I was excited to be able to visit the archive collection that has just been brought over from Chicago.
It's a hundred years of Hickey Freeman and Hart Schaffner Marx artwork, marketing materials,
memorabilia etc.
Hart Marx owns both Hickey Freeman and Hart Schaffner Marx brands. They bought Hickey Freeman from the heirs in the 1960's and Hart schaffner Marx was one of their original brands. they were three men who started the company. mr. marx. mr schaffner and mr. hart. immigrants – the classic story. the new company is Hart Marx LLC and is based in New York with manufacturing outside of Chicago and in Rochester. The Hart Schaffner Marx stuff was sent to NY from the Chicago office when they consolidated from 3 floors to one floor. The Hickey Freeman archives was sent from the factory in Rochester. Both brands have dressed a long list of politicians such as Eisenhower, Lyndon Baines Johnson, Ronald Reagan – Colin Powell. Obama is the newest to wear Hart Schaffner Marx and VP Joe Biden wore Hickey Freeman at the inauguration this year.
"Everything I wear is custom made, and you cant find a decent tailor these days"
He also told me the story about how the windsor knot got its name. The Duke of Windsor did not actually tie a windsor knot- he had his ties made of thick fabric and thus they tied a larger knot which later became to be known as the windsor knot
t evolved from a style of coat known as the "Norfolk jacket", whose belt extended all the way around to the front. Around World War I(?), military jackets began to appear with half belts in the back. As WWI ended, manufacturers of civilian clothing began to offer sporty suits with belted-back jackets.
Here in the U.S.A., the style was popular throughout the 1920s and most of the '30s. By 1940, however, the belted back was disappearing from suits and sportcoats. It lasted for a while longer on gabardine "Hollywood" ("Ricky") jackets, then pretty much disappeared until the early '70s, when it popped up again on polyester sportcoats and suits. (Remember those nasty polyester "Angel's Flight" suits made by Levi Strauss?)
The belted-back jacket or suit was considered sporty attire. It could be worn to work by certain professionals (such as reporters and theatrical agents) and not by others (such as bankers and lawyers).
Take note: a fedora and a bowler worn correctly, and not on the back of the head like pete doherty did (now all the hip kids in all the villages are copying). Some folks wear hats and some hats just wear the person… These kids are kiling it. daytime on the streets of Paris, why not. Thank you for stopping.