Help me Date this Men's Suit.

Help me Date this Men\'s Suit.

I have some info to add to the label thread on Jordan Marsh when I am done with this one, but I need some help on precisely dating this suit. (and add it to the Old Fashioned department store stuff too!)

We were going through stuff, and my husband had found he still had it. It was his grandfather's who passed away in 1980, but he had this suit for MANY YEARS before. Tom used to have a sharkskin suit that was his grandfather's too but didn't know what happened to it. It has the amalgamated textile workers label in it - the one with the sewing machine on it and i remember that one was the older one perhaps 40s/50s but i didn't remember. I also saw a very early 60s suit that kinda reminded me but it wasn't on the money.

I thought we had a quick tips for labels at one time relating to union labels, but i could be imagining things or just can't find it.

It looks chocolate brown and black stripes but if you look at it really really closely, (REALLY close) you can see there is a red thread running very inconspicuously through each brown stripe (you would never be able to see it from the computer and don't unless you are 2 feet or less away from the actual suit.

this is just a fast pic...i will try to get a better pic in a minute...





TIA,

Chris

 

That's devine Chris!!

~Maureen

 

the suit looks 40's to me.

get a close up of the lapel-buttonhole, and how the pants are inside at the waistband.

Gayle

 

Chris, how could you lose that in the closet! Nice suit. Waiting for more pics.

 

It is definitely old. In fact I was not even aware we had it. My husband got his grandfather's cashmere top coat (which I knew we had) because he was the only one in the family short like his grandfather. The cashmere has seen better days and went through a bad repair job that we hope to someday get fixed by someone who is skillful. The back vent (i know they don't call it a kick pleat in men's clothing) was torn and repaired badly, and we hope to get it fixed.

I had no idea Tom had this suit. It is too small for him now, he can't button the pants, but it was just always hung up in the midst of the suits he wore all the time, so I never saw it. He really wishes to know what happened with the sharkskin suit, but he thinks it got seperated from him from a move when he moved from his parent's house and maybe someone still has it. (he was 16 in 1980, so definitely lived with his parents when he got it).

Now that it is daylight, I am going to try to take a better pic outside. the fabric really can't be seen on a scanner, the pattern anyways. It looks to the observer a deep chocolatey boarding on aubergine with black in even stripes, and when you get closer you realize there is a tiny red thread almost imperceptible unless you get REALLY REALLY close running through the browner strioes. and there are these tiny tiny whitish flecks too in the fabric.

I shall return

(oh yeah...waistband....definitely old. I just didn't know EXACTLY when as I am just learning more about men's suit construction).

Okay, this suit is in perfect condition EXCEPT down near the cuff, there is a bad repair (they were stubborn people who would only go to one person who just put bandaids on things. He wasn't good but because he was from the same country. etc etc...) It is right at the edge of the cuff. THe pants have enough material where it was shortened that it could be brought back around like a cuff (in otherwards someone who was skilled, could easily fix it). Or of course they could be shortened.

Anyways...I shall return!

 

With the 3 buttons and narrow lapels, I 'd put it in the 50s.

Do the pants have pleats? single or double? And do they have cuffs? Also, does the jacket have a center back vent, or is it ventless? Is it a button or zipper fly?

Enquiring minds want to know!

Hollis

 

No cuffs on the pants at all, but then again the pants were shortened 3.5". 50s would make sense if he also had a sharkskin suit, but ya never know. The back vent (kickpleat LOL) is 6" It is (metal) zipper fly. No buttons at all. Top fastens with one of those thingies with the two metal pieces. Its not a hook and eye, but the other thing. Single pleat.

I am going to go out and try to take a pic to show the fabric.

Now, it has the Jordan Marsh label, but in the pocket with the textile worker's label, There is a label that says "Navishade Clothes New York" and it has lines to put name

Mr._____________________________
Date__________ Size______________

 

what drives me nuts is when you get close enough to try and get a shot of the fabric, you totally lose any pattern.

 

The narrow lapels are late 50s into the 60s. Many times men's suits are signed and dated. Look for the tailors mark in the inside chest pocket for clues. Also check the pants zipper. Early 40s will have a button fly, late 40s-50s will have a heavy metal zipper and by the mid 60s nylon zippers were common. But of course there are exceptions, a few old school tailors continued to use button fly pants thru the 60s for custom made suits.

 

Thanks Jim. This was purchased at the old Jordan Marsh in Boston and the zipper is metal. Is the label I am talking about inside the suit with the spot for the name the label you are talking about? Unfortunately, no date or name, etc. It is not inside the chest pocket but the right hand side pocket where the textile workers label is.
Perhaps it was purchased in a men's dept and then never altered at the shop? i have no clue.....

still trying to get the fabric to show in the photo...

 

so it could be anywere from 1955-1964...i am going to try the photos again, and in the meantime if anyone needs more details to help narrow it, let me know. I am eager to learn!

 

If i get any closer, the pattern is list. not really stripes. just looks that way until you get really close. there is the red thread and others too. Kind of choco-aubergine and black.



Its not this light, but sunned it out so you could see the fabric

 

Yes thats the label I'm talking about. It's a handsome suit. More 50s than 60s.

 

SO maybe still a cusper, so to speak, but on the 50s side? late 50s?

 

I am going to try to narrow down the fabric for my own knowledge next. thanks for the input. I am learning a lot! Men's suits of this timeframe are not my forte, but the more i know, the better !

 

Thanks for all your help, guys and gals!