I n the world of mens vintage clothing- Gabardine is the next best thing to an Asian massage parlor. A gabardine shirt, pants, jacket just lays so well on the body, silky smooth, heavy but not restricting. A man feels more confident, better when he steps out. Today when all the clothes are made as cheap as possible there was a time when the suit was fitted, a time when the amount of material used to make a suit fit correctly wasn’t the bottom line to fashion sense. Men stand taller when wearing vintage.
If your able to wear a tie, a vintage 1940’s tie will stand you out in a crowd. Wide, and the color combinations indicate an independence. Back in the day suit colors were no different than today but the tie stood the individual out. Generally made of rayon, rayon absorbed color without running and because of being synthetic one could wash rayon. The ties got narrower as time when by, but still in the 60’s unique jazzy designs were still common. As polyester took hold in the mid 60’s, ties became wide again cause of the cheap polyester allowing manufacturers to again show their artistic flair.
Vintage suit jackets of the 1940’s and 50’s used shoulder pads to help slim a man down giving man that heroic leading man look. The suit jackets often were not vented further creating this handsome man. Even vented then were smaller because the idea of manly man was suave, debonair, intelligent- overall sexiness. In the 60’s narrow became fashionable because manufacturing became economical but still cool things like sharkskin was produced. You notice the vents today are fashioned so any size man can fit into a one size fits all mentality- not sexy.
Slacks from the 40’s and 50’s were generally french cuffed (3.5″ of material to let out if needed), pleated, high waisted. Comfy a baggier style, easy to move and dance in. As is the general theme of manufacturing, slimming down the material created better profit margin but liking the 60’s cause the slim look gave man the jazzy and intelligent look. The 70’s just went to hell but fun to wear today as party wear. Today’s pants make men look unisex today- , cheesy and cheap.
Shirts from the day, 1940’s and 50’s are more fun, box bottom allowed for easy movement and color combinations and designs. There wasn’t a uniformity that is today. Ties and Hawaiian Shirts allowed man to wear a quality, distinctive, fun garment. Before the department store completely took over the fashion industry the Hawaiian shirt (and tie) was designed in what was called garage factories. Production was unique. The backpanel shirts came into fashion because of rayon. Experimenting with colors and designs became an artistic passion. The 70’s with polyester again allowed designers to flaunt their ability.
To sum it all up, the designs, materials used and workmanship was so much more important back in the 1940’s through the 60’s. Japanese Toyo Enterprise makes Sun Surf Hawaiian shirts using the exact same designs and quality of rayon, hence the price tag indicates it. Today “microfiber” is everything, I bought a new reproduction gabardine suit and watched it fall apart, no thank you. And modern men’s fashion, ugh… I have no words, we are meant to all look the same. You cannot beat the individualism and quality of material from vintage days.
