Even at work, installing surveillance cameras and burglar alarms, Johnny dresses in vintage clothes. Not a suit, but dark jeans, a plaid Pendleton shirt, and a leather bomber jacket. And, of course, a hat, which for work is a more durable, green suede fedora.
For years, Johnny was unaware that an underground swing lifestyle scene was brewing in San Francisco. Before discovering Club DeLuxe, he felt he was on his own.
Paul Trapani
Michael Moss, Mark Jordan, and Johnny Stokes prefer to dress -- even drive -- in the past.
Related Content
More About
&179;I was mocked, and I did think I was an oddball. I figured who else but me would want to dress in their grandfather&185;s clothes and drive a car that&185;s not fuel efficient?&178; Johnny says. &179;But now I&185;m accepted, and have made a lot of good friends. I know people will still say I&185;m nuts; to move ahead, that things have changed. But I say you live your life, and I&185;ll live mine.&178;
Inside the unapologetically smoky Club DeLuxe, Johnny shares a booth and an after-work cocktail with his friends. They are wearing shiny suits and crisp hats, the &185;38 Buick is parked outside, a Duke Ellington tune is playing. Life is good. But if none of the men who are sipping martinis and lighting up unfiltered cigarettes were born more than 35 years ago, tonight they reminisce as if they came of age in the 1940s.
The guy with the wavy pompadour, in the gabardine jacket over a wide-collared, pink, embroidered shirt, complains the loudest.
&179;No one today recognizes glamour, or the idea of sophistication, or chivalry, or how a gentleman should act,&178; says Michael Moss. &179;In our crowd, if a girl holds up a cigarette, 20 guys pull out a lighter. It&185;s not an act, it&185;s a way of thinking.&178;
The notion of a simpler time when roles and attitudes were easily defined appeals to the young men. Especially when it comes to women.
&179;Everyone is in T-shirts and jeans today. Everyone looks the same,&178; says Mark Jordan, who tonight wears spectator shoes and an original double-breasted, midnight-blue suit from the 1940s, with peaked lapels and a satin handkerchief tucked in the front pocket. &179;I like to feel presentable, and it&185;s great to see women who do, too. I&185;m not saying a woman&185;s place is the home, but gee, it&185;s nice to see a girl in a dress.&178;
The smoke begins to obscure the dim light over the booth; the friends are on their third round. The topic has turned to the swing fad, and what it has done to fuel their movement -- and, in many ways, destroy it. No matter what happens to the fad, Mark and Johnny agree, swing will always be the life for them. &179;We&185;ll still go to clubs whether swing is in or not, and we&185;ll still dress the way we want,&178; Mark says. &179;And if people laugh, then fuck them, because this is who we are.&178;
Johnny won&185;t give up the swing style, either. The camaraderie that comes with the clothes is too precious to him. And he genuinely believes that the 1940s will bring him happiness. Maybe even love.
&179;Ladies like it when guys dress up,&178; Johnny says. &179;At least that never changes.&178;
&179;Yeah,&178; Mark says. &179;And if you&185;re a well-dressed guy who can dance, then you&185;ve got it all wrapped up.&178;
By Joel P. Engardio
Michael Moss, Mark Jordan, and Johnny Stokes prefer to dress -- even drive -- in the past.Sara & Swingtime plays historically correct tunes that attract both young purists, and older couples who swung the first time around.Autumn Carey-Adamme tattooed her seam lines, in solidarity with the stocking-short women of WWII.Long before there was a swing-dancing fad, there were the vintagely
correct, who live the 1940s all day, every day, everywhere
Autumn and Annamarie are part of a passionate group of cross-generationists who, as a matter of daily life, prefer their grandparents&185; time to their own.
Long before there were jump and jive commercials for the Gap or a mainstream craze in swing dancing, the people who call themselves &179;vintagely correct&178; were claiming the &185;40s as their own with a verisimilitude that no deco event duplicates.
Club DeLuxe quickly became home to a small underground group of young 1940s lifestylists who wanted to create a backlash against the prevailing grunge music of the day, and rebel against the slacker label attached to their
Generation X peers.
Photographs by Paul Trapani
Photographs by Paul Trapani
Paul Trapani
Paul Trapani
