I’m continuing my theme of watching classic movies with The Shop Around The Corner. It was suggested by Spencer because we couldn’t think of anything else to cover! And also because Queer and A Complete Unknown aren’t in wide release just yet (but we will cover them in due time).  I’m not complaining though, as I heartily enjoyed this fun little romcom about two shopkeepers who hate each other but are secretly in love…unbeknownst to themselves! I certainly needed a delightful and easy watch. 

What’s funny is that halfway through this movie, I realized that I was already familiar with the plot. No, I’m not talking about You’ve Got Mail; I’m talking about the musical She Loves Me! The names were changed but the plot is the same, as both of them (and Shop) are based on the Hungarian play Parfumerie. I was quite surprised when Vardas (who is changed to Kodaly in the musical) did not end up with Ilona! 

The other thing that was quite surprising was the costuming. Granted, all classic movies make for great menswear watching but this one was different. It felt a little peculiar, especially seeing a classically dressed Jimmy Stewart with largely antiquarian styled European actors. I honestly wasn’t expecting to have a little holiday romcom serve as a great case study for evaluating vintage menswear, but here we are!

Before I dive in, I think it’s important to discuss the setting of the film. Yes, this film takes place in Budapest but what year is it? The film was released in 1940 but the characters within make no mention of an impending Nazi invasion (which happened shortly after in real life).  There’s also the fact that the outfits are quite a bit anachronistic for the 1940s. Europeans at least prior to the mid century often wore older styles, so this could be a deliberate costuming choice. However, it is more likely that the film is meant to be set in 1937 (or at least around that time), just like the play it’s based on. In any case, all of this makes an analysis of the film’s attire quite interesting. 

This “old look” I’m referring to is worn by all of the main male characters, bar Jimmy Stewart’s Alfred Kralik. Throughout the film, you can see wing collars, homburgs, and walking sticks. All of this feels a bit too “old” for the 1940s. Today we would read this as overly formal or dandy, but for the time (and in universe), it does make the setting feel “older”, like a cherished story. 

What’s great is that you can see different versions of it worn by each of the characters. Mr. Matuschek, the owner of the titular Shop, does this to great effect, in one instance, wearing an immaculate flecked sack suit which would look very 30s if not for the use of the wing collar and shiny cravat/tie and homburg. Pirovitch wears a similar look, but his feels older (with his sack being fastened at the top button like the 1890s) as well as more casual (through the use of a checked tie), making it feel like he’s just wearing the clothes he had from back then.

On the flip side, Vadas, the flashy cad, pulls off a “modern” and ultimately dandier take, wearing bow ties and spats for most of his appearances. There’s also Pepi, the errand boy, who starts out in the film wearing a suit that looks very early 20s due to its narrow shoulders and sleeves and high buttoning point. Is this because he’s poor and wearing hand-me-downs or is this literally an indication about the setting? It really is so fun to think about how clothe not only add to the setting of the film but also communicate things about the characters!

What’s cool, and adds to the “old school” nature of the film, is seeing how frequent variations of the Stroller Suit appear, as it is worn by all of the adult male characters of the film. It consists of a [usually] black jacket, waistcoat, and grey multi stripe trousers. Strollers are a less formal version of a Morning Suit (for Morning Dress) functioning as a daytime equivalent of a tuxedo (which is less formal than white tie). We don’t see it much now (outside of a few wild weddings and NYC Easter) but it’s a piece of menswear history that showed just how much variations menswear used to have in regards to formality tiers. 

Matuschek first appears wearing a black silk jacket with Stroller pants, which with his use of an Optimo style straw, functions as a summer variant. Vadas, in his last appearance, has a tailcoat, cream waistcoat, and Stroller pants, making it feel more like a casual take on proper Morning Dress. I’d also even go as far to say that his dandy combination of a navy(?) pinstripe odd DB worn with grey pants and a wing collar and bow tie feels like it’s trying to be Stroller-adjacent. But what’s interesting is that when Alfred Kralik does it, it’s done as a rather classic combo of a peak lapel jacket, Stroller pants, and a striped tie. I guess the leading man has to stay “conservative”. That’s my modern take on it at least, as in the context of the production and universe, Kralik is actually quite modern in his dress. And you can see that in his regular attire. 

Alfred Kralik does not wing/standing collars, homburgs, or spats. Instead, he wears normal suits cut in a late 30s/early 40s style and a fedora . In the beginning of the film he’s seen in a fantastic window pane 3PC, complete with patch pockets no less! He then wears a dark DB 3PC, which honestly has one of the best silhouettes I’ve ever seen on film. He does have a twinge of conservatism in that he is always in a white spearpoint dress shirt; there are no striped shirts here! Kralik’s personality is shown in his tie choice which often features some sort of abstract pattern that is quite different from the foulards I personally enjoy. There’s even some funny dialogue about his tie choice in the film! 

This film was such a delightful surprise for a first watch. Yes, the snappy dialogue, wholesome interactions, and sweet and straight forward romcom plot was quite enjoyable, but the clothing just put it over the top. There’s just so much fun and intention at play that I think is missing from modern films (apart from period movies of course). The Shop Around The Corner is obviously a different genre than The Maltese Falcon, but I’d go as far to say that the approach to clothing in this one makes the watch much more delightful.  

Spencer, MJ, and I discuss how much we liked this film in our December bonus pod! And because its the season, we also get a bit into potential Christmas Gifts and other dumb topics. It even serves as a bit of a preamble to our pivot to more casual menswear podcasting (aka less single-subject deep dives and more “hey what did you think of this”) moving forward in the new year!

The full episode is for our Patreon subscribers but you can listen to a clip above! 

Don’t forget to support us on Patreon to get some extra content and access to our exclusive Discord. Oh and don’t forget, we do a podcast every two weeks!

Buh-bye!

Ethan M. Wong (follow me on IG)| StyleandDirection

The Podcast is produced by MJ.Big thank you to our top tier Patrons (the SaDCast Fanatics), Philip, Shane, Henrik, Alexander, Mason, and Alec.