This post was originally posted on http://patternrevolution.com/blog/2014/10/10/halloween-extravaganza-day-5-vampires-and-detectives
Every now and then my husband-like creature takes on a ‘fetish’of sorts…..no, not like that get your minds out the gutter, at the moment he is really into 1940’s, film noir type movies. At first I was reluctant to join in (some of his hobbies are just tedious) but decided to give it a go. We watched Double Indemnity, Key Largo and the Maltese Falcon. Humphrey Bogart is an actor that I had always heard about but had never seen him in action and I really enjoyed the movies. He is a very suave character, that and the 1940’s style just reminded me of my 2 year old. He is a boy that loves to accessories, vests, hats, ties you name it he loves to wear it it. So I decided that we could combine my love of these old movies with his stylin ways and dress him as Sam Spade (Humphrey Bogarts character in The Maltese Falcon).
I had seen the Peek-a-Boo ‘Little Gentleman’ range and toyed with buying it a few times but we never really had the occassion to wear such a dapper little outfit, so this gave me the perfect excuse. The Little Gentleman jacket was far easier to put together than it looks….I will be making more, and I just added a second row of buttons to give it that 40’s look.The vest again was super easy to construct and is fully reversible so I added a navy and white star print to the lining side so he can wear it as a casual piece with jeans. 
Here is where I have to admit some cheating. Time just didnt allow for me to sew up the pants as well so he is wearing a pair that we already had but I do intend to make them so he has a lovely matching suit. I could have chosen to sew the Peek-a-boo Oxford shirt to complete the outfit, it truly is one of my favorite patterns but once again, time was agaisnt me. I found a great free tutorial to make his tie here http://www.sweetshopsewing.com/2014/04/16/free-mens-neck-tie-pattern-and-tutorial/ .We found some great vintage relics to decorate his desk and he had good fun plaing with them all as we did the photoshoot.
Just watched Maltese Falcon. Not important that it’s my favorite film … more accurate to say that from the instant it begins, I’m sucked body and soul into it, I’d sell my soul to the devil to be in this adventure. And though I’m a happily married husband-critter, I’d give my soul to have Mary Astor (by any of her many names) betray and destroy me as she does to all men (though the perfumed Joel Cairo seems immune to her fatal charms).
The accessory Little Sam Spade lacks is an elegant, long silver pocket watch chain about his vest — and I guess, of course, the watch, though I’m not sure it’s shown in the movie. I was just struck how, 75 years later, the watchchain doesn’t “date” or “old-fashioned” Spade in the slightest, it doesn’t distract my modern eyes and mind a bit. Rather it demands that Spade wear it; he couldn’t search San Francisco for the black bird without it.
You may know that Hammett was the only great writer of detective fiction who’d actually been a professional detective — a Pinkerton for many years, based out of San Francisco.
Buy the kid a pocket watch and chain! He’s not Sam Spade without it!