Black Rebel Motorcycle Club...The Schott Perfecto!

This Schott NYC 'Perfecto' motorcycle jacket was just too damn cool not to blog about, so we snapped a couple of pictures before selling it earlier today. There can be no disputing that a black leather biker jacket is bad-ass, and the Schott Perfecto is the leather biker jacket.

This one dates from around the mid to late 1970s

Designed by Irving Schott in 1928, the Perfecto was the first leather motorcycle jacket of its kind. Ever the innovators, Schott were also the first outerwear company to put a zipper on a jacket! The Perfecto was immortalized on the silver screen and introduced to a new audience in the process by Marlon Brando in the 1953 movie 'The Wild One', and is now universally recognized as a symbol of rock 'n' roll cool thanks in no small part to punk pioneers The Ramones, for whom the Perfecto was almost a uniform. More recently Lady Gaga & Lilly Allen have been seen rocking the jacket.

James Dean practically lived in his Perfecto

Marlon Brando as 'Johnny' in The Wild One, 1953

The Ramones revive the biker gang look in late 70s NYC

Sex Pistols bassist Sid Vicious once said he wanted to be buried in his!

For over 80 years, four generations of the Schott family have continued to make this iconic American classic. The Perfecto has remained pretty much unchanged in design since its inception, and is still made the same way, on the same machines, in a factory just outside NYC, and you can't say that about much these, so bravo to Schott.

AMT at the April Manhattan Vintage Show!

This time last week we were frantically preparing for Friday & Saturdays Manhattan Vintage Clothing Show. Now the dust has settled, we are pleased to say we can look back on an exciting and successful show. It's always an action packed and intense couple of days, with over 90 top quality vintage clothing dealers packed under one roof! When the doors open at 1pm on Friday afternoon, the line of fashion designers, stylists, collectors and fashionistas who have all been waiting outside in their droves descend on New Yorks 'Metropolitan Pavillion'. The hunt is well and truly on to seek out those special one-of-a-kind finds.

For the dealers and organizers, the day starts much earlier though, many traveling from far and wide throughout the night and early hours of the morning to load-in at the crack of dawn. Heavy antique display cases, rack after rack of vintage gowns and designer frocks pass you by, along with a few of last nights revelers. Bins of shoes and a sea of accessories and suitcases are all rolled, heaved and lugged through the delivery bay by our tired but (usually) friendly vintage family, each as eager as the next to start their elaborate set-up, and unveil the treasures they have unearthed over the past weeks and months. Six hours, as many coffees and a lot of stress later, the fun part begins!

The Another Man's Treasure booth....Our Jersey City shop transported to NYC

Ready for action!

The show is rocking, people are digging our stuff, all that effort is paying off

I think we're gonna need a bigger booth ;)

Check out our rainbow racks!

Don't worry if you couldn't make the show, most of these goodies are back in the shop this week, so stop by and take a look if you're in the neighborhood. We'd like to thank everyone who came out and made the show a success, especially our loyal Jersey City customers, we hope you enjoyed it as much as we did. We'll do it all over again in October, see you then!

Vintage BIBA! (Manhattan Vintage Show part II)

We are SUPER EXCITED to be bringing 2 great VINTAGE BIBA pieces to this weeks Manhattan Vintage Show! BIBA was one of the great fashion and pop culture phenomenons of the 20th century, and extremely collectible and iconic as vintage today. BIBA has also been a huge influence on us personally, and we have spent countless hours drawing inspiration from images of the clothes, the stores, the logos and the story of BIBA fashion designer and visionary Barbara Hulanicki.

Late 1960s BIBA blouse with bell sleeve

The iconic BIBA Art Nouveau inspired logo

Signature Art Deco pattern

BIBA creator Barbara Hulanicki inside her first shop on Abingdon Road, Kensington circa 1964

late 1960s BIBA velvet 2-piece

Art Nouveau patterns like this were synonymous with BIBA

For those of you unfamiliar with BIBA, here's an extremely condensed history we've taken from the pages of two great books by 'Alwyn W Turner'; 'The BIBA Experience', and 'Welcome to Big BIBA'....

'Biba Creator Barbara Hulanicki first sold her designs through a small mail-order business featured in the fashion columns of daily newspapers. In 1964 she opened the first BIBA shop on Abingdon Road in Kensington, West London, with her husband Stephen Fitz-Simon. Inspired by the Art Deco and Art Nouveau movements, along with 1930s Hollywood Glamour, BIBA quickly became famous for its decadent atmosphere and lavish decor. Its meteoric rise was aided by celebrity endorsement from the likes of Twiggy, Marrianne Faithfull and Cathy McGowan, and they would regularly sell out of new styles in a matter of hours. BIBA, unlike many hip boutiques of the time, catered to the average girl, providing glamor and rock and roll decadence at affordable prices.

A second shop opened in 1965, followed by a business savvy mail-order catalog allowing teenagers across the UK to get the BIBA look without visiting London. In 1969 BIBA moved to Kensington High Street and continued to grow. In 1974 the store made an audacious move to a seven-storey Art Deco era department store building, the first department store to open up in post-WWII Britain!

The Sultry Art Deco interior of the Big BIBA store

Dubbed 'Big BIBA' , this was now more than just a clothing store. With different themes for different floors, the BIBA shopper could buy make-up, books, home furnishings & house wares, even food for themselves and their pets! The were also Mens and Childrens departments for the first time. A true phenomenon of the time, Big BIBA immediately attracted up to a million customers weekly, making it one of the busiest tourist attractions in London! Especially popular was the 'Logo Shop' where anything and everything with the BIBA logo could be purchased. As well as shopping, customers could dine and be entertained on the fifth floors 'rainbow Room Restaurant', and relax on the roof garden with its resident Flamingos. You could also just sit and watch the world go by from the ground floor windows, and effectively become a BIBA 'mannequin' on 1930s velvet sofas (BIBA didn't do window displays).

The truly fabulous Art Deco 'Rainbow Room' above staged legendary performances from 'The New York Dolls' amongst others.

All good things must come to an end, and Big BIBA was no exception. A huge organizational and financial responsibility and burden, it quickly became too much for the entrepreneurial couple, and as a result they sold a 75% share of BIBA to UK high street retailers Dorothy Perkins and Dennis Day. They hoped that this would mean the brand and store would be properly financed, but after creative control disputes Hulanicki left the company. Without the driving force and soul of the company, Big BIBA closed its doors in 1976, a sad end for a shop that was like no other before or since. Today, the legend of 'The most beautiful store in the world' continues to enchant both its former habitues, and those who came to it too late.'

Manhattan Vintage Show preview....NOVELTY PRINTS!

It's Manhattan Vintage Show time again, and we thought we'd give you a little peek at some of the gems we'll be bringing to the show...We can't resist prints at Another Man's Treasure, and strive to have a varied and interesting selection at all times. Currently we have lots of great floral, abstract, geometric and psychedelic patterns along with some really cool NOVELTY PRINTS, here are some of our favorites....Stop by our booth #66, this Friday & Saturday at the Metropolitan Pavillion 125 West 18th St, to check them out, and all the other treasures on offer!

1930s nautical print cotton overalls & shirt set, 1940s hat print rayon dress

1940s spring lamb/hare print rayon dress, 1940s horse shoe print rayon blouse, 1940s heart/key print rayon dress

195os street scene print cotton dress, 1950s clown/monkey print cotton circle skirt

1960s 'Out Of Sight' print cotton mod dress, 1970s deco lady print halter dress, 1960s mask print cotton dress

Stay tuned for more MANHATTAN VINTAGE SHOW previews this week...

Vintage prom dresses from the 50s &60s..the golden age!

Whatever your thoughts on Prom, you can't argue that the 1950s and early 1960s was the era when Prom as we know it was truly defined. A more romantic, glamorous and innocent time, filled with frothy tulle, taffeta and chiffon gowns, and teenagers across the land smooching and slow dancing the night away to the latest sounds from Elvis, The Shirelles & The Beach Boys, before returning home, virginity intact...(perhaps).

"Will you still love me tomorrow?" Prom photo from the 1950s

If you are looking to re-create the look for your Prom, here are some great dresses we have in the shop right now from that era... We also have a great selection of tuxedos, ruffled tux shirts & bow ties for the boys...stop by and take a look!

1950s yellow gathered gown, 1950s/60s pink/white taffeta prom dress

1950s/60s white/red polka dot tiered prom dress, 1950s baby blue tulle & satin layered prom dress

1950s pink/white floral tulle gown, 1950s blue/purple tulle gown with rhinestones

1950s baby blue ruffled gown with bow, 1950s 'Miss Bergdorf' pale pink prom dress with roses

Vintage straw hat from AMT in the NY Post!

This vintage straw hat from 'Another Man's Treasure' was featured in yesterday's (Easter Sunday, April 4th) NEW YORK POST spring hat feature! Check it out...