1920s Vintage 'Oh My God' Suit

[Marc Chevalier]

What do Sir Anthony Eden, Douglas Fairbanks Sr., Carlos Gardel, and Bertie Wooster have in common? They all wore three-piece suits with peak lapels and double-breasted waistcoats.


Just try finding a vintage American one from the ‘20s. It’s pretty much an impossible dream. Even so, dreams sometimes come true...


A vintage late 1920s suit by HART SCHAFFNER & MARX, whom Arnold Gingrich (the founding editor of Apparel Arts Quarterly and Esquire magazine) described as that era’s best American ready-to-wear suit manufacturer.


The jacket’s chest/yoke lining, and the waistcoat’s back and belt, are made of alpaca mohair. The hip pockets are bellowed from the inside, to prevent them from bulging outward when filled with items. On the trousers, note the single forward-facing (“British”) pleats, which were just beginning to appear on the U.S. mass market. Note, too, the single-piece collar/lapel on the waistcoat: a very rare detail in ready-to-wear.


One of the rarest vintage American suits you’ll ever see.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

 

[Tomasso]

. The hip pockets are bellowed from the inside, to prevent them from bulging outward when filled with items.

Wait, I thought that feature was patented by Oxxford.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Wait, I thought that feature was patented by Oxxford.

Versions of it have been around for a long time. For instance, I've seen the feature on an ALEXANDER & OVIATT tuxedo jacket made in 1925.

 

[Chasseur]

WOW!

That is a swell suit!

This a little off topic, but your description makes me wonder when to pleats start becoming common on men's trousers? From my limited knowledge of fashion history I do not recall seeing them in the 19th Century, but by the 1930s they are common. Is it then as you suggest in that magical 1920s period where modern men's wear is essentially defined by the end of the decade?

Thanks!

 

[Marc Chevalier]

This a little off topic, but your description makes me wonder when to pleats start becoming common on men's trousers?

Pleats as we know them began to appear on British bespoke trousers around 1920.* They starting popping up on British ready-to-wear trousers in the mid '20s, and crossed the pond to the U.S.A. around 1928.


* Edit: Thanks for the correction, Nobert! Apparently, pleats go as far back as 1910. I've never seen a photo or illustration of pleats in that era; can anybody please post one here?

 

[Chasseur]

Thanks again Marc!

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Thanks again Marc!

My pleasure.

This photo of American haberdasher James Oviatt was taken in London in June 1920. Oviatt is wearing Royal Ascot attire that was made bespoke for him. Note the pleated trousers.

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

OH MY GOD. perfect suit. Is it yours now? Does it fit?

 

[Marc Chevalier]

OH MY GOD. perfect suit. Is it yours now? Does it fit?

It's mine, but it doesn't fit. It's a size 38 R. It's going to eBay.

 

[Dr Kilroy]

A suit with such a position of buttons is intended to be fastened with both, as it was done in 20's.

Best regards, Dr

 

[Nobert]

WOW!


This a little off topic, but your description makes me wonder when to pleats start becoming common on men's trousers? From my limited knowledge of fashion history I do not recall seeing them in the 19th Century, but by the 1930s they are common. Is it then as you suggest in that magical 1920s period where modern men's wear is essentially defined by the end of the decade?

Not to claim this as definitive or even accurate, but this is what Vanity Fair had to say in their October, 1924 issue:

"The London tailors made pleats in the waistline as far back as 1910, and what the well dressed man wants is not something new but something as well made as he is used to having.

This autumn the one very noticeable change in men's clothes is in the trousers. These are now cut very full, wide and as long as possible...The fulness, which is maintained the whole length of the leg, must be carefully pleated at the waist...They should have two pleats only for each leg, and these pleats should fall from a narrow waistband."

This article surprised me, although I'm no expert in the history of men's wear, I had thought that in 1924, the fashion was still for the slim-cut sack suit of the Leyndecker years.

That is certainly a fabulous suit, I continually despair at the prospect of finding/affording anything half a nice.

 

[birkie]

Fantastic! Was this a recent find? Is there a story behind it? Oddly enough, I was searching for information on the technical aspects of pleats when I found the original post where you found that belted back NRA tagged suit (which you just sold a few days ago for an excellent price).

 

[dhermann1]

Why the heck can't somebody invent an electro-enlargicator for all these damned 38 and 39 sized suits!?
What really slays me about those suits are the double breasted peak lapel vests. What a nice touch. And a skinny mustache is generally the preferred accoutrement.

 

[Oldsarge]

I agree. Mercy, what a suit!

 

[Dubya]

That is one awesome suit!!

Al I've got to do now is lose 6" off my chest..........and probably 5" off my waist!

 

[Lexybeast]

Uh oh. That's my size.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Fantastic! Was this a recent find? Is there a story behind it?

I found it more than a year ago at the 'Vintage Fashion Expo' event in Santa Monica, California. It was the only men's suit in the booth of a women's vintage clothing dealer. She'd purchased it at a rummage sale somewhere, but didn't have any details about it.

 

[Mario]

If you had told me ten year ago that'll end up spending my nights crying in front of a computer monitor looking at vintage suits I'd have called you...well, something I could never mention here, anyway!

What a suit, Marc. What a suit... :eusa_clap :eusa_clap

 

[Bruce Wayne]

If I had $600 laying around I would have Mr. Magnoli replicate these suits.