VintageGent’s Menswear Daily

New Shoes – The Wing Tip

The must have shoe for fall and winter is the wing tip?   Why is that?

Of course, fashion magazines are touting them, but it is perhaps a return back to the tried and true amidst all the uncertainty out there right now.   While not always seen as the hottest trend, wing tips have seldom been seen as inaprorpiate.   With the trends being for the past few years to be “dressed down,” sometimes to the extreme, even a small wing tip detail in a more casual color shows that a guy cared just a little bit.

While the well polished wing tip is a classic, distressed, worn in wing tips are being shown on the run way.

No Need to Compromise on Custom Suits

When I was in school, the costume design instructor in the theater department had a sign on her office in response to many directors who waited until the last minute for costume requests.   It read:

Fast Cheap Or Good.
Pick Two.

When considering the idea of Made to measure suits, choosing two can be a conundrum. Of course you want it to be good, but its the fast or cheap element that is a toss up in tolerance.

I have been singing the praises of ordering a custom suit for quite some time, but I neglected to think about one important detail. I always assumed that if you found someone to make a quality product, and the price was reasonable, that you would have to wait months for it to be completed. The exception was the mens’ suits that were coming out of Hong Kong in the 60s and early 70s. Plane fares came down and it was more likely that the average person could take a trip. They were good, fast, and cheap, but you had to go halfway around the world at great personal expense to sit in the tailor’s shop!

Rather than buying a ticket to walk through a time machine, the modern answer is MySuit New York. They offer a two week turn around time (!) on their quality custom duds. The prices are very reasonable compared to off the rack suits.

So, what are you waiting for?

Why Vintage? Reason #2

A frustrated teen wrote to Dear Abby and  speaks about her neighbor that gives her old clothing. 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.

Wife Dressing

Looking back through the archives, I stumbled across a Wall Street Journal Article. In it, Tom Ford tells men to not have their wives dress them. He says “in doing that they are denying their ability to express themselves through clothes.”

There has been a long tradition of women buying or selecting clothing for their husbands. Perhaps it is because women traditionally did more shopping than men and it was a matter of convenience.

There is also a lot of press about the “woman’s touch.” In numerous films and television shows, an old run down house or a bachelor pad is the back drop and a character comments that it “could use a woman’s touch.”

There is also truth to the fact it is true that sometimes the picture in one’s head of the effect one has in a selected outfit is not always the reality. One may hang on to a comfortable hair style and “5 lbs ago” pants a little too long and could use the validation of a trusted peer rather than people walking down the street pointing and whispering.

So, do you think Tom Ford is correct, that men should prevent their wives from selecting wardrobe items, or do you think he has it all wrong and wives save their husbands from embarrassment on a daily basis?

Mirror Shiny Shoes

Awhile back, I wrote an explanation of the differences between real patent leather and its various substitutes.    There is a work boots site that has a pair of poromeric oxfords.   In other words, this is the version that is not leather through and through, but it offers the high gloss mirror shine.   Often, they are used for certain dress uniforms and occasionally limo drivers.  Of course, there are many other uses, but I thought I would point them out.

At the $39.99 price point, you can afford to stock your theater company’s wardrobe with a variety of sizes.  They would be perfect for ballroom scenes, as well as for the military officers and chauffeurs that often drop in on the characters in your show.

Is Patent Leather Really Leather?

by The VintageGent-ette

(Reprinted by Popular Demand)

There are a lot of terms that people tend to ascribe to slick and glossy accessories, such as: patent leather, patent vinyl, wet look vinyl, and PVC. Is it all the same? And is “patent leather” REALLY leather? And how do I know?

No. Yes. The VintageGent hopes to clear that up for you.

History and Common Clones

The process originated with the high lacquering of leather, called Japanning. In more modern times, Seth Boyden perfected the process of creating patent leather in 1818, thus described as  the process once was patented. In the early 19th century, the mirror-glossy finish came from the bonding of linseed oil to leather. In modern times, a petroleum derivative replaces linseed oil.

Poromeric Imitation Leather is what the general public usually identifies as “patent leather, when it actually contains no leather derivative. The first poromeric leather  was released in 1964. It was easily cleanable, but stiff and not breathable, which made it ideal for structured handbags, but not so ideal for shoes. The synthetic offers a higher level of color consistency and range when compared to genuine patent leather.  Look for white, lime green, tangerine and other bright or pastel handbags from the mod 1960s for examples.

PVC. Actually, PVC is polyvinyl chloride. It is an ingredient in what makes “PVC vinyl” but not the end product. As this is the common term in clothing and accessories and not a chemistry lesson, we will go with “PVC.” PVC vinyl appears in handbags, belts, and other accessories. It is much more flexible than the poromerics, thus making it more versatile and more practical for some uses. It is commonly used in accessories, such as belts, trim, some handbags such as tote bags, aprons, and some raingear. The material also has a following in the boudoir and fetish markets.

How to identify genuine patent leather.
There is just not “one” definitive answer…but here are some clues…

This may help whether you have an item in your hands, or are shopping online.

1) Items bear a stamped “genuine leather” or “genuine patent leather” stamp. However, sometimes gold stamped lettering fades, labels tear, or are separated.

2) When a genuine item gets damaged at the corners, it will behave as leather does and you will feel leather or a sueded edge depending on how serious the damage is. On the other hand, poromeric it is likely to tear and you may see or feel a backing.

3) Look for higher end hardware, and higher end linings. Items with leather or sueded leather linings are always genuine. Occasionally they may have satin or faille linings. Vinyl linings indicate PVC. PVC can have fabric linings as well, but never leather. Poromeric typically have satin weave fabrics, polyester, or felt, but makers sometimes get creative. But never leather.

4) Color. Traditional, genuine patent leather doesn’t come in the wide range of colors poromeric leather comes in. Look for dark and traditional colors such as black, brown, red, navy, and the occasional jewel tone with black being the most common and the others rarer. Pastels would be a rarity, or they would be poromeric as it is difficult to dye leather lighter than its natural color unless it goes through further manipulation or treatment. PVC can also come in just about any color.

5) Date. The older an item (pre mid-60s) the more likely it is to be genuine patent leather. But it doesn’t mean it is.

6) Pin test. If you absolutely have to know, you can take a hot pin and gently and evenly poke a tiny hole in the leather. If the pin melts or goes through the top layer only, its leather. If it goes all the way through…its not. Not recommended unless you must, as it will damage the item.

In the market place.

It is true that “patent leather” has entered the colloquial dialect with accepted usage covering both actual patent leather, and any glossy vinyl that mimics it. It is not merely a matter of sellers shying away from what is accurate for fear of no one finding their items; most of the educated public does not differentiate themselves. It requires both the disclosure of the seller and the inquisitiveness and education of the buyer to make sure that what you see is what you get. If you do not think your item is genuine leather, please clarify in the listing by indicating as such.

Believe it or not, there are folks who prefer to look for poromeric or PVC for the color selection, or for the qualities of the material. Buzzwords such as “patent leather-like vinyl” will help steer potential shoppers to your listings, while also giving you the opportunity to educate and to clairfy that it is poromeric. “Wet Look” vinyl is a good way to describe PVC, and it is searched too! Searching “genuine patent leather” in descriptions will help narrow down the search if its leather you seek.

Have fun, and I hope that this brief guide helped you find exactly what you are looking for, or didn’t know you needed!

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.