Breton jumper/sweater

[Trey]

Gentlemen:

NJS recently mentioned the famous Breton jumper/sweater from "To Catch a Thief" in the post on favorite cars. I have searched for such a garment to no avail. Any ideas?

Trey

[Trey]

Oops! I realized this probably should have gone in the Dressing Room forum. My apologies.

Trey

[pvpatty]

I have not seen this movie, but I do know of this website, and it may be what you are after:

http://brittanyboutique.com/store/binicsweater.html

[Jordan Marc]

The striped pullover worn by Cary Grant in To Catch A Thief was made by Avon Celli, which was a cashmere/silk blend. Whether or not it's still made is open to conjecture, but Avon Celli is still in business. Go to www.avoncelli.com and peruse the site. GOR-JUSS knitwear.

Cary Grant, like many film actors, paid enormous attention to the clothes he wore on screen. In the case of the pullover in TCAT, it was an item he found in a boutique to which he added a silk scarf. The scarf wasn't an affectation. CG had a very large neck (17 1/2), which may have been due to his early musichall days as a tumbler, so wrapping a scarf round his neck and artfully knotting it concealed the bulk. It also explains why CG wore shirts with higher collars and a generous spread. Everything on screen is magnified 100 times larger than in real life, so gestures, movements, hair styles, makeup and costumes must be meticulously thought out and tested in pre-production.

JMB

[Frog in Suit]

I have not seen this movie, but I do know of this website, and it may be what you are after:

http://brittanyboutique.com/store/binicsweater.html

Thank you for the reference, which I have bookmarked. I did not know about this company. There is also Armor Lux (http://www.armorlux.com/_en_/ or http://www.armorlux.com in French) but I do not know if they sell over the internet.

Frog in Suit

[storeynicholas]

The striped pullover worn by Cary Grant in To Catch A Thief was made by Avon Celli, which was a cashmere/silk blend. Whether or not it's still made is open to conjecture, but Avon Celli is still in business. Go to www.avoncelli.com and peruse the site. GOR-JUSS knitwear.

Cary Grant, like many film actors, paid enormous attention to the clothes he wore on screen. In the case of the pullover in TCAT, it was an item he found in a boutique to which he added a silk scarf. The scarf wasn't an affectation. CG had a very large neck (17 1/2), which may have been due to his early musichall days as a tumbler, so wrapping a scarf round his neck and artfully knotting it concealed the bulk. It also explains why CG wore shirts with higher collars and a generous spread. Everything on screen is magnified 100 times larger than in real life, so gestures, movements, hair styles, makeup and costumes must be meticulously thought out and tested in pre-production.

JMB

CG also had his suit coat shoulders padded to even out the proportion of his large head and neck.
NJS

[Jordan Marc]

The human body is rarely, if ever, symmetrical and in proper proportion. Large heads (nothing to do with ego) are often perched atop the wrong-sized neck, one shoulder is higher than the other, one arm is longer than the other, a curvature of the spine throws off the balance of the hips, legs are different lengths and so are feet. A really good tailor (there aren't that many, y'know) will take your true measure and straighten out your irregularities. Bespoke trumps RTW, that's all there is to that. It's magic!

Cary Grant did indeed have a large head and small shoulders. He also had a bit of a stoop, and he was noticeably bandy-legged. In his earlier films the shoulder padding in his suits is overdone. Too much. Later in his career the tailoring was more subtle and refined. So is the choice of fabrics.

It's a curious contradiction that CG claimed in real life he was actually closer to the grubby, disshevelled character of Walter Eckland in Father Goose than the elegant style icon we all revere.

JMB

[carl browne]

I just started with this blog, and I'm stunned at how knowledgeable you gentlemen are. You actually know the brand of sweater CG wore in "To Catch a Thief." I can't tell you all how pleased I am to be here.

Who made CGs suit in "North by Northwest?"

That is a great outfit.

I had it fairly sucessfully copied by my tailor in Beverly Hills, but it didn't suit me. I have broad shoulders and a small head and neck, and though I'm tall, my legs are short. I cut my hair short to hide a receeding hairline, and I'm very fair. I'm the anti-Cary, it seems, and the suit only made me feel inadequate and--well--Uncarylike. Not at all the effect one wants from a bespoke rig. The tailor should have been more strict with me. Since then I've stopped trying to be a 10th rate CG, and be myself.

I still like to emulate CG sometimes, but I only take what I can use--monochromatic ties, white shirts, simple patterns, and pale socks, for example.

Important lesson for all of us, don't you think?

[storeynicholas]

Take heart - Don't forget that even Archie Leach said: Cary Grant, Cary Grant - everyone wants to be Cary Grant - even I want to be Cary Grant .The maker of the North by Northwest suit is a mystery of the 20th C much like what ever happened to Shergar..............
NJS

[marcelo]

Who made CGs suit in "North by Northwest?"

That is a great outfit.

Maybe you find the answer in the paper: "Language of the PurSuit: Cary Grant's Clothes in Alfred Hitchcock's "North by Northwest"
Author: Lehmann, Ulrich
Source: Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture, Volume 4, Number 4, November 2000 , pp. 467-485

but you'll firstly have to find the paper, and once you have found it, I will be truly grateful if you would please share a copy of it with us.

[pvpatty]

Who made CGs suit in "North by Northwest?"

That is a great outfit.

Maybe you find the answer in the paper: "Language of the PurSuit: Cary Grant's Clothes in Alfred Hitchcock's "North by Northwest"
Author: Lehmann, Ulrich
Source: Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture, Volume 4, Number 4, November 2000 , pp. 467-485

but you'll firstly have to find the paper, and once you have found it, I will be truly grateful if you would please share a copy of it with us.

I have the article in question! I decided to run a search on the website of the library I attend, and it turns out that they do indeed have a subscription! I suspect that this is the information that we are after:

In the opening part of the film—I will adhere to its chronology,
although, for obvious reasons, not going through it scene by scene—we
encounter Roger Thornhill (played by Cary Grant) meeting with business
associates in a Manhattan bar. He is dressed in a lightweight, threebuttoned
gray suit, a white shirt with French cuffs, a gray silk tie, lightgray
socks and dark brown shoes. His three companions are attired in
dark suits: the character Mr Wade with white tie and pochette, Mr Nelson
with a dark tie, and fellow advertising man Mr Weltner with a somber
red tie. In this scene, where Grant is seen sitting comparatively still for
the first time, the observer is offered a contrasted reading of Thornhill
versus the other characters in the film, a reading that functions through
the clothes and is maintained until the very last part of the story.5 This
contrast, pertaining as much to the fictional persona as it does to the actor
Grant, of whom Hitchcock asked nothing more than variations on his
habitual superficial charm and ironic superiority, is established by clothing
Thornhill in a bespoke suit by Savile Row tailors Kilgour, French &
Stanbury—an establishment frequented by Grant as well.

I have the full article in pdf, and can will download the rest of the articles in this issue. I'll have to figure out some way to host it so that others may have a look (though this probably contravenes some copyright law).

[marcelo]

Who made CGs suit in "North by Northwest?"

That is a great outfit.

Maybe you find the answer in the paper: "Language of the PurSuit: Cary Grant's Clothes in Alfred Hitchcock's "North by Northwest"
Author: Lehmann, Ulrich
Source: Fashion Theory: The Journal of Dress, Body & Culture, Volume 4, Number 4, November 2000 , pp. 467-485

but you'll firstly have to find the paper, and once you have found it, I will be truly grateful if you would please share a copy of it with us.

I have the article in question! I decided to run a search on the website of the library I attend, and it turns out that they do indeed have a subscription! I suspect that this is the information that we are after:

In the opening part of the film—I will adhere to its chronology,
although, for obvious reasons, not going through it scene by scene—we
encounter Roger Thornhill (played by Cary Grant) meeting with business
associates in a Manhattan bar. He is dressed in a lightweight, threebuttoned
gray suit, a white shirt with French cuffs, a gray silk tie, lightgray
socks and dark brown shoes. His three companions are attired in
dark suits: the character Mr Wade with white tie and pochette, Mr Nelson
with a dark tie, and fellow advertising man Mr Weltner with a somber
red tie. In this scene, where Grant is seen sitting comparatively still for
the first time, the observer is offered a contrasted reading of Thornhill
versus the other characters in the film, a reading that functions through
the clothes and is maintained until the very last part of the story.5 This
contrast, pertaining as much to the fictional persona as it does to the actor
Grant, of whom Hitchcock asked nothing more than variations on his
habitual superficial charm and ironic superiority, is established by clothing
Thornhill in a bespoke suit by Savile Row tailors Kilgour, French &
Stanbury—an establishment frequented by Grant as well.

I have the full article in pdf, and can will download the rest of the articles in this issue. I'll have to figure out some way to host it so that others may have a look (though this probably contravenes some copyright law).

Dear Pvpatty

Some time ago I initiated a new thread in order to point out the existence of some articles in this journal which might possibly interest some fellow Loungers. But, to my disappointment, there was no feedback at all. The thread was the following:

http://thelondonlounge.net/gl/forum/vie ... php?t=8218

[pvpatty]

Dear Pvpatty

Some time ago I initiated a new thread in order to point out the existence of some articles in this journal which might possibly interest some fellow Loungers. But, to my disappointment, there was no feedback at all. The thread was the following:

http://thelondonlounge.net/gl/forum/vie ... php?t=8218

Marcelo, I was out of town when you posted this, and did not see it! I will put the articles up now.

[storeynicholas]

Dear Pvpatty

Some time ago I initiated a new thread in order to point out the existence of some articles in this journal which might possibly interest some fellow Loungers. But, to my disappointment, there was no feedback at all. The thread was the following:

http://thelondonlounge.net/gl/forum/vie ... php?t=8218

Marcelo, I was out of town when you posted this, and did not see it! I will put the articles up now.

I agree that it is very good of you to do this PVP.
NJS

[Manself]

To return to the start of this thread: I believe that next season (Spring Summer 2009) Hackett is selling a striped long sleeve T-shirt based very closely on the one Grant wore in To Catch A Thief.