Thrift Store Runway: Winner

The website Thrift Store Runway holds a monthly contest where contestants submit thrifted outfits in an attempt to win one of the prizes.   Entries must be made of thrifted items and cost less than $50.  Last month I entered several kits and one of them won!

TSR gives five prizes each month.  If they receive less than 50 submissions each prize will be $100; if more than 50 submissions each prize will be $500.

In the month of November they received over 150 submissions so each of the five prizes were $500.  So, I got $500 as well as a donation from TSR to the thrift-based charity of my choice.  Very cool.

I encourage you to enter the December contest with your best thrifted outfits and see if you don't win!

Around Town

Cassie and I took some photos while we ran some errands around town the other day.  It was cool outside but still nice and we enjoyed getting out of the house.

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WIW: Hollywood Wants its Jacket Back

The Hollywood jacket: the epitome of the 1940s/1950s 'in crowd'.  Movie stars and hipsters alike wore them.  They were the casual wear item for a generation of cool kids.

Heck, Elvis wore a very cool two-tone mint green and black belted Hollywood jacket (along with co-star Judy Tyler) in "Jailhouse Rock".

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Like young Elvis, I was a "cool kid" today.

Recently I ran into a near-perfect condition belted Hollywood jacket in my size.  Unlike Elvis' jacket, mine is made of very fine suede leather with matching leather buttons.

Today it was paired with Ralph Lauren 'Chaps' trousers and a blue herringbone shirt to give the kit an extra pop of color.

It has the typical  style of lapel found on Hollywood jackets, just with subtle stylistic differences.  The front actually reminds me of pre-WW2 casual German jackets with the slanted yokes, slanted breast pocket flaps, and gusseted breast patch pockets (the Germans did some very interesting and eccentric sartorial things in the 1930s and even after the war).

The back is just as nice as the front, with its gathered back beneath the yoke:

Here's the tag showing it was made in Mexico.

I'm lucky to have such a great Hollywood jacket in my collection, especially in this great condition.  It looks to be unworn and with the original belt- somewhat unusual to find since belts were often separated from their jackets over the decades.

At roughly 60 years old this is a fine showcase example of the iconic Hollywood jacket.

An Oddity Lost

Well, not quite 'lost', just no longer in my possession.

You might remember this amazing 1930s sports coat I posted about nearly two years ago.  The photos from back then were crude at best but I recently upgraded them, as you'll see below.

Quite a rare sports coat, it is.  Lightweight donegal tweed material, a very large size, really nice condition for its age (aside from two missing buttons), and, most interestingly, four pleated patch pockets.

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And with such uniqueness going on in front we would expect some more to continue in the back.  But we'd be wrong.  It just has a boring, plain, ventless back, as if someone had robbed it of its belt, pleats, and gussets.

Not that I'm complaining; just look at that fabric pattern.  It doesn't get much better than that.

This illustrates just how vintage (especially 1930s) fabrics kick the tar out of modern fabrics.  Even though this is lightweight tweed (contradiction?) it drapes and flows beautifully.  Exceptionally fine tweed like this isn't made today.  It is extinct, except in vintage examples like this jacket.

 The pleated pockets are just the icing on the cake.  Sure, you'll find sports coats with the occasional gusseted pockets but how many times do they have multiple pleats per pocket?


Made by Foreman & Clark, a quality maker back in the day.  This tag is a definite sign that, when it comes to vintage, you're getting a nice product.

Unfortunately this sports coat is way too big for myself and, while I loved having it in my collection, it only ever stayed in the closet, collecting dust.  So I sold it so someone else could own, wear and enjoy it.  Because what good is clothing if it cannot be worn?

To my eyes it is a piece of artwork.  I have a feeling the new owner would agree.

Wedding Part 4: Reception

The last of the wedding posts, this one will cover the fun and very enjoyable end of the day.  The catering was wonderful as were the wedding cupcakes.  The first dance, father/daughter dance, dollar dance, and general dancing followed.  My groomsmen and I also had a 'guy time' outside.

It was a great time with friends and family and we'd like to thank them for being so supportive, helpful, and for going out of their way for everything we needed.

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Entering the reception hall to the "Indiana Jones" theme song.

Dollar dance.    :)

 Stylish guy time.

Back for more dancing.

:P

Cheers from the happy couple.

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Now it's even easier to waste time with the Houndstooth Kid!  Follow us on Pinterest and explore old posts with one click of the mouse.  Or see where the Kid goes to for style inspiration.

Check out some of those pieces of inspiration below.

soft herringbone- link

nice proportions- link

very cool shoes- link

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