Vintage Menswear! Simplicity 6693

I sew a lot of button-down shirts for my partner, mostly Negroni by Colette patterns.  He's happy with it, we've perfected the fit to his liking, why change horses?  But I was cruising Etsy and found this vintage pattern (circa 1974), bought it, showed it to Tim online and he wrinkled his nose and said "No, I don't think so."
I was crushed, but I had a feeling he would like it and I decided to make it anyway.  My pattern actually had the embroidery transfer in it still! (which I didn't use)  I cut the size 40 and decided to use this heavyweight chambray from Califabrics.com that I had leftover from a skirt I'd made.

It was very easy to sew - the instructions were excellent and it's pretty straightforward, especially if you've made a tailored shirt before.   I had wanted to sew this because it has a two-part collar, and the Negroni shirt is a camp collar, and I decided it was time to tackle the more complicated collar. It went together with no struggles or swearing, and again, good instructions.

Another bonus of breaking out of my Negroni mold  - new approaches to old techniques.  I think the sleeve placket on the Negroni looks very nice, but I hate how tedious and time consuming it is.  It's not so bad with a crisp shirting but I've found if using a flannel or something with a twill weave and mechanical stretch, all of the folds can become distorted and it gets ugly. This had a beautifully simple design:


It is basically just a binding over a slit! Stitch it, fold it, fold it, stitch it!  Life changing.   Not as nice as a placket on a more formal shirt, but for something casual it's great! (I used some scrap lightweight dotted chambray fabric because I was out of my main fabric.)

This was starting to seem more like a jacket than a shirt,so I decide to just go all in and use these wooden buttons I found on Etsy.  
Tim tried it on, looked at me, and said, "I hate it when you're right."
I like the slimmer vintage fit. And the collar isn't quite as dramatic as the illustration suggests.
The back doesn't have any pleats like in many men's shirts, because of the yoke overlay.  And it has a straight hem, not a shirt-tail shape.
The collar was a success.  Next time I will treat the inside facing as the 'top' for a neater finish since it's worn open, and you can't see the right side since it's under the upper collar.  Make sense? But it's not bad for my first pass.
He loves it! And has been wearing it often, it's great for cool mornings. Not to mention I love it!! I think it has a vintage feel (like a Marlboro man vibe) but without being costume-y.  I think with vintage patterns sometimes you just have to imagine the look with modern styling.  And sunglasses.

I love it when I'm right!

(There are a bunch of these floating around on Etsy if you're interested!)

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