Avalon
Antiques
203 SW
9th Ave., 224-7156
Open
noon-6 pm daily
Does anyone else out there think that men should wear vintage
suits more often? There's something sexy and mysterious about
a man in a handsome suit from a bygone era--he exceeds mere
attractiveness to become downright fine. But not just
any old suit will do, fellas. Finding the perfect style, and
having it expertly tailored, is the key to wooing dames and
reveling in the knowledge that you've found your match.
Arthur Cheesman and Paul Bassett, owners of Avalon Antiques,
are here to help. They've stocked their shop with a vast
selection of first-half-of-the-century suits ranging in
price from around $60 to $125. Barbara Evans, Avalon's manager
and tailor, will customize the fit for $15 to $45. On a
recent visit to this vintage emporium, I asked Cheesman
to offer his tips for those fine men out there in search
of the suit of their dreams. And by the way, Bassett promises
that they don't let anyone walk out of their store "looking
like a chump."
Suit Tips
The cuffs on a suit jacket should just cover your wrist
knuckle, leaving the entire hand exposed. (Cheesman notes
that some men like their cuffs to hang a little lower.)
There are slope- and straight-shouldered jackets, as there
are slope- and straight-shouldered men. An uneven match
can cause wrinkles in the back of the jacket at the neck,
or may cause the lapels to stick out, but this is easy to
remedy with a little tailoring.
It's easy to take jackets in if they're too large. (Barbara
charges $15 to do all three seams). It's actually easier
than letting down the cuffs ($15), which requires unfastening
the lining and moving buttons. If the suit needs three alterations,
it may not be worth the cost. "If you're in love with the
suit," adds Cheesman, "it's probably worth it."
Most men now wear suit pants lower on the waist than they
were intended to be worn. If you hem the pants cuff, don't
cut off the selvage; just hem it up instead. The longest
the pants cuff should be is just above the shoe heel. Tuxedo
pants need to be worn on the navel as intended, or the shirt
and cummerbund won't stay in place.
Pegging pants legs so they're narrower requires tailoring
both the inside and outside seams. (Radical pegging started
with dramatically oversized zoot suits.) Younger men tend
toward pants with no pleats and a reasonably tight leg;
older men aren't as "threatened" by pleated pants and wider
legs.
A man's "package" goes on the left side of his pants. There's
an extra width of fabric there for this very reason. According
to Cheesman, male hustlers used to opt for the right instead
to draw attention and to send a subtle message.
Vintage suits are (usually) very sturdy. Most were fashioned
from high-quality natural fabrics, like fine imported wools
(up until the '60s, anyway). The average new suit can cost
somewhere around $300 to $500, but it's hard to find good
design paired with excellent fabric. For that combination,
you may have to look at spending at least $1,000. That's
why a vintage suit with good design and excellent fabric
can be a relative bargain.
'50s suits usually have wide shoulders and narrow waists,
with some radical patterns in wools (i.e., black or charcoal
with pink or red, known as "'50s flecks").
Fabric blends can be a good thing. A combination of wool
and silk gives the '60s-era sharkskin its iridescence. Later
in the decade, the mod and low-rise suit styles inspired
by London's Carnaby Street came into vogue
in the United States.
Double-breasted jackets have been in style forever, says
Cheesman. Since fashion is currently copying vintage so
much and citing several eras at once, it's easy to sport
either single-breasted or double-breasted suits in whatever
style pleases you.
A few words on accessorizing:
--Pick a standard shirt in white
or a complementary color.
--The narrower the lapel, the skinnier the tie should be.
--Double-breasted suits required
a wide tie or bow tie with a butterfly; if you want to wear
a bow tie with a '50s suit, keep it thin.
--Choose at least a half-dozen ties, looking for some contrast,
and lay them across the suit. Then reject them one by one.
--Top it off with a cool tie pin.
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