In my social circle the men love vintage & dress vintage just as much as the women, it's part of our 'culture' so to speak. My husband is particularly knowledgeable about his style and he always has been. Long before I met him he was an Edwardian, or Teddy Boy as they are more commonly known. He didn't wear the garish styles of the 70s Ted, but was a genuine Edwardian. So much so pictures of him and his friend often surface on the internet as a indicator of the 'correct' way to dress Edwardian.
Here's a picture of them long before I met him, it's not my thing, but it sure does look good and it is period correct! Paul is on the left.
His style evolved as we all do and he went to a more late 40s look for a while, settling with his now early 50s style which has been his thing for probably the past 18 years.
What I wear has no bearing on what he wears, he chooses his style, it matters to him.
With this background I find it curious that 'vintage' is so slanted towards women. In fact I know few men who don't care what they wear, I think it's a normal thing. Even the guys on our scene who are more into music than clothes still have amazing 50s gab shirts or hawaiian shirts.
Here's a great pic of Paul recently. I can't imagine him not being interested in clothes, I'm not saying he doesn't dress down, although jeans do not exist in his wardrobe, his dress down are chinos, like today, he's in chinos and a 50s shirt.
I like that he's as interested as me, when we go to LA and go vintage shopping it's a joint passion, at weekenders he's off looking at the guys stuff, me the girls stuff. I wouldn't say our relationship is based on something so superficial as how we dress, clearly it's not but it's great that we both have the same taste and passion!
See what I mean, vintage stall holders together, Twain from Heyday Vintage Style, Mike from Home Sweet Homestyle, Paul my lovely husband and Martin from Rocket Originals, now those guys looks great, even after working hard all day on the stall!
And my favourite picture of all time, Paul looking stylish even on top of a mountain!!
So are the men in your life vintage lovers? Or are you one, I know 'some' men read this blog!
It's an interesting question, but have to say it's only come to light for me since I started meeting vintage people not originally from our scene or attached to similar scenes.
Would love to know your thoughts.
22 comments:
Well, I don't have a man and don't really know a lot of men...I think the rockabilly scene here, whilst smaller, is similar in that the men (from those I've met) dress to a certain style. And I have quite a limited social circle at present so I really don't know. It is an interesting point, though! It's similar to how there are so few male vintage bloggers in comparison to female.
I appreciate anyone who has an interesting and unique style and owns it (that said, the last guy I seriously liked and sort-of-dated wore crocs, for one thing) - while I'm not personally...saddened? that there seem to be less men into dressing vintage, I'd still like to know why. Maybe some other commenters will have more thoughts on it.
-Andi x
I am coming from a similar background to you hanging out with the rockabilly and hot rod crowd although I was shopping for vintage clothes well before I found the rockabilly scene. My husband and I met at rockabilly shows and he does like vintage clothes and wears them when we go out but I usually buy them for him. I think he gets more concerned over his hair style though perhaps because he is a barber. He did have a guy stop buy his barber shop this week who is going to barber school (feeling him out for a job) who was calling himself a vintage guy and I think we know a few more but I think is more rare for men to be as involved but if you want to find men into their vintage style visit the Fedora Lounge there are lots who if nothing else love their hats but many go beyond to matching their hats with vintage fashion as well.
Well I run a shop with a bunch of old punks and rock n roll-kids... and most of them are into clothes in some shape or form. They may not be pure rockabilly but they do read blogs, browse ebay and keep an eye on what's happening in street fashion and men's style.
And most of them have a very personal sense of style but enjoy discussing and sharing stuff they've found. Just like us girls. :)
My husband, Mav, has always ben much more stylish than I am. It simply exudes naturally for him to look classic. Someone always comments if they catch him in a pair of jeans. When we first married he wore vintage ties and button ups daily. Shoes are always shined. I think if anything my hillbilly influence and four children's sticky fingers and faces has toned his style down a bit. Now Dickies and a vintage shirt, mainly Hawaiian in summer, Pendletons for winter.
As far as not being in blogland maybe it is the classic girls simply love to talk more?
BTW I love the teddy boy look and how authentic Paul was! That's a style I'd like to see more of.
The hubs is very much into clothes. He's less interested in period correctness than in classic styling - but he's mostly influenced by the 40s, 50s and early 60s. He is a big galloot and a grease monkey so jeans and a T-shirt are worn frequently but he's always on the hunt for the perfect pair of high-waisted trousers and just the right double breasted blazer. ...and wing tips. The man is just crazy about wing tips.
I don't have a man so to speak, but the men in my life are a mixture. My dad and his friends are mostly rockabilly in their style but not completely vintage. My dad would LOVE to own vintage shirts, trouses, jackets and all that but he - like me - is too tall for it.
When I do look for a man I do think that their clothing speaks volumes. I could never date a guy that wasn't vintage/rockabilly!
ps: I think Coedith has a valid point; us gals do like to talk more about clothes and what not. I'm sure there are plenty of blogs floating around about vintage cars and other 'manly' things!
I must say that I like the fact that Martin is into wearing vintage clothes and enjoys 'hunting' for them just as much as I do. I love the photo of Paul on the mountain! Kaye xx
I think in my area of the USA, guys who are into vintage, are more into things like vintage cars and radios and things guys liked back in the day.
Even when I hung around the classic car/hot rod scene, the guys would dress for car shows, mostly Beach Boys kind of shirts and bowling shirts, but that's all I can recall.
I haven't been to a Route 66 deal in years, in fact, the annual Route 66 gig is this very weekend, but I'm sure if I went, Beach Boys shirts and Bowling shirts would still be the trend.
I love that last photo of Paul, what an awesome moment to catch!
My ex boyfriend was well into vintage (60's & 70's style, i suppose) when I met him and we bonded over our shared passion. He isn't attached to any 'scene', but loves art deco and retro furniture and electronics. He'd often sport his pink flared levis with a paisley shirt and knitted vest-a look that not many other guys around melbourne would go for! I loved it. hope I find another man just as stylish! Thanks for sharing photos of your stylish gentlemen! xx
That picture of Paul is utterly fabulous. He is such a dapper chap.
Jon's always been into second hand clothes. He was originally a punk and used to trawl the charity shops and jumble sales for stuff to customise and hack to pieces. Nowadays it's more mod stuff, tailored tweed jackets, brogues, jeans to take in, scarves, cravats and tab collared shirts. Like me, he's not into a scene, per se. He loves his vintage cars but that's about it.
Men are notorious at wearing their gear to death so it is harder for men to find cheap second hand gear in good condition. x
My other half likes mod style stuff - so he wears dark crisp jeans, Chelsea boots, Clarks Wallabies, Harrington jackets and checked shirts. He does get about 80% of his stuff 2nd hand, like me. And he loves vintage western checked shirts, which is what he always looks for when we thrift! He found tons in the US, and almost bought more than me!
I wish more guys would dress vintage! It's a huge requirement in prospective boyfriends.
http://pinkchampagnefashion.blogspot.com/
The vintage repro shops we have in melbourne actually have more men's gear than ladies gear! There must be demand for it, although I don't know where they are all hiding...
I think maybe because there is not as much variety in men's clothing as there is in ladies, we don't see the same kind of online presence which could affect our perceptions of how many men dress vintage.
My husband was a mod-revivalist in the 90s, and now more of a 'chap' - he's much more vintage than I am!! I'm more of a thrifter/pre-loved addict, and vintage items come into my wardrobe alongside plain old second-hand ones.
He's either tweedy/pinstripe or 60s leather-jacket-black-trews-and-t-shirt. Always. He doesn't even own any trainers or jeans.
I've been into Retro clothing for about 10 years now but only really been dressing 100% for the last year. None of my 'long-term' friends are into vintage (a little dabble here and there from the ladies) but thanks to my photography project (http:///www.southernretro.com) I now have a good hand full of male friends who are as passionate about it as I am, and to be honest these have only come about by getting myself out there and finding them!
I know a lot of guys who, as I did, start out doing the rockabilly thing (at least the greaser style) because it's a little easier and less of a leap from the clothes they already wore. But to be honest the main problems men have are to do with sizing and styles.
Style is something I'm trying to address (slowly) with my blog http://talesofa.southernretro.com so if you do know any men who are struggling a bit tell them to check it out.
Sizing will always be a problem though. Most men's vintage clothing generally comes in around the average sizes of men at the time... which is small compared to a lot of modern men, you just have to get lucky to be honest and it's hard. Personally I'm a big guy (6'4") so a lot of 'vintage' is out for me, but I get around that by going for re-pro labels. Even then it's quite limited and I've had to be a bit inventive, part of the reason it's only recently I've been able to go 100%.. I've been waiting for the labels to catch up!
There _are_ a few of us out there... but there could be more :-)
I think The Beards style has changed along with mine. I have not asked him to dress in waistcoats and flatcaps as he does now - it is something he came to naturally. But I do like that we look "matched", if you get me.
Amor,
oh your Paul looks great dresser, how cool ia that mouintain foto. Buddy has been rockin more than me. he used to be into the rockin ,but now it is so hard for him to find vintage pieces.
He is now been getting into Starsky and Hutch 70's style and loves his Mexican guayaberas. I noticed that vintage clothes for guys are more expensive. I like that we match too.
Paul looks amazing in all his outfits. I think it is a bit more scary for men to get into than women, because it isn't seen as 'masculine' to be creative with clothes. Mr D is starting to get into it, but is quite tentative about it all! x
My husband is an incredible dresser - he loves to incorporate a range of vintage looks into his everyday wardrobe. He loves turn of the century items, and also a lot of 'steampunky' type things. There's also a lot of 60s influence in his wardrobe. We don't always 'match' in terms of the era we're dressing in, but we do always stand out as a couple!
He's actually suggested I do a blog post about retro & vintage clothing on men, so I may start thinking about that!
What a great photo of Paul! Just fab!
My husband is more than happy to come trawling the vintage shops and markets, which I love. His style is slighlty ecclectic, but I like it.
Mostly on the weekends Sam will wear Dickes or some type of pants or shorts, Vans or Chucks and a band or hotrod t-shirt. When we go out for dinner or to a show, he will wear anything from his Ben Sherman shirts, jeans and Docs, or a nice pair of trousers and a vintage shirt. I think most people who see or meet us would say we are "rockabilly", but we met in the punk scene when we were 16 and 17. Our styles have definatly developed over the years! Mine is based around my ever expanding vintage collection, where as Sam still has alot of influence from the punk, skate, hotrod and rockabilly scene.
One thing I must say is that his hair is always pefectly quiffed!
x Molly
In the 70's, rockers were Teddy Boys. Obviously Teddy Boys of 1990 to 2010 are just a bunch of poor losers. Racists and closed-minded people.
But the old Teddy boys are the people who kept the originals records from the 50's. Without them, we won't have an active 50's scene today.
And concerning clothes, of course i love men who wear slacks and a beautifull 40's hawaiian rayon shirt but i will always prefer a naked man who won't put all his glory in vintage clothes.
When i go to 50's festival, most of the young people are attracted by clothes stands and forget the essential : music stands. Pfewww !!! They really boring me with their arrogant attitude. 50's scene sometimes really sucks ha ha ha !!!
Btw, i love the first pic, your husband was really smart even in Teddy clothes, very smart but no i won't listen to Crazy Cavan ha ha ha !!! My musical nightmare ha ha ha !!
Love,
Big Mama Introspection
nice post love it
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