Can the sack suit surivive? Well in one cinematic tale — which was made during the Ivy heyday — it’s the last garment mankind will wear in the wake of a zombie apocalypse.
It wouldn’t be Halloween without a shot of Vincent Price, and below you’ll find the full version of his 1964 movie “The Last Man On Earth.” Based on the 1954 novel “I Am Legend,” which provided the source material for the recent Will Smith film of the same name, Price plays a scientist clad throughout the film in an Ivy-styled sack jacket.
Spoiler alert: Price’s character dies at the end, calling his adversaries “freaks,” no doubt in part for their two-button, darted jackets with shoulder pads.
Vincent Price, like myself, was born in St. Louis; a Mayflower descendant, graduate of Country Day School and Yale. In the late 50s he used to frequent the old Tack Room in the Chase Hotel in St. Louis and give advice to wet behind the ears undergrads like myself. Always advised not to go into acting. A perfect Ivy Style dresser back in the heyday. One of the finest actors this country has produced.
Vern — What a great memory. I saw him once at some point in the 1980s. He was, as unbelievable as it sounds, peering into an Egyptian sarcophagus at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I have a gourmet cook book/restaurant guide that he and his wife put together in the mid 60s, and it is a delight, filled with photographs and descriptions of favorite restaurants and dishes from around the word. An urbane, witty and charming man.
Here I sit in a two-button, darted jacket with shoulder pads. It’s not as if I really had a choice in the matter. This could have been a decent jacket. Spotted by chance, off the rack, in my size, and on sale. Unheard of. I have been considering going in with a razor blade, and removing this padding, which would drop the shoulder seams as much as an inch. Word on the web is this takes a “good tailor” to make this alteration. That ship sailed 50 years ago. Any suggestions?
“Word on the web is this takes a “good tailor” to make this alteration.”
Alas, my tailor in the SanFrancisco Bay area could do it. But he is
retiring at the end of the year. You might post your request on Style
Forum. Good luck.
John Darnielle wrote a song about it:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHwwXKl8Zrg
Take my word for it, it is a really bad movie.
Kagi – Thanks, I have not seen the movie, but I am a big John Darnielle fan.
A better song:
http://youtu.be/LCUyMho744g
Didn’t I just see this on the Talk Ivy site?!
You did! Hahaha…
P.S.: he does wear a white T-Shirt under his BD. Styleless, lame wimp!
Wasn’t I Am Legend also the basis for Charlton Heston’s early-70s zombie classic The Omega Man?
Vincent Price, like myself, was born in St. Louis; a Mayflower descendant, graduate of Country Day School and Yale. In the late 50s he used to frequent the old Tack Room in the Chase Hotel in St. Louis and give advice to wet behind the ears undergrads like myself. Always advised not to go into acting. A perfect Ivy Style dresser back in the heyday. One of the finest actors this country has produced.
Vern — What a great memory. I saw him once at some point in the 1980s. He was, as unbelievable as it sounds, peering into an Egyptian sarcophagus at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. I have a gourmet cook book/restaurant guide that he and his wife put together in the mid 60s, and it is a delight, filled with photographs and descriptions of favorite restaurants and dishes from around the word. An urbane, witty and charming man.
Vern
Agree he was one of our best actors ever, but he was wasted on many of the camp horror films he found himself in.
Here I sit in a two-button, darted jacket with shoulder pads. It’s not as if I really had a choice in the matter. This could have been a decent jacket. Spotted by chance, off the rack, in my size, and on sale. Unheard of. I have been considering going in with a razor blade, and removing this padding, which would drop the shoulder seams as much as an inch. Word on the web is this takes a “good tailor” to make this alteration. That ship sailed 50 years ago. Any suggestions?
“Word on the web is this takes a “good tailor” to make this alteration.”
Alas, my tailor in the SanFrancisco Bay area could do it. But he is
retiring at the end of the year. You might post your request on Style
Forum. Good luck.
“A man who limits his interests, limits his life.”