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.
1980s, 1990s, designers, fashion history, vintage clothing | Comment (0)Christmas Means Norelco!
I remember my brother and I staying home with a babysitter while mom and dad went Christmas shopping. We had a really cool babysitter named Renee. We would play games and record radio shows on our tape players. We played “Truth or Dare” and one of the silly dares was to walk outside in the snow without any coat on and yell, “I LOVE NORELCO!” for all to hear. Why? Maybe we heard that slogan on a commercial. We thought it was a funny thing to say, at least when you were five and eight years old.
I remember the Norelco Santa commercials, but had no idea they kept remaking it over the years. For your enjoyment, here is three decades of Santa
Norelco Santa from the 1960s. The commercial was stop motion claymation, produced in the CBS studios.
Here is Santa, as he appeared in 1978.
Here comes Santa Claus….1994 style.
There is one more Santa that I think I remember. He had a pointy hat and looked like he was made of gumdrop material, but perhaps that was for another product. If anyone finds that one, point me in that direction. Have you or a loved one ever went on a razor spending spree for the holidays?
Merry Christmas from all of us at VintageGent’s Menswear Daily.
1960s, 1970s, 1990s, grooming products, vintage ads | Comments (3)Buying Z. Cavaricci
This site has received more comments, and I have received more mail over one subject leaps and bounds over any other .
Last October, I wrote about Cavaricci pants of the 80s and early 90s. It was a little tongue in cheek, I will admit. I just had no idea the following the pants had, nor how fond a very alrge number of people are of them. It definitely has been an education over the past ten months of hearing from you, my faithful readers.
Many questions were asked about where people could buy the clothes, and I replied that it was really hit or miss. I have compiled a list of Cavaricci currently around the internet.
Z. Cavaricci shirt offered on ebay by Christina Joy Boutique. It is a size small,and is available for immediate purchase in the ebay store. Price is $35.00 or best offer. Remember your manners. ”Best Offer” doesn’t mean 5% of asking price.
Check it out HERE
Alohalowrider has a pair of 34″ waist Cavaricci pants (not pictured). Unfortunately, they are not in the mint condition that some of you seek. The pants are wrinkled (an easy fix) but they also may have small stains here and there. So buy them for nostalgia or to kick around, but not “night out” pants, but perhaps with a cleaning you may uncover a gem! Auction is ending in 3 days. There is $25.00 Buy It Now or a $15.00 starting bid. They may not be a bad price if you are looking to try them on for the memories.
There is a pair in better condition over at Trocadero, offered by seller Matinee New York. The waist is listed at 33″ and the price is $100 plus shipping. Condition is Very Good to Excellent. Checkwith the seller for more clarification. (Pants pictured below). If I see anything else, I will let you know. Or, if you have anything up on a website, write in. There are individuals who are eager to capture their late 80s and early 90s fashion memories.
More Cavaricci from the MailBag
I recently got a note from new friend of VG’sMD – Akber. He wrote in response to “Cavaricci Redux”
I really like the style of Cavaricci Menswear, and would like to see someone bring back the style. I feel that this Style has been totally underrated and misrepresented. I also would like to see banded collar shirts brought back as well. Plus in warm climate areas, I would like to see the usage of breathable fabrics, which also should not require Dry Cleaning. Wash and wear is perfect
With the amount of mail I have been receiving about said pants and clothing, it seems like I should change the name of this blog to the “Z Cavaricci presents VintageGent’s Menswear Daily,” as the subject is where the bulk of our mail comes from.
Akber, you are half in luck. Banded collar shirts are in style, as a matter of fact. This offering, at left, is at Neiman Marcus. There are surely interpretations available at a variety of price points. I spied some available in a variety of fabrics, including cottion. Unless, of course, you were referring to a Nehru collar, or the less formal modified crewnecks.
Until next time,
.
1980s, 1990s, cavaricci | Comment (0)From the Mailbag: Buying Retro Cavariccis
Jason read a recent post “Cavaricci Redux,” and was inspired to write in:
I have been looking everywhere to buy a pair of
80’s/90’s Mens Z Cavaricci pants.Do you know where I may find some?
Thank you ,
Jason
Dear Jason,
In my opinion and observation, the style of Caviricci pants that you speak of have not “come around again,” so to speak.
The upside is that not “everyone” is looking for them just yet, so you won’t have as many people fighting you for them! There has not been a Hollywood Star or a musicians who has decided to wear them and create a trend for them.
The downside is that you won’t find that locating a pair is very easy. They are a little “too new” just yet for vintage shops and websites looking to stock them, aside from maybe if the store owner is about my age and buys them because they can’t believe that they saw a pair. Local auctions that will sell “lots” of vintage clothing consider them “just old clothes.” People aren’t fighting over them yet, but on the other hand they are “not coming out of the closets” where they have been forgotten to be offered for sale.
Don’t despair yet. Another note is that because this style didn’t “work” for everybody, there would be an equal number of people who would have put them back in the closet unworn or after just one or two wearings, so the ones that you find might be in “like new” condition. The other half, of course, wore them incessantly!
My best advice would be to keep checking Ebay. Reason being is that when no one else is selling them, people sometimes “test the water” by “trying” something on ebay first to see if it is worth putting something in an online shop. Or it may be something their customers wouldn’t normally buy. I have seen jeans in smaller waist sizes show up there periodically with the same high waisted style as the dressier pants. Also, your neighborhood consignment shop may carry them. It may be dicey as some consignment shops will carry anything that is in top notch shape, but some may reject clothing that they don’t fee is “in style” this minute.
Happy hunting, and I will keep an ear to the ground if I hear any news for you.
1980s, 1990s, cavaricci | Comments (3)Caviricci Redux
Quite some time ago, I wrote about Z. Cavaricci pants. Let’s take a trip back in time, shall we?
I had a bad flashback today. I read an article that mentioned Z. Cavariccis. For those that want to forget, Z. Cavaricci created a men’s style in pants that in the late 80s to early 90s. Many a young man who I knew wore them. I am asking whoever made themselves in charge of looking at influences from the 80s to overlook this one when designing next season’s clothing.
They were high waisted like tux pants, but the belt loops were a bit lower, at the natural waist. The legs were pleated, and what made them veer way off the track of a classic trouser, was that they featured a deep “v” front yoke. It caused the legs of the pants, because they were pleated but flat acrossed the stomach and groin area, to pleat out even farther. On the tall, gangly, and knobby kneed gent, it was actually flattering because the pleats laid right and it made his legs look more proportional. You noticed the guy’s overall ensemble.
But on everyone else…it was “Here comes pants.”
If you were stocky, or were fit but were more muscular of leg, the pleated legs brought a strange adaptation of puffed out harem pants to mind or made one look bowlegged. Of course, this was overcontrasted by the virtually flat triangular yoke covering the stomach to the top of the groin area, appearing like a virtual “directional arrow” towards something that I am sure the designer could not have realized, or the joke was on the wearer that their whole…um… “area”… was being pointed to. The finishing touch was to buy them long and cuff them.
The rear of the pants had little style, most of the budget had been put into the front.I have no photo to show you. I could not find one anywhere. So you may just have to take my word for it!
Well, flash forward to this week, when an alert reader sent me the following image:
The shirt is hiding just how high the waist band is on the man, trust me. There is a distinct possibility that I am remembering them in a far more heinous light than they actually were. After all, they were tumbled around in my distant memory, most likely hopped on by Q-bert and pummeled by a few 1980s professional wrestlers I recall from sitting like a pretzel on the living room floor. Those guys are really heavy and I wouldn’t want to whack them in their center of gravity. All of these years, they have been tripping around in my cob webby mind each time I sleep or stand. Those pants would surely be flattened or severely mangled by now. I will go with “theory B,” a model of perfect proportions just is able to carry off the look more so than pre-growth spurt teenage boys.
1980s, 1990s, cavaricci, vintage ads | Comments (14)
