Frank Sinatra, as I reported in a recent post, adapted a J. Press wardrobe during his forays into our 44th Street emporium 55 years ago. Enclosed is more meat from jazz historian Joe Cosgriff’s still dormant one act play, Dressing The Chairman featuring stage character Richard Press exploiting his brush with celebrity fame.
If asked to describe fashion in 1969, I’d say people often had one foot on the boat and the other on the dock. Sure, there were Nehru jackets, psychedelic colors, and The Fifth Dimension’s TV specials. However, it was also a time when people were still wearing hats, ties, and their Sunday best to the World Series.
We still had our fair share of big shots who would come into our Manhattan location, and more than occasionally a famous person would jump in with both feet and announce his intention to begin a professional relationship with J. Press that would include chalk, pins, and tape measures. Around that time our store had an enviable old-school roster of recognizable regulars – among them, the debonair and elegant Cary Grant, Odd Couple guy Walter Matthau, author Kurt Vonnegut, playwright Edward Albee, NBC anchorman John Chancellor, and late-night talk show host Dick Cavett
Back to Sinatra. Although hats, overcoats, and tuxedos were off the table, Sinatra did find himself drawn to a staple of the J. Press product line—the blue blazers. By my estimate he must have ordered at least a dozen of them from us—four or five with his first order of suits, and one or two each time he would come to store to order new clothes. Explaining that the blazers also needed to be appropriate for the climate of southern California, he was especially partial to the easy drape of doeskin flannel in a mid-weight 11-12 oz. He also liked the pure cashmere model that fitter Felix Samelson reworked with hand-sewn edges, as well as several more durable worsted jackets he picked out “for the plane.”
Full ranges of Sinatra 1969 Blue Blazer favorites remain fully stocked today in the same choice categories he enjoyed in days of old. Our current fitters are equally willing and able to offer the fine tuning demanded by Ole’ Blue Eyes.
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You can’t have to many navy blazers. I currently have at least four in different materials and weights to cover the seasons and occasions.
I’ve never had a doeskin blazer but for some reason associate them with cooler weather. But his was for SoCal?
Order placed. Looking forward to owning this piece of Americana.
Kind regards,
KPD
Ring a ding ding
Some years ago at the old store next to what was then Brooks Brothers, Jerry sold me a blazer that he said was exactly like one Sinatra had. It was (and still is, as I still have it) navy in a heavy weight hopsack with 3 open patch pockets and polished brass buttons without any design or monogram. Still one of my favorites and the go-to jacket for almost every occasion.