Dear Tyto


Well, I'm just an idiota, but I'd say that while I admire some of the thinking being the so-called orthodoxy, it's often misinformed or just plain ignorant.  To my tastes, the hooked-vent is indubitably TNSIL, but if we look back into the archives of the varioius shops, we see that Brooks and Press and others have always had double vents.  If we were to observe a "Brooks curriculum", we'd reinforce this fact.   I tend to have fewer double vents (incl. my very small collection of bespoke gear & some older RTW Andover Shop), but I say do it if you like it.  My only "thing" is that I don't care for too deep of a pair of vent like some of the British wear.  And anyway, Brooks always had a strong English element to them.   Before I became aware of these MB's, I always thought of natural-shouldered (or TNSIL as Pollock aptly put it) as "Anglo-American," so I agree with you about the anglophile element.  Maybe a nice compromise is double vents on some odd jackets and single vents on suits.  Though I even went no vents once in a futile attempt, which cemented by idiota status, to copy the Cary Grant suit in NxNW.

I just got a very jacket in single vent.  I didn't go hooked-vent but I had been thinking, before I encountered your query, that maybe I should've done so.  But depending upon the material, maybe it looks "more clean" without the hook.

Be of Good Cheer,

Horace

With apologies to Horace, my recollection is that, in the early '60s, Brooks suits were always single hook vented while Continental clothes had short side vents. I remember this changed in the mid '60s at Paul Stuart. I could be wrong, but I don't recall side-vented sport jackets either (at least none that I bought in the Madison/44th area).

Regards,

Steven

Steven,

Do you remember if there was any crossover between the continental and natural shoulder looks back then?

Chris

Tyto,
Here is the thread I think you were originally referring to, co-incidentally I was upbraided by xcubbies for calling Mcqeen's jacket trad as TL has just mentioned.

http://www.askandyaboutclothes.com/forum/showthread.php?t=48299&highlight=Steve+Mcqueen


Matt,

Who knows whether the actual jacket was sold by CCC, but a similar one supplied by them without the ticket pocket was offered on ebay last year. A trad museum is a very apt description of the shop, but to me also it has a very British feel to it. Maybe this is where they were coming from with the double vent sack.

Cheers
Chris

Last edited by stylestudent (2007-02-20 21:10:00)

Fantastic thread.

Some really interesting and informative posts here.

Thank you gentlemen!

Was Robert Kirk always part of CCC?  I seem to recall that Robert Kirk was the English goods seller and a separate store, but this is a very dim memory.