Owning the Vintage Military Look

Surplus military clothing has always been a go-to option for many people within the last century; whether for rugged outdoor activities or ironic anti-war protesting, military clothing was there.  That's because surplus is abundant, it tends to be fairly well-made, and it's cheap.

Putting modern surplus to use is easy, but finding and using vintage military pieces the right way to create the kind of look you want is difficult.  You first must decide what kind of look you're going for.  Stylish and mature?  Rugged and carefree?  Dark and mysterious?

Depending upon which you decide, there is a plethora of military surplus from which to choose.  M65 jackets, trench coats, various military caps, even different styles of camouflage can work.  Choosing the right pieces and colors/patterns will aid you in creating your look.  Just be wary of using too much camouflage or camo that is too loud or just doesn't work.  

click images to enlarge

The stylish, old-world aristocratic look in the photo above was put together using a WW2-era U.S. Marine Corp. jacket combined with vintage civilian pieces.  This shows us that utilizing one or perhaps even two military pieces with civilian pieces is key.  If we take multiple military pieces and put them together we'll look like we're trying too hard or, worse yet, we'll look like we just came out of combat.  Simplicity and moderation are the keys to make the vintage military look work well.  Too much military and you look like a soldier, too little and it won't be unique.


Below is a pretty poor quality 'selfie' of myself several months ago while it was still cool outside.  I'm wearing a vintage newsboy cap, an unissued M43 combat jacket, a rare original WW2 paratrooper's scarf made of camouflage parachute material, and, unseen, a pair of dress trousers (look at that ugly mug).

I've combined two vintage military pieces with other rather manly accoutrements to create what I believe to be a rugged yet stylish and maybe even 'elegant' look.  Something that stands out in the crowd, is pleasing to the eye, but still looks tough while remaining pretty casual.  It's something you'd wear for a stroll in the country or to see a man about a dog.

A favorite style of jacket of mine is the old M42 paratrooper jacket.  With it's large, bellowed saddle pockets, belted waist, angled chest pockets, and gusseted back not only looks great but speaks of utilitarianism.  It's a great look that could, if desired, be paired with either jeans or trousers for a casual look.

The M42 brings to mind the safari jackets of old or even the famous Belstaff racing jacket.

Heck, there's even a reproduction M42 available in modern Multicam camouflage.  I actually kind of like it.

There's all sorts of vintage military pieces that you can use to create your own, unique military inspired look.  Experiment with what you can find to see what works and what doesn't.  Don't just wear the woodland camouflage pants like everyone else, try something new and unusual, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised!  The choices are limitless.

Fantastic Vintage for Sale...

...at the Houndstooth Haberdashery.  My closet is bursting at the seams so I'm clearing some fine items out to make room for more pieces that will get more wear.

Now it's your turn to own and wear these 'holy grail' vintage pieces.  Or maybe a few pieces will make someone very happy on Christmas day just a month away.

Here are just a few of the suits and sports coats now for sale.

click links to visit sale site and images to enlarge

1930s Donegal herringbone tweed suit

This is a rare and fantastic 2-piece suit from the late 1930s/early 1940s.  Heavy weight tweed, very well tailored, just a fantastic piece to see in person.  This suit will make someone very happy.

Late 1920s/early 1930s 3-piece double breasted suit

This is another very rare suit since suits from this period are getting more difficult to find, especially in good condition and a 'wearable' size like this one.  A few moth holes in the jacket and trousers, they are stitched up, not too apparent and don't take away from this gorgeous suit.  A rare piece of wearable art.

1930s flannel sports coat

The flannel of this sports coat is some of the softest I've ever seen.  This jacket was custom tailored back in the 1930s and the quality shows.  It's a manly and stylish sports coat that will help you dress your best.  Lovely dark maroon pinstripes on a brown background.

1950s bold herringbone sports coat

I just recently found this one for myself but have decided to part with it because it is just a tad too large for me.  My loss is your gain.  You never see one like this again, it's fantastically unique.  Bold, wide herringbone with square patch pockets.  Very Hollywood and it could be yours.  Check it out.

1940s WW2-era suit

A nice, conservative, attractive pinstripe suit from the WW2-era.  Not a lot issues with this suit at all.  It does, however, have a neat 'former' issue.  One part of the right leg has an expertly executed example of reweaving.  Reweaving is the lost art of making a hole invisible by hand-weaving individual threads from another area of the garment into the hole. Let me tell you, the reweaving on this suit is expertly done and is near invisible.  This has been the first and only example of vintage reweaving I've ever seen.  I love this suit but alas, not the best fit so off it goes.

The reweave spot.  Nearly invisible!

I have a lot more high quality pieces that will be going up for sale within the next few days and weeks so keep your eyes glued to this blog as well as the Houndstooth Facebook page.

Cheers,

Will

Project: Old-Fashioned Tailoring Meets Modern 'Combat' Jacket

Years ago for paintball I bought a "Tru-Spec" jacket in a civilian variant of woodland MARPAT. Well, for some reason I bought it in a large size (42R-45R) even though I'm a medium (39R). Because of this I never used the jacket and threw it in the closet. 

Well, I'm getting into airsoft and decided to check out the jacket again. Yup, still too large; actually it looked like a balloon on me. So rather than put it away and never use it I decided to try a fun little sewing project. Check it out below.

Here's the jacket front just to give you an idea (pardon the pics, they don't show colors very accurately).

click images to enlarge

While I didn't get any "before" pics of the back, my jacket had just a plain back like any other shirt or jacket you might own. It looked like this:

Well, on each back seam I took in about 1 1/4", making the jacket fit me a lot better. I pinned and then sewed the pleats just under the armpit where I then opened it up, did some interesting pressing, pinning and sewing, and gave the jacket a bi-swing back with a gusset at each shoulder as well as open gussets on the jacket skirt. 

Here's the straight-on view of the back: 

What is a bi-swing back? Below is a WW2 service jacket with bi-swing gussets and belted back. These are old-fashioned features rarely seen on suits or coats today but were pretty commonplace back in the 1930s-1940s.

The bi-swing gussets were hidden 'boxes' of extra material and were there to allow the wearer to move further and more comfortably, especially considering the M39 service jacket shown was meant to be used in combat. 

I added these gussets to my jacket. Here is the left gusset during the pinning stage while at rest:

And here is the gusset in use and extended:

 I took some more inspiration from the WW2 service jacket I posted up above.

It has a piece of elastic connecting the two inner pieces of the shoulder gussets together, keeping them organized, flat, and pulled in while at rest: 

I added a piece of elastic between the two internal 'blades' of my jacket's gussets, producing the same result as the WW2 jacket.  Without elastic the fairly flimsy fabric of the MARPAT jacket renders the gussets pretty much useless: there isn't enough 'weight' in the fabric to push the gussets back in.  Hence the need for it in this garment.

Now, with just a plain seam below the shoulder gussets the bottom of the jacket back would have been a tad tighter than I like and I wanted better mobility so I opened it up from just below the shoulder gussets all the way to the bottom of the jacket skirt. What previously would have been just a seam is now pleated just like the shoulder gusset. At rest it just lays flat while in use it can expand, giving me extra mobility and room to move.

Here's an illustration of a similar gusset in use on the black overcoat: 

My jacket's right side gusset at rest: 

And expanded:

Here are a couple more shots of the finished product, well fitted yet with enough features to give me extra mobility.

There are a few minor things I'd do differently if I had another chance and a couple areas of pulling/wrinkling that could be fixed but I'm quite happy with how it turned out.  It will serve me well for the intended purpose and I look forward to using it in the future.  

It's always fun combining old and new techniques and technologies to produce something new and better.  That's true innovation.

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".

click image to enlarge

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.

Wedding Part 1: Rehearsal

It's been a month since our wedding so I think it's about time for some pics.  We have over 800 of the rehearsal and the wedding itself so I've picked a few of our favorites to show.

And this will be a multi-post series.

This post shows the rehearsal and what Cassie and I wore.  The day was beautiful though rain was threatening.  It sprinkled lightly but stayed dry enough for us to continue outdoors.  Cassie and I both decided to go all out with our outfits.  She wore a 1950s dress that fit her beautifully and I wore my favorite casual safari kit.  Enjoy.

 

:P

"What's this devilish little creature kissing on me?"

My best man gave me this neat little (and I mean little!) pipe as a wedding present.  Thanks Andrew!

The rehearsal and following dinner both went flawlessly and was a very enjoyable time spent with family and friends.  We are thankful for them all.

Next post will get us into the wedding.