RARE Vintage 60s Lanvin Suit

We have a new link on our blog- the Vintage Suit Label Archive, which will help you in dating your vintage suits.  This will help you in identifying elements of vintage suits as well as provide a starting point for cataloging labels which aids in dating vintage clothing.  It will grow each week, please email us if you have something awesome to contribute! The tab at the top of the blog page will take you to the show.

Also, looking forward to cataloging more current labels and seeing them progress.  Email us if you have an interest in any particular brand to begin with, as we have photo archives of hundreds of suits to sort.

If you have something to submit or ideas, email us at marie@monkeysuitvintage.com.  Thanks!

I feel drawn to do another post about the character Patrick Jane on The Mentalist, since it’s the only show I really watch, and he pulls off something amazing each episode- the tie-less 3 piece suit.  I think this should be seen more often on everyday guys, as it gives a sophisticated look while looking like it was completely effortless and almost natural to look fantastic.

Jane usually wears a oxford button down shirt with the vested suit and I don’t think he has ever worn a tie with it, and there have been several seasons now.   This can be worn a variety of ways, and some examples are shown here.  The first pic right there on the left shows him wearing a matching three piece suit, with original vest, pants and jacket.  This is a classic, polished but again, effortless look.

The second photo involves a non-matching 3 piece suit, but notice how it’s kept to the same color palette- a charcoal vest, medium gray blazer and may be matching pants to the blazer, I can’t tell.  Either way goes, since a slightly different shade of gray pants would work fine too.   You can also wear a matching vest/jacket combo and have a different pair of pants.  Try to keep them the same type of fabric and general color.  This is a great look, and you can use the vest with other blazers to get that look first described.

At left the look changes quite a bit with just a change of the shirt.  You could literally wear one 3 piece suit a dozen different ways.  Let’s break it down:
1.  Suit up the traditional way and wear all 3 pieces with a tie.
2.  #1 without a tie like in the first picture.
3.  Casual Friday wear the suit jacket with jeans.
4.  Wear a vest/jacket combo with dress shirt and your own non-matching pants (or jeans), no tie, a la Jane in second photo.  I have seen this look great.
4.  Wear the vest/jacket combo with a tie and a non-matching dress pants (and have seen this on celebrities wearing jeans).
 5.  Wear the vest with a different 2 piece suit you like, picture three.
6.  Wear just the pants and vest with a dress shirt with tie, last pic.
7.  #6 without a tie, last pic.
8.  You can also wear the pants from the suit with just a dress shirt and tie
9.  Wear just the vest with jeans and t-shirt, and more.  That’s all I’ve got and we’re not at a dozen, but that’s a catchy title and I’m sticking to it. 

OK, so we established last week that suiting up YOUR way is really important.  Wear what you like!  If you love vintage designer suits like we do, you want to makes sure you follow a few basic rules of suiting to keep your vintage suits looking sharp.  We talked about pant length last week, and we saw several violations throughout the week, they need to read this blog!  Some really egregious lengths with folds and folds around the ankles–awful!  Your suit has to fit right, particularly in length…but that was last week, so skip down to read on if you missed it.

This week we are talking about lapels and ties, particularly paying attention to widths.  Many times men have not thought about this much, and with the new Mad Men skinny lapels from the mid 60s, we need to focus in this area.  In general it looks best to keep the width of the lapel roughly the same width of the tie.  Don’t wear a wide tie with a super skinny lapel on your suit jacket!  It will look really bad, and people in your office may not be able to pinpoint why your suit looks so bad right off, but if they stare at you long enough it will come to them.  Here is an example of this done RIGHT on Christoph Waltz.  His lapel is about 2″, his tie roughly the same width. 

Conversely, don’t sport a skinny tie with a much wider lapel.  Looks almost as bad as the reverse.  3″ lapel which is standard, 3″ tie.  A wider 70s lapel of 4″, can be worn with a 3.5″ tie.  This is such a simple rule of thumb to suit up right each day– keep your widths roughly the same. 

This is the first of a series called Suit Up, Your Way about wearing vintage the right way.  In wearing a vintage piece, for example, a Mad Men suit that is 45 years old, all of the small things need to be spot on and relevant for the year.  You can end up looking schlumpy and out of date when these easy and quick fixes are not taken into consideration.

One of the most important things in making a half century old suit look polished today is to get the pants taken in, or let out, to fit exactly right.  One of the biggest problem areas we see is men wearing pants that are too long with the legs bunch up around the ankles.  In 2011, men’s fashion wants to see straight lines leading down to the shoe, and a crease or two isn’t bad, but don’t let any bunching occur.  Getting a hem taken in or out is really cheap and it will transform your look.

An even bigger trend in pant legs is a tapered leg.  This happens naturally with a 60s suit in most cases and it looks totally relevant today as is.  But even with these tapered legs, you want to make sure you have it the right length, which brings us to the next point with pant legs– how short is too short?  Pant lengths have shortened quite a bit in recent years with the popularity of more slim fitting suits.  Don’t go too far in this direction, never let your standing hem graze your ankle bones.  Not necessarily touching the shoe, but somewhere between touching and below the ankle when standing.  Remember when you sit, it will come up a few more inches. 

Lastly, cuffs are making a comeback, also popularized by the Mad Men show and the trend toward 60s styles.  An example of wearing vintage well is shown with a 60s two piece fleck suit.  The cuffs are resting gently on the shoes and not bunching up with a somewhat tapered leg.  Classic 60s vintage for 2011.

The following are mens style tips for New Years Eve 2011.

Looking to turn over a new leaf this year?  If you’ve never done it, wear a suit out.  You will get more favorable attention than ever before, and your esteem among friends will go up dramatically.  Your confidence is guaranteed to be increased as well while wearing even just a blazer if your not used to it.
To suit up properly, first consider what is most popular this year.  If you are comfortable in a vintage suit, go with a thin lapel from the 60s.  Mad Men has made a 60s revival in both men and women’s fashion, and you just can’t go wrong with a stylish authentic vintage blazer from the 60s.  That way, when a reporter comes up and asks you for label, just reply, “It’s vintage.”  The hallmark of the early part of this decade is thinner lapel, a more elongated cut to the lapel, and often more interesting shades were used, like muted green, blue, and burgundy.  Todays suits are often stuck in navy, charcoal and black, and you will find this vintage blazer or suit to be much more interesting.  Click here to see the green suit at right.

Tweeds are hotter than ever this year, and the thicker and more coarse, the better.  One of the best brands is timeless as well, Harris Tweed, and if cared for properly can be worn forever.  We have a large selection currently of Harris Tweeds, but since they are so popular right now, we are down to less than half a dozen in stock.

You can really draw attention with a combination of the two- a vintage 60s tweed is sure to be the most interesting topic of conversation for all your friends on New Year’s Eve.  See a real beauty below.  Since clothing is a necessity, you might as well look good and feel great wearing them. 

Click HERE to view a rare 60s tweed stripe

YSL Tuxedo

Looking for a designer tuxedo this holiday season?  We have suits and tuxedo jackets for semi-formal and formal affairs, including J Press, YSL, Lanvin and Givenchy.  Here is a quick rundown of what to wear when your invitation has the word ‘formal’.  If black tie says optional, you will want to opt in as most everyone else knows this means ‘nearly required’.  It’s perfectly all right to wear your own shoes, though the standard patent leather shoes look wonderful.  If you wear your own, make sure to do a high shine and don’t wear loafers or oxford wingtip shoes.  They should be cap toes or just plain toe, and SHINED!  

If the event is semi-formal there is more flexibility in what you wear.  You can wear the tuxedo jacket and a black pair of suit pants, leaving behind the striped tuxedo pants if you choose.  You may feel strange at first getting so dressed up if you have never worn a tux before, but don’t let this deter you from wearing what the occasion deserves.  It can be refreshing and invigorating to dress formally, so do it with gusto!

Shown above is a Yves Saint Laurent 3 piece tuxedo available in our store. 

This Thanksgiving, go the extra mile and suit up in something that is perfect for the day.  Choose colors in tones of yams, pumpkin, and squash.  OK, squash might be going too far, especially if your thinking yellow squash, but it sure is festive when a suit can match the vibe of the holiday.  Some examples are pictured.  If you have a deep chocolate brown suit, that can work wonders in literally bringing home the fall feel.  Put on the special touches, like cuff links, tie pin, or fall colored handkerchief in the pocket.  We only set one day aside dedicated to thanking God for all that he has given us, so make it special.  The people around you will appreciate that you took the time to look nice for them and for yourself.

Vintage 3 piece corduroy suit

Vintage 3 piece wool brown pinstripe suit

Vintage 3 piece tweed suit

There is a growing trend among engaged couples in looking to stand up in matrimony wearing something other than the traditional (often rented) tuxedo. This appears to have started in indie circles but trads are catching on to the value of an individualized vintage suit or a unique designer suit that can be worn again after the wedding.

Vintage 30s Tuxedo

There is a host of awesome vintage tweed suits and vintage 3 piece suit that look fantastic at the altar. Ironically, some are taking the traditional tux idea and make it more ‘now’ by going back 40 years. A 1960s Mad Men style black and white is more now than it was even then. They are hard to find, but we occasionally come across them, and they are generally smaller sizes as men were overall slighter than they are now. Lucky for those guys who are wearing a 36, 38 or 40 suit size.  Click images to see these in our store.

Today the #1 wedding blog on the ‘net gave us a little writeup, and we just had to post it here!   We are finding our business quickly expanding in the direction of indie/vintage weddings, and the Wedding Chicks asks ‘What is your groom wearing?’ Click the photo to see their post.  Photography by extraordinary photog Krissy McCabe.

Hugo Boss Windowpane Tweed

Fall is here again and the tweed jacket is perfect for this kind of weather.  I love tweed blazers because of their vintage style and versatility.  There are various patterns that are available, such as the herringbone, houndstooth, glen plaid and windowpane, and some hard to find patterns- like a herringbone stripe.  Some blazers have suede elbow patches that give it more of a Old English hunting jacket feel, which is always popular and it’s a distinctive look.  Tweeds are made from several types of material, such as wool, lambswool, and angora (rabbit hair).  The most popular and well known tweed makers are Harris tweed, and Donegal tweed, both spun in Ireland, or Scotland… or the Outer Hebrides thereof or something like that.

Tom James Tweed Fleck

The rarest of vintage suiting is the sharkskin suit.  This is a wool suit that has a metallic weave and shimmers, some more than others.  The example here is of a vintage 3 piece suit from the 1950s- early 60s.  This is really the rarest of all because all three pieces are intact, the vest, jacket and pants and all are in great condition in this example.  There is a metal zipper, dropped belt loops, and the higher, thinner lapel associated with the time, among other features.  This style has been popularized by Mad Men and celebrities wearing vintage suits from the era.  Sharkskin was typically pricier than regular suits.  If you have something to add to this, feel free.  We’d love to know more about it’s origin.

In our store now

The TV show Mad Men is making a heavy impact on menswear and fashion.  Authentic vintage 60s blazers and tweed jackets are dapper again today, and thinner ties are selling hot on eBay and other vintage venues.  Brooks Brothers has even come out with a Mad Men line.  There is nothing better than having the real thing, and that can be found for less and in a variety of sizes and colors at monkeysuitvintage.com.  Take a page from Don in Mad Men, keeping it lighter in California (or it’s counterpart Florida, if that’s where you live) and darker and heavier in New York, or any part of New England.  Most of our 60s suits and blazers can segue easily into fall, and will be the most unique piece in your wardrobe. 

I think that as a whole we are uncomfortable with wearing suspenders.  Probably because the only people we see wearing them are bankers, politicians, or Larry King.  Suspenders seem to be used for one of two things– function or fashion.  The new trend seems to be more fashion from what I have seen.  One of the lessons I learned the hard way when growing up is not to wear suspenders with a belt, which I did as a 16 year old.  I guess it’s a little too much support.  I personally have not worn them lately, though I wore them with suits in college.  Fear is keeping me out of them, leave a comment if you have a way to overcome this!

We are thrilled that Krissy McCabe’s wedding shoot photos are now live on her website using our 3 piece suit!  This wedding is also freshly published on The Wedding Chicks website.  If you like the look, that particular suit sold immediately but we have several fresh gray pinstripe vested suits right now.   Krissy is a brilliant photographer– check out the organic look of these photos! 

 This was one of our vintage three piece suits used here, in a lighter weight wool.  Using something like this for your wedding will allow you to keep the suit for other events, and there is so much versatility in having all three pieces available.  Remove the vest for a more casual suit, or pair the vest and jacket with jeans for an uber-cool style.  Our prices are competitive with tuxedo rentals, so it is a great alternative!

Here is a slideshow of all the shots, it’s a quick moving one that your sure to enjoy:

Krissy’s Blog- this is the Bees & Blossoms shoot.  http://shutterstopshere.com/Blog/?p=1633
Shop our men’s suits including fantastic wedding suits at www.monkeysuitvintage.com

When I got married in 2006, I wore a rented tux, mainly because it seemed the normal thing to do.  Now that I am a little wiser I wish I had worn a fitted 3 piece suit.  The tuxedo is so hum-drum when it comes to weddings.  They all look the same and people expect to see the groom and best man in them.  Three piece suits, and particularly vintage suits, are more personal and full of character and can be just as formal.  As far as expense, you can get a nice 3 piece suit on our website for the same price as a tuxedo rental.  Go to

Along that same line, we recently had an AWESOME wedding photographer borrow one of our vintage suits for her wedding styles photography shoot.   This is one of the pictures from her shoot, and there are more to come.  Click to see her site.  That particular 3 piece suit already sold to be used in a real wedding, but there are many more like it in our store. For summer weddings, you can find linen, lightweight wool, and very occasionally a dressy cotton suit, we have a 3 piece Cricketeer in cotton right now that is amazing.   The best part is that when your wedding is over and your settled into married life, you can keep wearing your suit…see the post below “The Versatility of 3 Piece Suits”.

I have heard people say that three piece suits are only for “Marries and Buries”.  I would disagree with this statement.  Although you wouldn’t wear a suit to the mall or Wal-Mart, there are several ways to wear a 3 piece suit so that it isn’t as formal.
If you are afraid of appearing too stiff, then lose the tie.  I have been watching ‘The Mentalist’ lately and the main character Jane, played by Simon Baker, wears a three piece suit in every episode, but without a tie.  He has a dressed up look but not as formal.  If that still doesn’t work then I suggest changing the pants to blue jeans or another pair pants and that can mix it up a little. 
I guarantee that you will love your suits as much as I do when you get a little creative.
You can wear it to a job interview, the office, or a night out with someone special and not feel so tight.  So yes you can wear that 3 piece suit again that you wore to your best friend’s wedding.  Just loosen up a little and have a fun with it.  We will discuss these suiting styles in more detail and individually in a upcoming posts.

For the would-be rock stars out there who wear a skinny suit with ankle skimming pants, a skinny tie just seems to go.  The truth is, you don’t have to be a rock star to pull it off.

When to wear a skinny tie?  There are some rules when it comes to wearing ties, and one is not to wear a tie larger than your jacket lapel.  Thinner ties (1-2.5″) were very popular in the 50s and 60s during the “Mad Men” era, and they went well with the thinner lapels of the era.  We have several examples of this style in our store.  They made a resurgence in the 80s, when some ultra skinnies came out.  Though I like skinny ties, I personally have never been one to wear them because I am so tall (6’2″).  Wearing a tie like that makes me look even taller.

When people think about the suits in Iron Man their first thought goes to the robotic suit that the main character wears, but there were a lot of really great ‘normal’ suits in the movie.  A lot of times we don’t notice the real suits, and often notice what the women are wearing over the men.  Being a suit connoisseur I paid special attention to the suits in this movie being worn by both Tony Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) and the psuedo villain (Sam Rockwell).  Both play billionaires, and I can appreciate their taste in fine clothing.  Sam Rockwell wore a variety of three piece suits throughout the film that were custom-tailored and looked sleek, while Robert Downey Jr. made the double breasted suit look very appealing.  There is a scene in the movie where Tony Stark is in Monaco for a race where he appears in a suit that has cuffed sleeves.  This is a new style to me.  I am used to the traditional buttons on the sleeve, and this had no buttons.  I thought it was interesting and had a really high class look to it.  I believe that we can learn a great deal about fashion though the eyes of film makers, and can mimic these styles in our own life at a fraction of the cost.  Feel free to post comments about your thoughts on the cuffed suit or any other suits from the movie.