Have you checked this out?
http://www.sweatshirtsusa.com/

They look good quality, but they don't have the deep waistband and the distintive 'V' embroidery at the neck, that you get with a vintage American sweat. Still seem like a  very nice product...

Thank you, Katon.  I rather like the look of that.  I also like tan as a colour.  Last time I saw Jeff G in J.Simons he was wearing a tan sweatshirt with shorts and canvas shoes - Bass possibly - and looked terrific.

Following on from 1966's suggestion:

http://www.albamclothing.com/product.aspx?productid=329

A bit pricier though I'm afraid (not sure I'd pay that for a plain sweatshirt).

The Uniqlo sweats definitely have the right look but you may have to size up... very trim cut

Levi's have expanded their retro range loads recently, haven't they? All that Made & Crafted and whatnot. Some guy who used to work for RRL works for Levi's now or something. Some of that RRL stuff looks great. Most of the new-old Levi's stuff looks like a serious misstep to me. A notch down from RRL. One of the best things about RRL is how relatively cheap you can score much of it. Seems there's loads of companies making 50s style sweatshirts at the moment, the fitted style with the (usually faux I think) v-detail, deep waistband etc. You might as well just go for the cheapest. The Levi's looks the part a little more than Lands' End. The Lands' End is made in the US at least. Other choices available from other companies, as I say (I think Banana Republic did one recently, for instance, some place like that).

I have a couple of RRL. Look great, got them cheap as chips. I've talked about this before, but I also have a Joe McCoy. That's the real 50s-specification deal, loop wheeled and all that. A few Japanese companies do proper repros, as opposed to Levi's Vintage imitations (looped back isn't the same thing as loop wheeled, by the way). Joe McCoy/The Real McCoy's has the edge over the Buzz Rickson but Buzz is an even more popular loop wheeled choice.

As far as the Tee question goes, I picked up a pack of suprima cotton tees from said store Uniqlo, and they are really good. Soft cotton, not lost any shape after several washes, 1 grey and 1 white for £9.99 I think, not on the website I don't think?

Also rate their sweat shirts, wearing a navy 'beater' one today.

Edit: They are on their site! http://shop.uniqlo.com/uk/goods/068282

Last edited by Tomiskinky (2012-02-20 10:54:31)

As regards T shirts; the only time I wear one is a white T shirt under a button down shirt. 

Here the goal is to get a nice high, and straight, line with the collar of the T so that plenty of white is on show under the open collar of the button down and everything looks neat.  Too many T's fail in this respect because the collar is too low, or they go loose and baggy around the neck after a few washings.

I have been told that to exemplify this look on fashion shoots, the male models wear mens white vest tops, back to front, under the button shirt. This gives a real high and straight line for the 'T shirt' collar. Needless to say I've tried it, whilst it looks great, it is very uncomfortable!

Currently I'm wearing some Matalan T shirts for the under-shirt gig, but I don't expect them to last very long.

Uniqlo sweats are ok but not great. I have a Buzz ricksons hooded sweat and wouldn't be surprised if it lasted a decade it's a heavy duty peice of kit, their un-hooded sweats are a very strange cut I couldn't get on with them. I recon it's well worth spending a few quid on a decent one.