#vintage-clothing

#vintage-clothing

When I was a teenager in the 1980s, I had a lot of favourite items of clothing: scrunchy turquoise cargo trousers with an elasticated waistband, grey suede pixie boots, a skimpy beach T-shirt with the word Hawaii written on it (a place I have never visited), a Cyndi Lauper-inspired ra-ra skirt with ruffles in pink, white and, yes, turquoise. But there were so many objects of desire that I was not permitted to acquire: crinkle-effect stilettos, a Frankie Say Relax T-shirt, jelly shoes, drainpipe jeans, a matador hat like the ones Mel & Kim wore Also out of my reach for most of my teens was the thing I wanted most: the effect of a whole outfit.

For more than 105 years, Hammer & Lewis Clothiers has existed in an indefinable place in culture and time. Its two San Jose locations offer Cary Grant-worthy suits, the shiniest of dress shoes, classic flannel Pendletons and jackets flamboyant enough for Burning Man celebrants. It is de rigueur for zoot-suited pachucos and aficionados of fine headwear and can count ZZ Top guitarist Billy Gibbons among its sharp-dressed men.