Old Threads (clothing)

[Loin Lover]

When meeting a young person over the decades I commonly would say I have socks older than they are. Ha ha, hee hee.

Whilst rearranging my display at a craft sale shop I removed a boot rack made from horseshoes and the boots displayed on it. Tony Lama calf skin circa 1983. Got married in them. It made me think it was the oldest article of clothing I had. Wrong again. The letter jacket is from '77. Forgot I still had it.

What is the oldest clothing you have hung on to?

 

[Triple Jim]

I have sweaters from the early '70s. I also have the flight jacket my father gave me, which he wore as a WWII pilot. It fit me when I was in my early teens before I was fully grown, so my daughter wears it now.

 

[mitch_cumsteen]

As I type this, I'm wearing a T-shirt from my travels in the Philippines that's dated February 2005.

One of the crusty, old pilots I used to fly with would say to the young pilots, "I've passed more air than you've flown through!"

 

[Uncle Joe]

Nicely done. My oldest articles are hockey jerseys and soccer jerseys from the early '80s. I have my first regulation soccer ball too. I think my parents gave it to me in 1974. In the 1990s we used it for indoor men's league games when we played on parquet floors/basketball courts. That was just before all the bubbles with artificial turf started popping up around here. It's like a big tennis ball. Still holds air. Amazed my daughter, who's an elite soccer player looking at schools now. She grew up owning many balls. This was my only ball until I was signed for a very brief professional stint right out of high school.

 

[Ray Stankewitz]

I have a few sets of Air Force uniforms, my M65 field jacket & liner and my roller skates from the '70s. I also have my Nocona bison hide cowboy boots from my wedding in 1980. Still in great shape, been resoled once.

 

[Caddy]

Oldest would be my army field jacket and a fatigue jacket (shirt) that I got at the reception center at Ft. Dix, N.J. in 1966 prior to starting basic training. Also have a boonies hat I got at the same time.

 

[SoCalJim]

I have nothing from the 20th Century. Y2K ate them all!

 

[archetype]

I have a Patagonia fleece pullover that my sister gave me a decade ago. It was her late husband's and she thought I might like to wear it.

In all weather except summer, either I or my wife wear it multiple times a week. It's over 30 years old, expensive when new, and an outstanding value compared to cheap clothing bought over and over. It's going back to Patagonia for new elastic and binding at the cuffs and will likely last beyond my own life.

I'm wearing it now, while writing this.

 

[Las Palmas Norte]

I finally got rid of my boots I had from the early 80's, black leather and a gray snakeskin pair along with shirts etc.
I held onto a Levi's denim shirt from the mid 80's. That never goes out of style, not that I really ever followed fashion trends.

 

[Lonn]

I have some Eddie Bauer sweatshirts from the 90s.

 

[duceditor]

When Jan and I married -- sitting on the floor in our band's shared apartment, back in March of `69 -- I wore a 'zoot suit' from the late 1940s. -Found when I was still a college student, new and unsold, in a small lower east side New York City clothing shop. Oh, do I wish I'd hung on to that!

Jan, though, saved her "wedding dress" worn on that occasion -- a mini-skirt length garment with long lace sleeves.

And I do still have the sport jacket I wore just a few weeks later at a party my parents had in the L.I. home to introduce Jan to the family.

Both as seen here:




I also have a few Abstracts T shirts dating back, if not 'to the day' exactly, still, from a good many years ago.




And the super cool T shirts I picked up at the House of Guitars when I got back into electrics in the late `80s...




Do any of us realize how valuable this stuff will one day be to us?

Sadly, I think not. At least I didn't!

-don

 

[Naked Strat Brat]

Wow, I have some real vintage clothing, hats, shoes, ties, cufflinks. Oldest suit from 1930's belonged to my Father, pair of shoes from same time period,, spade sole shoes. I have collected far too much clothing that is vintage. The way clothing was made to last, is a part of that. We might start selling some things.

 

[Naked Strat Brat]

When Jan and I married -- sitting on the floor in our band's shared apartment, back in March of `69 -- I wore a 'zoot suit' from the late 1940s. -Found when I was still a college student, new and unsold, in a small lower east side New York City clothing shop. Oh, do I wish I'd hung on to that!

Jan, though, saved her "wedding dress" worn on that occasion -- a mini-skirt length garment with long lace sleeves.

And I do still have the sport jacket I wore just a few weeks later at a party my parents had in the L.I. home to introduce Jan to the family.

Both as seen here:

View attachment 252091


I also have a few Abstracts T shirts dating back, if not 'to the day' exactly, still, from a good many years ago.


View attachment 252095

And the super cool T shirts I picked up at the House of Guitars when I got back into electrics in the late `80s...

View attachment 252096


Do any of us realize how valuable this stuff will one day be to us?

Sadly, I think not. At least I didn't!

-don

Wonderful picture of you two.

 

[Robb]

I still have my wedding suit, last worn in 1980 !

 

[duceditor]

It's over 30 years old, expensive when new, and an outstanding value compared to cheap clothing bought over and over.

You there touch upon a now forgotten truth. That buying good and caring for things is in the end a much better 'deal' than buying cheap and replacing again and again.

Today most shoes are good for only the time it takes to wear away the soles or heels. Shoe repair shops are today rare. They once lasted the better part of a life time.

We buy, to be blunt, garbage. And many of us do not even any longer know the difference. How "fine" quality feels. How long it can last.

Even once quality brands -- Gold Toe socks for instance -- today are junk. Only the name and general appearance is the same.

Their socks used to last for years. Now it is months.

A good sweater could last a lifetime. Today? A season or two.

In many cases we have no choice. The good stuff is no longer available except at extreme expense.

Maybe that'll change. But if most people don't even any longer know the difference how can it?

-don

 

[brians]

My leather biker jacket is about 35 years old. I remember it cost a bomb even back then but if I calculate the cost over the period ( just for no reason) it's really cheap.
I still wear it every winter, it's like an old friend, just gets better with age.

My levi jeans and jacket that I bought in the US , also at least 3 decades ago are still fine, seems like that grade of denim is no longer available.

I'm lucky that I have not outgrown them physically and can still wear them

 

[Naked Strat Brat]

You there touch upon a now forgotten truth. That buying good and caring for things is in the end a much better 'deal' than buying cheap and replacing again and again.

Today most shoes are good for only the time it takes to wear away the soles or heels. Shoe repair shops are today rare. They once lasted the better part of a life time.

We buy, to be blunt, garbage. And many of us do not even any longer know the difference. How "fine" quality feels. How long it can last.

Even once quality brands -- Gold Toe socks for instance -- today are junk. Only the name and general appearance is the same.

Their socks used to last for years. Now it is months.

A good sweater could last a lifetime. Today? A season or two.

In many cases we have no choice. The good stuff is no longer available except at extreme expense.

Maybe that'll change. But if most people don't even any longer know the difference how can it?

-don

Truth! Even wool clothing was once measure by the "weight" of the material, now it's bragged on how "fine" they make things with a thin less weight material. Less weight mostly equals less quailty and how long it will last.

Now that trend goes into what we have made in so much of our buying market. Stove made in the 1950's might still be working, stove made now, maybe 5 or 10 years top.

Socks, I have some made in Italy cost $50.00 a pair for them as to quality and fashion, but have socks from the late 1960's still wearing with dress shoes over the knee socks that are hand washed only.

The brand name socks from Italy are now going to be rare, they closed their doors due to the ecomony hitting the fan. VK Nagrani I think is how to spell the brand name.

 

[strat_strummer]

I had a Boston Don't Look Back baseball style t-shirt that mysteriously came up missing exactly 10 years ago when my wife moved in.

 

[duceditor]

The brand name socks from Italy are now going to be rare, they closed their doors due to the ecomony hitting the fan

'American made' once truly meant something. Through the fifties for major things -- automobiles, appliances and the like. And thru, perhaps, the seventies for specialized things like high-fi gear. Then various changes in society and international marketing ended that.

For a time the long-revered names remained valid. Today even that has changed. The names themselves were sold as the companies as they were perished.

What we see now happening with guitars happened elsewhere earlier. Gibson, Gretsch, Fender were once true innovators. Then they got locked in. And then locked out!

We complain about the cost, but live in a society where we expect people of little skill, experience, or even the drive to acquire such is generally poo-pooed, and a high salary (masquerading as "a living wage") is seen as their born right.

So what can companies do?

Import. Put their name/brand on what is not really their own. Sell based on who supposedly uses their product, not its actual quality. Push "New! New!" when in fact little is. True innovation being done elsewhere.

Slowly get people to prefer quantity to quality.

We see all of that here. And, it seems to me at least, less recognition that such is even the case.

Indeed, those who insist of actual craftsmanship are ridiculed. Called names. ("Cork sniffer" for instance.)

It all is what it is. People are what they are.

If one knows different/better than one can just live by that. Quietly. And that means -- oddly! -- being somewhat of an outsider.

-don

 

[archetype]

You there touch upon a now forgotten truth. That buying good and caring for things is in the end a much better 'deal' than buying cheap and replacing again and again.

Today most shoes are good for only the time it takes to wear away the soles or heels. Shoe repair shops are today rare. They once lasted the better part of a life time.

We buy, to be blunt, garbage. And many of us do not even any longer know the difference. How "fine" quality feels. How long it can last.

Even once quality brands -- Gold Toe socks for instance -- today are junk. Only the name and general appearance is the same.

Their socks used to last for years. Now it is months.

A good sweater could last a lifetime. Today? A season or two.

In many cases we have no choice. The good stuff is no longer available except at extreme expense.

Maybe that'll change. But if most people don't even any longer know the difference how can it?

-don

I quite agree. Every landfill is an ever-changing tableau of our aspirations.

BTW 1: The Gold Toe socks example is a perfect one. The quality plummeted several years ago. Online reviews are savage.

BTW 2: Patagonia is having a 40% off sale on specific items through Feb 8th.

Patagonia Winter Sale – 40% Off

Winter Sale – 40% off Outdoor Clothing & Gear for Men, Women & Kids at Patagonia.com. Now – February 8, 2023. Free Shipping over $99.

www.patagonia.com