Please give a warm welcome to Solanah of Vixen Vintage today! She is one of the most inspiring vintage fashion bloggers and always seems to find amazing vintage treasures. (I secretly want to steal her wardrobe.) She’s guest posted for me before, and I’m so excited that she said yes when I asked her this time! Solanah has a great 1940s suit to show off today, one that is really inspiring because it’s homemade and could have well been one of the “make do and mend” suits refashioned from a man’s suit (something that is still on my to-do list…). How neat! Plus there is some cute-kitty action in this post—always a good thing! lol.
Hello everyone! Solanah from Vixen Vintage here, thought I would share my new favorite autumn suit on Casey’s blog, as it reminded me so much of her!
The suit is from the early 1940s, I picked it up at an estate sale last week, and was excited to find a similar style in a reproduction Sears catalogue, dated 1942. Though the style was so useful and classic, it was popular for years. This particular suit is homemade, and I think it may even be a womens suit made from a mans. This practice was popular during WWII, women would take their husbands, brothers, or fathers suits, and use special patterns to re-make them to fit fashionable standards. That way they could take something that wasn’t being used (if your man was away at war of course) and make a whole new outfit for themselves. Upcycling was a very patriotic thing to do before the word was ever coined!
"Man Tailored" as mentioned in the ad, does not mean that the suit is made from a mans, it indicates that the suit is made from the same quality fabric as a mans suit (which would last him a lifetime), and that the details are a bit more masculine. There’s less pretty details, it’s just a simple, streamline suit, that can last decades, as you can see with this one!
Hope you enjoyed the pics of me and this little kitty who wanted to be photographed too! I wanted to take him home 
The suit looks very smart and elegant.
There’s a clip of a newsreel on the british pathé website about ‘make do and mend’ which mentions the diligent wife ‘using hubbys suit’ to make one for herself.
such a pretty suit! and such a pretty cat, too!
Lovely Suit! And Hey!! Showing off those shoes but no info given?? No fair! ;^)
Sorry about that! The shoes are Chie Mihara, and the hat is from Re-Runs vintage in Kansas City
Really fantastic outfit! The suit is great but my favourite is the hat!
Great suit, and I love the cat’s cameo in the photo shoot. A perfect accessory!
…tell me more about those lovely shoes! where are they from?!
Oh sorry, totally forgot the credit the shoes and hat! The shoes are Chie Mihara, and the hat is from Re-Runs vintage in Kansas City
Lovely suit! It’s great how upcyling was done long before it had a name. And how fascinating to think that your suit may have served both halves of a couple (or a woman and her father, brother, etc) well.
I have a couple of pieces in my wardrobe that say they are “man-tailored” and I always wondered exactly why, but makes perfect sense that they were made with the same quality as something that was supposed to last a man years and years.
Now that’s a beauty of a suit. It reminds me of a tweed suit worn by Lauren Bacall in To have and Have not.
It’s really cute! & I love your shoes too!
My great-grandmother, when she heard about how I liked to refashion items, told me stories about how she and her mother had made clothes out of many different things, like skirts from men’s shirts and pants. It was how they got by when money was scarce. The creativity is what I like most, though.(:
Beautiful suit. Solanah, you wear it well.
Nice outfit- I’m not used to see you in 1940s wear on your blog though- more 1950s???
I wear 1930s-1950s mostly, but a majority of it is 50s because it fits so well
Ah!
That’s probably the most beautiful suit I’ve ever seen! Maybe because I absolutely adore combination of brown colour and 1940s outfit!
Lovely!
I love the idea of men suits, a little history never hurt! You look gorgeous Solanah!
That is indeed some lovely eye candy. The suit looks so nicely made and fits so well. Cute shoes and styling, too.
Such a gorgeous suit Solanah. You really find the most amazing pieces- I’m so envious !