Eastern Balboa Championships

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

I’m writing about the Eastern Balboa Championships early in the week because I’m not sure how much time I’ll have to write later on, living in the host scene for this event and organizing certain tangential events that occur this week; also, the event starts on Thursday and once I am sucked into the vortex of madness that is EBC, I may not return until Monday. 😉

Last year at EBC I organized a vintage shopping trip to a couple of local vintage stores in and around downtown Raleigh, North Carolina. The main conquest was a giant warehouse of a vintage store called Get Dressed. Unfortunately, this past May, Get Dressed closed its doors for good, leaving Raleigh without a source for vintage clothing of the swing era. The remaining store, Father & Son Antiques, has an impressive collection of mid-century furniture, but lacks in the clothing department. I still wanted to have a vintage shopping experience for the EBC attendees, after the success of last year’s shopping outing – 20 people signed up in advance and even more carpooled over to Get Dressed the day of the outing.

I have been in touch with one of the vintage collectors from Get Dressed, Andi Shelton, who also runs an Etsy store called Raleigh Vintage. Andi has been keeping the dream alive of Raleigh having a vintage clothing retail store, looking for a location to have a less sprawling store with a carefully selected stock of good vintage clothing. It seems that North Carolina may need the assistance of The Rent is Too Damn High Party so Andi can find some reasonable retail space; until then, Andi and several other vintage collectors operate under the name The Vintage Collective, making appearances at various local events and offering their wares for sale.

I have arranged for the Vintage Collective to appear at EBC, during the day and into the evening on Saturday – specifically, 12:00 p.m. to 9:30 p.m. at the Holiday Inn Brownstone, the hotel hosting EBC. Andi wrote this about The Vintage Collective:

“The Vintage Collective is collaborative of three vintage clothing enthusiasts who have a passion for collecting and sharing special pieces. Just for the EBC, we’ll be sharing our collections of 1920s-late 1950s clothing for men and women, as well as accessories to complete the look. Offerings include dresses, tops, sweaters, skirts, lingerie, pants, suits, vests, hats, gloves, jewelry, ties, and shoes….a little bit of everything!

We’ll be accepting cash and paypal (if wi-fi is available in the hotel lobby).”

I know the ladies of The Vintage Collective have been saving up their good stuff for EBC, so I’m very excited to see what they will bring. Actual location in the hotel is TBA, until I can get over there and work with Chris & Holly Owens, the organizers of EBC, on the best location for the Collective to set up.

I’m looking forward to some vintage shopping without leaving the venue! I am also looking forward to seeing what Andi pulls out of the vault…we all know they keep the good stuff in the back. 😉 If you are planning on attending EBC and have any questions about the vintage shopping, please post your questions as a comment to this blog entry. Thanks!

Swing Outfits: Custom 1930’s and 1940’s Clothing for Men, Women, and Lindy Ensembles

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

Someone posted on Yehoodi this week asking about where to find skirts for a dance team, either to be made or to order. This post jogged my memory and I immediately thought of Swing Outfits, a website that sells custom, made to order clothing for men and women from 1930’s and 1940’s patterns. Swing Outfits offers some wonderful options for just about any basic swing garment you could think of in an almost endless selection of fabrics.

Swing Outfits has a section of their website devoted to dance team shopping. I understand that selecting an outfit that everyone agrees on is nearly impossible; however, Swing Outfits offers some sound advice on selecting a team or couple’s costume:

“For couples that dance regularly in competition or performance it is especially important to have a costume. It is one thing to dance at a party, and a different thing to dance on a stage before an audience. It is not enough to just have nice clothes on each individual performer – you need to look like a unified couple.

What makes a good stage costume for a couple? First of all, your costume must be tailor made for you – we will need measurements from both dancers. You will also need to select a fabric and a design for your costumes. Pictured below are three sets of costumes: Silk, Polka Dots, and Plaid/Stripes. Within each set are a number of elements that you can select for your costume, and each will be made from the same material you have chosen.”

The website then walks you through three easy steps to select pieces for your performance outfit. The beauty of these pieces is that they can be mixed and matched with anything – with each other or with something you might find at Target or H&M.

Another great thing about having team costumes made for the team members is that you avoid the one-pattern-fits-all problem that you encounter when purchasing something from a retail store. Having personally experienced the pain of not fitting into the mold of a chosen team costume, I would personally rather pay more and get something that fits perfectly, that I don’t have to pay someone to alter, and that I might actually wear again dancing.

Which leads to my next point – you don’t have to be on a dance team to wear and enjoy an outfit from Swing Outfits! Make sure to browse their selection of patterns, then their selection of fabrics, and think of the endless possibilities. The Libra in me may never be able to decide…

Here’s what I love from Swing Outfits:

knickerbockers — Knickerbockers - yes, this is the photo from the web page - why hide those pretty socks when you can do them justice with a pair of knickers?

students_pants — Student pants - 1930's style

striped_vest — Single-breasted cashmere vest

A nod to classic ensemble Lindy Hop performances, your ensemble can also sport silky jumpers for the ladies with matching silk shirts for the gents

Vest and Knickers

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

Polish up the nine iron because it’s time to get your knickers on and hit the links…or the dance floor. EBay seller hotclubduparis (location: Savoyville, Italy) has posted a matching vest and knickers set in a lovely menswear stripe with a little red in the stripe. Knickers are perfect for showing off your clever socks, no? Whoever wins this auction will be my hero.

Emerald City Vintage on eBay

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

410920823_tp — This 1950's jacket is nerdy and awesome

I am very impressed with the selection of clothing that eBay seller Emerald City Vintage has posted, for both men and women. If Emerald City is from Seattle, then it comes as no surprise to me that this seller has excellent threads, as my own excursion to Seattle last year yielded three critical wardrobe items.

The selection is primarily 1930’s through 1950’s clothing and the starting prices are generally around $20.00. Some of the items for sale are buy it now – whether or not some of these items are reasonable is open to interpretation, but some of the buy it now items are what you would pay in a decent vintage store and others are a bit pricier.

Randomly, there are also several dirndls in the store, if you are looking for something befitting Oktoberfest.

Overall, this is a very focused selection of garments for swing era ladies and gents, with lots of great basics for both men and women. Here are my favorites from this week’s selections (but I would encourage you to browse the eBay store, as there are lots of different sizes available in similar items, such as pants):

411237665_tp — 1940's three-tone rayon dress

410383933_tp — 1940's double breasted suit

404549525_tp — 1940's or 50's striped pants

1932 Tuxedo

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

I can’t resist posting a tuxedo on here, even though most of you will probably never be seen in a tuxedo at a dance; however, in the off-chance you are feeling dapper and festive, here’s a lovely tuxedo that popped up on eBay from 1932. It looks pristine. The tag on this tux reads “Kennedy’s” and is dated October 10, 1932. I wonder who was buying a tuxedo in the middle of the Great Depression…

Check the measurements for sizing, but the seller is posting this is approximately a 33 inch waist on the pant and a 36 jacket. Note that the seller will not re-list the item if not sold. With two days left on the auction, no bidders, and a $49.99 start price, this could be a fantastic deal!

1930’s Tweed Pants and Vest

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

Up for grabs on eBay is this great tweed vest and pair of pants in a lovely tweed with hints of orange, green, and rust. The vest has four pockets and the pants have buttons for suspenders and a high waist. The seller, timeless, has not guessed at a size, so check the measurements carefully for fit. To give you a hint as to size, the seller believes this set was made for someone “tall and lanky.”

Tucker for Target

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

Unlike the highly anticipated Zac Posen collection for Target, I had never heard of Tucker by Gaby Basora, so I was not planning on showing up at Target at 8:00 a.m. the day the collection debuted to get first dibs on the goods. However, after I saw an ad in VOGUE for the Tucker collection featuring an Art Deco print dress paired with a wide brim hat and flapper stockings, I changed my mind and set my alarm for 7:40 a.m. this morning to go check it out.

Target was blissfully empty at 8:00 this morning and I had a fantastic time rummaging through this fall collection that has a little something for everyone and some great pieces for work, fun, dancing, and evening. Some of my favorites from the collection are a burnout velvet dress, an orange polka dot blouse, an orange herringbone skirt, a sparkly boucle cocktail dress, several floral dresses, and a pair of herringbone shorts. The fabrics are obviously not the designer’s usual silks, but the fabrics chosen for the collection didn’t feel or look cheap, they draped well, and are much more washable and wearable from this dancer’s practical perspective.

The clothing from the collection is shown in “looks,” but I was more inspired looking at Tucker’s official web site. The intro video was delightful eye candy, with vintage-inspired looks featuring Tucker’s fall collection with vintage jewelry, hairstyles that ranged from Gibson Girl to Marie Antoinette, crocheted gloves, flapper headbands, red lips, hair flowers, and dessert. 🙂

Here are some potentially dance-worthy pieces:

41uA6KIAMCL._SL380_ — I bought this whole look, work appropriate and danceable - the fit was fantastic

413+B9x7HcL._SL380_ — I'm wishing this burnout velvet dress had fit me better...or, better yet, that the collection had a 1920's-inspired dress in this fabric

51xLVfDzRuL._SL380_ — Black boucle dress

41DFxUTYFEL._SL380_ — This dress looks painfully short on the Target model, but was not terribly short and would be comfortable for dancing

417dymMW1ZL._SL380_ — These shorts are awesome - I'd pair them with suspenders and a newsboy cap or a girly blouse

Off-White Pinstripe 1930’s Vest

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

This Alfred Benjamin & Co. off-white pinstripe vest looks pretty sharp. What would you pair this with, gents? I’m thinking a trouser to match the pin-stripe, but it looks like you could dress it down with a pair of jeans. A versatile piece!

The J. Peterman Company

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

By way of Lindy Dandy, today’s featured retailer is the J. Peterman Company. Although I can’t help thinking of Seinfeld when I see this name, the J. Peterman Company is anything but a parody, offering “high-quality men’s, women’s, home and one-of-a-kind merchandise,” “traveling the world to find uncommonly good stuff.” Sounds like a fantastic job, right? Where does Lindy Shopper sign up?

There are definitely a lot of items with a nod to vintage in the catalog, made to look even more so with the help of the catalog’s hand-drawn illustrations of the clothing (which, themselves, look like a nod to vintage pattern drawings in the way that they are shaded). I’m trying to decide if the hand-drawn illustrations of the clothes are helpful or not. Generally, clothes are modeled by someone who is tall and rail thin, so it’s hard to tell how it will fit in that instance as well. In any case, the clothes are beautifully sketched and it is a novel way to present them.

I am particularly in love with the 1947 plaid dress and the seersucker sailor pants for women and their men’s pants and striped shirts.

2683-OFFWHITE — Embroidered Cummerbund Dress

A.J. Machete & Sons Fine Tailoring

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

Based out of Denver, Colorado, A.J. Machete & Sons offers bespoke, tailored menswear items of bygone eras through its Etsy store. While the suits are in the bespoke price range, their Etsy site does offer some more affordable garments and accessories that you may want to add to your existing swing dance wardrobe, such as custom vests, spats, cravats, and a 1930’s sports jacket.

They get a custom fit by using a muslin mock-up – if you’ve ever watched Project Runway or had something custom made before, you may be familiar with this process. Here’s their process for getting the right fit:

“First we get a rough idea of your measurements. You can measure yourself or a suit that you have. We would be glad to help you through this process and to mail you a cloth measuring tape, or, if you are in the Denver area, to measure you in person.
But even the most perfect measurements do not guarantee a good fit. All of our bodies are different shapes and sizes, moreover, we have different postures. A suit made from measurements is no better than a ready-to-wear suit…. it is unlikely to fit every aspect of your body smoothly. To remedy this, we first make the suit from a rough cotton muslin fabric and send it to you for feedback and (digital) pics.

Through examining the way that the muslin wrinkles and pulls, we can get an excellent idea of your figure and posture. At this point, we adjust the pattern based on your feedback and our knowledge and begin to create a suit that fits perfectly.”

Check out A.J. Machete & Sons’ blog, Denver Bespoke, for more examples of their handiwork.

il_430xN.125640601 — Silk cravat/ascot, shown here in cranberry dupioni silk

il_430xN.149457512 — Custom spats - not my first choice of fabrics, but if it's custom, I suppose the sky is the limit on fabric choices

il_430xN.108079090 — Choose a 4 or 6 button vest

il_430xN.81780128 — Four pocket high collared vest

il_430xN.120700617 — 1930's style sports jacket

Black 1930’s/40’s Three Piece Suit

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

Another classic three piece suit has popped up on eBay. This one appears to be pretty standard, a few mended places, a few places to be mended, but overall in fine appearance. The seller says the jacket is about a 42 and the pants have a 42 inch waist, but check the measurements in the auction carefully, as the seller’s estimate of size is not always spot on.

1920’s/30’s White Dinner Vest

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

I saw several gents at All Balboa Weekend sporting white vests with a colored shirt (sometimes to match their follower’s outfit) and it looked pretty sharp. While this white dinner vest on eBay is sans tuxedo or dinner jacket, it looks good enough to be worn alone and appears to be in great condition. It does need studs, but then you can find some really cool studs for your new vest!

Field Trip: Kitsch-y-Cool Vintage, Charlotte, NC

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

When the Atomic Rhythm All-Stars went on their first mini-tour this past weekend to Greenville, SC and Charlotte, NC, I knew we’d have a few hours to kill in Charlotte before the Saturday night dance, but wasn’t sure what exactly that would entail when traveling with five guys. Fortunately, our esteemed band leader, George Knott, is a vintage hunter and gatherer of things, including old musical instruments, which leads him to some interesting destinations like the Sleepy Poet Antique Mall in Charlotte, NC. He’s driving the bus, so who’s to argue?

I’ll admit, I had low expectations of finding any worthwhile clothing at Kitsch-y-Cool Vintage, as antique mall clothing tends to lean more toward undesirable leftovers from someone’s closet thrown in with their antique furniture and knick-knacks. To my surprise, in the center of this antique mall, an entire store was set up, with racks upon racks of real vintage shoes, clothing, jewelry, and accessories. The area was even decorated well! There was definitely a lot of 60’s and 70’s clothing, but there was enough 30’s, 40’s, and 50’s clothing that I would recommend stopping by if you are in the area. That said, the 60’s clothing was really good and I was tempted to leave with a pair of mod silver heels.

The prices are fantastic, between $30 and $70 for dresses in excellent condition ($70 for the “designer” 1940’s dress I saw), but the real steal were the men’s accessories – $2 for really awesome tie clips, loads of cufflinks, belt buckles, and our saxophone player, Peter Lamb, left with a really shiny pair of sunglasses and a pipe. I was in heaven because the clothing was organized by size and each item had a tag describing the item and the decade. I do love an organized vintage store!

I picked up two adorable 1940’s dresses, one of them dead stock with the original tags still on. The label says “Lindner-Davis.” A quick Google search shows that this was a department store in Cleveland – funny that I’m picking up Cleveland vintage in my home state when I was just there last week…anyway, the price tag says $12.85, marked down from $22.95. How much would this dress cost today? Lindner & Davis merged with another store in 1950, so calculating from 1949, according to an inflation calculator, this dress would be like buying a $210 dress on sale for $118, only I really paid around $30 in today’s dollars for the dress. How’s that for bargain hunting? 😉

Here are pictures of the space and some vintage finds:

DSCF0190 — 1930's/40's flowered dress with belt - better in person!

DSCF0191 — Navy blue 1940's designer dress

DSCF0196 — Detail on the neckline of a lovely navy dress

Indochino: Indescribably Stylish Suiting

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

I really am speechless as to how to describe the suiting on the Indochino web site. It manages to be all things at once: cool, classic, vintage, modern, tailored, and edgy, with a slight sense of humor, a dash of executive, and a pinch of street cred. I’d like to think there’s a little something for everyone here and, with suiting tailored to your measurements, perhaps there’s a perfect fit for everyone as well.

I started out looking for three piece suits and quickly noticed the attention to detail on these garments. There were varying lapel widths, peaked lapels, excellent fabrics, and options like choosing your pant leg width, pick stitching, and a functional buttoniere. The term bespoke is tossed around a lot – items custom-made to the buyer’s specification – and I like it! The best part is that these custom suits cost much less than even your local tailor would probably charge you – I do try to keep the things I post on this blog under $200, but considering comparable expense for such suits as these, the Indochino price is a discount.

Never fear! There are things other than suits on this website, and well under $200. Shirts with custom cuffs and collars, vests in three different cuts, ties, cufflinks, pocket squares, and even a tie clip! *nods to Lindy Dandy* There are also gorgeous blazers, overcoats, and pants that are in that upper range, but…well, you should see for yourself.

I am, perhaps, most impressed with the construction of suit jackets, which have a canvas interlining to provide structure and drape. That extra layer is just another barrier between the lead’s sweat and the follower – just think followers, if the guy is wearing an undershirt, a dress shirt, and one of these jackets, that’s 5 layers of fabric the sweat has to wick through until it reaches you! Every little bit helps.

Here’s what I’m loving:

201004182207385779 — The Havana Suit - a lovely linen suit for summer

201004182212561325 — The Montecristo - the brown linen adds a nice twist on summer suiting

201003030257259841 — The Black Pinstripe Suit - classic, and check out those peaked lapels!

200910160243096960 — Blue Pin Stripe Double Breasted Suit

200911011930422137 — Navy Blue Pin Stripe Suit

200910202354319351 — The Nouveaux Socialite Tuxedo - LOVE this

201001120149497189 — The Performer Full Dress Tuxedo - it's killer diller!

200907080408231629 — The Nouveaux Socialite Vest

200910222231455867 — Metallic Trifecta Cufflink

200912022153177080 — Good Groove Tie Clip

1930’s Tuxedo with Tails, Vest, and Pants

This post was written by Lindy Shopper.

I can’t resist posting a three piece suit, even if it’s a tux with tails, which I’ve only ever seen on the dance floor on the Killer Dillers or Drew Nugent. Perhaps you’ll be inspired to take your dressing up a notch. With a starting bid on eBay at $24.99, it would be worth a bid just to pick up the vest!

Size is estimated at a 40, but the measurements on the jacket are 18 inches across the shoulder with 24 inch sleeves, and pants at a 38 inch waist and 31 inch inseam.