1951 Adam Capital Quality “Barbosa” Straw Hat

Amazing, is all I can say about this fantastic hat. Straw hats are pretty common in vintage hunting, but with such a ribbon treatment, and with the perforations in the side of the crown for ventilation, this one is a stunner. It’s made by Adam, and is from their lowest quality “Barbosa” straw line. It’s not close to Panama quality straw, but this is a very fine hat, indeed. The advertisement in the final picture here is from 1951.

The Barbosa appears at the lower left of this 1951 advertisement:

1930s-50s French Workwear Denim Cap

I’m not sure exactly the age of this cap, but it’s old! A really nice shape to it, with a 2-panel crown and 3 darts to the rear. Unlike many caps of the era, it doesn’t have a snap to the brim, and neither is the crown stitched to the brim. It’s made of very high quality denim, and features a sweatband made of the selvedge of the cloth. A really nice touch, that.

Vintage Shorts Part 1 – Civilian

There’s quite a bit of hostility to shorts amongst guys who like vintage clothing. For various reasons – forced to wear them at school in winter, sub- Spike Milligan worries about hairy knees, the belief that men’s legs should not be seen, and many others – the vintage guys I know shy away from wearing shorts. Me? I like wearing shorts in summer, so I’ve been gathering vintage shorts whenever I see them for several years. Mostly these are military issue, but this post concerns only vintage British civilian shorts. These were marketed through the 20s-50s for hiking, and other healthy outdoor pursuits in good weather. There are 4 pairs of shorts in this post, so do scroll right down. All are made of robust drill cotton, and they tend to mustard khaki coloured (though the Bukta pair at the bottom are in white drill cotton).

First I’ll post some sample advertising. These pages are from the Kay’s catalogue, a British version of the Sears catalogue.

1933

1937

Anglocrat shorts

Poplar Brand Shorts. Government Dye Guaranteed. These have been worn A LOT. Clearly someone’s garden/painting/housework shorts, which is what I use them for now.

Fully Shrunk to …

Bukta, Rigmel Shrunk. A pair of pure white drill cotton shorts with integral belt from the famous Bukta brand. The catalogue image is from 1960. These shorts are significantly longer than the others.

Early British Dunn & Co. Homburg – Odd Taupe Colour

There’s nothing particularly rare or special about a 1930s British homburg hat. But I don’t think I’ve seen another in this shade of taupe – a grey-ish brown with a distinct pink hue. It’s made of very lightweight felt, also quite strange for a homburg, with the sweatband also marked “Lightweight”. The brim is very flexible. Sadly it’s had something sat on top of it at some point, and there’s an unfortunate crease at the rear of the crown. There is a union label under the brim which might aid dating the hat more accurately, but I’ve lost touch with the most recent research on the labels of the “Felt Hatters and Trimmers unions”.

1920s/30s Cap – Tailored Cap, Adjustable

This is maybe the oldest of the three caps posted today. It has a much smaller profile and crown than the other two I posted earlier. It seems like a significantly cheaper cap. The size on this one is adjustable with a strap and buckle under the front of the crown, that gets hidden when the crown is snapped down to the brim. Look at that deco etched buckle! Amazing. Although it’s adjustable, the maximum size is about a 7. The fabric is rather nice – dark brown and black ground, with red and blue overchecks – and I love the pink liner.

On sale here (address below). Please contact me through the blog, if you’re not a Fedora Lounge member.

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?72866-1920s-30s-Newsboy-Cap-3-Size-7-%28Adjustable%29

1920s/30s Cap – E. W. Kibbin

The second of three for today. This one made by E (?) W. Kibbin, Distinctive Headwear. The fabric is an amazingly colourful mix of cream base with black and orange flecks, and the very strident blue and red twisted stripes emanating from the crown button. Another one with a fantastic satin crown liner.

For sale here (address below). Please contact me through the blog, if you’re not a Fedora Lounge member.

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?72865-1920s-30s-Newsboy-Cap-2-size-7-to-7-1-8

1920s/30s Cap – Barbier Lamoureux

The first of 3 lovely 1920s/30s caps I’ll post today. In a light grey-ish brown with orangey-brown overcheck, this cap works with an awful lot of different outfits. I have too many caps, so this one I’m going to sell. It was made by Barbier Lamoureux, I think on the gorgeous satin lining it says Williamsburg, Penna. Truly a classic!

On sale here (address below). Please contact me through the blog if you’re not a Fedora Lounge member.

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?72864-1920s-30s-Newsboy-Cap-7-or-7-1-8

Optimo Straw – Pre-1936

I picked this straw hat up from a junk stall at Angel several years ago. I finally got around to cleaning off the old stains and mildew today. It was made by the famous Lincoln Bennett hatmakers, sometime before 1936. The last time we had a King and a Prince of Wales was January 19th 1936. Allowing a little time for using up old sweatbands, there’s no way this hat could have been made after the spring of 1936, and I suspect earlier. A beautiful straw hat in the popular “Optimo” crown shape, with a pronounced central seam. It’s not the highest quality straw hat by today’s standards – at 16 horizontal x 20 vertical weaves per inch – but a nice old one all the same, and still very supple … and for a tenner, who’s complaining?

“RAF Blue” 1930s British Flannel 3-piece Suit

Most British vintage suits I find from the 1940s and earlier are in sober dark blue worsteds, sometimes with pinstripes. It’s rare to find flannel, and even rarer to find a suit in a light colour. This particular one probably dates to the 1930s (There’s no watch pocket to the trousers. Almost all 40s suits would have a watch pocket, usually wide and flapped, below the waistband on the right side. In the 30s this was less common). It’s made of a beautiful shade of grey/blue, almost RAF blue in hue, flannel and has cream/white chalkstripes. The fabric feels much higher in quality than the typical British suiting, and is extremely well made. The jacket has hard square shoulder pads, and lots of drape in the chest – another late 30s indicator, along with the tightly clustered and relatively high set closure buttons and lapel shape. The trousers have side adjustor straps, a nice feature which while relatively common is by no means the standard configuration for British trousers. There are no maker’s labels but it’s really a fantastic, very high quality, suit that I wish fit me, but it’s too long.

1920s/30s Herringbone Wool Work Trousers

Here’s a pair of work trousers that I’m selling on eBay right now I thought I’d posted these here before, but apparently not. They’re very old, and made of extremely heavy black/grey herringbone wool. They’re pleatless, button flied, and to be worn with suspenders. Awesome.

(http://www.ebay.com/itm/300925730753?ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1555.l2649)