By April MacIntyre Feb 4, 2010, 3:39 GMT
Valentine’s Day is nigh, and the right gifts for the love in your life, male or female, can extend beyond the cliché, or usual suspects of chocolate, card and flowers.
Miss Feeney's founder, Marie Shepard, says of Steine's work: "We were looking for an update of the classic Pinup Girl; bringing her into the 21st century while keeping all of her demure, war-era sensuality intact. Kent really gets it."
What about the men?
Daily I come across unique products, especially around any gifting holidays. One particular company that sells American-made stylish accessories for men caught my eye, and then captured my heart as I dug into the back-story and saw the quality of their offerings up close.
Meet Miss Feeney: A pioneer American working woman back in a time when women really didn’t work, except for unmarried spinsters who ran offices, worked in banks and generally did the clerical and administrative duties, well before “Mad Men.” Think the era of Capra’s “It’s a Wonderful Life.”
Today, Miss Feeney's Finery is a thriving business run by a woman, Marie Shepard, who loved her Grandfather and the bygone era of his prime, when men wore hats, and embellished their ties with pins, and took the time to put themselves together.
Miss Feeney’s Finery turns out fashionable men's furnishings, accentuated with a twist from a bye-gone era.
Their special design touch is a tucked away signature pin-up girl, secreted inside the liner of each necktie and fedora.
The “girl” is courtesy of artist Kent Steine, and his signature pinup girl adorns the inside of each fedora, and the flip side of each tie. This classic touch was a perfect fit for Miss Feeney's, as Steine created images in the true mid-20th century pin-up style, with just the right amount of modern appeal.
Pinup ties were all the rage in the 1940s and 50s, and it is this trend that inspired the creation of Miss Feeney's Finery.
Miss Feeney’s ties have a luxurious heft to them, and stunning details that have a special retro, old-timey newsprint tissue paper that envelops the tie inside a sturdy box (think Hermès quality). It’s an impressive gift presentation.
The handmade fedoras are just exquisite, hand shaped and lined beautifully, replete with a tiny hat pin, and a feather. They also feature a large “Made in the USA” tag that is always good to see, and are housed in gorgeous hat boxes in rich ruby and black fabric that look great exposed, or tuck away neatly inside a closet.
Lots of attention to details goes into everything; you can feel the love from every artisan who has touched the item, from inception to the finished product in the client’s hands.
Inspired by her Grandfather, a pioneer in the world of men’s apparel, Marie Shepard created Miss Feeney’s Finery to pay homage to his life’s work.
Monsters and Critics caught up with Marie Shepard, and had questions about her beautifully crafted men’s finery:
Marie, Can you dish a bit more on the real Miss Feeney and your Grandfather, who inspired this business?
Marie: The real Miss Feeney was this tiny little thing with a giant orange bouffant 'do; she was already a hundred when I was a kid, thirty years ago.
She was impeccably prim and the ultimate spinster. She has been ‘re-imagined.’If the real Miss Feeney looked anything like my Miss Feeney, I'm pretty sure my Grandmother would have strenuously objected!
My grandfather was this amazing, magical man to me. He did everything big. My favorite story about my grandfather is that he came and picked me up from school one day to go for ice cream. Next thing I knew we were on a plane to Boston. He wanted me to try the best chocolate chip mint he'd ever had, and that just happened to be an airplane ride away. I was home by dinner.
He did stuff like that all the time. He was not at all averse to me and my brothers and cousins missing school for one of his adventures, and he was happiest when the "whole fam-damily" was together.
He had a dark side, too, but we never knew about it until long after he died. I think he had a lot of inner turmoil, like most creative people. I miss him terribly. There's so much I want to ask him.
Where are you located, how many employees do you have, and where are your items manufactured?
Marie: I live and work in Michigan right now, where my husband recently took a job. It's hard, because my heart really is back at home in New Jersey where I grew up.
The nice thing is that right now, I can still do this from anywhere. I have several employees, who are really more like team members.
The hats are made in Massachusetts, and the ties are hand-sewn overseas.
I believe men's haberdashery is in for a big retro push, call me crazy. Ties never go out of style. What can foster bringing men to don hats again?
Marie: If men only knew how dashing they looked in a good hat, they'd never go without one. I just melt for a man in a fine hat.
Because of my upbringing and the profound influence of my dad and grandfather, a man is not complete to me without a tie and a hat.
I think fellas are starting to take notice with the whole ‘inspired by Mad Men’ movement - those guys look razor sharp every minute of every episode, and the ladies go berserk for it.
Modern guys will put two and two together eventually, I'm confident. My husband wears one of Miss Feeney's fedoras whenever we go out, and he gets so many compliments on his great style.
It speaks volumes about a guy's level of respect for himself, the occasion, and his date when he makes an effort to look elegant and put together.
Tell me who the pin up girls are that Miss Feeney uses in the peekaboo designs?
Marie: Miss Feeney's girls are all creations of my wonderful artist and friend, Kent Steine. When I was looking for a pin-up artist to bring on board, I contacted several and asked them to draw out their interpretations of Miss Feeney, based on the rough character sketch I gave them.
Most of them came back to me with what amounted to cartoon porn. There's sexy, and then there's dirty.
Miss Feeney's Finery is definitely about sexy - it's that whisper of naughtiness that the old timey pin-up artists captured in their war-era beauties.
In my opinion, there is no one else out there that does this as well as Kent right now.
We are super excited to introduce the new girls Kent has been working on for us. They will include several women of color, which no one has ever really done before in pin-up. I can't wait.
Who was your favorite pin up beauty of yore, and why?
Marie: To me, Rita Hayworth is the ultimate pin-up beauty. She was just ridiculously sexy. I also have a soft spot for Betty Grable.
I would love to see kids trade those Che t-shirts for the stark images of the classic Hollywood stars like Clark Gable, Burt Lancaster, Gregory Peck without their names- just their images. Will you expand your line or stay with the more traditional men’s garb?
Marie: It's definitely something that we've talked about - what's most important to me is keeping the essence of Miss Feeney's Finery in everything we do. This spring we'll be coming out with a line of thinner ties, specifically for the young hipsters who already love Miss Feeney’s, so t-shirts would be a logical addition.
I am open to doing anything people ask for - as long as it's consistent with the quality and "vibe" of the original line. I've also had customers ask for more gay-friendly designs.
I have lots of gay customers who love the irony of wearing a tie with a pin-up girl on it. But some wish for "beefcake." I'd love to be able to do that in a classy way. You might be on to something!
Is there a tradition or anything about past American life you would like to see make a comeback?
Marie: So many things! Ceremony. A sense of occasion. Proper dates. Little white gloves. Milkmen. Brooches. Manners. Drive-ins. Good, strong handshakes.
Biggest faux pas modern men make when dressing for work, or special events is..?
Marie: Ugh, if you ask me, Casual Friday is the demise of civilization. Right there, it's everything that's wrong with our culture.
OK maybe that's a tiny bit dramatic, but I really do think that's when the wheels started to come off of polite society.
Again, it's all about respect for the moment and the people around you. Particularly for special occasions - that event means something special to someone, and that should be honored.
If you can't dress properly for a wedding, funeral, dinner party - don't come. Same goes for your job - what better way to show respect for your boss, your employees, and your company than to dress nicely?
Why do people need a day off from being polite and respectful?
Which male celebrity today do you feel styles himself in the most classic way, that Miss Feeney would approve of?
Marie: Oh, John Legend's style just makes me crazy - he is the most dapper, elegant, hip guy out there right now. Justin Timberlake's not too shabby either. He cleans up nice.
People make fun of Ryan Seacrest, but that man is always dressed impeccably and with great style. John Hamm, of course. President Obama. Chuck Bass's character on Gossip Girl always looks amazing - classic style with a hip twist. I could go on...
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