Was it any good ... for the Look?
I mean, wasn't the whole IL boom responsible for watering down the style... that whole hype... first Madison Avenue, then Wall Street, then everyone in middle management... first 8 universities, then the look at every single high school, first New England, then the whole US and all the world. first Brooks Brothers, then Ivy at Sears...
after the hype, it was all over... being revived as "Preppy"... FUCK!!!
I know, John Simons and Graham Marsh, the Italians and the Japanese wouldn't have discovered it, if it didn't become popular beyond this little microcosmos...
... but my point is: If there wasn't that hype... maybe you'd still get only good stuff at Brooks Brothers, instead of all this OPH/RL fashion pastiche...
rant over
What was it that John Simons said about 1952?
Did the hype ever end? Hopping from "ivy", "jazz, ""mod", "underground" "prep", "trad", "ivy","neo prep"?
At this point, may I just say:
"Boom! Shake, shake, shake the room!"
Thank you.
The reason you don't get good stuff at Brooks/wherever else is, from what I can see, because they've been forced to go with the times. They are trying to profit in an era when certain elements of style that were ubiqitious in previous generations are simply not commercially viable now, except perhaps on a small scale - I'm sure the turnover of the likes of Mercer would not be enough to sustain a giant like Brooks.
I dunno. I think brooks was doing ok before they did away with ivy completely. to the best of my knowledge, press now has a monopoly on the sack suit-brooks does one very cheap model which appears to be sold out 99% of the time,and a wash and wear. to bring back one or two decent models would probably do ok for them. its not a ridiculous, outdated style or anything.
The sack suit is a victim of its own name. Most will be put in mind of coal or potatoes.
But just look at pics on the ILSFT thread where someone actually goes to the bother of wearing one. Razor sharp.
And the fit is so easy to get right: You can buy vintage sack suits blind - if the shoulder width and sleeve length is right I could rattle you off all the other measurements even if the seller doesn't know them. The fit is/was that consistent.
A modern, darted suit in my size varies so enormously from make to make, from model to model, that there is no point in even attempting to buy unseen.
This is a loss akin to the demise of the walk-in barber haircut - how great would it be to walk into a shop and ask 'what have you got in size x', choose and buy, year in year out?
And it's not like men have curves to show off or anything. I often wonder what other piece of clothing would men tolerate with shoulder pads and darts.
Last edited by Moose Maclennan (2010-09-24 04:29:09)
Laissez-fare? Not sure about that outside a country like Singapore. Brooks have been making horrible things for the masses for years. Russell Street has mentioned some kind of velour jogging suit; and the tan Brooksgate duffle coat I had was so vile a garment I chucked it into a charity sack for the PDSA, along with my daughters' Husky and an old Barbour Bedale. A lengthy trawl of Brooks on Ebay can be instructive. Horror upon horror. As for 'vintage' (at the moment) dacron poly/cotton from the 60s. No thanks. But, when Makers is good it's very good. Same with 346. Brooksgate seems to have been hit and miss. You should get Toffeeman to give you his opinion on Brooks. I passed a Makers Chesterfield onto him recently. Ask him about the quality.
Last edited by 4F Hepcat (2010-09-25 10:30:45)
agreed. they dont deserve the fear and revulsion they inspire on here.