ASPHALT JUNGLE ......

just kidding.......

"THE CURSE OF THE EVIL TWIN"....HOMAGE TO GASTON LEROUX

Self portraits,with a silent movies twist reminiscent of THE ADVENTURES OF ROULETABILLE ,the French detective created in the 20's by Gaston Leroux of phantom of the Opera's fame.....

WW2 US NAVY TRENCH ART

ww2 MARK2 Camilus usmc usn combat knife....

Boyt was the main supplier/manufacturer of Marine's gear during ww2 .This embossed scabbard is dated 1943...

Always been a sucker for folk art ,so when i was collecting militaria,"trench art" was an evidence as opposed to getting a crispy clean item,as most collectors do .Before the arrival of the japanese on the market such an item was very affordable ......

WHAT ELSE !??

For those of you who don't know it yet,vintage clothing is not my only passion in life... in fact painting and drawing is and will always be my first love,so if you wanna know a little more about what i do when i'm off ,you might wanna check this out once in a while and perhaps sign as a "follower ,that might help. oh"! i've almost forgotten....feel free to leave comments as their are always welcome and appreciated ......

HAPPY TURKEY DAY .......

Billy Lee Riley, She's My Baby Alt

L.L BEAN CANVAS BOOTS.....help needed

I've had these in my closet for a while and love their look.I've always thought they were an interesting cross between a pair of work boots and good ol' chucks,but i've never been able to date them.The closest i went, was not so long ago,when looking at some old pictures in a 50's FIELD& STREAM magazine for a possible post,in it,were 3 pictures of guy wearing a pair while fishing and that's all.There's a pair on ebay right now and the guy is asking 300$ for them.I've heard that LL BEAN still had them on their catalog up to the early 80's ,is this a legend !?.What are they!? fishing,camping,hunting boots!? i don't really know so if you've got an idea just shoot me a line .....

WW2 AAF TSHIRT .....another rare find

Today's post is about another rare find .a dead stock ww2 shirt ,in a decent size,is almost impossible to find nowadays,got this one when living in Florida a while ago.This shirt has its original flockage [felt like print] on it and tucked inside the shirt ,was the original care instructions for it .a must .

The Buckingham Air Field was the Army Air Force's southeast training:center, the flexible gunnery school at Fort Myers. It was located on Buckingham Road. The only use of the field today is for chasing mosquitoes hoping to eradicate them during the rainy season.

Most of the B-24's that flew the oil refinery raids over Ploesti, Romania came from Buckingham.

When the mission idea came down, they took most of the crews from Buckingham as they were experienced.

They were in the middle of their frangible bullet training there.

That was where they had a P-39 & a couple of other aircraft with an extra layer of skin

and they fired the bullets right at the aircraft instead of a tow target."

RUPTURED DUCK ....salut to the veterans

The origin of "the Ruptured Duck" Insignia

The honorable service lapel button, sometimes called the honorable service lapel pin,is know to most as: Ruptured duck .It was an insignia designed by sculptor Anthony de Francisci .The award depicts an eagle inside a wreath and was worn on uniforms above the right breast pocket by WWII servicemen and women.The button was awarded between September 1939 and December 1946 and was made of gilt brass, except during metal shortages during which it was made of gilt plastic. Service members who received the plastic version were later allowed to trade it in for the brass version.

It was issued to service personnel who were about to leave the military with an Honorable Discharge. It also allowed them to continue to wear their uniform for up to thirty days after they were discharged since there was a clothing shortage at that time. This showed the MP's that they were in transit and not AWOL. Well, the boys thought the eagle looked more like a duck; and, because it meant they were going home, the popular saying was, "They took off like a Ruptured Duck"...hence the nickname......

A MILE IN MY SHOES part3:ankle boots

Probably the earliest pair of boots i own ,thanks to my good friend Gregg.Button up boots were the staple of a man's wardrobe and quite common up until the end of the 10's.Few survived in good shape,as most of them were made of kid glove leather.this example is cotton lined .......

Probably 1920's but really hard to determine .this particular model was more of an everyday kind of boots usually advertised as a dress/work casual boot.2 different hides here .The cap toe and vamp are calf skin and the rest kid glove .....
Vintage Stacy Adams.so comfortable and Sharp .....

Going even further back in time here. Part3 of the saga is a logical progression ,with some of my favorites.Nothing too crazy here,just the essential easy to wear ankle boots....

IS OLD NEW AGAIN !??....a must read

This little nugget,is straight from the archives of Time magazine and made me smile so much,that i had to post it for your enjoyment .....

TIME magazine Monday, Nov. 29, 1976
Modern Living: The Call of the Wilderness

Manhattanites in plaid flannel shirts and crepe-soled leather boots are hiking down Fifth Avenue. Students in goose-down vests and baggy sweatpants are trekking through Harvard Square. Dudes in lumber jackets are hanging out in Beverly Hills. Few of these folks have a clue how to swing a fly rod or an ax. But they do know that outdoor gear designed for the backwoods has come in from the cold for wear everywhere.

The new First Family may help push the roughing-it fashions into high gear. The President-elect clomps around Plains, Ga., in cowhide ankle boots, blue jeans and flannel shirt. Brother Billy breakfasted (on grits and Pabst) at the Best Western Motel in Americus, Ga., last week wearing denims and a blue plaid shirt opened to reveal his new, post-election T shirt emblazoned with REDNECK LOBBYIST. Of course, to them and many Americans the gear look is an old look, something they have been comfortably wearing for years.

Long Johns. Such backwoods garb is actually as old as the hills—and mountains and streams—where the clothes fit in best. Venerable firms like L.L. Bean of Freeport, Me., Eddie Bauer of Seattle and Gokeys of St. Paul have been doing a brisk mail-order business in such gear for 50 years or more. Says Bean's bemused merchandising manager, Fred McCabe: "Fashion has just come round to us. We certainly haven't gone fashionable ourselves."

No one at Bean's is complaining, since business has jumped 30% each year since 1967. The famous quarterly Bean catalogue, crammed with nylon gaiters, duck-hunting caps, long Johns and the like, now goes out to 2 million geared-up customers. After operating only one retail outlet (in Seattle) for 18 years, Eddie Bauer has opened nine new stores across the nation since 1971. At Gokeys, the mailing list has grown by almost half since last year. The new country-chic look has even received benediction from fashion critics who gave out Coty awards (fashion's Oscars) last September to five manufacturers of outdoor wear.

Several well-known designers have climbed aboard the hayride, turning out country-look garb at double and triple the prices of the catalogue merchandise. Ralph Lauren, 37, has made the rough-hewn look the backbone of his collection. His Harris tweed hacking jacket is a highly styled—and highly priced ($256)—version of a riding jacket sold for $79.50 by the equestrian outfitter, Miller's of New York. Louis Vuitton has whipped up a knapsack ($275) blanketed with the familiar L.V.s. Patti Cappalli, 37, has turned out a little mink-lined lumber jacket ($450) and Alice Elaine, 33, is into Army twill pants and cowl-necked sweaters made out of sweatshirt fabric. "I really studied the catalogues," admits Elaine unabashedly. "But I changed the proportion, the fit, the cut. You have to be Lauren Hutton to look terrific in one of those green grizzly things from the catalogues."

Swaddling Coats. Even European designers are getting into the north-country spirit. Paris' Jean-Charles de Castelbajac, 26, is the most nobly sauvage of the pack. His collection includes sweatpants ($98) tucked into linen or leather booties, parkas with built-in knapsacks ($160) and swaddling coats made from blanket material ($355). Proclaims Castelbajac: "The outdoors look is a reaction to dullness."

Not to mention a move back to the basics. As Grace Mirabella, editor in chief of Vogue explains it, "There was a momentum building of the casual, down-to-earth way of dressing; there was casual day, casual city, casual night. It hit its peak this year." Adds Elsa Klensch, an editor at Harper's Bazaar: "The gear look makes it easier for women to manage in the tough city life. We have to cope with things like racing up subway steps. That's hard in high-heeled boots." Some country-look converts, however, do not stop at the subway. Eddie Bauer proudly waves a letter from a satisfied San Francisco customer who turned one of the firm's goose-down bathrobes into an evening cloak. Trilled she: "I wore it to the opera."

A MILE IN MY SHOES part2:the riding boots

This is the 1st pair i've bought .They are real jodhpur riding boots from Harris Hall,the biggest name in riding wear back then.This model is often see on ww2 pictures.By real ,i ment made for a purpose not for the show .....

No brand for this 1940's beautiful slip on riding boot.Its made of one piece of leather joined at the heel.Note the nice cloth pulls with stars on.....

In my humble opinion nothing beats the R.M Williams kangaroo boot.The patina you can achieve on such a boot,is simply amazing.Williams's are made of one flawless piece of leather too.The French toe being my favorite....

My interest for riding boots ,started when collecting militaria and looking at AAF pilots pictures from ww2. I noticed then,that officers and pilots from the 8th & 9th AAF ,when stationed in England developed an interest for such boots.Dress to impress ,while on leave,was common and to do so they were trying to stray away from the "regulation look".Transforming their uniforms or simply having them fully custom made by local tailors was the way to go.Shoes were of course an item of importance,as they were scarce,had to last but also look sharp.Riding boots as associated with status and a certain "prestige"{probably more back then},were a logical but also very practical choice for pilots always on the go ..........