I’m not sure what the designation on this one is, other than that is is a Navy piece. It has a full removable alpaca lining and a cotton shell. Handwarmer pockets, flapped pockets, and a brass talon zipper. It got the hippie treatment later on in its life, probably bought surplus, and now proudly sports a Greatful Dead patch on its shoulder.
These coats have a great figure-enhancing cut, with a “V” shaped buttoning and a short skirt, accentuating the height of the wearer.
Quite the fancy belted back on this one. A pleat runs from the top of the back all the way down. For whatever reason, someone removed the sleeve linings.
Another venerable Canadian maker, now sadly defunct. The quality of their product, especially their earlier shoes, speaks for itself.
Vintage Canadian shoes were built to last. Thick, high quality leather, thick, nailed leather soles. They may not always be the fanciest or the flashiest, but as many of these shoes show, they will outlive you. And maybe outlive a second owner.
Late 1950s vintage custom tailored overcoat with velvet collar. Interestingly, the collar was a later replacement, and I found the original, matching collar in the pocket.
’40s surfing tie, ’40s scarf
I was extremely lucky to find this Brown’s Beach Jacket in Woodside, Nova Scotia a few years back. It’s probably of 1950s manufacture, and with its Beach cloth, knit outside, fleeced inside, it is both warm and lightweight. This one is made of the blue beach cloth, rather than the more common gray. The jacket has Scovill snaps. As you can see by the pocket stitching in particular, the quality on these, at least by the ’50s, was somewhat hit or miss. It cracks me up with reproductions of items like this, which were utilitarian and mass produced. In so many cases the reproductions available today are of better quality and construction than the originals.
These jackets have become huge with workwear collectors. This one sold for around $1100.
Vintage-Haberdashers Blog 