1920s suits

[Baron Kurtz]

Interesting Baron, I would have never thought of upholstery fabric, but it makes sense. I'll have to take a closer look at those now.

Thank you!

For example:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Vintage-3-yd-23-x-62-Quality-Unused-Brown-Tweed-Wool-Fabric-/261150317551?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3ccdc59bef

 

[Qirrel]

In addition to the bias/sloping shoulder seams, Edwardian and earlier lounge jackets often had the sideseam positioned closer to the back seam than what became common from the 20s on. Whereas the modern sideseam is in about the position of the foremost seam of the sidebody as seen in the drafts BK posted and the morning coat above, old lounge jackets typically had the sideseam about midway between the two sidebody seams.
(And then, in the 1950s, the sidebody rose from the heap of half dead tailcoats and morning coats to appear as a standard feature of many new cutting systems, but this time with the backmost seam in the position where it in the day of the frock coat had it's foremost seam. And in 2013, you wont find many factories producing coats without sidebodies.)

 

[herringbonekid]

not a suit, but as there's already been a few lone suit jackets and sports jackets in this thread:

from here:

http://www.osfcostumerentals.org/

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

Interesting. The belt is fully attached like most beltbacks...I doubt I have seen this before. Aren't belts supposed to sit at the height of the middle button?

 

[herringbonekid]

usually they do yes (or between middle and lower button)... (or on bottom button on a two button)...

i was looking at another attached-all-round-belted jacket recently and now i can't remember where.

 

[Two Types]

HBK: As soon as I saw that jacket I thought it was something you had made for yourself.

Will you be copying it?

 

[herringbonekid]

Will you be copying it?

inspiration may very well be drawn from it, yes.



this is the dated 1924 English suit that sold last year for £900 on ebay:

 

[Two Types]

That was a beauty.

 

[herringbonekid]

Enrico Caruso, around 1920 (he died in 1921)

 

[Chasseur]

Enrico Caruso, around 1920 (he died in 1921)

I really like that jacket. I can easily imagine one in tweed for winter and another thick linen for summer...

 

[Rudie]

How can anybody with a sense of style eschew garments like this for badly constructed modern suits with low rise and crappy, tissue weight Super 100 fabrics?

 

[GoldenEraFan]

How can anybody with a sense of style eschew garments like this for badly constructed modern suits with low rise and crappy, tissue weight Super 100 fabrics?

I've been asking the same question for a while now. I think it's really because of the whole "brand name" obsession of the last 35 years. Noone cares about the quality of things anymore. If it has the label of a top designer that's all that matters. The jacket is 2 sizes too small? The Pants are cut too short? Who cares! It's a Pierre Cardin/Armani/Prada/Calvin Klein! From what I can see and have read about here on the lounge, there is absolutely no difference in quality between most designer brands and average joe brands. Hopefully this is a fad/trend that will end and people will start demanding quality again.

 

[herringbonekid]

these are scans from the book 'Roaring 20s Fashions: Jazz' (which covers the first half of the 20s. 'Deco' covers the second half).

this suit is mistakingly included in the women's section, when it's actually a boy's (for ages 12-14) 'knicker' suit.

this is the long trouser version (from a page named 'High School Suits') from Sears spring-summer 1923 catalogue:

many suits from the 20s were lined with alpaca (see small print above).
if you're picturing something soft and wooly like vicuna or mohair, forget it.
alpaca lining is stiff, matt, and scratchy, like a thin serge. strange choice for a lining.


p.s. the rear pleats in the top left which he appears to be dreaming about resemble this one (near enough) from 13 years later...(1936):

if you're not interested in the 20s per se, then perhaps appreciate the decade as a lead in to the 30s, which didn't exist
in a hermetically sealed 'art deco' bubble, but which grew out of something that took a long (sometimes tortuous) journey to evolve.
context is all important... fancy backs didn't happen overnight.

 

[Orgetorix]

The jacket is 2 sizes too small? The Pants are cut too short? Who cares!

.........

 

[esteban68]

how 'skinny' are those trousers? I guess what goes around..................
I have a theory that manufacturers are somewhat complicit in this fashion thing and not for the obvious reasons of selling clothes, think about it this modern 'skinny' look and cutaway/spread collar shirts, low rise no break skinny trousers along with tight jackets and short sleeves means they will save quite a bit of cloth spread over their production?....just a theory!

 

[Rudie]

Actually, those modern skinny trousers have too much break more often than not. Often I see them worn so low you can see the plumber's crack and the trouser legs are bunched up like a concertina.

 

[Two Types]

if you're not interested in the 20s per se, then perhaps appreciate the decade as a lead in to the 30s, which didn't exist
in a hermetically sealed 'art deco' bubble, but which grew out of something that took a long (sometimes tortuous) journey to evolve.
context is all important... fancy backs didn't happen overnight.

Which brings us back to your observations on how the casual young Englishman man in 1925 looks almost the same as the casual young Englishman of 1935. Which reminds me i need to do some more research on Oxford Bags ....

 

[Baron Kurtz]

This is one of benstephens' suits. Beltback, made for a French Baron in 1926:

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Any thoughts on the date of this one? I think it might be 20s, but not sure. Very little shoulder padding, just a bit of wadding in the sleeveheads.

 

[herringbonekid]

Baron, buttons are grouped pretty close on that jacket (closer than you'd expect for the 30s) but the shoulders aren't as narrow as the early 20s youthful look, so probably 1927-30.