MY ALTER EGO VINTAGE SHIRT

I've not bought any vintage in a long time, however, last weekend I found myself in one of Manchester's best known vintage shops, COW. I was browsing the packed rails full of vintage clothing, when low and behold I came across something I fell in love with. There was however, a downside. The shirt I'd found jammed in amongst the rails was an extra-large, not just any extra-large an American XL. This thing was HUGE! Reason number 1, I find vintage shopping annoying, you discover the most killer piece and what do you know, it doesn't fit you, ANNOYING!

I saw past the shirts huge size and was initially going to purchase it not to wear, but to frame as a piece of art! That was my thinking, if I couldn't physically wear it, I'd do the next best thing! 
I mean, just look at that print, it's unbelievable!

The bar alone shapes up to be my perfect night out, a few beers to start, a martini or two in the middle, then a good old whisky to end. The bar stools are also particularly cool, especially the chair with the leather biker jacket effortlessly thrown over it, next to the red electric guitar. You really do feel the cool oozing out of this shirt. The scene is finished off and lit up by the large suspended lights above the bar, it's just one incredibly cool print and incredibly cool shirt. How could I leave something this good behind?

Answer: I couldn't. I felt like I'd stumbled upon a shirt that summed up my alter ego of The Unidentified Rocker down to a T, I can imagine myself in this bar, nevermind wearing the print on a shirt. As I mentioned this shirt was an XL, so you're all probably thinking to yourselves, well, it doesn't look that big to me. That's correct, it doesn't. I loved this shirt so much I wanted to wear it, meaning the shirt and myself had to take a trip straight to the tailors.

As you can see the tailor did an excellent job cutting and shaping the shirt, as well as loosing a lot of length from the body and sleeves which I can tell you now, were both very long! That's the beauty of vintage, I have something no one else has and probably can never get, the shirt was £19 and I spent £26 getting it tailored to my exact measurements.

This shirt was made in Honolulu, Hawaii and has definitely been around for a few years, looking at the labels inside I get the impression its being around from the early 80's even late 70's as it states the brand has been around since 1956. The brands called Tori Richard and feel like it's a quality piece. I just love the mother of pearl buttons each with Tori Richard etched on to them, and this killer discovery has me hooked. I'll definitely be heading back and shopping vintage very soon to find my next diamond in the rough!

I'd love to know your best vintage finds and where you came across them! Comment in the box below.

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