VINTAGE BROWN'S BEACH JACKETS AND VESTS AS SEEN ON HBO'S BOARDWALK EMPIRE

Sunday night marked three weeks running that various Brown's Beach Jacket garments have been spotted as part of what surely can be said to be some of the if not the best wardrobe currently seen on television.

Four different Brown's Beach Jacket garments can be seen in this scene from the HBO series Boardwalk Empire. From left to right- early BB jacket in black with pointed collar, later blue BB jacket with rounded collar, what looks to be an early BB vest and finally an early BB collar-less jacket in black.

Three weeks ago we were provided a glimpse of Richard Harrow sporting a Brown's Beach vest under his coat and scarf. Last week we were treated to scenes of Richard wearing the same vest, seen below both with and without the wool coat. 

Not to get all critical especially since the wardrobe and set dressing is always so good but with Richards vest being in what looked to be in near perfect condition some key details can be easily seen. This particular Brown's Beach vest is a later version as identified by its weave of dark blue, grey, black and white wool herringbone wool and the later Scovil or DOT conventional type snaps measuring 1/2" in diameter. A period correct vest would have been constructed of black, grey and white herringbone weave. The earlier garments sometimes included various shades of brown due to age and exposure to the elements. Another tell tale sign of earlier garments are the much less common larger 3/4" nipple type snaps that were used.

All said, a very good night of television indeed.

 1930s Brown's Beach collar-less jacket or cardigan from the vintageworkwear.com collection

Side by side comparison of 1930's era Brown's Beach Jacket black, grey and white wool herringbone weave (seen on left) and 1950's era Brown's Beach Jacket  blue, grey and white herringbone weave. vintageworkwear.com collection

Side by side comparison of 1930's era Brown's Beach Jacket 3/4" nipple type snap fastener seen on the left and 1950's era Brown's Beach Jacket 1/2" Scovil brand snap fastener seen on the right. vintageworkwear.com collection

Male portion of early nipple type snap on the left and later conventional type snap on the right.               vintageworkwear.com collection 

Backside view of female portion of early nipple type snap on the left and later conventional type snap on the right. vintageworkwear.com collection

Some very nice reproduction Brown's Beach Jacket garments can be found at one of our favorite  shops, Speedway Haberdashery of Sendai Japan. Check out their online store or see their facebook page here. To view item available from their store in English check them out on Rakuten here.
Above images of Richard Harrow and Al Capone's "guys" courtesy of HBO / Boardwalk Empire.