Vol. I No. I (March 05') AA / Esky series

[Etutee]

Dear lounge members,
It is a pleasure to be at this new site also. So many, user friendly features makes it a vastly pleasant experience over the old lounge site.

Alright….

Now...without further delay...let me start with 3 illustrations from winter 33’ / early spring 34'...the topic is our well-known country suiting. Gentlemen who have placed orders in tweed fabrics through cloth club may find these particularly interesting.

gardner34smallcopy5it by The London Lounge, on Flickr

This gentlemen, is a suit of Irish Donegal tweed and recommended for proper wear in March. Men in rural and active outdoors life have long sworn by it for its happy and seemingly paradoxical combination of softness and particularly, durability. Note the easy fit of the 3-button jacket with large patch pockets. Note the 2 buttons on the cuff. Worn here for extra warmth is a v-neck short sweater, sleeveless of dark blue, under which are tucked the ends of a light weight woolen muffler worn in an ascot manner. A white flannel shirt is also recommended in winter weight. Note the hat and the shoes, how they combine the over all effect of “well-worn” garments (a la Fred Astaire…his habit of throwing up hats against the wall to knock square stiffness out of them) . Over here the AA mentioned how the hat and shoes will be heightened in attractiveness after a bit of seasoning has taken away their look of newness. Hat is rough-finished felt, of the Tyrolean type. The shoes are brown buckskin without toe-cap. They are also recommended in an un-lined version with crepe soles and heel.

Lets move towards our 2nd picture of the day.

windowsmallcopy8zd by The London Lounge, on Flickr

Ah…what elegance! This, gentlemen is in a country setting again.

Let’s begin with the suit on the right. The suits is a single breasted easy-fitting green color Harris Tweed, the shirt is of heavy cheviot with a rounded attached collar, the tie is woolen, of deep maroon with a gray over plaid, the shoes are buckskin ankle high and closely resemble (or may as well be) jodhpur shoes in cut. The hat is allover stitched tweed and used to be a favorite among gentlemen.

On the left we have something which is truly smart. This is classic in-between suit of the era, which could effectively hop between town and country. Starting from the top is a rough finished bowler, a 3 button notched lapel suit of gray cheviot with a pronounced blue over plaid. (Note the size of the check) also note the 4 buttons on the cuff…a town suit characteristic. A solid colored shirt of light weight flannel, a black tie with blue bold stripe, black brogues, and a tan covert topcoat. Country suits have either side vents or center vents, which, in country are more preferable than non-vented garments.

A few other noteworthy items are the button stance on the left suit (high), and the break of the pants (almost none). See how the tie was extremely well paired with the shirt as the blue striped harmonized the color of the shirt. Also a larger & bolder windowpane is advisable for tall gentlemen. For short men, they can reduce the thickness of the check line and the overall size of the windowpane pattern without effecting the overall height. Usually a smaller windowpane (that is somewhat bold) is increasingly hard to find…quite unlike glen-plaid (where the larger check is harder to find). Large windowpane are available through various fabric manufacturers H. Lesser and Holland & Sherry to name a few. Haven’t quite seen anything in smaller windowpane recently. Another smart idea is to have your windowpane cut in a diamond pattern. (see the illustration below), although this sort of an outfit is highly recommended for country and resort wear purposes. Much like the horizontal or diagonal striped vest, it always had (or has) limited acceptability. Nevertheless a very novel idea…and best suggested for smaller windowpane.

Below is an illustration from spring 34’ or winter 33’.

diamondtweedsmallcopy1xx by The London Lounge, on Flickr

This is a suit of grey hand loomed Shetland with a small diamond pattern. Waistcoat is of heavy wide vale corduroy. The shirt is of flannel taffeta (a fabric noted for its warmth) and solid blue collar with striped body. Tie is of wool in polka dots and pocket square in red & blue silk foulard motif.

That said... Note the cut of the suit and the fullness combined with the fabric weight to give a pleasant aesthetic sight as well as practical value of comfort. Note the country heavy last on the black brogues. Although a brown buck / suede brogue would be equally appropriate…maybe even more so.

The man on the right (background, standing) is wearing a short "warm" coat in black & brown herringbone tweed . Now this "warm" is the name of the coat...like "British Warm", usually DB style in melton cloth . This is best advisable for shorter gentlemen due to its short length show quite a bit of leg line. Suit is of Lovat Green color in a heavy weight Cheviot (maybe 14-16 oz & up). Plaid cashmere muffler and knitted string gloves. Some of these gloves have leather (chamois) on the inner palm side and knitted part on the outside…recommended for driving, cycling and other such activities. Brown brogue shoes with white stitching and a green (mixture or muted) rough felt hat.

Over here…note the slight skirt on the tweed coat. Also note the shape and the width of the peak lapels. See how the fall of the pants is…i.e without any break.

On a side note for your information…An interesting note of the era was the use of no / shorter break (or length) when using casual trousers (with cuffs) as compared with formal. Plain (straight) hem trousers usually reserved for town suits and formal events dictated a slightly longer length and hence the “break”. Slanted hem were preferred by people, who needed minimal break at the front & at the same time preferred them longer at the back. This characteristic (of slanted hem) was well observed on formal day & evening trousers. Fabric weight and width at hem, heavily dictated the break.


From early / mid -spring 38'

Vol. I No. I (March '05) Page 5 by The London Lounge, on Flickr

This gentlemen, was painted at Cambridge, England in somewhat early-mid 38’. These are your classic town & country hopper outfits. Effectively can be used within town or suburban, somewhat rural settings also. While they may work on the extreme country events, it might be a good idea to skip the formal town events for these.

The gent in the car wears a fawn colored Shetland Tweed Jacket, oxford shirt, with a lounge (soft point) collar and checked wool tie. Collar can be perfectly of the button-down variety also. The varsity cap (in this particular design) in dark color was introduced sometime in mid-late 37’ in Scotland and met with immediate success among sportsmen. Driving gloves have pigskin palms (for added grip) and chamois backs.

Note the single button on the cuff. It was a distinctive quality of country jackets back then to be of 1 or 2 buttons at the cuffs, while the ones from town had 3-4. Though this practice has somewhat diminished over the decades but nevertheless still holds true in certain circles. There are obvious contradicting examples also, such as Duke of Windsor, who normally insisted on 4 buttons on his cuffs regardless of their (jackets) settings. Also noteworthy is the fact that, these country jackets in addition to having 2 buttons on the sleeves have 2 actual holes on the buttons as opposed to 3-4 for regular town jackets.

Now, on the right side is a suit of cheviot in spring weight (maybe 12-13 oz). Kindly remember that this is 38’ we are discussing so the general idea of medium weight for fabrics was, rather heavy. Hat is brown of Cavalier Type, and suede (reversed calf to be precise) town shoes. Observe the jacket length and minimal break of the pants.

The most noteworthy feature of the suit jacket is that it is the British “Blade” model. Now often remembered as the “Drape” suit. Since this picture is from the back you get to see the added fullness over the blades which provide tremendous comfort in arm movement. This fullness is controlled by a smaller back-neck which is combined with a somewhat arched shoulder seam to give the best effect. This fullness is (& to this date) best added with meticulous hand-tailoring. Since The fabric weight in that era was generally heavier, you see the drape in its most magnificent form. An exact similar mechanism also dictates the sleeve-head fullness, which is added by a “cascading” pleating effect at the shoulder / sleeve head. Again, hand-tailoring is vital.

Jacket made in Naples also have similar characteristics but often less drape due to the lighter-weight cloth used by Italian tailors.


Sincerely
Etutee

[jfelman]

Etutee,

Many, many, thanks for sharing these wonderful pictures. I understand that in time you plan to move them to the photo-journal. But initially, at least, I think it is a splendid idea to include them in the forum, incorporated into your emails. That way, one can easily go back and forth between the picture and the explanation, making it so much easier for neophytes such as myself to learn about the garments. Later, when you do move the pictures to the photo-journal, I hope that you'll be able to add some captions, so that when we neophytes take our second (and third) looks, our attention can again be focused in the proper direction.

Many thanks again,

J Felman

[Cruz Diez]

Dear Etutee,

I am very thankful for your gesture of sharing with us all those wonderful illustrations. They get even better when accompanied by your thoughtful descriptions. How inspirational. For sure one of the best reasons to visit this Lounge regularly.

May we all enjoy them in good health.

Best wishes,

Miguel

[Etutee]

Dear members,
A new illustration have been added and much more detail added on the text.

Sincerely
etutee

[dopey]

Dear members,
A new illustration have been added and much more detail added on the text.

Sincerely
etutee

Thank you.

[Etutee]

delete

[alden]

Dear Sir,

You have distinguished yourself by the quality and generosity of your contributions to thelondonlounge.

Your writings are consistently on target and the illustrations you choose and comment offer a particularly effective pedagogic tool.

Like many of our readers, I look forward to your illustrations and commentary.

Bravo, cher Etutee, bravo!

M Alden

[alden]

[

Note the single button on the cuff. It was a distinctive quality of country jackets back then to be of 1 or 2 buttons at the cuffs, while the ones from town had 3-4. Though this practice has somewhat diminished over the decades but nevertheless still holds true in certain circles.

In Naples the one button cuff is still part of the culture of the casual coat.

Observe the jacket length and minimal break of the pants.

No deck swabing material here.

The most noteworthy feature of the suit jacket is that it is the British “Blade” model. Now often remembered as the “Drape” suit. Since this picture is from the back you get to see the added fullness over the blades which provide tremendous comfort in arm movement. This fullness is controlled by a smaller back-neck which is combined with a somewhat arched shoulder seam to give the best effect. This fullness is (& to this date) best added with meticulous hand-tailoring. Since The fabric weight in that era was generally heavier, you see the drape in its most magnificent form. An exact similar mechanism also dictates the sleeve-head fullness, which is added by a “cascading” pleating effect at the shoulder / sleeve head. Again hand-tailoring is vital.

Gentlemen, take a copy of this and place it in the inside of your closets, memorize it and then deliver it as imstructions to your tailor.[/code]

[manton]

The only thing I don't like in those pictures is that one dark blue contrast collar. Everything else is magnificent, as is the commentary. Thanks for posting!

[Hartline]

Thank you for posting these. I have several that I can add once I figure out how to get good images/scans of the illustrations.

Is it possible to differentiate the original text from your additions, which are quite helpful and really add to the project? It is clear you’ve studied these and understand the nuance. Maybe we can use brackets and/or a different typeface to separate the two.

Arnold Gingrich’s text has an economy and felicity like few others. While the text is comprehensible to anyone who reads English, there is another level. Gingrich is speaking to a very unique set of men with whom he shared an intimate knowledge of the social and athletic systems of the collegiate and professional world at the time. Yes, Gingrich describes the clothes, but he describes them within the context of the activity (i.e., The Game, The National Horse Show, Boat Race Night, a wedding) that Lawrence Fellows, Leslie Saalburg, etc. presented. These are not clothes in the abstract, they are a clothes for purpose. Given the socio-economics of the 1930s, these group of eligible buyers was fairly small compared to population of males in the United States.

One of the keenest social observers at the time was John O’Hara, and the reader sees similar strains in O’Hara’s writing. Today, we have Tom Wolfe and Louis Auchincloss. (I suppose one could add Dominick Dunne, but that may be a bridge too far for lots of reasons.)

Anyway, that was a bit of a ramble and perhaps left to a discussion of how the media reinforce social mores.

[ccox]

etutee;
Thank you ! In one fell swoop you've managed to illustrate the answers to several questions I've had about everything from hats to shoes. Of particular interest to me are the "classic town and country hopper outfits" as you call them. As one who works in a business casual setting, I find that I wear a lot of "country clothing" instead of more business-like worsteds and serges, etc. I like the studied, casual elegance they impart. Sort of like one doesn't really have a day job and can spend the time in more leisurely pursuits.

In my experience, clothing that was once considered less formal is now seen as "dressy." I can't tell you the number of times that I am forced to respond with something like: "I am casual; I'm wearing a sportscoat and odd trousers for God's sake." And yes, I do take a certain pleasure in the looks of befuddlement.

Thanks again!

Regards,
CCox[/u]

[Guest]

Mr. Cox,

this is exactly how I behave with such inquirings.

I look forward to more pictures and comments; this is really wonderful.

[Etutee]

Dear Sirs,
Thank you for your kind words. I am pleased to inform you that I have begun working on the second set of illustrations / commentaries and they should be ready in a week or so (may be a bit longer).

Is it possible to differentiate the original text from your additions, which are quite helpful and really add to the project? It is clear you’ve studied these and understand the nuance. Maybe we can use brackets and/or a different typeface to separate the two.

Dear Hartline,
Indeed. That was one of the original ideas to have the original text also. However, kindly allow me to explain something else also.

These books, pages, pictures that I have in my collection were never acquired for "collecting" purposes...they were purely to help me understand the principles of fine dressing. Years ago, when I started gathering information on these I was not interested in how much these will be worth decades later and so forth. This is a small but notable difference. Why? Since, I acquired them to help me understand matters of fine sartorial interest....it was of no concern to me in what condition were they like when I got them....as long as illustrations were fine. If there was a moment of decision where I had to choose between a partially damaged text or illustration....I left the text and took the un-damaged picture.

Many of these illustrations were acquired from other people also. Most of these people had them for much simpler reasons like....ties of old era, hats, or socks...but never the complete ensemble. A lot of them were cut, water damaged, discoloration and without full-text. It would be rather awkward to post a few lines of the actual text (by editors)...then post some of my writing....almost like mesh mixture. Their actual writings are quite wonderful and MUST be fully quoted (esp. from Esquire) to be appreciated.

Often, I just received pencil or pen written notes as to what was presented in these pictures...but these notes were from other people long ago and they only noted fabric type, weight, texture and other small but precise details.

But, if I do have complete text...I will be more than happy to add that in the photo journal section. Over there I want them to be precise and to the point. In the forum section I want to comment on many finer points also that were not usually a part of their text but were explained else where in AA / Esq.

It is my thinking that it will help members more if the more detailed version is kept in forum and precise one on photo journal because if members have any questions they can ask me.

For example....sometimes it was extremely confusing for me to make out what the text was about. I have few super rare illustrations with text, where AA/ Esq recommended a center vent on a town DB suit. Now, as a young man I spent many a few evenings pondering over this noted detail. Whether AA artists were spotting a new detail that they expected will be later followed by others....or was it just a plain old typo?

Now, quite a few years and several thousand dollars on these later...I can say with 99.99% probability that these few instances were indeed a typing error NOT a correct style observance. There is a pattern to AA / Esq and it is rather hard to notice unless you have seen quite a few of them.

At another rare illustration, a dark Green colored bow-tie was recommended by them for smart evening semi-formal wear (with dinner jackets). Yet, at another instance….a darker shirt than tie (& suit) was recommended by them for town-wear! Now on instances like these…. I can say with 99.99% probability that they were NOT typos. It can be really confusing for a newcomer to get stuck with these text examples. So ultimately, clarification is often needed.

Another example is the “warm” coat in 3rd illustration above. The text simply referred to it as a warm coat without any explanation or quotation around the word “warm”. Myself, I discovered some 5-6 years later (after studying this picture) that warm was NOT merely the quality of the depicted coat but also its name / style.

However, what ever is presented is thoroughly double and triple checked by me. AA / Esq books are used as references. Additional help is sought from esteemed books as Tailor & Cutter, Esquire’s giant 20th century encyclopedia & many others. For fabric info old AF encyclopedia is often consulted as well as other books of the era.

So, I hope you get the idea behind the detailed text. Certainly, if anyone wants to help me out by providing the exact text from AA / Esq for any illustrations I post...they are Most welcome to e-mail me and I will be happy to add that in the photo journal section.

Thank you
kind regards
etutee

[Hartline]

Thanks.

Yes, I would like to help on this project to collect both the original text and the dual citations to both the Apparel Arts and Esquire. The cross-reference could be something like a six column chart: (1) the illustration, (2) the original text, (3) the editorial notes of you and others, (4) the AA citation, (5) the Esquire citation, and (6) keywords, phrases, and ideas.

The reference to the warm coat is a perfect example of the assumptions inherent in Gingrich's writing. In his mind, it would be very clear that a warm coat refers to a British Warm, which has a particular style and cut. In 2005, it is possible that we would see “warm” as an ordinary adjective and not understand the totality of reference. It is here that your editorial notes will be extremely helpful to explain things that are not immediately self evident.

It is an interesting observation that these are typing errors. What do you think about the idea that these errors were purposeful – that they had commercial purpose? The commercial purpose being the selling of clothes. Apparel Arts was a trade publication after all, where an season’s edition came out several months in advance of the actual season. Each AA devotes the majority of its pages to selling and merchandizing, i.e, how to arrange the store for the back-to-school season or what counters best display something. The merchants had to present something new each season. The illustrations and text whether or not they were “correct” aided that purpose. For example, the discussions of the “new” tailcoats is right on point here. In 1935, what could possibly be new about a tailcoat? Nothing really. But if we changed the color or the length, or the fullness of the tail or the buttons, then at least we have something new to sell this season.

Several people objected to ideas of “new” anything, and that the clothes were too outlandish. They wrote to Gingrich, which were published by Coronet in the Sound and Fury section of Esquire. There were howls that no one would possibly wear this. Gingrich himself takes issue with some of the fashion-forward ideas that the illustrators did, i.e., green bow ties.

[alden]

This project is very exciting and its great to have two so very capable members to drive it. If you require any help from us, please advise.

MAlden