After signing an autograph for his limousine driver’s teenage relative, “Estelle,” Paul McCartney forgot to grab his jacket off the seat, leaving behind one of the earliest-known Beatles’ concert-worn suit jackets to ever become available to the collector market.
On the day “She Loves You,” the Beatles first #1 hit in the UK, was released, Paul McCartney wore the offered jacket on the first evening of a six-night set of concerts at the Gaumont Theatre in Bournemouth, England. The boys played two shows a night from August 19–24, 1963, and photos taken at the venue show the bandmates wearing these matching dark blue jackets with striped slacks. Prior to the Bournemouth shows, on August 18, the Beatles also wore these same ensembles when they played on the British TV show Summer Spin, the summer version of the popular show Thank Your Lucky Stars. The show would be broadcast on August 25.
Several photos have been unearthed of the band at the Bournemouth shows, but they are not very clear. What can be discerned is that they are wearing dark, collarless suit coats with striped pants. Luckily though, several higher resolution color photographs exist from The Beatles' appearance on Summer Spin. These images ALSO show them all wearing matching outfits, but now the outfits can be identified as dark blue collarless suits, with silver buttons and grey, striped pants. Because this is literally the day before they arrive for the Bournemouth shows, and the photos obviously show the same style coats and pants, it stands to reason that the outfits are the same on Summer Spin as in Bournemouth. And it follows that the offered jacket acquired in Bournemouth during that run of shows is also the jacket Paul is wearing in the photographs from The Beatles Summer Spin appearance.
The offered “Vivian Lawrence Tailored” jacket is one of the earliest Beatles concert-worn garments ever seen, and it comes to us through shear serendipity. After one of the concerts in Bournemouth, a limousine driver tasked with driving the Beatles during their stay asked Paul to sign an autograph for a teenager in his family, Estelle. Paul obliged, and perhaps in the exchanging of pen and paper he forgot to take his jacket off the seat. Years later, in the 1980s, the limousine driver sold the jacket to a Bournemouth vintage clothing shop owner, along with the original autograph to “Estelle.” The shop owner recounts the story in his accompanying signed letter, which reads, in part:
I started a second hand shop called “Guzunders” in 1977 in the center of my home town, Bournemouth. After a very short time it developed into a vintage clothing shop. I had to move to larger premises and called the new shop “Bizarre Bazaar.” I found myself catering for clothing dealers from all over the world of film and tv companies. In the early 1980s, a local gentleman turned up at the shop and sold me a large quantity of men's clothing...The gentleman explained that he had also driven Mr. Paul McCartney whilst he was appearing at a theatre here in Bournemouth with the Beatles and that the jacket had also been left with him. He had held on to these items for approximately 20 years and had decided to sell them as he was moving to a smaller house and no longer had the room to hold on to them. With the jacket also came the autograph which he said had been signed for a then teenaged member of his family.
This jacket represents an unprecedented opportunity to acquire a concert-worn garment from the period, dare we say the very moments, when the Beatles began to forever dominate and alter popular music and culture. It measures 31 inches long and 19 1/2 inches between the shoulder seams. It presents with very little wear and no damage in stunning Near Mint condition. The condition makes sense since it was only worn for one television appearance and a week of shows.
The included autograph is written on a blank sheet of paper measuring 8 x 13 inches, and it reads, "To Estelle, Love from Paul McCartney." The signature is accompanied by a letter of authenticity from Beckett Authentic. The sheet was folded several times over the years, which probably helped Paul's writing and signature stay so bold, but it is now stored flat. Excellent condition.