Excited About This Suit

[Marc Chevalier]

.

A long time ago, I had a '40s brown DB suit with wickedly peaked lapels and a textured, raised diagonal stripe weave ... which is unusual. Loved it. It's the only suit of mine that I've ever regretted selling. Dumb move.


Well, sometimes there *are* second acts in American lives. I just won the suit below. It's black ... but with a textured, raised diagonal weave in silvery white. Probably from the later '30s. The waistcoat seems to have inverse pleats on it, between the upper and lower pockets. The trousers have "British" inverted pleats, my favorite. Oh, and "Hart Schaffner & Marx" were (and are) an excellent brand. Love it!


Forgive the seller's photos. She insists on showing her suits with '70s ruffled tux shirts and enormous bowties. I eliminated them somewhat from the pics. You can bet that the Lounge will see this suit again ... when it arrives in the mail!

 

[Daisy Buchanan]

Congrats Marc!!! I just bought a few things from this seller, and saw that suit and thought it was incredible. I'm so glad that it went to a gentleman lounger. I even showed it to JBD, because I was so impressed by it. It truly is an amazing suit. I know you will look quite handsome in it!

 

[Marc Chevalier]

You're the cat's pajamas, Daisy! Thanks!


I'm glad it went to a Lounger, too.


Hope it'll fit. I'll definitely need to let out the waistband.

.

 

[Feraud]

Congrats Marc. The suit has a great texture!

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Thanks, Feraud!


I've seen this texture before on four (and only four!) suits from the '30s and '40s. It's wool, and of medium weight. Slightly stiff, but not itchy, fuzzy or "wooly." Not soft, but kind of smooth, except for those raised diagonal "ribs." The primary colors I've run into are teal green, deep blue, medium brown, and black.



Here's a photo of jazz pianist Billy Kyle wearing one in the early '40s:

.

 

[slicedbread]

Mr marc! I saw that suit fly off of ebay quicker than lightning...i think i saw it the day before and put it on watch to see how quickly it would be gone...CONGRATS and i hope you're happy with your purchase!

 

[Marc Chevalier]

It was neither cheap nor expensive. The Buy-It-Now price was adequate. Now, we'll see if it really is in good condition or not. I don't trust sellers to find all the moth holes ...


If it doesn't fit, I'll sell it. Will keep you informed.


.

 

[StanleyVanBuren]

Looks great!! Love the thin pinstripe.

Can't wait to see the real deal sans 70s shirt & bowtie.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Thanks! Those diagonal stripes are trippy, but they do look good once the suit's on a body and not a mannequin. And as for that shirt and bowtie combo ... :eusa_doh:


.

 

[MK]

.

Nice looking suit. I look forward to seeing it on.

 

[Benny Holiday]

Glad you got this one, Marc! I'm looking forward to seeing the pics once it's arrived.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

hey Marc,

did that brown suit you mentioned appear on page 75 of a book called "Price Guide to Vintage Fashions and Fabrics"?

bk

 

[Anthony Jordan]

That's a very nice looking suit. I don't wonder that you are excited. Congratulations!

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Thanks MK, Benny and Anthony! I look forward to taking some detailed photos of it when it arrives.


BK, I haven't seen that book, but I'll check it out. My brown suit had interesting peak lapels: the peaks were especially sharp and slanted upward at a perfect 45 degree angle. Handsome, but rakish too. Think Errol Flynn.


.

 

[J. Brisbin]

How did you find this suit?

What search terms did you use to find this suit, or did you just come across it browsing? I keep getting the feeling I'm missing out on items because the basic searches I use ("40s suit", "30s suit", etc...) aren't picking up items from sellers that, apparently like this one, think that anything made before 1990 is "vintage".

Do I just go into the men's clothing section and browse, or do these things get listed in strange places?

Or is that proprietary information and you could, of course, tell me, but then you'd have to...

 

[Baron Kurtz]

BK, I haven't seen that book, but I'll check it out. My brown suit had interesting peak lapels: the peaks were especially sharp and slanted upward at a perfect 45 degree angle. Handsome, but rakish too. Think Errol Flynn.


.

Did the lapels have a lot of belly? The book is from 2001. The suit is described thusly, and has lots of belly in the lapels:

"Suit, courtesy of Art & Jeane Fawcett, Vintage Silhouettes, CA. Late 1930s suit, Brown double breasted with cream diagonal pattern, size 37R."

bk

 

[Tomasso]

What search terms did you use to find this suit........Or is that proprietary information and you could, of course, tell me, but then you'd have to...

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Did the lapels have a lot of belly? The book is from 2001. The suit is described thusly, and has lots of belly in the lapels:

"Suit, courtesy of Art & Jeane Fawcett, Vintage Silhouettes, CA. Late 1930s suit, Brown double breasted with cream diagonal pattern, size 37R."

bk

Mine didn't have very curving (belly) lapels ... and it was a size 40 R.

.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

this seller seems to get some fantastic stuff. I just wish she wouldn't say things like this:

(**high-waist trousers are longer than the inseam would imply - PLEASE compare the 'overall length' measurement below to a pair of pants that fit)

She is correct, of course (is there any pair of trousers out there which are not longer than the inseam?) but i suspect that there are a whole bunch of guys walking around wearing these trousers as hip-huggers with the crotch swinging around their knees. Inseam, surely, is inseam - no matter what the outseam measures up to.

She's appears to be trying to suggest that these trousers *without any alteration* would fit someone with a longer inseam than that stated, which is patently false and cynical mis-selling since i'm sure she knows that these trousers are not worn with the modern trouser waist positioning.

bk

 

[Jovan]

That is really nice. I, too, love forward pleats. They've ruined me for reversed ones.