Know Your History; Keep It Fresh

Before we begin this post, allow me a brief disclaimer: An Affordable Wardrobe is strictly a one man operation. I act as author, editor, photographer, and model, wearing my own clothing. A slight air of vanity is sometimes unavoidable in presenting my point.

People often say that menswear doesn't change all that much. There's truth to that, but it isn't entirely so. The well educated (ne, obsessed) in these matters can always date a piece of menswear with reasonable accuracy. A healthy knowledge of the history of these things can be a helpful guide to dressing well. When scouring other peoples cast off garments in thrift shops, it becomes a downright necessity. The trick lies is knowing the history of a piece of clothing, taking something personally from that, and using the garment and your knowledge in a way that is personal and unique, so as to to avoid anachronistic costume dressing.

Today's example is this tan poplin suit from Brooks Brothers, a historic icon in many ways. Brooks Brothers led the way in the late 1950s and early 1960s in the development of lightweight summer suiting fabrics for men. In 1958, the Du Pont company famously approached Brooks with their new "Dacron Polyester", and Brooks Brothers introduced it, blended with cotton, in suits and shirts. I know, we all hate polyester. But this old suit is different. I remember selling poplin suits at Simon's, in tan, olive and navy. We called them 'paper suits', because they wore like a brown shopping bag. But this old number is soft and comfortable. You can tell Du Pont was making a real effort back then to assure people that plastic was a reasonable thing to wear. Don't get me wrong, I'm no fan of the old synthetics, but I do like this suit. Besides, it cost $1.00. (Yes, it did.)

If you need further convincing, note the styling. That open patch breast pocket and 1/8 lining speak volumes to me. Coupled with the classic Brooks soft shouldered silhouette and lapped seams, they relegate this suit to a level of of casual-ness that it depends on to come off well. Besides being stiff and uncomfortable, those poplins I sold in the 90s were darted and cut like a business suit. That was their un-doing.

University Shop. This suit is not for the office, it's for casual situations, such as a college man might find himself in between semesters. Our collective concept of casual didn't always mean wearing pyjamas and underwear in public. I think this suit is pretty nearly an original poplin suit. Possibly late 50s, certainly no later than early 60s.
Wash and Wear... a decidedly 1958 selling point. However, this doesn't have to be strictly a costume piece.
Taken together with a blue striped contrast collar Brooks Brothers shirt (1980s vintage,$4.99), a black cotton knit tie (new, $5.00), a white silk driving cap by Stetson( bought new a few years ago, $12), and an orange square, you know, for punch, the whole thing has a whiff of the 1920s about it. Hows that for a conglomeration of historical influences?

To me, this club collar seals the deal. It's a proper club collar, short and round. I wish I saw more of these.

Below, we keep the whole look in the modern world with dark jeans and ever-just-so-tatters brown loafers.

Knowing something about men's styles of the 20s, 50s, 60s and today all contributed to the outfit I wore today. As I've said innumerable times, successful thrift shopping is a perseverance game. Wearing these clothes successfully requires an ability to both collect and arrange seemingly disparate items, while still imparting your own personality onto the result. A pain in the *ss? Yeah, maybe, but I think it's worth it.

Then again, I am a little weird.