Plaid lads

Tartan or plaid fabrics consist of criss crossed horizontal and vertical bands in multiple colors. They are especially popular for the fall, perhaps because of its association with woolen and flannel clothing. Tartan has close associations to Scotland and Scottish kilts. Famous plaid wearing men include:















From left to right: Grunge rocker Kurt Cobain, Groundskeeper Willie (Scot) from the Simpsons TV show, actor Ewan McGregor (Scot) and alt country rocker Ryan Adams.

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Hot ski sweaters

I love pretty 1980s knit winter sweaters. They make me think of ski lodges, drinking hot cocoa and the fantasy scene in one of my old favorite movies, "Dumb and Dumber":













You can enjoy the whole scene here:



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The girl can't help it (wiggle dress)

"If she walks by, the men folk get engrossed,
(she can't help it, the girl can't help it)
If she walks by, the bread slice turns to toast,
(she can't help it, the girl can't help it)"
-"The girl can't help it", Little Richard

The "wiggle" dress is a dress with a tight, tapered skirt that doesn't allow for normal-sized steps, forcing the wearer to "wiggle" as she walks. Popular among blonde bombshells like Jayne Maynsfield and Marilyn Monroe, the dress enhanced a sexy hourglass shape. The dress is experiencing a resurgence in popularity because of shows like AMC's Mad Men. Its appeal is no surprise if you look at Jayne's wiggle in "The Girl Can't Help It":


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Granny chic

Now, I don't want to anger the villagers of Cougartown, but when I grow older, I hope to dress and act my age. I find it strange to see 40+ year old women in college bars, or Facebook pictures of girls on their 21st+ birthdays taking shots of tequila with their mother in a Las Vegas night club. I've always imagined myself at that age wearing cashmere suits and pearls with kitty heels, not sequined Cache dresses, cake makeup and stilettos.

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A short aside: frugalista

The term "fashionista" has produced some evil wordspawn in the form of "recessionista", "frugalista", and "Maxxinista" (referring to fashionable TJ Max shoppers) to name a few. One Miami Herald blogger has even trademarked the word "frugalista" and is sending letters to other bloggers instructing them to cease referring to themselves as frugalistas. Hopefully that's where this word will die. If I hear another person other than these marketing geniuses refer to themselves or anyone else as some kind of value shopping-ista, I will go bananas.

I'm waiting for someone to coin a term for vintage enthusiasts. How about vintageocrats? Or vintagiennes?

For all you bargain-hunting vintageocrats, you make like:

The indestructible coat

Today I found a men's wool coat that I am confident would survive a nuclear holocaust. The world would be on fire, and this coat would stand alone. It is solidly woven charcoal gray wool coat made by the Kleinhans in Buffalo, New York. I looked in one of the pockets and saw a faded label which looked like an old union label, except with an eagle on it and the words: "Produced Under the NRA Code Authority." I thought, that's weird, the National Rifle Association has its own manufacturing dress code? It didn't look like any hunting jacket I've ever seen. Eric needed a wool coat to wear over his suits in New York so I bought it for him.

I researched the manufacturing label when I got home. NRA didn't stand for the National Rifle Association, but the National Recovery Administration, one of the New Deal agencies under President Franklin D. Roosevelt. From Britannica.com:

"U.S. government agency established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to stimulate business recovery through fair-practice codes during the Great Depression. The NRA was an essential element in the National Industrial Recovery Act (June 1933), which authorized the president to institute industry-wide codes intended to eliminate unfair trade practices, reduce unemployment, establish minimum wages and maximum hours, and guarantee the right of labour to bargain collectively."

The NRA was declared unconstitutional in 1935 by the US Supreme Court and these labels were only used from 1932-1935! I hope I look this good at 74+ years.

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Moving Sale! Help lighten our load and get cool stuff!

We try not to shamelessly promote our store too often on our blog, but we are getting ready to move to NYC next week and need to reduce our inventory (as well as our overall stuff - where did I get all this stuff?!?!). So, we have temporarily (till we complete our move) slashed prices on most of the items in our etsy shop, such as those pictured below. Please go check it out and tell your friends: http://vintagesuits.etsy.com

Thanks!

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