I might have tried to track these down.
Another pic I love follows - the clothes are great and, at least to my eye, it looks as if it could have been styled very recently. The guy looks a lot like many of the male models around today. I have included the photo caption below the picture - pay close attention to the last line - priceless. Gerard and Charlotte are tragically uninterested - so “Great Gatsby.”
Caption: Gerard and Charlotte while away a languorous afternoon in her apartment. She wears a ’30s tulle dress loaded with ruffles and a pendant with seed-pearl fringe. He wears a Depression expression.
Here is one last photo photo from the spread. Again I love the dresses but the caption is hilarious. Don’t these people have anything to do? Just who are Pam, Brenda, and Babs? Perhaps Billy Joel was talking about one of them in his song “Big Shot?”
CAPTION: Pam (rear) asked her good friends Brenda and Babs to her Park Avenue apartment to hear Freddy, the well-known Man about Town, tickle the ivories. All the girls turned up in Halston’s “movie star dresses,” slinky bias-cut jerseys that retail for around $250. “All the movie stars are buying them,” gloats the designer, “even Lana Turner.”
I thought I would take a minute and continue sharing some of the crazy ads from the war-time magazines I referenced yesterday. I will call today’s theme “Shameless and Meaningless War Tie-Ins.” Some of these are quite a stretch…
Shameless and Racist…
This morning, as I was enjoying my first cup of coffee, I took the opportunity to leaf through some old war-time magazines a friend had given me. While I spent a little time reading the articles, I was much more interested in the advertising. Vintage ads are a great way for vintage sellers and collectors to verify era and styles of clothing. I have found some amazing ads in the past and also some that are quite humorous. I was struck by the difference in these war-time magazines - there is little or no discussion of clothing and very few fashion ads. Any mention of fashion is in relation to rationing and how to dress in a manner that best supports the war effort. What is quite noticeable is that every single company is jumping on the bandwagon and trying to hawk their products through war tie-ins. Following are a couple of my favorite ads that deal with encouraging Americans to keep quiet and not discuss all the super-secret war plans and troop movements that I am quite sure they knew little or nothing about. Honestly, I think today, ads like this would be viewed as a little smarmy - you know trying to cash in during a trying time but, hey, things were different. I think the last one is my favorite!
In future posts I plan to share some other vintage ads from these war-time magazines. No item was exempt from a war tie-in; cigarettes, hand lotion, food…you name it.
I am generally not a fan of double-breasted suit jackets. I think men need to be incredibly trim to pull them off and not look rumpled, pregnant, or like they are smuggling a large tin of Spam. It seems double-breasted jackets are frequently ill-fitting and poorly tailored. It would be great if men took this 1920s flapper-era wedding photo to their tailor and pointed to the groom for a fit example. Not only is this an impeccable example of a creased trouser, it is also obvious that someone spent some amount of time ensuring proper fit of the jacket. No pulling, pouching, drooping, or creasing in weird areas. I guess I just prefer a slightly more traditional look than seems popular today - call me crazy but I hate watching someone constantly tugging and pulling at their clothing which seems to happen A LOT when men wear double-breasted jackets.
Having said all this, please know that I do not claim to be a fashion expert nor do I play one on television. I simply know what I like and what I don’t like and this is my opinion. I am always open to other viewpoints, but please don’t be an ass - I have enough of those in my life.
I love vodka and brunch but yet, I wasn’t invited.
From Life Magazine, 4-11-1969
