1960s Chanel-Inspired Davidow Jacket

I mentioned a few days ago that I lucked into a vintage pop-up shop on the streets of Asheville.  One of the great things about Asheville is that there are numerous little alleyways and side streets, many of which are not being well utilized, but which have great charm and potential.  In this case there is outdoor seating for a restaurant, but the space behind it was perfect for a temporary shop.

The business is called the Urban Gypsy, and the young woman who owns it does pop-ups in Asheville and Savannah.  What a perfect combination of cities!

After the disappointment of the very needy Bonnie Cashin I kept looking, hoping that lighten would strike twice.  That’s when I spotted a small group of tweed jackets.

There were a couple of jackets in shades of blue, and here is the one I choose.  I tried it on, and even the older man standing there waiting for his wife to finish up looking gave it a thumbs up.  It was truly a perfect fit.

The icing on the cake was the Davidow label.  Davidow was a high-end ready-to-wear label.  According to the research of Claire Sheaffer, Davidow made both Chanel-inspired suits and Chanel reproductions.  The reproductions actually used Chanel fabrics and in many cases, buttons.  My new jacket is probably of the inspired variety, but the wool plaid tweed is one mighty fine textile.

The jacket has bound buttonholes, something I’d be afraid to risk on such a loosely woven and bulky fabric.

The pockets are functional, and I love how they are cut on the diagonal.

I’m not 100% sure that the buttons are original, but the thread used to sew them does match the color of the lining.  The underside of the buttons is a mottled blue, which indicated these may have faded over time.  I’ll probably replace the buttons, as I bought this to wear and I want blue ones.  I will carefully save the old buttons.

Unfortunately, the lining proves once and for all that Southern women do actually sweat (as opposed to glisten).  The lining is a rayon faille, and is not as luxurious as I like.  Am I crazy for even considering replacing the lining with silk crepe de chine?

The seller found the jacket in Savannah, and it has a nice store label.  I can’t find a thing about Fine’s, but I do remember shopping there on a trip to Savannah in the mid 1970s.  At that time the store was located in a mall, as their downtown was in a downward slide.  Today downtown Savannah is a charming place with nice shops, most of which are local.

 

1960s Suit by Davidow

One of the chapters in Claire Shaeffer’s new book, The Couture Cardigan Jacket, shows how to distinguish between an authentic vintage Chanel jacket and an authorized copy.  In the past, American ready-to-wear makers, and even department stores that had their own sewing workshops, could buy the rights to make and sell couture copies.  One of the best known makers of Chanel copies was Davidow.

Today we hear the word “copy” and we think of an illegal activity.  But this practice was perfectly legal.  In the photo below which was taken from the October 15, 1960 issue of Vogue, squint and you can read, “Suit copy by Davidow at Bonwit Teller.  Chanel copies all five pages. ”

Photo copyright Conde Nast Publications, 1960

Davidow made both Chanel-inspired suits and as seen above, faithful Chanel copies, right down to the same fabric and Chanel buttons.  They were not couture, but they were luxury ready-to-wear and as such were quite expensive.

My suit is of the Chanel-inspired variety.  Still, it is a very nice suit with all sorts of lovely details.

Here is the Davidow label.  But what if my label were missing?  How could I tell that this is not a couture suit?

The first hint is the lining fabric.  While the fashion fabric – the outside fabric that everyone sees – is a very nice tweedy silk, the lining is an average quality acetate.  In a couture suit the lining would be silk.

As you would find in a couture suit, the sleeve is nicely shaped to fit the bend of the elbow.  However, this sleeve is constructed from two pattern pieces.  Chanel couture sleeves have three pieces.

My suit has a vent at the sleeve cuff, but the button is sewn to secure the vent.  In a couture suit there would be a functioning buttonhole through which the button would fasten.

My suit has topstitching around the collar and the front edges.  The topstitching was sewn after the jacket was constructed.  In a Chanel couture jacket, the topstitching will be only on the outside layer and is stitched before the pieces are constructed.

The buttonholes on my suit are bound.  On a Chanel couture jacket the buttonholes are handworked, with a faux bound hole on the lining.

On copies, the flaps often do not have a real pocket beneath.  However, my suit has two actual pockets and two faux pockets.  You might think that all Chanel couture suits would have pockets beneath all flaps, but Shaeffer’s research has shown this to not be true.  Chanel often used faux flaps as well.

My jacket is also not quilted and there is no chain along the edge of the hem.  But it does have a nice Lord and Taylor label.

To see some great ads from the early 1960s which show Davidow suits, visit Jen’s blog, Pintucks.

Continuing with Davidow

Since finding the wonderful Davidow fabric, I thought I’d get out a Davidow suit I have.  This one is a beautiful silk tweed, in a color very close to the wool fabric.  This is typical Davidow, suits made from nice fabrics in the style of, or a direct copy of, Chanel.

It’s no big secret that they copied Chanel.  They paid for the honor of doing it, and it was well publicized.  The October 15, 1960 Vogue even did a feature on the Chanel styles for that fall, but the suits and coats in the photo shoot were all Davidow.

Photo copyright Conde Nast Publications, 1960

Read the small print to see “Suit copy by Davidow at Bonwit Teller.”  A while back someone posted the suit in the photo on a vintage chat board.  There was no label, but they thought it was a Chanel.  A close examination of the details showed it was not couture, and so was probably a Davidow copy!

And there has been a problem with selling these vintage Chanel copies on eBay, as the Chanel company automatically closes down any auction that says the item is a Chanel copy.  Well, this IS a Chanel copy, and it was done with Mademoiselle’s blessing, so it ought to be allowed.  Some people have very short memories!

Comments:

Posted by Anonymous:

I am also a Davidow fan–and I remember the trunk shows that would come into our local Bullock’s in the 60’s, going to see them with my mom who eventually owned two suits.
Chanel copies? Doesn’t the inner construction and often unlined collar make them substantially different from Chanels?
Now I just hoard every one that I find, and they won’t be going up for sale either!;)

Saturday, September 19th 2009 @ 8:37 PM

Posted by Jen:

(oops, that is my comment–didn’t mean to be anonymous!!!)

Saturday, September 19th 2009 @ 8:39 PM

Posted by Lizzie:

Hi Jen, What a great memory. The design was copied, but there was no way Davidow could copy the construction at the price they sold suits. Not cheap by any means, but not the price of a couture garment.

Sunday, September 20th 2009 @ 5:19 AM

 

Vintage Fabric Jackpot!

I went to one of my favorite shopping places today – the Goodwill Clearance Center.  I go there mainly for one reason: to look for vintage fabrics.  Today I got lucky.

They rolled out one entire bin that was all fabric, most of it older than 1980.  I was just in Heaven!  Most of it was cottons, very nice 1940s and 50s cottons, and so I was filling my arms with it, afraid to surrender my spot around the bin.  Then I spied this lovely wool, and  picked it up as well.  Later I unfolded it to check on condition, saw there was about three yards of it and that it was absolutely pristine.

It wasn’t until I got home that I noticed the tag:

The fabric was some that had either been made for or used by the suit and coat maker, Davidow.  And that was exciting, because in the 1950s and 60s, Davidow made excellent copies of Chanel suits.  Not just Chanel-inspired, but beautifully made copies using high end fabrics.  So now I have three yards of a fabulous wool I will use to make a spring coat, and I paid considerably less than the $6.90 a yard it cost back in the day.  Today you would be lucky to even find wool of this quality.