Consignment store find: Jack Taylor suits

[thinman]

I was browsing through the upstairs, back corner sale area of a local consignment store yesterday, looking for shoes, ties, sports coats and suits, without much hope of finding anything interesting (except that the owners don't know the value of Talbott or Charvet ties; they're priced at $20 each). As I scanned through the overpriced Hugo Boss, Zegna, and Gucci dreck, my eyes were drawn to the pick stitching on the lapels of a dark green suit. I looked more closely and the pick stitching was obviously done by hand, as was most of the other work. The suit had well-defined shoulders and a nipped waist and, curiously, what I think is called a western back. Unfortunately, it was a 44L, not my size. It also had a label inside that said "Jack Taylor of Beverly Hills". The suit was made for a customer in 2000, so it's recent vintage. I kept looking and found three more Jack Taylor suits, one dark brown, one navy, and one tan, all in the same size and all with the western back (and strangely, the navy suit also had peaked lapels). The buttons on the tan suit were very cool, as they were a translucent light tan; I could actually see my fingers through the buttons. I almost bought the suit to harvest the buttons, but I couldn't bear to destroy such a well-made, unique garment that may someday find a good home. I'm considering going back for the buttons, but after searching StyleForum, it seems that Jack Taylor won't be making suits much longer, so again it seems a shame to destroy such works of art.

 

[chorse123]

Removing the buttons would hardly destroy the suit, but that western back might.

I think they'd be hard to sell because of that.

 

[thinman]

Originally Posted by chorse123

Removing the buttons would hardly destroy the suit, but that western back might.

I think they'd be hard to sell because of that.

Yeah, I think the western back is why they're still in the store.

 

[JLibourel]

Was the suit actually marked "44L," which would seem very curious on a bespoke garment, or was that just your estimate? If they were 46L or 48L and the price were right, I'd almost be tempted to run down to SD to check 'em out!

 

[LabelKing]

There's nothing wrong with a Western back if you wear it correctly.

 

[LabelKing]

I mean, if you coordinate and match well, it needn't look bad. Of course, it presupposes that the wearer isn't one who cares to wear Luciano Barbera accessorized with JM Weston and Brioni exclusively. It would be somwhat Royal Tenenbaums as in Eli Cash.

 

[pejsek]

Of course the only way to wear a Western back is with absolute self-confidence and not a hint of self-consciousness. This needn't preclude Barbera, Weston, etc.
I still somehow half regret not picking up a number of suits that I saw in a used clothing store about 15 years ago that had been made for Gene Autry back in the 1960s. My knowledge of tailors was less developed then, but my recollection is that they were made in Los Angeles or Beverly Hills and were not from Nudie. Could very well have been Jack Taylor.
Sounds like an interesting find, especially the suit with the peaked lapels.

 

[thinman]

Originally Posted by JLibourel

Was the suit actually marked "44L," which would seem very curious on a bespoke garment, or was that just your estimate? If they were 46L or 48L and the price were right, I'd almost be tempted to run down to SD to check 'em out!


Jan, you make a very good point. The 44L label was a store label and could very well be wrong. I will say that they seemed substantially larger than my size of 40L. I'll try to make it by the store this weekend to measure, as I've gotten email from a forum member about them.