Gate Way to 'B-Squared'

Brooksgate Three Piece & Golden Fleece Club Tie - Hartford, 1987 - NFS


1984 Brooksgate Catalog


1985 Brooksgate Catalog


1986 Brooksgate Catalog


1987 Brooksgate Catalog

I haven't heard the expression 'B-Squared' in probably 20 years. I'd like to remedy that.

Brooks Brothers closed the doors on it's authentic University Shop in the mid-70s but the idea, and it was a good one, hung around. An entry level line cut trimmer and cheaper for the starving young man of the '80s. Lets face it, in 1984 the $500 Brooks Golden Fleece worsted suit with its 6" drop would look pretty silly on a 25 year old with a 32" waist, a 40" chest and a razor thin wallet.

Brooksgate offered a 8" drop at half the price of Fleece. In short, it was a 'two-fer' and it was hard to walk away from two suits for the price of one. I bought three. Solid navy, navy pinstripe and grey pinstripe. Not a fan of Brooksgate shirts. Too thin with a short collar that caused the B-Squared roll to go MIA. However, outerwear was a steal. A Brooksgate duffle coat was half the price of a Brooks duffle and I'll be damned if I could tell the difference.

Brooksgate even had a catalog. Half the size of B-Squared and filled with photos rather than drawings. They have a certain '80s cheesiness - not unlike a Duran Duran video - that I find comforting and easy to dance to. Some great classics are mixed in with best forgotten designer train wrecks. I love the DB pincord with peak lapel on the Spring 1984 cover while Spring '87 looks like a cover from today's two-fer king, JoS. A. Bank.

As promised last week, the Trad archive deaccession continues with Brooksgate and women's wear catalogs at auction this Sunday. Realized prices last week were moderately surprising to me while jaw dropping to the Golf Foxtrot. To that end, a quick shout out to the boys in creative at 650 --Hey, this is like stealing candy from a baby -- but then, you guys already knew that.

Lots Of Friday Belts

Somewhere on the Upper West Side -- Near Broadway -- Maybe it's on Broadway -- I'm not telling you exactly -- In the 70s -- There are a number of outdoor book stalls. The guys who own them don't strike me as serious bibliophiles. Sometimes you can find a real bargain. It's a couple blocks south of Fairway. I'm not telling you exactly where.

The Golf Foxtrot does not allow me to stop at book stalls. And she ain't crazy when I bring books back from book stalls. Sometimes they smell like an ashtray. She's also afraid of bed bugs. Me? Not so much.

Walking north on Broadway a week or so ago -- 50 feet north of 73rd Street -- On the west side of the street -- Not telling you exactly where -- The sun reflects off a sheet of mylar and nearly blinds me. Stumbling up to a stall between Loehmann's and American Apparel -- That's your last clue -- I find this book. The yellowed '40s style cover is one I've seen before.


The introduction by Lucius Beebe is one I've read before. And I know, through my many bookstore travels, that this book is worth, depending on condition, about $100 smackeroos. Even more in New York. That should be a bumper sticker-- "Even More In New York" Anyway, I open the book and see it's a first printing. $3.00 is written in pencil at the top of the page.


The book is bright and clean with no smell and no bed bugs. I look at the stall owner and Presbyterian him down to $2 because, that's what you're supposed to do in New York. Another bumper sticker?


I get the book home and am amazed at the number of cocktail recipes, long lost to history, that I can steal and call my own. If I could find a source for cheap custom made belts then I'd have a book contract -- And a line. Look at the Portuguese Virgin. White Port!? Who in the hell even buys White Port anymore? Well, me but that's another story.


Most are straightforward sans blenders and infused syrups


"How about a Sink or Swim, Phil?" Now that's a cocktail


One of you will steal this


Never


Beats a Slow Comfortable Screw


"Do you want me to call you in the morning or should I just nudge you?"


Two of you will steal this


Brandy, gin and vermouth - That's a wedding


The End


Pretty amazing story, huh? I just wish it were true. What is true is that I don't have the time or the bridge table to set up a stall on Broadway. And I have a lotta catalogs to sell. Brooks Brothers catalogs going back to 1980. The first batch went up Sunday night. I'll follow each week with different seasons: Fall, Christmas, Winter, Spring and Summer.


Brooksgate, Women, Footwear...You get the idea. These things are taking up too much room in an 805 sq foot apartment. Add that to the fact that Heavy Tweed Jacket is off the air again and you can blog your own Brooks Brothers posts. Catalogs can be found here and I suggest having a few of these cocktails while you're bidding. Cheers.

Extinct Etamine Etymolgy

The Holy Grail

Etamine pullover


Etamine in yellow, white, blue, pink and melon


Etamine defined


I was talking to Tom Davis (MTM Shirts) at Brooks Brothers last week. We covered a lot of ground but everything stopped when he brought up etamine. An ultra light voile-like fabric used by Brooks Brothers for shirting years ago. I did some digging around and didn't find much. I'm still digging.

A weekend wander through textile and fashion books reveal the letter 'E' has the fewest entries and etamine ain't one of 'em. The internet will tell you it's a light porous cotton in an open mesh, susceptible to snagging, with a slight gloss finish. Dig a little deeper into the etymology and, by 1936, etamine is pretty much extinct.

Hardly a surprise Brooks Brothers catalogs from the late '70s and early '80s show the shirt Tom remembered. Short sleeve pullover in basic blue, yellow and white with pink and melon added in 1981. Great colors, popular pullover style and a fabric that appears to breathe better than linen. Cheaper too according to a web site that sells etamine for three bucks a meter (beware minimum order).

Who knows if etamine today is the same as it was in 1981? That's a question not a statement. If you know, please let me know, since the hunt is on. Summers don't look like they're gonna get any cooler.

Two Unknown Brooks Brothers Designers

Polly & Esther.

1980's Chicks - Brooks Brothers

If loving this is wrong then I don't want to be right...

Spring 1989

Spring 1989

Fall 1988

Spring 1989

Spring 1988

Fall 1989

Spring 1988

Spring 1989

Fall 1989

Spring 1988

A lot of the catalogs Brook's Brothers put out for women were (and still are) cheesy spectacles of poor layout, bad photography and laughable back drops. Early '80s back drops stand out with a whole lot of split rail fences, Mt Vernon porches and ersatz fireplaces.

Something happened in '88 and '89. And not just the catalogs but the clothing as well. Beautiful photography with scenes of Manhattan hooked up with models who looked they made a living modeling. And the clothes were amazing. Grown up and sophisticated in rich fabrics for decades of wear. Hell, even that damned tassel flattie disappeared (for a while).

I'd love to know what happened. And I'd love to know why it ended. A real shame because Brook's never came close to this kind of erudite style again. With a lot of '80s inspired fashion showing up everywhere today you'd think this would be a no brainer.

Off My Back: Mercer & Sons

Brook's Brothers Catalog - Christmas 1983

Mercer & Sons - Young Putz Designers Need Not Apply

The 80's Weave

Soft is key

Unlined Collar

When I started working for Brook's Brothers sometime in the mid-80's, I had only been a customer since the early 80's. There were few stores and since my father wore an army uniform to work every day... Well, lets put it this way, there was no passing down of the Golden Fleece.

As an employee of Brooks, I had plenty of their button down oxfords. And without getting too sentimental, they are today only a whisper thin cotton strand of what they once were. This decline, according to many including long time Brook's employee, Tom Davis, started shortly after I became a customer. The unlined collar became lined because someone at Brooks thought it 'looked better' according to Tom.

Mercer & Sons went to work in 1982 to correct the changes being made to the Brook's oxford and they do the shirt better than anyone I've come across. Not that I've stopped looking. The shirt weighs in at a thumping 13 ounces. And the weave is a dead ringer for the old Brooks oxford. The collar is perfect. Unlined and easy in appearance. That was the whole point of the collar before some git at Brooks decided it needed to be lined. Most likely a Californian.

The shirt's made in Maine. Score 1 point. The shirt's authentic to it's history and hasn't been screwed with by some putz designer. Score 2 points. The quality of the manufacture is top of class. Score 3 points. The shirt is not a good value. Score 0 points. Three outta four ain't bad. These are expensive. $90 and up. But they're the best out there and compared to what some designers are getting, $150 and up, they may indeed qualify as a damn good value.