If you have former President Barack Obama’s famous tan suit, Jay Greenfield can confirm it’s the real thing.
“It could easily be identified,” he told me.
He and his brother Tod run Martin Greenfield Clothiers in Brooklyn, New York. They are the sons of Martin Greenfield, a Holocaust survivor who sewed his first stitches while a prisoner in Auschwitz, who went on to make custom suits for Obama, other presidents and an array of political figures, as well as famous actors and athletes.
“Everything we put in the suit is natural,” Greenfield said.
The Greenfield tan suit is a presidential artifact — the physical reminder from Obama’s eight years in the White House when the habitually dark suit-clad president wore a tan suit to an Aug. 28, 2014, press conference. That tan suit drew the wrath of Obama’s right-wing critics. Reporters were told this summer he gave it away years ago after cleaning out a closet.
The suit originally had a hand-cross-stitched Martin Greenfield label inside the jacket. The tailors also placed a small printed label in a jacket pocket with Obama’s name, date and the order number. However, I’m told by former Obama staffers a label with Obama’s name was most likely removed before the suit was given away. I’m still hunting for the place where it was donated.
Here’s the anatomy of the custom Obama suit:
- It’s called the “Martin Greenfield Classic,” a traditional two-button suit with a notched lapel 3 ¼ inches wide. The jacket has flap pockets and side vents.
- The suit is lightweight. It is made of a soft fabric called faille. “It’s a cloth that really holds its shape well and has a really nice appearance to it,” Greenfield said.
- The suit has a 100% Bemberg lining. The brand’s fibers are derived from cotton. “That’s used in fine men’s clothing because it’s natural fiber, it’s breathable and it has a very nice feel to it, as opposed to anything synthetic,” Greenfield said.
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The buttons are made of an opaque tan shade of water buffalo horn. “The ideal buttons for a suit,” Greenfield said.
The material is “super lightweight. It doesn’t really break when you press it, so it’s very lasting. Each button looks unique.” As a commercial clothier, Greenfield said they need to get permits to import the buttons.
- The jacket is not heavily padded. The soft shoulders are made in layers, so “when you move your arms in a hand-tailored suit, the sleeve actually moves a little bit and the shoulder pads adapt to the person,” Greenfield said. “That is the art of tailoring in a quality custom suit.”
- The buttonholes on the sleeve are hand-stitched and can be buttoned and unbuttoned. They match the lapel and front buttonholes.
- Red, white and blue hand-stitching appears in the lining. “It takes a person sewing those stitches by hand, to have, like, three separate needles and going: one hand stitch with the red, one hand stitch with the white, one hand stitch with the blue,” Greenfield said.
Contact us: Please join us on this journey by sending tips, story ideas or suggestions on who to interview. Email: tansuit@suntimes.com.