Bobby Garnett

Robert Charles Garnett III (July 13, 1949 – May 19, 2016) was an American clothier. His vast clothing collection was regularly used in the film industry to outfit actors in period costumes. Over four decades, he owned several clothing stores on the East Coast. One of his customers was Ralph Lauren.

Not to be confused with Bobby Garrett.
Bobby Garnett
Garnett, at his Bobby From Boston store, around 2010
Born
Robert Charles Garnett III

July 13, 1949
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
DiedMay 19, 2016(2016-05-19) (aged 66)
Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.
OccupationClothier

Life and career

Robert Charles Garnett III,[1] sometimes known as Bert, was born on July 13, 1949,[2] in Boston, Massachusetts,[3] to Robert Charles Garnett Jr. and Sylvia Francis, the first of their two sons. A brother, Wayne, followed. His father, who died in 2003,[4][5] was a naval architect; his mother, who died in 2020, aged 96,[4] taught in nursery school during her children's formative years, and also had an interior-design business.[6]

Garnett attributes his love of clothing to his mother: "She dragged my brother and I around every department store – Filene's Basement, Gilchrist's, R. H. White," he said in 2002. "She knew good stuff." By the time he was in his mid-teens, he was wearing the same clothes as that of men twice his age.[6]

He graduated from the Higgins Classical Institute boarding school in Charleston, Maine, followed by two years at Gordon College in Massachusetts (in part, he says, to avoid the Vietnam War draft).[6]

In 1969, Garnett left college, where he had been running Awo, a leather-goods shop, out of his dormitory room.[7] This was followed in 1971 by Muddy Rudder Trading in Brookline Village, Massachusetts, and, in 1974, by Uptown Strutters Ball, a vintage clothing store in Provincetown, Massachusetts.[3] In the 1980s, it also had locations in Allston and on Newbury Street in Boston.[6]

He operated a regular booth at the Brimfield Antique Show in Brimfield, Massachusetts, which caught the attention of designers and buyers from Manhattan.[7] Ralph Lauren was one of his many customers.[3]

Garnett's costumes were used in around fifty movies,[3] including Mermaids, Casino, Ali, Seabiscuit, The Aviator and Walk the Line.[6][8]

In 1995,[9] after a stint on Staniford Street in Boston's West End, he relocated to Boston's South End, opening Bobby From Boston on Thayer Street.[10][11] It was the first appointment-only vintage showroom in the country. In 2002, he converted it into a retail location.[7] Its name was inspired by a comment from a person he walked by on a visit to London. They looked at the way he was dressed and asked, "Are you Bobby from Boston?"[6]

Garnett was an Anglophile, as demonstrated by his collection of Arsenal F.C. jerseys.[6]

Marriage and family

He married Connie Avdoulos, of Ames, Iowa, with whom he had a daughter, Jessica.[6]

Death

Garnett died on May 19, 2016, of renal disease. He was 66.[6]

His daughter, who had worked alongside him since 1998, took over the business. The South End location was closed, leaving its warehouse showroom in Lynn, Massachusetts, as the sole outlet.[7][9]

References
  1. "'Bobby from Boston' Dies at 66". South End, MA Patch. 2016-05-24. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  2. "Robert Garnett Obituary - Boston, Massachusetts - Tributes.com". www.tributes.com. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  3. "Remembering Vintage Clothier Bobby 'From Boston' Garnett". News. 2016-05-23. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  4. "Sylvia F. Garnett". The Bay State Banner. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  5. "Robert C. Garnett Jr. Obituary (2003) Boston Globe". Legacy.com. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  6. Marquard, Bryan (May 23, 2016). "Bobby Garnett, 66; his South End store gave movie characters vintage look". BostonGlobe.com. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  7. "Bobby Garnett is the Go-To Vintage Dealer". Northshore Magazine. 2011-11-28. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  8. "Style Icon - Bobby Garnett | Improper Bostonian". www.improper.com. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  9. "Home". BOBBY FROM BOSTON. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  10. "Bobby from Boston". Boston Magazine. 2021-07-06. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
  11. "Bobby From Boston Founder Passes Away". Ivy Style. 2016-05-20. Retrieved 2022-05-02.
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