The owners of Hurricane Pass Outfitters, a Clearwater retailer of men's sportswear, are kicking it up a notch. They're opening a new store called Metropolitan Outfitters that's keyed to a resurgence of the old Nat Nast bowling shirt.
The long dormant Nat Nast brand has been revived by vintage clothing fans and two daughters of the founder. They stopped calling them bowling shirts. They started developing an upscale customer base through Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue.
Instead of rayon, the shirts are now made of thick silk. They come tricked out with bold stitching and blocks of color. Themed embroidery such as a 1954 Velocity motorcycle is frequently part of the look that is supposed to summon images of Frank Sinatra and Clark Gable.
Hollywood is going along for the ride. Tom Arnold wears the shirts on The Best Damned Sports Show on Fox. Larry David wrote an episode of the HBO comedy series Curb Your Enthusiasm about a Nat Nast he bought for Ted Danson. The Bernie Mac Show is on board, and Tony Soprano will sport some of the line when that series returns in March.
The retro style doesn't come at yesterday's prices. Nat Nast shirts are priced at $115 to $165, sweaters as high as $375. Metropolitan Outfitters plans to fill its store with Nat Nast and similar styles that are being extended into cotton pants, jackets, swimwear and even "peekaboo" neck ties. The ties have a Memphis Belle-style pin-up printed on the flipside.
Metropolitan Outfitters, which opens Saturday at BayWalk in St. Petersburg, is owned by the family that owns the traditional menswear store William Short Clothiers. From a small department that introduced the popular Tommy Bahama line at a former Short's in Clearwater, their Hurricane Pass has grown into three stores and an e-commerce site.
"Nat Nast picks up where Tommy Bahama ends at about $100 a shirt," said Bruce Rabon, president of the company. "It's amazing. We're selling men's shirts in downtown St. Petersburg at a price we sold men's sports coats 20 years ago."
