Small Changes: The Black Blazer Re-Fitted

It really is amazing what the smallest change can do.

About a week ago, I debuted this vintage black flannel blazer. I like this jacket. It fits well, the cloth is beautiful. But those damned silver buttons were just too tacky, even for me. Something had to be done. A trip to the sewing store an a couple of bucks was all it took:

Silver buttons are a drag. Really, I can't think of any instance where they would look right on menswear. Brass, sure, but silver? Blech! They really limited the use of this jacket too, prohibiting a lot of otherwise sound color combos, like these tan cords.

The silver buttons gave this coat an air of pretension, like it was trying to be fancy, but never heard of understatement. The brown horn (okay, plastic, but still...) but give it just the right slouchy casual air, which is only appropriate for a flannel jacket with patch pockets.

Before, it only went with black shoes, which only added to the pretension in a way. Now, brown suede brogues are more than appropriate...which is good, since I'm mostly a brown shoe kind of guy. I picked up the tan cords a while ago. They're made of the softest mid-wale brushed corduroy you ever saw. I got these, and another pair in olive, for $4.99 each. From the Ecut Clothing Company, apparently an Iranian manufacturer. Guess that makes me an enemy of the state or something. No matter. They were about a mile too long when I got them, but today I hemmed them to my perfect 29 1/2 inch inseam, no sweat.

Little changes go a long way, no?

An Announcement and An Invitation:

As you all probably know, I spend a lot of time culling the dregs of the thrift stores for these treasures I present to you here. For a while now, I've been collecting things not only for myself. Why? Because this May, if all goes well, I plan to host a bi-annual (does that mean twice a year?) cleaned up flea market. It will be a gathering of quality re-sale merchants in the greater Boston area, as well as many independent dealers, including yours truly. While you won't find things for the shamefully low prices I often pay, you will find clothes (both men's and women's), housewares, books and even furniture that has been thoughtful chosen, mended if need be, cleaned and presented, by people who really know their stuff.

So far a number of really cool Boston area stores have agreed to participate, including Frida Bee, Boutique Fabulous, Poor Little Rich Girl, Abodeon, Artifaktori, Sunshine Lucy's, Lorem Ipsum Books, Raspberry Beret, and the crown jewel of them all, Bobby from Boston. This promises to be a lot of fun.

If you live in the greater Boston area, are an obsessive hoarder of anything cool, and would be interested in having a table at this event,or know someone who might, contact me at anaffordablewardrobe@yahoo.com. Sure, this may all seem a little shameless, so expect to hear about this very once in a while. A separate website for the event should (hopefully) be coming soon.

By the way, did I mention there will likely be a bar at this thing?

p.s.

this is not in any way meant to be a jab at the Pop Up Flea hosted by Michael Williams of ACL. We got into something of a sh*tstorm following my post on that event, and I don't intend to let that happen again. As such, for the first time in Affordable Wardrobe history, I will not be posting all comments. Derogatory comments from complete anonymous strangers referring to this event or Mr. Williams' will not be considered for publication. Let's keep things upbeat, kids.

Symptoms of Fatherhood

My Dad wears baseball hats all the time...with sports jackets, with overcoats, you name it. He's got a giant collection of them, and likes to match them with his outfits. Never a look I was into myself, but somehow he always manages to pull it off. ADG has been known to do the same.

I tend to favor a British style driving cap almost exclusively. I've got a whole mess of those. And yet today, for some reason I found myself trotting out the baseball-cap-and-overcoat combo.

I thought it looked pretty cool with some red cords, a cashmere coat and my new favorite patch tweed scarf. Call me crazy if you will. Somehow, for an afternoon of running around with the children, this just felt right. Maybe it's a "dad" thing.
(although, even as casual as this outfit is, I'm still 'dressed up' compared to 99% of the dad's you see out with their kids...ADG, of course, excluded.)
Down below: go-to-hell pants with go-to-hell socks, because why-the-hell not?

I do think it was partly prompted by the recent acquisition of this 1930's style Red Sox cap, just like the one Ted Williams wore. I'm lucky to live in Boston, were an affinity for Baseball reaches well beyond the knuckle-headed masses deep into intellectual, wealthy and even stylish circles. Let's see if Terry Francona get a consistent group of nine guys out there this year, and maybe Papi could remember how to hit a home run...I digress.

Now, I'm not about to join the ranks of the eternally baseball-capped, but I think even this look can have it's moments.

Black and Blue All Over

I worked in a men's shop in the nineties. Mostly our stuff was pretty good, but there were exceptions. Chief among these was the abhorrent black blazer. Just like our navy blazers, brass buttons and all, only black. Especially awful was the 6x1 double breasted version...unforgivable. I hated them then, and my mind could not be changed, until...

I came across an exquisitely made, early 1960s vintage three button blazer, in black flannel. I could feel an old hatred welling up inside me, but this jacket surpassed all that. It confounded me, because as much as I felt I ought to hate it, I actually had to have it. Call it fate.

What really sold me was the open patch breast pocket. It's a detail I find absolutely irresistible in a casual jacket

The buttons are silver, which is probably kind of cheesy. I might swap them out for braided leather, maybe, I don't know. In any case, I think this jacket worked pretty well against an outfit comprised almost entirely of blue, in this case dark jeans and a university striped oxford.

It's a conundrum, really, this black blazer. Two days ago, I tried it out with grey flannels and a white shirt with pink stripes. But it was all wrong, reminded me why I once found the black blazer repugnant. That day, I immediately swapped it for my classic navy blazer, and all was right with the world. The today I tried it with jeans and it was just the thing, which is funny, because jeans and sports jackets often work quite well together, but if you ask me, nothing looks worse than a navy blazer and jeans. I don't know, too dorky or something.

And speaking of dark blue jeans...

I like my jeans dark, stiff and old fashioned of cut. I do not like to wear jeans for a year or more without washing them in order to preserve them, because that's just filthy. Enter Woolite Extra Dark Care. I ran the Wranglers though the wash, alone, turned inside out, in cold water, with Woolite, then hung them to dry. The results: jeans that are both dark and clean. Go figure.

p.s. watch for this enigma of a jacket with tan slacks and a cream cable knit sweater. That might be just the ticket, too. We'll see.

FrankenMonkey!

It's funny, really. I'm what the "normal" world considers overdressed about 95% of the time, and yet, I've only worn formal wear once. My Junior prom, an occasion I've successfully pushed as far back in my mind as possible...we'll leave it at that. What I will tell you is that though I wore a piece-of-sh*t rental, I insisted on a shawl collar, and I bought my own self-tie bow...at the age of 17. But enough about that.

A while back, I stumbled across a vintage Brooks Brothers white dinner jacket, but I passed it up.Why? Because evening clothes just don't really have a place in the humble existence of your worthy writer. After all, it's one thing to wear a suit, or even a jacket and tie, when it's not required. At worst, people find you "quirky". But wearing formal wear when it isn't called for? Out of the question, even for a peacock like me. But two days ago, this piece of formality got the better of me:

A vintage shawl collar "sack" evening jacket, with with silk facing on the lapels, likely late 1950's...

from the same Brothers who trotted out the white jacket I so nobly refused last year. Damn it, it was five bucks, I couldn't help it....cut me a break.

So, what to wear it with?

If I ever get invited to a swanky party someplace revolving mainly around gin and Scotch, I'll probably match it with:

A vintage pr of mother-of-pearl "cuff snaps"...

I've had these things for a long time. They snap apart in the middle, enabling the wearer to put a half of them into in each side of the cuff, the snap it shut. I couldn't get a good photo of the fine print, but they're actually dated 1927. Oh yeah, and they're double sided. I like to imagine that they once belonged to a captain of industry, or Fred Astaire, or something. In any case, they were almost certainly last seen in the company of a silk top hat. The things you find for a buck.

And just to drive the final stylish nail, while absolutely infuriating the death-trap purists, how about some tartan pants? Imagine, if a refinished the hems without cuffs, added brace buttons, took off the belt loops, and had Mr. Lee add a black grosgrain stripe down the out seam of the legs? The results would indeed be murderous, no?

And as much as I'm generally against the affected skull and bones, a pair of velvet pirate slippers and some white silk socks would really drive this baby home.

I know, the hardcores will wail and nash their teeth at the mere suggestion of such transgressions against the Holy Church of Tuxedo. But, if I wore this rig, most of the guys at the same soiree would probably be wearing long ties, a sure sign of "not getting it".

There are worse things than a creatively "Frankenstein" monkey suit. Now all I need is for someone to invite me to some party involving plenty of oak aged brown stuff, witty repartee, and maybe a cigar on the balcony.

Get Crafty

A while back Mrs. G. scored this quirky little tweed and corduroy patchwork lap blanket from the Andover Shop.
It measures about three feet square. When the boy was but a baby, we used it to bundle him up in the stroller. Now, he's well beyond such things. And my darling little girl is too much of a lady to wear such a masculine piece of cloth.

So the beautiful blanket is relegated to the status of a decorative throw over the back of a wicker chair in the house. Too small for any grown person to actually use in any way, it has been these last few years merely a decoration. That's fine, I guess. Only every time I looked at this thing I couldn't help but wish there was some way I could wear it...these little pieces of cloth really are top quality, after all.

And then it hit me...
I cut the blanket carefully in half. Then I sewed the open ends, and attached the two halves back together to create a long rectangle rather than a square, and folded it lengthwise.
Turns out, it makes a ripping good scarf that looks extraordinary with a Barbour jacket and a lambswool sweater from the House of Tweed. Best of all, it's warm as anything. Wrapped around my neck and draped across my chest, this patchwork masterpiece gave the old Barbour just the extra stuffing it needed on a clear and chilly day.

If you're going to be cheap and thrifty, it is essential that you develop an eye for possibilities, and realize that things need not always be what they are at first. It doesn't hurt knowing how to sew, either. Say you find a jacket made of a beautiful piece of glen check for a dollar or two, but it's got a little hole or two in it. Maybe you can cut enough pieces of cloth out of it to make some killer accent pillows for your sofa. Or maybe you find some crazy go-to-hell cotton pants that are way to short. Maybe they'll make a good pair of shorts come summer. Learn to see things not only for what they already are, but what they might be, given a little creativity.

Go out there and get crafty!

MTM Shirts in Action: The Pink One

Of course, I couldn't wait to trot my new extravagant shirts out for all to see. Here is outfit number 1:

So what do you wear with a $75 pink shirt with a contrast collar? How about a navy flannel blazer ($3.49), an understated tie from Mr. Sid ($1.99), and an Italian silk pocket square with hand rolled edges ($0.99). Finish with a collar pin that I nabbed for a quarter about a million years ago.

Check the perfect sleeve length. 1/2 inch of shirt cuff showing, just about right.

And though it may still be a little flashy, I'm really digging the combo of two button shirt cuff with two button jacket cuff. Aw, c'mon, give me a break. This isn't nearly as affected as a working four button jacket cuff with two left undone.

Finished simply, with grey flannels and brown Florsheims. (bet you can't even spot the repair job on those trews, can ya?)

As for fit, these shirts are dead on. Perfect sleeve length. The body provides room for movement without being in the least blousey. The armhole is fitted, but not tight. It stays tucked in...all day. Sure, I may look a bit wrinkled in this photo, but that's what a shirt ought to look like after it's been worn for ten hours. "Non-Iron" cotton is for savages.

As for the collar: True, a proper "club collar" is shorter and trimmer than this one. So it's a point collar with rounded edges, if it makes the nit-pickers happy. Frankly I don't care. It fits just right, and looks well pinned, which is what I was after in the first place.

p.s....this is for Tin Tin: sleeve to yoke pattern matching on the striped jobbie is pretty damn tight, no?

Made-to-Measure Shirts (sophomore outing)

A while back, I was graciously given a free Made-to Measure shirt from Deo Veritas, a Chicago based online shirt service. The shirt I had them make for me may have been a bit (dare I say it) flashy, over the top, even. What do you want from me? A greenhorn move to be sure. But honestly, I don't have any problem finding white and blue shirts that fit, so why waste the opportunity? In any case, I was very impressed by the fit, material, and construction of that shirt. So much so that I decided to blow my Christmas bonus on a couple more. They arrived today:

A tad more laid back than my first foray into Made-to-Measure, though not by much.

These two feature contrast club collars (read:rounded points),

and a two button rounded edge cuff.

I paid $150 for these two shirts. An extravagance, to be sure. But the way I figure, such are the occasional rewards of the thrifty life. In general, I disdain retail, and I buy everything second hand for incredibly low prices. The older I get, the more I see this as a way to justify an infrequent big expenditure.

Back when I reviewed my first Deo Veritas shirt, some of you expressed misgivings at the fact hat it was made in Hong Kong. Allow me to address that concern.

"Made in China" has come to be a phrase akin to a dirty word. It often means "Made in Sweatshop". True, Americans tend to consume a lot of junk at the expense of sweatshop labor, but this isn't necessarily always the case. For a better look at what I mean, read here.

Hong Kong actually has a long and revered history in the production of bespoke and hand tailored menswear. Even my nemesis can attest to this. In my thrift adventures, I have often come across serious "Trad" vintage, custom made for somebody else in Hong Kong. When these shirts arrived today, I checked the return address. Tailored Shirts Ltd. looks to be a stand up operation, if their website is any guide. Look 'em over.

The shirts are well made, and fit beautifully. They have an eighth button, preventing them form ever coming un-tucked. The fabrics, mostly made in Italy, are top notch, smooth and soft to the touch, but seemingly long wearing (I'll update you in a year). At $75 (including such superfluous peacokery as monogramming), they may not be what you would call cheap, but they certainly are within reach, for a treat. And for as much as I enjoy donning some fabulous old thing bought for a song, there is something to be said for not only being the first to wear something, but also the guy who ordered it made.

Companies like Deo Veritas and tailored Shirts Ltd. provide us normal guys with the means to spoil ourselves every now and again. Much appreciated and highly recommended.