Sinatra’s ‘rags’ to riches

When Newport Beach resident Rick Gorski picked up the new-looking tuxedo shirt on sale for a song at a neighbor’s garage sale last fall, he had no idea that he may have stumbled across a piece of clothing once owned by Frank Sinatra.

“It was a beautiful shirt, and I had nothing to lose,” Gorski said. “They were selling everything so cheap.”

Tucked inside a dry cleaning bag when Gorski found it on his neighbor’s driveway on sale for $5 in October, the shirt bears a distinctive label from Sunset Strip tailor Nat Wise of London embroidered with the name “Frank Sinatra” and the date “Feb. 1987.”

“They had actually put a piece of paper on it that said ‘Frank Sinatra,’ but I didn’t really think anything about it at the time,” Gorski said.

Gorski’s brother, who collects antiques, encouraged him to find out more about the garment.

After talking with experts from several auction houses, and discovering a photograph of Sinatra wearing a similar shirt at a benefit concert in 1988, Gorski now believes the shirt once belonged to Ol’ Blue Eyes.

Gorski has no idea how his neighbors, a retired couple who packed up and moved to Oregon shortly after the garage sale, came into possession of the shirt.

He said he has no way to contact the couple.

With the help of reference librarians from the Newport Beach Public Library, Gorski was able to find a photograph in a book about Sinatra wearing a shirt that looks similar to the one he owns.

The shirt has a distinctive pleated pattern across the chest.

A similar pleated pattern can be seen on a tuxedo shirt Sinatra wore during a benefit concert for San Diego State University. Gorski found the 8-inch-by-10-inch color photograph of Sinatra standing on stage with singer Liza Minnelli in 1988 in a book at the library.

“I’ve been doing this for a long time and you learn never to be surprised by what people ask,” said Steven Short, one of three Newport librarians who helped Gorski research Sinatra. “We do get a lot of strange questions, but this was definitely an interesting question.”

Margaret Barrett, director of entertainment memorabilia for the Los Angeles auction house Bonhams & Butterfields, said Sinatra fans are willing to pay for artifacts associated with the man known as “The Voice.”

“There is definitely a market for it,” Barrett said. “I’ve sold many things related to him and they always do well — he’s an icon.”

A Montgomery Cliff duffel bag that was used in a scene featuring Sinatra in “From Here to Eternity” is up for grabs in a public auction June 13 at Bonhams & Butterfields.

The bag has an estimated value of $3,000 to $5,000.

Barrett could not speak specifically on Gorski’s shirt — it’s the auction house policy not to comment on items it isn’t selling. However, she did say that the Nat Wise of London label is a good indicator of star status.

“[Nat Wise] is very well known. That’s like asking, ‘Do you know who Frank Sinatra is?’ in my field,’” Barrett said. “He made clothes for A-list male stars in Beverly Hills for many years.”

A 56-year-old construction worker, Gorski hopes to sell the shirt for a tidy sum.

Gorski won’t say how much money he has in mind, but he has “High Hopes” the shirt will fetch more than “Three Coins in a Fountain.”