So, I've always said that it is important to ignore "seasonal" shopping if you're going to thrift shop successfully. But I'll be damned if I haven't been turning up a somewhat inordinate number of hot Summer goods, in this the week after the end of Summer clothes. First, the white bucks, now these. A pair of seersucker trousers, and a knockout pair in navy and white gingham. Just in time to go into storage.
The seersucker pair has no tags, and was likely half of a suit once. The gingham pair wins extra points for being a relic of bygone, pre-brand name history. Often, with old stuff, the provenance leads one to discover an extra degree of un-quantifiable value in the thing itself.
So, internet homework reveals Jack Krawcheck to have been a fixture in Charleston. Besides apparently having founded and owned a great store, he was also quite a guy. This is the kind of thing that meant quality in the days before brand allegiance. I won't get all sappy, or cantankerous, and pine for a bygone era that simply ain't comin' back, but I will reiterate that people who don't value old things, let alone buy and reuse them, tend to miss a certain kind of vital importance to be found in them.
p.s. thanks for the link, British GQ.
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6 comments:
Congrats! Had you previously found anything from Corbin? I occasionally discover pieces from New England, so it's nice to see you find something from around my area. Corbin was long manufactured within an hour of my home and a top brand in the WV, KY, OH region. The factory store, though gone before my time, was legendary for its "trad" selection.
Guiseppe - do you have any tips for researching old brands? Do you just bang 'em into google and see what comes out?
I picked up a glen check raincoat by 'aquatite' the other day and cursory googling reveals a few ebay auctions but not a lot more.
Congrats on the shout from across the pond.
When reading the post, I read Charlestown instead of Charleston. I thought you had unearthed a piece of Boston satorial history not unlike Hawthorne and the scarlet "A", but when I read the accompanying article none of the place names seemed familiar.
Grady Ervin--another fairly decent purveyor of trad wear, with a very charming store dog--is at the location of his old store at 313 King.
His brother Max, mentioned in the obit, had his own store a couple of blocks up(?) King St. I picked up a few doodads from each over the decades.
Lotta good eatin' within just a few dozen yards of there, too.
Corbin was a great old name in trad clothing. Kountz and Rider in Pittsburgh stocked many of their suits and trousers. My father had several and I had one as a teen. The name is back on a line of suits made in South America, but they are not the same, alas.
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