A black three piece suit, a white shirt with cufflinks, and a rainbow of neckties for every occasion---- oh yeah and shoes that shine!!                   

                     Clothing I couldn't do without:

levi's
my leopard print mules
cocktail length chinese dress with long sleeves
chuck taylor's black converse high tops
vintage bowling shirt in red
saddle shoes
opera length black gloves
navy blue 1940's vintage suit
snood
cuban heeled stockings worn with garters
pair of vintage navy pants (13 buttons)
black fedora
black ankle strap very high heels
1950's pink raw silk pencil skirt
pea coat

Scarlett                   

                     faded, holey blue jeans
black spaghetti strap tank top
white bowling shirt
wingtip mary janes
red gingham sundress
green flip flops
vintage two piece suit
red heels with ankle strap
collection of thrifted t shirts
cherry belt buckle                   

                     My grey skirt with the very thin pleats.
Several billion cashmere jumpers.
My shiny little black button-bar shoes with the heel that curves under.                   

                     Don't forget the Kiss Me Kwik baseball cap and the They Went To Ibiza/Lanzarotte/Lorette And All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt T-shirt.                   

                     Wingnut - It's hard to find a decent fur felt fedora for under $100, but the serious (that is, utterly fanatical!) folks over at the Indygear website insist that best-buy "Indy style" 30s/40s fedora out there today is the Federation, made by Akubra in Australia. With current exchange rates, it's only about $65 if you order from this site:

http://www.hatsdirect.com/hatdb.cgi?feder

The only gotcha is that the Federation is a totally *unbashed* hat - you have to shape it yourself, which actually doesn't sound all that hard. In any case, this is apparently quite a superior quality hat for its price...

I've always gotten by okay with my gray Stetson "Temple" - which is going for about $100 these days - but since I've recently gotten some brown jackets, I intend to get one of these Federations in the fall...

BTW, what kind of A-2 do you have? I have a couple of these uber-cool jackets myself...                   

                     

They Went To Ibiza/Lanzarotte/Lorette And All I Got Was This Lousy T-Shirt T-shirt.

Hehehe, you mean they have those t-shirts in England too?                   

                     Doctor Strange:

Hmmm...that's quite reasonable.  I'm not enthusiastic about bashing my own hat, but that's half the adventure, I suppose.  Problem is that I'd want TWO...one gray, the other brown.  I don't like the idea of brown with a blue suit, but gray doesn't always work.  Most of my clothing is some variation of green or brown earthtones.

As for my A-2, I've got two, both in horsehide.  One came from U.S. Authentic(via Garcia Aviation), the other's a Sporty's pilot shop copy, which is a bit inaccurate, but it was a steal at $80.

I use the Authentic as my nice one, and the Sporty's as a 'beater'...I've sandpapered all the seams and rolled it up in a ball overnight after soaking it with water.  It looks genuinely old.  I've even distressed the shoulder decal.  Next step is to get the back painted and get my 56th FG insignia put on, among other things...I think by the time I'm finished, I'll have more money in my 'beater' A-2 than the other!                   

                     (I'm not taking this discussion off-line just yet, because I think there might be some other flight jacket fans out there who will find it interesting!)

Wingnut - I also have a US Authentic Horsehide WWII-style A-2, which - since I live pretty close by - I picked out personally at their little "factory" (actually a garage/carriage house with four sewing machines: they're a *small* business). It's a *great* jacket, I simply love it. I have yet to have anyone give me a convincing argument for spending $200 more for a "more accurate" reproduction A-2 from Eastman, Aero, Real McCoys, Lost Worlds, etc. And boy, is that horsehide leather a trip: after a year of on-and-off wear, it's *still* not quite fully broken in - it's some seriously tough stuff!

I also have a current-spec Air Force A-2 from Flight Suits (aka Gibson & Barnes) in (non-regulation!) black goatskin, the "civil" model with extra pockets. It's also a very nice jacket, but the synthetic lining and knits just feel *wrong* compared to the proper cotton and wool on the US Authentic! And the standard sizing used these days doesn't really suit me: I don't have the Schwartzenegerian chest and arms it seems designed for... Still, the black matches my mostly gray/black/blue wardrobe well, and I can't fault the contruction or materials (apart from the synthetics, but they *are* what the Air Force currently specifies). I bet Flight Suits' Historical models (which use the proper cotton and wool) are really nice!

I also just recently got a Wested Raiders of the Lost Ark jacket. While this isn't a flight jacket, or historically accurate to anything (except the jackets worn by Harrison Ford in 1980!), it's a really nice jacket. The Raiders design was clearly largely influenced by the A-2: the patch pockets, collar, and windflap are all constructed virtually the same way. But it's a much lighter jacket (especially in the original thin lambskin, which I got), not having any knits on the sleeves or bottom, a looser "action back", and a thin cotton lining - it's comparable in weight to a denim jacket. I got it specifically to be my "summer" jacket, for conditions when an A-2 is simply too warm. (And the kicker is, the Raiders jacket was *made to my custom sizing* by the same costume shop in England that made the originals used in the films... for $50 less than the Flight Suits A-2 cost!)

Anyway, gotta love those classic A-2 flight jackets!                   

                     Oh gracious, how could I have forgotten to list my $20 leather jacket. :? Definitely an essential. It's the kind that's trying to be an A2, and just misses...                     

                     

40s rayon dress w/fabric print of blue matches & pink flames

Just wondering...

Flames weren't an authentic 40's print, were they?  I always thought of flames as a neoswing thing.

Also... maybe someone knows better than I...  but I go swing dancing a lot, and I've noticed that some of the swing dancers try to dress in "40's era" clothing and wear sleeveless blouces or dresses.  Many of them also wear cherry print.  I always thought that the 50's was more the time for cherry print and sleeveless/strappy clothing while the 40's was all about sleeves... especially puffed, capped or 3/4.  Am I just way off the mark on this one?

Lindydivaus:
Working on getting some houndstooth check trousers like yours!!!  And I also have a navy peter pan blouse.  Love those collars...  :-)                   

                     Since the only look I can hope to pull off anymore is a kind of watered-down Dana Andrews in "The Best Years of Our Lives", my fashion essentials are:

cargo pants
khakis
mechanic's jeans (v. loose fit, stiff denim)
laundered white shirts
bowling shirts
Hawaiian shirt
Blundstones
rayon windbreaker
suede car coat
panama hat