The '20s Suit

Been a while since my last post. Between Hurricane Sandy and crunch time at work I've been putting off updating this blog. So without further ado, I'd like to present a new suit I acquired recently, or rather, my "new" old suit, from the roaring twenties. Finding good photo reference of actual 1920's era menswear itself isn't common. Sure, there's old magazines, photo's and movie's, but finding detailed photographs of the clothing today takes a lot of searching. Most of the time, I've seen '20s suits reffered to as "Zoot Suits" or "Mobster Suits" and presented as having gigantic lapels and thick pinstripes. It's probably due to the average Joe with only hollywood magic to reference making the '30s and '40s being slapped together with the '20s.  Though watch any old pre-1934 movie, mobsters tended to have more variety in their wardrobe. So here is a treat for you roaring twenties fanatics, an up close and detailed look at a real 1920's suit from 1926.

6 X 2 double breasted, with medium sized lapels, quite a classic style that never really went out of mainstream fashion, except roughly around the 1955-1967 period, when small lapels ruled and the double breasted suit was cast aside for the more simple 2 and 3 button single breasted numbers. This suit is a prime example from the period. Dated July 30th 1926, it's hard to believe it's 86 years old! While classic, there are some features that set it apart from other eras. The shoulder padding is very minimal, giving a more natural silhouette, and the cuffs feature only 2 buttons, which from what I've seen stuck around for a bit in the '30s and early '40s. Then again in the '60s and '70s. 

 This suit features a high-gorge (the area where the lapels cross in my book) and the mid size lapels work nicely with the natural silhouette of the suit.

 Small simple label.

A vintage clothing enthusiasts best friend, a dated tag.

               Like the jacket, the pants are in excellent shape. Plain front, medium sized cuffs, big loops.

 Now, a suit from 1926, you'd expect a button fly right? Well to my surprise it came with a zipper. Some of the vintage suit experts, (I'm just an amateur) think the zipper might be original as it had been invented by that time. Though that synthetic herringbone material that the zipper is part of doesn't look period at all, but c'est la vie.

Wow, I actually made an organized single topic post! Next one will return to the usual anything goes format, featuring more vintage hats and Halloween stuff.