Thought I'd start a thread on various makers designs of this period and suggest,
through pictures (if not through commentary) the continuity of a natural-shouldered
style through this period and up through the 60's (and through today, if I might hazard an assertion).
When I have the time, I'll post more.
Here's one from Brooks, c. Autumn '41. Note the just slightly more than moderate lapel width and the higher
placed button on the 3-to-2 roll. Nice waist supression too. 
edit: sorry, this image doesn't appear as large as I'd like. For the copy is worth reading too. Will try to resize at a later date and insure future images are larger.
Last edited by Horace (2006-06-05 00:05:07)
Looking forward to seeing some more pictures of trad clothing, jackets in particular. l find the natural shoulder and sack suits to be quite fasinating. (My questions deleted. My trad questions were probably alittle dumb anyway).
Does ol' Harris post here?
Regards: Ronny (student of the trad).
Last edited by The_Shooman (2006-06-05 00:50:25)
The_Shooman wrote:
Looking forward to seeing some more pictures of trad clothing, jackets in particular. l find the natural shoulder and sack suits to be quite fascinating. (My questions deleted. My trad questions were probably a little dumb anyway).
Does ol' Harris post here?
Regards: Ronny (student of the trad).
Shooey,
I saw your question before you deleted it. And I think it was a very good question, indeed. I don't have an answer. I simply don't know. Though I tend to agree, from what I've read and seen, with Manton that the styles flowed from England to America rather than the other way around.
As for a specifically Ivy League look and it's origins and influences, I simply don't know. The more information I acquire, the more "obscure" the problem of origins becomes. Still it's an interesting thing to ponder.
My response obviously ignores the fact that the "natural shoulder" precedes Brooks specifically TNSIL style. At least this is my guess. I remain ignorant of the origins of the natural shoulder. Hell, you might find its ancestor 100's of years ago in some form or another. It's all how you want to draw up your "genealogy", I suppose.
As for Harris -- I don't know if he posts here. But as he said of me and AAAC, he certainly reads it.
Here are three from Rogers Peet, all from fall 1934:
You should note several interesting variations to what we see today (including the ticket pocket on what appears to be your basic natural shoulder "sack" jacket). Also, the copy is worth thinking about for a moment. On one hand, it reveals that anxiety "to get things right" that Etutee's AA/Uni-style posts revealed (both the primary documents that he cited and his astute analysis of them).
On the other hand, though I don't have time to parse out the ad copy, the copy suggest, to me at any rate, that one of Etutee's assertions (more or less both implicitly and explicity stated), that the college man would've picked up these styles from Prep school or his friends or older brothers, is not necessarily true. (See esp. the copy to the third ad below). More to the point: if the copy is to be believed, it was almost as if Uni/College fashion was a whole new ball of wax, rather than a continuous sense of style that went from Prep to College, at least the way in which we think of it today and for the last, say, fifty years.
Of course, these thoughts are based on nothing more than the ads here, from one company, that appear in only one publication (though of course they may've appeared elsewhere as well). Please let me know if these ads are too small; I'll try to do something about that.


Last edited by Horace (2006-06-19 14:22:13)
Horace wrote:
Thought I'd start a thread on various makers designs of this period and suggest,
through pictures (if not through commentary) the continuity of a natural-shouldered
style through this period and up through the 60's (and through today, if I might hazard an assertion).
When I have the time, I'll post more.
Here's one from Brooks, c. Autumn '41. Note the just slightly more than moderate lapel width and the higher
placed button on the 3-to-2 roll. Nice waist supression too.
http://img122.imageshack.us/img122/3337 … 1re.th.jpg
edit: sorry, this image doesn't appear as large as I'd like. For the copy is worth reading too. Will try to resize at a later date and insure future images are larger.
On those high rolls from the 40s (as worn by Senator Saltonstall) it was still rolled under just like the more recent 3-2 roll, right, just with the hole even higher?
And I assume, one still never buttoned it.
Coolidge wrote:
On those high rolls from the 40s (as worn by Senator Saltonstall) it was still rolled under just like the more recent 3-2 roll, right, just with the hole even higher?
From the pictures I've seen, and one or two older coats I've seen, yes, this is my understanding.
And I assume, one still never buttoned it.
This is my assumption as well.
Coolidge wrote:
Horace wrote:
Thought I'd start a thread on various makers designs of this period and suggest,
through pictures (if not through commentary) the continuity of a natural-shouldered
style through this period and up through the 60's (and through today, if I might hazard an assertion).
When I have the time, I'll post more.
Here's one from Brooks, c. Autumn '41. Note the just slightly more than moderate lapel width and the higher
placed button on the 3-to-2 roll. Nice waist supression too.
http://img122.imageshack.us/img122/3337 … 1re.th.jpg
edit: sorry, this image doesn't appear as large as I'd like. For the copy is worth reading too. Will try to resize at a later date and insure future images are larger.On those high rolls from the 40s (as worn by Senator Saltonstall) it was still rolled under just like the more recent 3-2 roll, right, just with the hole even higher?
And I assume, one still never buttoned it.
It appears to my eye that indeed the 3rd hole was higher on the earlier models.
See this Brooks Catalog from the 30's:
http://cgi.ebay.com/Brooks-Brothers-193 … dZViewItem
Also, notice the shape, esp. at the waist.
But... but... but...
THE CURRICULUM?
What the HELL are you doing here?
Never has a post upset me more. I feel physically sick now...
Damn you and your accurate historical knowledge.
Damn you to hell.
I bet you've faked every one of these pictures.
H.
Ahem.
Sorry about that. Just a small case of demonic possession. I'll be alright in a mo'.
Found this on Ebay. A 1930s (so the seller claims) seersucker suit from Brooks. Double breasted and without vent! "But the Curriculum!!!" Interersting cloth, I think. Click the auction for a close up.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi … 1&rd=1
(by the way, when did Brooks go to zippers? I think I've read the date somewhere, but can't recall it now).
Interestingly enough, the label looks similar to the Brooks summer offerings up through the early 90's.
I actually probably only dress in' the curriculum' when I think about it...
I am happy though that just because I wear it it doesn't mean that that's all there is to wear.
Maybe I'm lacking in ego...?
Not really natural-shouldered but perhaps of interest to you chaps nonetheless:
The following photo appears in Alan Flusser's latest book, on men's clothing.
There is not date or description, but I suspect it shows an early Ivy League man.
What a happy chappy in his Belgian Ouijuns!
^ I love this spelling -
GENIUS!!!!!
Jack_The_Lad wrote:
^ I love this spelling -
GENIUS!!!!!
Yes, but is it Flem or Walloon?
lnteresting advert Horace. l couldn't imagine anyone going river fishing in spectators anymore. Do you know the date of the advert?
Great pic Tony. His shirt looks so rugged as to be eaten away around the collar.
Last edited by The_Shooman (2007-11-15 19:20:15)
The_Shooman wrote:
lnteresting advert Horace. l couldn't imagine anyone going river fishing in spectators anymore. Do you know the date of the advert?
Great pic Tony. His shirt looks so rugged as to be eaten away around the collar.
Sorry, chum, I don't recall. Sometime in the late 30's or early 40's I reckon.
Jack_The_Lad wrote:
^ I love this spelling -
GENIUS!!!!!
A old contrivance of mine to avoid impingement upon the Weejun copyright when used as a record label relating to the music of the link below. Never used it. Some of the R&B later became Northern Soul in your land. In my youth sock-less Weejuns were as common in my region as trainers are universal now.
You'll snicker at the name. Its colloquial meaning was not as blatant as in the UK.
This was my Brighton, Scarborough, Blackpool, etc.
This was my Nantucket.
For some reason the content has been severely reduced. Click (or perhaps double-click) on the individual listings of the table of contents and then click on the icons that will appear. Not an old timer, I was third generation...... www.shagthebook.com (I have no connection)
A related article from The Smithsonian Magazine..... http://digitalshores.net.hosting.domain … /shag.html
A peek into a Southern subculture, so backwards and exotic to y'all.
Back to cricket bats and Groton.
Enough of moi, I'm going back into the corner behind the potted palm......
There was a wonderful film called 'Shag' which I haven't seen for years. Bridget Fonda I think. A lot of fun.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/e … _movie.jpg
j.