Penney's Sharkskin Shirt?

RustySpurVintage

RustySpurVintage

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Hi. I think this is a Penney's sharkskin shirt. It is two toned (gray with maroon flecks running vertically) with a shimmery slightly translucent fabric that I am pretty sure is rayon or some sort of rayon blend. It has horizontal button holes and it appears to have mother of pearl buttons. It is in fantastic shape. You can still see the original fold creases and does not appear to have ever been worn. Can anyone ID this shirt and perhaps the decade? It looks so new I feel it should be in a museum or something. Thanks!
 

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Lovely shirt, and I agree that it looks like it hasn't been worn, or in fact brand new.

"Wash and wear" usually suggests a polyester or cotton polyester blend - rayon for all it's virtues, is not wash and wear as it requires ironing. I can't see any sharkskin effect but that may be my monitor or the photos.

Can you please show a close up of the buttons? I think they're plastic, but that lustrous plastic you got in the '60s that looks like a faux mother of pearl and that's when I date your shirt to, early to mid '60s.
 
nice shirt, Adam! and it has an embroidered detail, too!

the definition for a "true" shark, or at least the one that we learned in the 70s, is that the weft is one color, while the warp is another, causing an iridescent sheen....hang on. The New York Fashion Center describes it as:

Sharkskin
A smooth, crisp, non-pattern fabric where the yarns in both the warp and filling are alternately light and colored creating a subtle two-tone appearance.

and see, they (the NYFC) say "light and colored", which we have seen red and black sharks, green and gold, black and green, blue and black, gold and turquoise...so their definition would not be quite accurate, in our opinion.

I agree that is most likely is a poly blend, and very, very late 50s, or early 60s. But while it does not appear to be a shark weave; it does have a really neat appearance, and is (imo) a very desirable shirt.
 
Yeah. I definitely wasn't sure about the sharkskin. I did an online research and only made that guess based on the two tone effect and the shimmery fabric. Unfortunately, no other labels. As for the mother of pearl buttons, I read that article about them but am not quite skilled enough (yet) to hold one to my cheek and tell by its warmth if it is real or plastic. So, I just had to study it as close as I could and guess. Here's a better picture. I hope it helps.
 

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Really nice looking fabric. I would refer to is as iridescent.

from the VFG Fabric Resource:

Iridescence is a display of radiant colors which seems to change when seen from various angles.
Also called chameleon, changeant, pearlescent, luminescent, glacé, changeable or shot (in the case of taffeta), iridescent fabric is created by the weaving of two different colored yarns in the warp and weft. This may also be achieved in the dyeing of a fabric with two different fibers taking dye differently. Any fiber may be used, but the more lustrous the fiber, the more dramatic will be the iridescence.
Click to expand...
 
Real mother of pearl buttons being natural shell that is cut and polished tend to have irregular thickness across the width, are slightly curved upwards in a dish shape, and certainly modern ones are not finished on the back; but show flaked layers like flint. You should be able to feel this even if you can't see it. I suspect vintage ones might also occasionally be finished on the back too, but this requires a thicker shell to begin with, and more work so makes a more expensive button.
Your buttons look too regularly shaped and coloured to be MOP to me (particularly the very even darker rim), and I would think they are plastic simulating.
 
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