Esquire’s Complete Golden Age Illustrations:

Flanderian · Sep 27, 2020

These are Esquire's sartorial illustrations for December 1939. Apologies for the puny offering, but it's all they had.

Fading Fast · Sep 28, 2020

Thought this DB jacket, in particular, is a pretty good example of a slimmer cut but with classic length and proportions. It's what the current slim/skinny cuts often lack as, today, they just make everything skinny and shorter which messes up the lines of the jacket vis-a-vis, well, human anatomy.

Re the man on the right: I love his suit, I love his shirt and I love his tie, but together there are way too many smallish and similar patterns sharing the stage.

Fastuni · Sep 28, 2020

@Flanderian

I should have specified that I was thinking more about early 1960's British (and German) fashion, which was still more conservative. Lapels weren't always super-narrow and a lot of features were still retained in the "old manner".

Here the illustrations from 1938/39 which I think have that (conservative) 60's vibe. The trousers and some of the lapels are significantly more narrow than what was standard during the era (as is also mentioned in some of the descriptions).

For comparison a London fashion show 1962:

Flanderian · Sep 28, 2020

Fastuni said:
@Flanderian

I should have specified that I was thinking more about early 1960's British (and German) fashion, which was still more conservative. Lapels weren't always super-narrow and a lot of features were still retained in the "old manner".

Here the illustrations from 1938/39 which I think have that (conservative) 60's vibe. The trousers and some of the lapels are significantly more narrow than what was standard during the era (as is also mentioned in some of the descriptions).
View attachment 265313
View attachment 265314 View attachment 265315 View attachment 265316

For comparison a London fashion show 1962:

View attachment 265317 View attachment 265318 View attachment 265319

Yes, a good deal of difference. I have less familiarity with German modes of the early '60's, but I'm not surprised.

Love the clothing depicted in the photos! Very elegant and stylish.

Flanderian · Sep 28, 2020

Fading Fast said:
Thought this DB jacket, in particular, is a pretty good example of a slimmer cut but with classic length and proportions. It's what the current slim/skinny cuts often lack as, today, they just make everything skinny and shorter which messes up the lines of the jacket vis-a-vis, well, human anatomy.
View attachment 265293

Re the man on the right: I love his suit, I love his shirt and I love his tie, but together there are way too many smallish and similar patterns sharing the stage.
View attachment 265294

Agree about the check suit being very handsome. Would be delighted to have one! (But when, and where, would I ever wear it?)

Checks on checks can harmonize, but these do seem a bit too close for comfort. Everyone's tolerance for mixing patterns varies, and I suspect my preferences might be viewed as garish by some. Interesting when done well, distressing when done poorly.

Flanderian · Sep 28, 2020

These are Esquire's January 1940 illustrations. Another tiny lot. Arnie must be off on a toot.

Turnip · Sep 28, 2020

Flanderian said:
These are the Esquire illustrations for April 1939.

...

View attachment 264151

Those were the years when single malt (still) had the image to be a crude farmer´s Schnaps.

Flanderian · Sep 28, 2020

Turnip said:
Those were the years when single malt (still) had the image to be a crude farmer´s Schnaps.

Something of which I was unaware, and interesting!

Upon consideration, seems consistent with a general culture in which Modernity was the paradigm.

Flanderian · Sep 28, 2020

These are the Esquire illustrations for February 1940. The winds of change are blowing.

Flanderian · Sep 29, 2020

These are Esquire's illustrations for March 1940.

Tiki Tom · Sep 29, 2020

1. Thank goodness “the Bermuda suit” never caught on.

2. Am I the only one expecting a transition to a more serious tone now that there’s a war on? That bit about “Good bye, Riviera. Hello, Palm Beach” made it sound like the South of France was merely closed due to an inconvenient outbreak of cheese mold, and that those hardest hit were the rootless glitterati. True, the Yanks were not in the fight yet, but in hindsight (always 20/20) it sounds a little tone deaf.

Yes, I’m guilty of an especially egregious mixed metaphor in that last sentence.

3. Holy smokes. The guys in “We fix fats” look like average gents from the 21st century, IMHO.

4. “Springtime, campus version” is a little too busy for my taste. My kingdom for a solid colored tie or scarf!

Turnip · Sep 29, 2020

Hasn’t isolationism since the Monroe doctrine been part of the American foreign policy, especially after WWI?

From that point of view the less serious tone appears at least to make sense to me considering the target group of this publication.

If I remember right it took a German declaration of war in December 41 to officially involve the USA into the European combat theater.

Cheers

Turnip

Flanderian · Sep 29, 2020

Tiki Tom said:
1. Thank goodness “the Bermuda suit” never caught on.

2. Am I the only one expecting a transition to a more serious tone now that there’s a war on? That bit about “Good bye, Riviera. Hello, Palm Beach” made it sound like the South of France was merely closed due to an inconvenient outbreak of cheese mold, and that those hardest hit were the rootless glitterati. True, the Yanks were not in the fight yet, but in hindsight (always 20/20) it sounds a little tone deaf.

Yes, I’m guilty of an especially egregious mixed metaphor in that last sentence.

3. Holy smokes. The guys in “We fix fats” look like average gents from the 21st century, IMHO.

4. “Springtime, campus version” is a little too busy for my taste. My kingdom for a solid colored tie or scarf!

While Bermuda shorts with tie and jacket have long been described as traditional school and business wear on the Island, to me it's always more made me think the gentlemen have forgotten their trousers.

Another colonial inspired innovation for tropic climates, no doubt as useful as the pith helmet in aiding comfort.

Turnip said:
Hasn’t isolationism since the Monroe doctrine been part of the American foreign policy, especially after WWI?

From that point of view the less serious tone appears at least to make sense to me considering the target group of this publication.

If I remember right it took a German declaration of war in December 41 to officially involve the USA into the European combat theater.

Cheers

Turnip

Though I'd need to go back and check sources to refresh my memory, my recollection of the U.S.'s entry into WWII roughly coincides with yours. Japan attacked the U.S. fleet at Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Congress formally declared war (A specific provision of the U.S. Constitution.) upon which Hitler's Germany acknowledged same, and the U.S. said, OK, you too.

Your mention of the Monroe Doctrine raises many interesting and complex issues. The answer to which might be, yes, but also no! If the Monroe Doctrine might be paraphrased by a wag as, "We won't get involved in European affairs unless we feel like it, and to the degree we wish," it might more accurately describe the actual course of history since its proclamation. And WWII is possibly THE prime example as the U.S. provided significant and eventually enormous support in both materials and logistics for the allied war effort virtually from the beginning. To which some factions within the Axis forces claimed, with some justification, that the U.S. was a non-belligerent in name only.

Flanderian · Sep 29, 2020

These are the illustrations for Esquire, April 1940.

Flanderian · Sep 29, 2020

The balance of April 1940.

Fading Fast · Sep 30, 2020

I continue to be impressed with the variety of casual footwear that was available in the '30s and '40s, like this "belted" Chukka.

Tiki Tom said:
1. Thank goodness “the Bermuda suit” never caught on....

Having been to Bermuda a few times, the "Bermuda suit" is, IMHO, one of those things that works only in its natural environment - Bermuda. Kinda like cowboy boots with a suit is fine in Texas, but stands out awkwardly in the Northeast.

One of the things that's been all but lost today is wearing wool dress trousers with an open-collared shirt and sweater for a look between casual (chinos, say) and a sport coat and tie.

I'm just old enough to have dressed this way in the '80s/'90s when it was viewed by many as "in-between" casual and dressy. You also see it as "casual" dress for men in many of the films from the '30s, '40s and '50s.

Unfortunately, today, if I wore it, I'm sure I'd be asked "why so dressed up," since even chinos and nice sweater can prompt that comment. But back when it was still a normal thing, I had several pairs of "casual" grey dress trousers (think rougher textures) for just such a reason. Today, I own two wool grey trousers and haven't put them on in years.

Not a fan of the man on the left's choice of pinstripes for his "casual" dress trousers, but still, he has the right idea overall.

Turnip · Sep 30, 2020

Fading Fast said:
...

Having been to Bermuda a few times, the "Bermuda suit" is, IMHO, one of those things that works only in its natural environment - Bermuda. Kinda like cowboy boots with a suit is fine in Texas, but stands out awkwardly in the Northeast.

One of the things that's been all but lost today is wearing wool dress trousers with an open-collared shirt and sweater for a look between casual (chinos, say) and a sport coat and tie.

...

Things haven´t been lost, they´re just somewhere else as the environment changed, it´s all the same as with the "Bermuda Suit".

Maybe no casual streetwear anymore but i´m sure in country-, golf-, or tennis-clubs nobody would take notice of you dessing this way.

You could also ask where the goold old times have gone because almost nobody wears Bowlers, Overcoats and patent shoes anymore.

Cheers

Turnip

Flanderian · Sep 30, 2020

Fading Fast said:
I continue to be impressed with the variety of casual footwear that was available in the '30s and '40s, like this "belted" Chukka.
View attachment 265899

Having been to Bermuda a few times, the "Bermuda suit" is, IMHO, one of those things that works only in its natural environment - Bermuda. Kinda like cowboy boots with a suit is fine in Texas, but stands out awkwardly in the Northeast.

One of the things that's been all but lost today is wearing wool dress trousers with an open-collared shirt and sweater for a look between casual (chinos, say) and a sport coat and tie.

I'm just old enough to have dressed this way in the '80s/'90s when it was viewed by many as "in-between" casual and dressy. You also see it as "casual" dress for men in many of the films from the '30s, '40s and '50s.

Unfortunately, today, if I wore it, I'm sure I'd be asked "why so dressed up," since even chinos and nice sweater can prompt that comment. But back when it was still a normal thing, I had several pairs of "casual" grey dress trousers (think rougher textures) for just such a reason. Today, I own two wool grey trousers and haven't put them on in years.

Not a fan of the man on the left's choice of pinstripes for his "casual" dress trousers, but still, he has the right idea overall.
View attachment 265900

It's coincidental that I was recently admiring a chukka boot closed by a single strap, but of course, I can't remember the maker. May have been from Spain. It's a style I've seen occasionally over the years, but is not common. Seems some dislike such so-called monk strap closures, but I often find them handsome, and they seem particularly appropriate on a chukka boot. And it's a practical and effective means of securing such boots. I've always found chukka styled boots an easy fit for me, and in '69 or '70, purchased a suede pair with a man-made shearling like lining to spare my feet on frigid German winter pavement. If I recall, they had a bit of broguing and were extremely comfortable and practical casual footwear.

While I believe you're correct that the era when there were far more makers, and consequent boundless experimentation has not endured, I've seen a delightful and surprising revival of smaller quality makers offer significant variety via the Internet.

Flanderian · Sep 30, 2020

These are the illustrations for May 1945.

Fading Fast · Sep 30, 2020

Flanderian said:
It's coincidental that I was recently admiring a chukka boot closed by a single strap, but of course, I can't remember the maker. May have been from Spain. It's a style I've seen occasionally over the years, but is not common. Seems some dislike such so-called monk strap closures, but I often find them handsome, and they seem particularly appropriate on a chukka boot. And it's a practical and effective means of securing such boots. I've always found chukka styled boots an easy fit for me, and in '69 or '70, purchased a suede pair with a man-made shearling like lining to spare my feet on frigid German winter pavement. If I recall, they had a bit of broguing and were extremely comfortable and practical casual footwear.

While I believe you're correct that the era when there were far more makers, and consequent boundless experimentation has not endured, I've seen a delightful and surprising revival of smaller quality makers offer significant variety via the Internet.

Agreed. Several years ago, J.Crew put out a fleece-line version of its MacAlister Chukka and, after buying one, I immediately bought another to have in reserve (I wish I had bought two). I, too, have noticed an increase in "niche" shoemaker brands on-line doing some interesting things over the past ten or so years.

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