VintageGent’s Menswear Daily

Why Vintage? Reason #2

Alert Vintage lover, Viviene spotted this letter to Dear Abby. A frustrated teen speaks about her neighbor that gives her old clothing and Abby educates her about vintage. Imagine that!

Dear Abby: I go to church with a woman who is generous and means well, but she likes to give away her old hand-me-down clothing. Recently she gave me two old dresses that fit me, but I wouldn’t be caught dead in. I’m 15, and she doesn’t understand that.

I didn’t want to hurt her feelings, so when she asked if they fit and if I liked them, I told her they did and they were pretty.

My mom is planning to donate the dresses to charity. But now the woman is saying she wants to give me more of her old dresses. I don’t know how to handle this. — Secondhand Teen

Click here and scroll down to see what Abby advuses for the “Secondhand Teen”!

Maybe the Secondhand Teen would stumble across our prior article: “Why Vintage. Reason #1: Originality”

We attended a party where the attire was semi-formal and three ladies showed up wearing the exact same dress! Luckily they had a good sense of humor about it. There was only really one or two stores to go to for formal dresses and they both evidentally lived near the same one.

And that also brings us to Reason #2: Vintage is Environmentally Friendly.

When you purchase a piece of vintage clothing or are gifted it from a relative, you are doing your part to recycle. It is giving an additional and new life to an item once, twice, three times or more.

Choosing vintage keeps the items out of the landfills. Some vintage is made of more natural or sustainable materials such as cotton and wool. However, over the years many synthetics were invented that have fallen out of favor due to taste, safety in manufacturing, or the invention of something better. Many won’t possibly decompose in the next few hundred years.

Also, by taking a piece of clothing that is languishing in the cellar, you are preventing it from falling prey to mold and creating a biohazard. In that case, it may not be able to be salvaged or can create medical issues.

Farewell to a True Vintage Gent. Oldest Living WWI Veteren Dies

J. Russell Coffey has passed away at the age of 109. He was one of the last three remaining WWI veterans alive in the United States. According to an Associated Press report: Other known surviving American soldiers are Frank Buckles, 106, in West Virginia, and Harry Landis, in Florida, according to the Veterans Affairs Department. According to an AP report, John Babcock, 107, of Spokane, Wash., served in the Canadian army and is the last known Canadian veteran of the war.

According to a an April 12 St. Pete Times Article about Landis: Coffey, the oldest known survivor, enlisted weeks before the war ended and never got out of training. A retired college teacher from Bowling Green State University, he gave up driving at 103. He now lives in a nursing home, where aides sometimes hold his hand so he can sign his name for autographs.

Even though some may point out that Mr. Coffey never was sent overseas, it is the spirit of his willingness to serve that should be honored equally to his two fellow soldiers that he preceeds in death.

If you see a a vet today in your rush to purchase last minute gifts or to pack to go on a journey, please don’t rush by them. Thank them for serving in the spirit. Mr. Coffey would have approved.

Hobo Sapiens

Tired of being a Metrosexual and looking for a new persona? Or is every cell in your being diametrically opposite and you just couldn’t jump on that bandwagon? I have always been told that if I refuse to fall in with the latest trends, that somehow if I just waited long enough the fashion pendulum would swing back and I would suddenly and effortlessly be at the height of fashion.

Just like the “grunge” trend made people that naturally wore torn jeans or look like they didn’t shower suddenly hip, a new day of accidentally fashionable may have dawned.

According to the Urban Dictionary, a Hobosexual is:

Adjective. The opposite of metrosexual; one who cares little for one’s own appearance.

Examples: Michael Moore, Peter Jackson.
First documented hobosexual - John the Baptist.

Harriet ( TastyVintage) alerted the vintage community to this interview with Charlie Waller, Singer/Guitarist of the Rumble Stips, who happens to personify this on the VFG Public Forum. Waller states on being in a band on tour: If you are on the road, what do you pack? I don’t pack anything. I just walk out the door. Sometimes I take some underpants in my jacket pocket, but usually I just don’t bother to pack.

Will this catch on? Who knows. But I guarantee if it does, like the grunge movement did, hangers-on will get the rumpled, unshowered look by purchasing a product or spray to create it.

Bloggers: Do You Want to be a “Dummy”?

Teresa, the nice gal over at ScribbleScratch.Com is throwing a party. Actually, since this will be occurring amongst people in various homes and buildings all over the world, its more of a “happening,” which of course transcends party on the hierarchy of cool. The “happening” is a contest and the winner will receive a copy of “Blogging for Dummies.”

The entry rules are very simple.

1) You must have a blog. If you scribble a note in your trapper keeper, no one else will be able to read it.

2) You write a blog entry on your blog letting others know about the contest. Contest page is HERE. Entry deadline is 11:59 PM EST. (Unlike the 11:59 AM that my brain had interpreted it as - therefore inspired by the contest I already had a “Dummy” moment.)

Then, of course, you need to let her know that you entered by commenting with a link to your blog on the contest page. Otherwise you won’t be entered. She is a smart cookie, but with all the reading she is doing of your fine entries, her psychic senses might be a little busy and she might not “pick up on” the fact that someone out there entered. So be direct and tell her!

And, as an added bonus, by posting news of your entry on her blog, you may just get entered twice!

So be a Dummy…enter today! Show her blog some love ! And this way that you can have bragging rights that you beat out the VintageGent-ette for the rest of the entire year, or I can brag until December 31st that I beat you out and that you clearly never had a chance.

(and P.S. -= be sure to bookmark ScribbleScratch or subscribe. Teresa is a very talented photographer and writer and her blog is worth many revisits)

Gift Ideas for the Vintage Man - Idea #6 - The Stork Club Suspenders

The Stork Club was a chic hangout form the 1930s through the 1950s. Owner Sherman Billingsley, a New York bootlegger, presided with long time mistress Ethel Merman on his arm. Guests included the Roosevelts, Kennedys, members of the Royal Family, Elizabeth Taylor, Walter Winchell, Bing Crosby, Marilyn Monroe, and many others. In the Stork Club Lore, a very young Dorothy Lamour was turned down for the job of nightclub singer. According to “Tips on the Table”, the inner sanctum called “The Club Room” was opened especially for these elite guests.

The Stork Club may be gone, but you can still own a piece of Stork Club history. A pair of Stork Club suspenders from the 1940s (scroll down the page) is being offered by Dorothea’s Closet for immediate purchase. You won’t see something like this very often!

Tell them you saw it in VintageGent’s Menswear Daily

Gift Ideas for the Vintage Man - Idea #5 - Flying Saucer Lamp

We come in Peace!

No bachelor pad would be complete without a lamp that resembles a flying saucer. This is what modern designers want to have been the ones to have designed…but it has already been done perfectly fifty years ago. This particular one is offered by The Vintage Peddler at $95.00. Quite the bargain to own the “real deal” than another ho hum lamp of equal price from the department store.

Gift Ideas for the Vintage Man - Idea #4 - Pendleton 49′er

Not all Vintage Men dressed to the nines…..sometimes they dressed to the forty-nines!

Jackets from Pendleton are always a classic. This particular selection from FuzzyLizzie Vintage is no exception. It resembles the classic ladies 49′er but is clearly meant for a man. The coat measures 51″, so it will fit many modern guys with a vintage sensibility. Remember to compare it to similar items the lucky recipient already owns or keep his modern sportcoat size in mind and then add a few inches for outerwear. Price is $50.00. Available for immediate purchase.

Tell them you saw it in VintageGent’s Menswear Daily!

Gifts for the Vintage Man - Idea #3 - 1940s dressing robe

Day 3 of our Gift Ideas for the Vintage Man!

PoshGirl Vintage has a stunning silver dressing robe or smoking robe from the 1940s. This particular robe is a 40″ chest, so for the small to medium sized guy. The shoulders are padded and the belt is included. Price is $159.00 and maker is State-of-Maine Desmond’s.

Tell them you saw it in VintageGent’s Menswear Daily!

Gifts for the Vintage Man - Idea #2 - Bachelor’s Friend Socks

From now until the new year, we are highlighting a gift idea every day for the Vintage Guy. Today’s suggestion is a nice stocking stuffer called the Bachelor’s Friend Vintage Socks offered by Wardrobe the Globe on Ebay. This stocking stuffer would be perfect to complete the vintage outfit with a hard to find item, or would be just the perfect thing for the guy who thinks “they don’t make them like they used to.” Give him socks that actually last! They would be also good for a collector who has it all…except for this!

This is a “Buy It Now,” so you don’t have to wait for the auction to end!

Tell them you saw it in VintageGent’s Menswear Daily!

Gifts for the Vintage Man - Idea #1 - 1930s Cravats!

From now until the New Year, we are featuring a gift idea per day for the Vintage Man on your shopping list. We will be featuring every era, so you can find just the right item. We have looked far and wide to tap you on the shoulder to find only the best in condition as well as do our best to find things his friends won’t have.

Today, we feature a box of 1930s knit cravats. They are at auction on Ebay with less than 3 days to go and are offered by Katzoid. There is some age staining on the box, but the ties themselves are in excellent condition. I have dealt with Katzoid before and can assure you, you will be well taken care of!

Click to Bid NOW. You won’t find these very often!

Buy it for: The vintage tie collector, the depression-era historian, the fedora lover, guys who love the color blue, those that feel they should have lived during the art deco period.Please tell ‘em you saw it in VintageGent’s Menswear Daily!