Wednesday Morning Inspiration: The Man-Shaped Shirt

[Pictured: Manhattan Sportswear Advertisement featuring Y.A. Tittle, Time Magazine, 1963].

My Dad, who is often a bigger sucker for American nostalgia than myself, sent me a great link to The Gallery of Graphic Design where you can browse hundreds of vintage advertisements.  The men's apparel section is full of awesome stuff like this great Manhattan Sportswear ad for Time Magazine.  This particular ad caught my eye for two reasons.  The first is the inclusion of NFL great Y.A. Tittle.  Tittle, who quarterbacked my NY Giants, is one of the greatest quarterbacks (1st round draft selection, 7x Pro Bowl Selection, Pro Football Hall of Fame inductee) to never win a championship.  He led the NY Giants to the title game from 1961-1963 and despite coming away empty handed each time gained a reputation as a true gamer.  Tittle is probably best known for this photo, which was taken after getting crushed by a Steelers defender in the last year of his career (despite a concussion and cracked sternum, Tittle finished out the rest of the season).

As far as sartorial interest goes, Tittle is dressed to the nines.  This advertisement really embodies the 1960's style of great fitting, masculine everything.  The shirt, tie, tie bar and flat front slacks are all proportioned properly and come together for a look that works even on a guy as rough as Mr. Tittle.  Manhattan Sportswear's campaign here centers around "The Man-Shaped Shirt", meaning a tapered shirt that doesn't balloon out with extra fabric, which was great advice in 1964 and great advice as of the moment I'm typing this.

-L.A.S