I did come away with a black and white silk evening scarf that belonged to the late actor John Barrymore and was given to Fairbanks on the occasion of his 90th birthday along with a letter from Barrymore's fourth and final wife attesting to its provenance. Once the scarf arrives in San Francisco it will join the ASW store as one of the first items in a new Rarities category of one of a kind and other interesting clothing-related things.
From the auction, I made my way to Tender Buttons, New York's fine button store, where I got to see Millicent Safro's collection of enamelled jacket buttons from the estate of the late Duke of Windsor (hopefully the photos will be deemed usable when they are looked at tomorrow).
It was a good day.
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5 comments:
I bid for the scarf: well done. I think that it was a gift for his 19th birthday.
I look forward to seeing suitably cool paraphernalia and desiderata in your Rarities shop!
So? What was the winning bid? you've got to tell us that after everything else that sold at higher than expected prices? What Recession?
Will, I look forward to your comments about DF's clothing.
My initial impressions:
a) A man cannot own too many navy blazers! DF had them in all varieties: SB, DB (4 on 2, 6, on 2), serge, hopsack, twill, etc. There seemed to have been 10 on sale. Some were quite worn. Although a pea coat would not techincally be a blazer, the pea coat was exquisite.
b) Most of the tailored clothes came from Stovel & Mason (now part of Davies & Son). H. Hunstman comes-in second with mostly country suits and tweed sportscoats. I saw one item from Lesley & Roberts and a sports suit from Caraceni.
c) Most of the tailored clothes were in excellent condition, especially the tweeds and a couple of the overcoats. Some of the tweeds, overcoats, and country suits were in impeccable, almost brand new condition! Most of the clothes were from the 1980's and earlier. This attests to the longevity of English cloth and Savile Row workmanship.
d) The suiting and formal wear cloths were all heavy and traditional. No super 120's or 160's. In the city clothes, nothing avart garde. Plain suitings. The country cloths were all heavy and very colorful. The Caraceni sports suit was very heavy.
e) The pocket squares were pretty ordinary by contemporary standards. Most had machined edges. I do not recall seeing any names, such Turnbull or Charvet.
f) The ties were also ordinary. Many club ties, such as the NYC Players' Club.
g) The few cufflinks on sale were unsigned. I trust that his children took the best ones.
h) DF had many hats. Probably 15 for sale of all types, fedoras, homburgs, formal, Tyrolean, etc.
Beautiful scarf, let us know when its available at the ASW Store. I wonder, will you make it an auction as well or will it have a set price?
All Best,
Julios
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