Friends, someone said I looked like an Amish farmer in this 1939 Dubarry men's shirt; I was shooting more for Henry Fonda in The Grapes of Wrath but I'd settle for Christian Bale in Newsies. (Mickey Rooney in Young Thomas Edison?)
As you can see, the top button closes with a little stud (there's a joke in there somewhere).
Here's the collared version:
And from the rear:
I bought those pants years ago at Banana Republic and the rise was always too high but they work for this shirt, especially with suspenders. But I digress.
As I mentioned yesterday, I love the cut of this old shirt. If I make it again I think I'll skip the detachable collar though. It was an interesting challenge and I learned a lot about shirt collars in the process.
And speaking of shirt collars, who paid me a visit yesterday here at MPB but the Elvis of men's shirtmaking, Mr. David Page Coffin himself -- or someone doing an extremely credible imitation. Of course I was flattered but quickly went back to my most recent posts and scrubbed them of all profanity. If it hadn't been a virtual visit I'd have invited him for coffee.
More pics of my shirt and shirtmaking process here.
In other shirt-related news, I couldn't resist picking this up yesterday. This Advance shirt pattern dates from 1942; I don't think the collar is detachable. (Does anyone smoke a pipe anymore?)
The price of these old shirt patterns varies widely depending on the seller. I bought my Dubarry pattern for $5, there's another on Etsy for $10, and I've seen it selling for $45. Whatever you do, don't pay big bucks for those old pajama patterns -- they are everywhere and what do you want with a pair of Depression-era PJ's in the first place? (Same goes for smoking jackets.)
We have a lot in store this week as we continue to prepare for our Men's Shirt Sew-Along -- now a mere two weeks away. I hope those of you making the Colette Negroni shirt have ordered your patterns, and I can see from our Flickr group that we have all kinds of shirts in the pipeline and some cool vintage patterns I covet. It's still not too late to buy some fabric and join the party.
Tomorrow we're going to be closely inspecting a Thomas Pink shirt -- very fancy but is the construction different than a shirt from the Gap? Tune in to find out! Later in the week we'll be celebrating the arrival of my Elnapress...and then this weekend we have an even bigger celebration in the works -- can you guess what for?
Friends, we're out of time and there are cows that need milking.
I hope you're starting the day with a smile and a song. Or at least a smirk and a hum.
Happy Monday, everybody!
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Wow, visit from DPC! Nifty!
ReplyDeleteI love this shirt. I'm partial to the mandarin collar at the best of times (as is my hubby, which works out nicely) and it's nice to have the collar mystery solved (my mother and I were puzzling over some similar studs in her antique button capsule, and all I could think of were the studs that come with my hubby's tux shirts. Collar studs make much more sense. )Interesting that the front placket is so wide! I wonder if that's typical of the era or just a style variant on this particular shirt.
Michael's shirt? That would be my guess for the bigger surprise.
ReplyDeleteThat shirt just looks completely elegant on you; beautiful job with it.
Good grief, does January 23rd mean nothing?
ReplyDeleteHandsome as always!
ReplyDeleteNot Michael's shirt, as my new/old pattern and fabric haven't arrived yet. I'm guessing Peter either bought another machine or he's having a birthday.
ReplyDeleteYou definitely have the Henry Fonda vibe going. I mentioned it in another comment.
As to having studs just laying around (there's a joke in there somewhere too), did you? Or did you have to search one out?
Michael had the studs, fortunately.
ReplyDeleteThe front placket is 1 3/4 inches, about 1/4 inch wider than most. It does read wide, though, doesn't it?
Love that shirt! I'm filled with the sudden urge to make one for my Fiance.
ReplyDeleteIt's your blog-o-versery isn't it?
ReplyDeleteLove the shirt with the high waisted pants!
Agreed. Took one look at the top photo and thought the pipe should be replaced with a pitchfork. And don't you have a straw hat lurking somewhere in that Ali Baba's treasure trove/ apartment of yours?
ReplyDeleteI like the wide front placket on that shirt as it contributes another interesting and unusual detail. It's not necessarily something I'd replicate on every shirt, but I think it works very well here against the classic stripes of the fabric.
Great guess Susan! It's got to be the blogoversary. (I just peeked at the past entries.)
ReplyDeleteOMG, it's also National Pie Day!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.holidayinsights.com/moreholidays/January/nationalpieday.htm
I think it's the suspenders and the high waisted pants that make it look old fashioned. Nice shirt. :) Honestly, it doesn't *look* particularly vintage, simply because like little girls' dresses, men's shirts haven't changed that much.
ReplyDeletePeter, the shirt looks absolutely marvellous. Great job and it completely suits you.
ReplyDeleteI also love vintage cuts, but unfortunately as a Gentleman of Large Stature (tm) I can never find any vintage patterns to fit and actually most are just too far afield to even edit. I have no idea why larger patterns don't seem to have survived, if indeed there were any.
I will probably be using my favorite Vogue shirt pattern for the sew-along; it has an attached stand and collar, but I think I will make it up as a detachable collar because it would be fun.
The shirt looks great!
ReplyDeleteI LOVED Newsies!
ReplyDeleteYou look fab! I wonder if detachable collars were to save on clothes washing at a time when clothes washing was a lot more arduous? Most of the shirt could be buffered by an undershirt, but the collar would still directly touch the neck and pick up sweat?
ReplyDeleteWonderful shirt - you should do more of them.
ReplyDeleteLove the shirt and those trousers are great! :)
ReplyDeleteMy OH smokes a pipe. not very often, usually when we go for a walk in the evening as our place is rented so no smoking allowed. He has a Peterson pipe, a clay pipe and a corn cob pipe, and his favourite tobacco is a cherry flavoured one :) He also has a handlebar moustache, so what with his age (20) and his moustache, he gets some very confused looks from poeple! :)
Ashley x
I think it looks great! I agree that the detachable collar, though cool, probably wouldn't need to be repeated. The banded collar look is a nice change, too, as you don't see them a lot for men at the moment.
ReplyDeletegreat pics as always!:D
ReplyDeleteMy father in law smokes a pipe but he's from Inverness, Scotland so he's a true Highlander and can (almost) get away with it.
ReplyDeleteI just love old patterns and adverts in general where the people are casually puffing away, you'd never get that nowadays!
I can totally see Christian Bale in Newsies! The shirt looks great - nice job on the detachable collar!
ReplyDeleteI'm thinking Blogeversary as well.. :)
ps - did a post on your Sew Along - also added your button!
Thanks, Kelly!
ReplyDeleteThe shirt looks great!
ReplyDeleteVery nice! I bought my fabric for the shirt sew-a-long today.
ReplyDeleteYou think I look like Rosalind Russell?! ;)
ReplyDeleteI always forget blogoversaries, but National Pie Day is something to remember, according to my menfolk. None of them are looking Amish, so I'll skip the Shoo Fly Pie.
ReplyDeleteAnother beautiful job. I love the detachable collar, and the two-looks-in-one feature.
ReplyDeleteVery dapper indeed.
ReplyDeleteYou look quite dapper, Peter! Can I steal that shirt? lol. Oh, and also wanted to say thank you for the list of fabric sources for the Negroni pattern. In my sleep-deprived state at an unholy hour this morning (feeling sick today! :p), I was able to find the perfect shirting to make the pattern up in later this spring for my husband. Yay!
ReplyDelete♥ Casey | blog
Great job on this.
ReplyDeletePeter, they needed you in the last episode of project runway when they created outfits for a male dance review. One contestant made shirts but had never heard of making a collar stand so all of his collars flopped.
ReplyDelete