VintageGent’s Menswear Daily

Sure Beats Rotary Dial…

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Boost Mobile. All opinions are 100% mine.

Remember the commercials for Boost Mobile a few years ago?  Nextel may have been the first that comes to mind that offered the Direct Connect function, but Boost was the first, it seems, to have offered it with a no contract service. (You can’t tell me that you never were tempted to “chirp” someone and ask them “Where you at” when those commercials were looped.) Well, Boost is at it again.  This time, they are offering a no contact, $50 unlimited plan with a SANYO Incognito. Oh, and no more folks wearing round orange shirts.

What is an Incognito? It does most of the things a Blackberry does, such as browse the internet and take photos, but it also has a full keyboard and video capabilities. For folks that don’t want to be linked to a long term contract and want to pay month to month or a few months at a time, it allows them to see if they will actually use the technology without any major commitment. If you are me, you are sorely behind the times and will get that type of contraption in twenty years, though they do appeal to the side of me that likes to par down.  I am wondering if you would let me try out yours to see if I can blog with it.

The price point for the Sanyo Incognito SCP6760 is $129.99, not including taxes.  The phone may not be one of those “free with plan” deal because there is no contract. However, have you looked at contracts that include free phones?  You actually do pay for them many times over due to the elevated fees accruing throughout the year, or even three years, of the contract. You can’t get something for nothing.

Have you played with the Incognito yet?  To me, no contracts just seem more attractive right now considering that I am not sure which way I want to go for my next phone.  I am considering going back to rotary or one of those bag phones, but they seem to be eluding me…and they are awfully heavy.

Robert Talbott: A Brief Bio

Robert Talbott was founded by Robert and Audrey Talbott in the 1950s. Audrey, prior to her marriage to Robert, was a clothing buyer. As a hobby, she created bowties for Robert and his friends. With her skill and Robert’s dream to manufacture a true quality product, Robert Talbott the company was born. By 1955, the business was a success and they were traveling the world for silk.

In 1958, the first Robert Talbott store opened in Carmel, New York with a second opening in Pebble Beach in 1968. 24 years later, in 1992, a Madison Avenue showcase store was opened. Dress shirts were added to the Robert Talbott line in 1990, which had been exclusively ties up until this point. Casual shirts and outerwear followed.

Today, Audrey Talbott has shifted her focus to high quality ladieswear and her eponymous line is featured at many boutiques throughout the country.

A woven SILK tie…square bottomed and skinny. Robert Talbott for Jacobson’s from the 80s…

This bio that I wrote appears in the Vintage Fashion Guild label resource. If you are a trivia junkie or a fashion lover, you should check it out.

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr., Day

Happy Martin Luther King, Jr., day.   As a special treat, here is the “I Have a Dream” speech in its entirety for you to gather the family around, watch, and enjoy.  When I was in college, we were the first class to have Martin Luther King, Jr., off.   It was suggested that we spend the day at the art of historical museum, volunteer in one of the local soup kitchens, or follow another pursuit that revolved around learning or volunteerism in honor of Dr. King.    The grade school children, I recall, didn’t have the day off yet, and parents were encouraged to take their children out of school to go on a field trip of a similar nature.  Of course, now, they all have it off, but they didn’t always.   Of course, most kids are thrilled for any excuse to get out of school, but families were encouraged to make it count.

It’s Scary…

A feature ran on the New York Times Magazine fashion blog exposing New York locations of H & M and Walmart and their practice of slashing and discarding unsold merchandise.  The article reads, “A spokesperson for Wal-Mart told the Times that the store normally donates unused items to charities, and needed to investigate the 35th Street situation.”  Indeed, I do believe this to be true.  I have seen Wal-Mart merchandise at a local thrift store and given as in kind donations to groups as well. However, I am not sure of the practice of H&M.

The story was already told at the New York Fashion Blog.  You can read it here.   While I do understand the practice of slashing merchandise so that it cannot be looted and pilfered, in this day and age with sustainability being so important to consumers, any company who does this is committing PR suicide.  The practice of sending merchandise to off price retailers and warehouses are also popular. The argument for those that don’t is that one doesn’t want to dilute the brand.  Alternate methods such as rotating stock, and marketing special events may help clear the shelves instead.  These are all corporate decisions.

While I find it troubling, I found some of the comments made even more troubling.

One commentator writes:

“would u (sic) rather them donate to homeless people and have homeless people wear the same jacket you just paid good money for at h&m?”

And another…

“agree that unused merchandise should be shipped out to poverty stricken countries where people do not have many resources or comforts. Not only would that be the morally correct thing to do, it would also create a better image for these companies (and the country).

As for the homeless in America who have access to the abundant resources of this country? Why are we working our asses off to pay for clothes, food, shelter, etc…when people who choose to be lazy can get it for free via handouts? I don’t think that is fair, it does not promote work ethic or responsibility. Yes, there are genuine cases of homeless who just fell on hard times and are actively trying to get on their feet… but for the most part, those I have met are unmotivated to clean up and become productive members of society. Idleness should not be rewarded.

I will give anyone the shirt off my back if they need it, but do not let me turn around the next day and see them not attempting to get their own shirt.”

I have several comments.  Let’s start out at the diplomatic ones.

To me, the price of trendy retail is not solely about the price of the prestige of the brand or the quality of the item.  A consumer is also paying to be the one to own it first and to be seen in it first.  The person who buys it second may have purchased it at a lower price on sale or a clearance center, but they did not have the opportunity to be the first one to be seen in it or to have it before the beginning of the season. The instant gratification was not achieved. That sort of intangible is not often considered. It may be difficult to think about in regards to fashion, but there are rampant and familiar examples in the toy and technology world.  When the Ipod first came out, there were folks that paid $500 or more just to be the first to have it in their hot little hands.  Parents paid a hundred bucks to have a Cabbage Patch Kid under the Christmas tree rather than waiting for a birthday when they could buy it for $30, just for the experience of seeing a child’s face on Christmas morning. Those intangibles are what I am talking about and they directly relate to fashion.

Now…let me take my gloves off.  I am so disheartened by people not wanting to take care of their own.  Everyone wants to ship clothes and toys off to developing nations and ignore their brothers and sisters around the corner.  There are people who are homeless through either no fault of their own.  The woman who flees an abusive husband and has nowhere to go, the man whose apartment building burns down and he didn’t have proper renter’s insurance, the couple whose company shipped their jobs to another state and cannot find gainful work to pay the mortgage.  The list goes on and on and on.  Why are people living in other countries more noble and less lazy?  People worry so much about crime and the economy.  If we just stopped a moment and realized that someone’s bridge to getting on their feet might be clean clothes to wear to an interview or to send their kids to school in so they will not be rediculed for wearing the same outfit 4 days in a row, maybe we would start to get the picture. Apparently, the people making these comments were never “there.”

Off of my soapbox for now.  Luckily, some of the commentators are getting on the cases of some of these folks, but one never knows if they will listen or at least consider how selfish they are.  I don’t believe in free handouts.  I don’t believe in lifetime social welfare. I believe in the “Teach a Man to Fish” scenario. However, that man needs something to wear and a fishing line to do so, right?

What Does a Seahawk Taste Like?

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Jones Soda. All opinions are 100% mine.

I have always liked Jones Soda for several reasons. The bottles give me that old fashioned feel and the flavors are innovative. There was old fashioned vanilla cream soda and a lot of funky fruit flavors. Sometimes, however, I worry about the folks at Jones, after the Tofurky and Gravy Thanksgiving offering.

Now, Jones has combined affinity products with original flavors to create the Seattle Seahawks soda. I am sure that no matter what it tastes like, fans will be stocking the shelves. Truth be told, I am sitting with my hands covering my eyes. Like a little kid, I am peeping out between my fingers as I am frightened but strangely intrigued by what the new beverages could taste like. I was very relieved to find that the flavors available were Cream Soda, Green Apple and Berry Lemonade. What a relief.  I was figuring it would be Locker Room Luau, Pigskin, Beer, and Ben Gay (or Icy Hot).

The Limited Edition-ness of the soda extends to the packaging and labeling. They come in special commemorative four packs featuring intriguing art work. Now, you can drink it all, or you can hide it away just in case it is going to be worth big bucks some day. You just never know. My brother may still have a bunch of Arizone Iced Tea and Absolute bottles that he is saving for posterity from a number of years ago. Why not add more breakables to the back of the closet? Mom was plenty happy one night when she heard a thundering crash after he moved out.

The four packs are available for a very limited time on the Jones websites.  If you are a fan of exotic non alcoholic libations or are a football fan, buy them now before they disappear. Then get another one for your great-great grandchildren.

Missing Any Hair?

Yesterday afternoon, I was perusing some books that I haven’t looked at in awhile, though I have lugged them with me from house to house.   There are a few books that I just will never give up, as they are from a time when I was a sound designer for the theater and I have fond memories.

The following is from an instructional book on Theatrical Makeup.  Richard Corson’s Stage Makeup has a line drawing reference that includes the hairstyles of ladies and men throughout the years to help the makeup crew finish off the look for historical plays and film.    Do you notice anything amiss with this?

A few of you may have pointed a finger at the gentleman from 1962 with his faux handlebar mustache.  That could have been considered something that was just plain wrong, though it was actually not an error.  Just picture him with a natty tweed jacket and a pipe to transform him into everyone’s favorite college professor.  He could also be a sitcom eccentric uncle.

While this illustration is not meant to be exhaustive of all the possible hairstyles that someone could have had throughout history, there is one glaring omission. It appears, according to this, that there was only one hairstyle for men during the entire 1940s!   It was a slightly parted down the middle style full of pomade.  I definitely recall the style from a variety of early 40s films.  But wait…aren’t they leaving out one hugely iconic hairstyle?

During WWII, the short cuts of the enlistees was everywhere.  Of course, on the stage of war, but back home, too.   In fact, my grandfather has maintained this hairstyle since he was a private in the Army.   There were a couple of dicey years in the 70s where it was about 1 1/2 longer and his sideburns were 7 millimeters longer, as that was the decade of letting it all grow out.  Maybe it wasn’t the times, but because his grandchildren, like me, drove him crazy, and he was too busy to go to the barber.

Since the illustrations end with an entire page of styles from 1989, which is entertainment all its own, perhaps the author decided that the 40s were not a banner decade for hair.   Perhaps, it was felt that it was just “more of the same” and the decade was just a holdover from the 1930s.  I would like to think that it just didn’t have its heydey with reenactors until the 90s, as surely there was much more to talk about than what the chart lets on.

Warming Hearts with Worsted Wool

This is a Sponsored Post written by me on behalf of Ramblers Way. All opinions are 100% mine.

The weather outside is frightful, at least for some of you. This weekend, the temperature was in the single digits. While I was shivering my timbers, I can’t imagine what people in northern Maine are feeling right now. Of course, at the tip of Maine, folks are probably more expectant of cold temperatures, but when you happen to be homeless or unfortunately unable to cover the heating bill, the cold is even more unbearable. The nice folks at Ramblers Way, headed by Tom and Kate Chappell, who you may remember from Tom’s of Maine, are doing something about it. 5,000 pieces of thermal clothing were donating and will be distributed to families most in need. That’s a lot of long johns!

Sometimes corporations give to the United Way or some other organization for a write off, but it is very refreshing to see a company give back in such a significant, and much needed way. The recipients will stay warm, comfortable and dry.

The worsted wool clothing that Ramblers Way makes is made of sustainable unbleached worsted wool. The sheep are Americans and they are sheared by folks on several family farms in the United States. What is worsted wool, you may ask?  Instead of being immediately spun, the wool is carded first to remove the short and broken fibers.  The remaining fibers are longer and a softer, more supple hand is created.  In fact, worsted wool garments are more wrinkle resistant and can also hold a crease if that is what is intended.  For the folks that are receiving them, if they are unable to wash them after a wearing, they will find that the material holds up.  It wicks away moisture and can be worn, unwashed, for several days.  It also will hold up to getting wet.

If you are looking for a company that “Makes Things Like They Used To” and has old fashioned values of helping their neighbors out, you might want to start patronizing Ramblers Way.  Their wares are available on their website.