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The Thread to Display Your 1940s Suits

jamesmac1801

One of the Regulars
Messages
100
Location
California
Very nice, James!

Thanks . Since it's from warner brothers and has those actors names it musta been in a couple films . I am guessing one of them is this side of the law 1950 just by the date on the suit but haven't seen the movie to confirm yet .


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 

VintageEveryday

A-List Customer
Messages
383
Location
Woodside, NY
I believe this is a 1940s suit. It has the right construction and a 1939 Union label. I'd say late 40s based on the lapel gorge. Shocking thing is that it fits me perfectly. And I'm a size 46 with a 42 (natural) waist. Only paid $48. 20170912_165455.jpg 20170912_165509.jpg 20170912_165615.jpg 20170912_165643.jpg 20170912_165824.jpg 20170912_165659.jpg
 

VintageEveryday

A-List Customer
Messages
383
Location
Woodside, NY
I've been searching for years to find one in my size with no luck whatsoever...I'm guessing that anyone bigger than a 46R in the 1940's only owned 1 suit and were subsequently buried in it!
I feel your pain. I JUST found one today though that fits me perfectly so there's hope for you!
 

caheo883

New in Town
Messages
2
I believe this is a 1940s suit. It has the right construction and a 1939 Union label. I'd say late 40s based on the lapel gorge. Shocking thing is that it fits me perfectly. And I'm a size 46 with a 42 (natural) waist. Only paid $48.
PxYD3bH.jpg

78520-dfd9d1ed9fab12557d7be3c341e776c8.jpg
This jacket look really nice.
I like the Black, but i think it good for u50 guy.
 

GHT

I'll Lock Up
Messages
9,279
Location
New Forest
Nice suit!
These pants were tapered later (60's ?), right?
Could it be reversed?
Yes you can, but there has to be enough material each side of the seam. Here's how it's done. This is my wife's handywork by the way. She came across a fabulous pair of linen pants, 1960's slim and tapered, without a turned up cuff. They were over size for me but that's was what was needed for the alteration.
trousers 001.JPG
She turned one of the trouser legs inside out to make sure that enough material was left behind the seam to work with. Satisfied that there was, she bought the trousers. Once in her cabin she got to work by unpicking the inside and outside seams all the way down from crotch to hem, then she unpicked the bottom trouser hem. She then measured the width of the pants so that from the knee down there would be no taper. Marking up where she would sew with tailors chalk she carefully sewed the seams back creating a new image as she went.
trousers 012.jpg

Finally she created a turned up cuff with the excess material from the unpicked hem. As there was hardly any surplus material after producing the cuff, she reinforced the hem using bias binding.
trousers 013.jpg
The transformation is amazing, even though there is still a slight taper, but you can't see it when the pants are being worn. Luckily there wasn't too much material fade visible after unpicking the seam and with careful dry cleaning as well as steaming the new seams, the new shape looks very impressive.
 
Last edited:

MondoFW

Practically Family
Messages
852
So I could reverse the pants using a home solution? Interesting. Thanks for sharing!
 

Mean Eyed Matt

One Too Many
Messages
1,103
Location
Germany
Yes you can, but there has to be enough material each side of the seam. Here's how it's done. This is my wife's handywork by the way. She came across a fabulous pair of linen pants, 1960's slim and tapered, without a turned up cuff. They were over size for me but that's was what was needed for the alteration.
View attachment 110957
She turned one of the trouser legs inside out to make sure that enough material was left behind the seam to work with. Satisfied that there was, she bought the trousers. Once in her cabin she got to work by unpicking the inside and outside seams all the way down from crotch to hem, then she unpicked the bottom trouser hem. She then measured the width of the pants so that from the knee down there would be no taper. Marking up where she would sew with tailors chalk she carefully sewed the seams back creating a new image as she went.
View attachment 110958
Finally she created a turned up cuff with the excess material from the unpicked hem. As there was hardly any surplus material after producing the cuff, she reinforced the hem using bias binding.
View attachment 110959
The transformation is amazing, even though there is still a slight taper, but you can't see it when the pants are being worn. Luckily there wasn't too much material fade visible after unpicking the seam and with careful dry cleaning as well as steaming the new seams, the new shape looks very impressive.

Nice work!
Yes, that's what I mean: you need enough material...
 

MondoFW

Practically Family
Messages
852
Is that an american suit? If so, the lapels could have been pressed flat by some lazy dry-cleaner - you can restore the original roll pretty easily though.
I believe the suit is American. How would i go about restoring the lapel roll? And can any dry cleaners properly press a suit without butchering this feature? This seems to be a pet peeve amongst regular suit-wearers.
 

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