Sources for Suits

[Briscoeteque]

I'm a rather poor college student with a fondess for suits from 1920-1964. What's a good place to look? So far it's been eBay, and while I've snagged 2 1964 suits and one 1940's suit for reasonable prices, four, all of them fantastic and rare styles (and fit) went absolutely crazy today, three breaking $100 rapid fire. I look at the local goodwill, but most of the stuff they have is 70's and 80's, when people almost looked better dressing casually, the suits were so bad. Anything good, it's just the jacket. I went to a talior, and getting a pinstriped double-breasted suit made ran about 900 dollars. Is there some secret untapped resource out there for old suits? eBay's just too much for me, I watched this one suit religiously for a week, started picking out ties and hats to go with it, and it goes up a hundred dollars in 5 minutes.

I need a second job in addition to my schoolwork to pay for my cloth habit.

[Baron Kurtz]

And a Scot - we're known for being tightwads ...

It all depends on your size. If you are unfortunate enough to fall into the size range 38R-42L you will be pretty much restricted to above $100 for a suit on eBay. If you're bigger than that, expect to pay more. Smaller? You might get lucky. The real trick to eBay is finding things that have been badly listed (look for measurements that seem absurd to you, or for a suit that you *know* is 30s-40s but has been listed as 60s-70s). The threads on the lounge will help you out with what to look for.

Other than eBay, the internet is hit and miss. Trawling through vintage boutiques you'll find anything from the absurdly high prices (one has a 40s two piece suit for $3500 - and it has moth holes) to the absurdly low prices (NRA overcoat for $15) and everything in between. For a three piece suit $100 seems to be around the going rate.

I thrift obsessively. there are two Goddwill stores in my town, both of which i visit once a week. I go to every store in town that sells vintage at least once a fortnight. My finds from the town currently run to a wrecked 30s tuxedo jacket to use for a pattern, a 40s herringbond overcoat, a 1940 dated two piece suit from the goodwill, and two stetson hats. And i've been searching for 3 years. eBay has provided most of my other vintage clothing.

Building a vintage wardrobe on a budget takes a loooong time. With unlimited cash one could quite quickly amass a mass of clothing, but most are not in that situation.

Keep on thrifting!

bk

[Briscoeteque]

Thanks for the tips, I fall right in the middle of your range, 40R or 40L, depending on how I want to get it altered. In town I think all I've got is a Salvation Army and a Goodwill, and everytime I want to go there I have to pester a friend with a car. The internet that's not ebay is way too expensive. I think I know what you're talking about with the poor listings. I found this incredible brown pinstriped double breasted suit, and it ended up going for 13.50 because it was sniped. It didn't have a picture in the search window, and no one bid on it save me and the sniper.

Oh well, I just won a 50's garnet silk sportcoat for 25 dollars. It looks like all I'm going to need to do is save up and wait. I would have loved to be able to have bid 150 on that blue pinstriped number.

[Baron Kurtz]

Start sniping!

I don't use a program, but i place my bids as close to the last second that a dial up connection will allow. With DSL it's easier to be a manual sniper.

I have an excellent source for really cheap vintage, but i'm keeping it close to my chest. When i leave the US i'll divulge.

She has no idea what she's selling, and has stunning pieces. Some to be photographed this weekend.

bk

Edit. You might want to check out americanvintageclassics.com. They have some pricey stuff, and some cheaper stuff.

[simmo]

I'm also after my first vintage suit.I'm about a size 42 and would like a dark pinstripe suit.Not had much luck on Ebay as of yet .Will have to try the local charity shops and see if i can come up with something.

[Dr. Shocker]

The trick I use is to go with Vintage inspired looks.....I can't afford prices of suits even in thrift stores around here anymore......some of the thrifts have suits marked over $100.....if they fit me I might contimplate it but most of the time I have a hard time paying $100 to a thrift store for anything......so I look for nice slacks and dress shirt and try to peice a sport coat with it......or forget the coat all together......if money starts falling from the sky I would have them made from the ground up.......

[Robert Conway]

Size can be a real problem, if you wear something like a 46 or 48 jacket.

Im a 48R, with 34/36 pants and a 32 inseam and find it very difficult to find anything vintage to fit me. Most items seem to be in the 38-42 range.

So, I've been buying pieces that I will use as models to have a duplicates made, but that's not exactly a cheap solution...


Robert Conway

[Baron Kurtz]

I don't know about everyone else's town, but here there are a tonne of "antique" (junk) shops - usually run by a lone old woman open to bartering. They sometimes have some vintage pieces. One here has a whole bunch of hats, but they're all huge. Something else to try.

bk

[Marc Chevalier]

If you go thrifting in the Midwest or the Rockies, your chances are better of finding a great pre-'50s suit for a reasonable price. In big cities everywhere else, you might still spot a '40s suit in a thrift store, but the price will almost certainly be higher (though less than $100). Vintage clothing stores are shying away from such suits because, according to the shopowners, "they don't sell anymore; swing dancing is dead." Still, if you find one, the price will almost certainly be over $100. (No wonder they don't sell!)

That pretty much leaves eBay. As others have already said here, the larger the suit (or hat!), the higher the price. Size 39 seems to be the starting point for high pricing. A '30s pinstripe suit in a size 44R can fetch hundreds of dollars.

At this point, you should educate your eye and get a really good sense of the way that '30s-'40s suits look. Then, go thrifting and try to find a modern suit that closely imitates that look. Some modern brands: Alan Flusser, J. Peterman, New Republic Clothiers, Garrick Andersen (sp?), Hart Schaffner & Marx "Black Label", and 1985-1990 Polo Ralph Lauren (blue label).

[Robert Conway]

It's getting pretty thin out there.

I've spent the past few days making the rounds of not just the thrift stores, but also the vintage stores here in Los Angeles and I am not seeing anywhere near the selection I was even just 5 years ago, when I was looking for 40's clothing to use in a short film. I wasn't collecting back then, but kick myself today, when I think back on the items I saw and recognize for what they were.

Nowadays it's mostly stuff from the 80's, the hideous 70's and 60's, still a good smattering of the 50's, but the 40's and 30's are barely represented.

Just this afternoon I sorted through a huge table, holding maybe 300-400 pairs of pants in a vintage store and found TWO pre-1950's trousers.

I'm heading out to Hollywood and beyond tomorrow, maybe I'll have more luck in that neck of the woods. Other than that it's ebay...


Robert Conway