VintageGent’s Menswear Daily

LA Time Machines: Where to Wear

Los Angeles Time Machines is a site that we have been watching for awhile that we think our readers would enjoy. It focuses exclusively on pre-1970s restaurants and bars that are still in their original state. Occasionally, there are updates on when folks can make a big difference in saving a historic vintage landmark so stay plugged in!

It mainly focuses on the many sites in Los Angeles, California, but has extended to includes spots in Nevada, Maryland, Arizona, Washington and beyond. So, go look up a historic place and show up in your vintage clothing! It would make a great retro photo!  I usually try to look up places along every route I am planning more than a two hour car drive, just in case I should come across something classy or outrageous.

http://latimemachines.com
Stay Unique

Fashion of the Future (According to the 1930s)

It is interesting and sometimes comical to see how people imagined our times in decades past.   In the 1930s, this short was seen at movie theaters and it concerned fashion for the new millenia.  It is chiefly ladies fashion, but you will see an idea of menswear at the tail end.

There is a grecian goddess dresss that came to pass about 40 years after this short was made, and a topiary style hairdo about 43 seconds into the video that was thankfully a false prophesy, unless Marge Simpson once decided to change up her blue beehive.   I don’t expect the “King Friday” look we see for men will come to pass anytime soon. Sadly, I have not found any “Part Two” to this to see if there were any more men’s looks. If the first one is any indication, I bet it was a hoot.

Father’s Day Gift Idea #2: Cobwebby Mysteries

S.S. Van Dine was quite a colorful character. Lore tells us that he fell gravely ill for two years, and wrote the Philo Vance mysteries while bedridden. His biography tells us that he was actually bedridden because of a cocaine addiction that he was under the grips of or needed to kick. At any rate, he was confined and read many crime stories, hence the novels were born smack dab in the art deco era!

This set of mystery novels was lovingly collected by a fan back in the day. It appears that they bought each Philo Vance novel as it was released. In the novels, author Van Dine appears as a Watson like character to the bon vivant Vance. Philo Vance was a fencer, archer, connoisseur of Chinese ceramics, polo, fine cuisine, and student of crime history.

This set is available on Etsy. They would be a great gift alone, or pair them with slippers or a robe, a magnifying glass, or Dad’s favorite kind of coffee. They would look very fashionable in a bookshelf or on a side table, just as well as they would do being actually read.  Imagine that…actually reading them!  The collection includes: The “Canary” Murder Case, The Greene Murder Case, The Bishop Murder Case, Gracie Allen Murder Mystery, The Garden Murder Case, The Kidnap Murder Case.

To get a closer gander at them, click HERE.

Check for Suspicious Smells

I have seen countless commercials for things that plug in, light up, or motorize to make your home smell like a garden of begonias instead of the nasty, dusty, wet dog smelling place that it is.  The commercials lead us to believe that our lives would not be complete, nor would be function.  They are, of course, the secret to a classy, high brow home. The gig was certainly up when one woman peeled the label that had stuck to the other lady’s derriere, revealing the name of the product.

What did people do before they had these such devices?  Of course, it meant that less people peeled stickers off of each other’s behinds. Of course, I am speaking more about what did people do to make their homes smell not so rank back in the old days? What can someone retro do? One idea is to use scented oil diffusers. I found a couple of styles on Sabonnyc.com that weren’t too frilly. The simple jar reed diffuser is so much more unisex. Also, they give off a scent without having to change the batteries.

Well, of course there is always the concept of using candles. The issue with candles, however, is smoke. Cheap candles can leave a dark ring around the rim of their jar, not to mention on the ceilings. When I see something like that, I can’t imagine, or don’t want to imagine, what it would look like in my lungs.  Usually, soy based candles do not have the same level of soot.   That was something I hadn’t known until recently.  There are many vendors at local fairs, or you may want to google or check out etsy.

At left, is a special trick candle that the sold in the 1930s.  Someone would light it, and a little rocket would take off.  I find it hard to believe that it would look “so real” that someone would actually think it was a candle whether a strange plastic object.    Apparently, people were hard up for entertainment.  This was marketed towards, kids, apparently, so maybe they were just not versed in the ways of candles and doilies yet.

Whatever you choose, there are many covert ways of making the smell of your place a little more bearable, that doesn’t involved your guests getting their ankles sprayed at every time they walk past an outlet.

Auction Pick: Vintage Tails

Merry Christmas! By now perhaps the kids are all collapsed from their sugar high, you are sitting by the fire unwinding after an eventful day and your thoughts have not quite turned to New Year’s Eve, although it is approaching fast. I, for one, always think of formal wear, even if New Years celebrations have become less and less formal. For those of you who will be spiffing it up to ring in the New Year, or if not, you are going to mix in vintage items with casual, a vintage tux jacket dressed down with a banded shirt for the men, or a vintage beaded top or satin brocade jacket with jeans might just be the answer at casual mixers.

I spied some tails on Ebay. The labels reads Stein Bloch, Inc., exclusively for Henry C. Lyttons & Sons. Around 1870, Nathan Stein founded the wholesale tailoring business that would become Stein-Bloch, a staple of the Rochester, New York clothing trade. Up until this point, retailers typically would self label garments that had been made for them. The teputation of Stein Bloch became so prestigious that stores found a great boon in double labelling garments with the maker’s name. Arounf 1929, Stein-Bloch merged with one of its retaikers, Weber & Heilbroner, and Fashion Park, Inc., another similar quality tailor. The conglomerate than was known as Fashion Park Associates.

The store that sold this suit, Henry C. Lyttons $ Sons, opened up shops starting in 1887 with “The Hub” in Chicago, which eventually was eight stories. It expanded by leaps and bounds. A second store opened in Gary, Indiana, and over the years several other locations including Joliet, Illinois. In honor of Mr. Lytton’s 100th birthday in 1946, the name of the store was changed from “The Hub, Henry C. Lyttons & Sons” to Lytton’s. This, by using the label alone, dates the suit to before 1946 without a doubt. It is true that sometimes you cannot pinpoint an item to an exact year sometimes by a label because a maker might have decided to use some extras up, but since the name change was such a big milestone, the labels listing the longer name was probably better orchestrated. Mr. Lytton died at the ripe old age od 103 in 1949. In 1961, Lytton’s was purchased by a conglomerate.

The auction will end on Ebay December 26th in the morning (EST), so please hop to it if you are interested. There are no chest measurements given by the seller, but there are shoulder and other measurements. May be good to buy even as a display piece.  Check it out HERE.

Auction Watch – 1930s Levis

The  item that closed at the highest price on ebay recently was a Levi’s Buckleback sold by seller  gsalebuyer.   The jacket is listed in the Depression through WWII era category, which is accurate.   The jeans of the time had buckle backs and so did many jackets.  The jackets of the 1930s had only one single breast pocket, which is a big tip off if you are not sure just how old a jacket is.   The items that were made before WWII are getting harder and harder to find as most other utilitarian clothing.  At the time you just didn’t wear denim unless you were working. It was just not an apropriate fashion statement, and so old jeans were hardly treated with kid gloves.  They just were worn until they wore out, and even in storage, denim that has already been compromise from excessive wear, soiling, damage, and the elements, can further deteriorate.

Levis from the 1950s and earlier are highly, highly collectible.  Jeans from before 1971, indicated by all capitals in the Levi’s red tab, are also sought.  Some newer styles are sought after by certain people for the nostalgia factor or because they miss the fit of a particular discontinued style or cut.

The buyer picked this up for a mere $3,600 (US).

Spring 2009: Rose Gold is In

The trend in watches for spring is rose gold. Style.com shows off the latest styles that will be sold for the spring 2009 season. You’ll be sure to see versions cropping up at many different pricepoints.

Gold is naturally yellow.  White gold is an alloy of yellow gold and silver to create the olor. Rose gold is created when the silver content is diminished, and copper is added. The higher the copper content, the redder the gold. Sometimes, the color may get deeper over time if the copper content is high enough.

If you wish to purchase a vintage Rose Gold watch, they are not nearly as easy to come by as if you were looking for yellow or white gold, but indeed they are out there.  With spring a bit in the future, they have not completely “come out of the closets” yet and those looking for rose now may either have no competition because their friends are thinking about fall still, or the price may go high with limited inventory. It is truly hard to predict what you would pay, as not all watches are created equal as far as condition, age, karat, and overall initial quality.

So far, I have seen the rose watches coming from the 1930s and 1940s being offered up for sale. This is perhaps because good watches of that era are always seen as desirous. Look for later watches being dusted off and sold depending upon the popularity.   It is sometimes difficult to determine hue online, as some cameras do not pick up the subtle nuances of color.  Buy from a reputable online merchant or look at shops in person.

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!