Crazy Lapels Suit - 1940's?

[HardBoiledMarlowe]

Is this really a 40's suit? The fabric and lapels look 70's to me, but who knows?

http://www.etsy.com/listing/113949289/reserved-for-neil-vintage-mens-suit?ref=usr_faveitems

 

[Stanley Doble]

Reminds me of a crack Bill Mitchell made in the seventies. He eyed an outfit like that and said "my wife has better linoleum on her kitchen floor than you have in that suit". Ha ha ha ha

Is it polyester double knit?

 

[HardBoiledMarlowe]

Reminds me of a crack Bill Mitchell made in the seventies. He eyed an outfit like that and said "my wife has better linoleum on her kitchen floor than you have in that suit". Ha ha ha ha

Is it polyester double knit?

Ha ha ha! That's a great joke. The seller says the suit is wool.

They also say: "NOTE: I have dated this fantastic suit to the 1940s or possibly into the 1950s based upon many factors including the overall construction, the fact that the shoulder pads are made of cotton wadding instead of formed shoulder pads, the lack of a back vent, the style of the pants (14" rise), and the feel of the material (if you have ever held an older suit, you understand what I mean). "

 

[Cobden]

It seems almost too exaggerated to be something someone really wore. I can imagine someone on a music hall stage making "where's me washboard?" style jokes wearing it, though

 

[herringbonekid]

that has to be 70s. it reminds me of the creations of Tommy Nutter:

 

[Baron Kurtz]

hmmmmmm

 

[herringbonekid]

hmmmmmm

what are you thinking behind that hmmmmm ?

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Well, I saw this a while ago, and I still can't decide on it. It looks home made by a reasonably competent person. Because it's home made, it could rationally have those wonky oversized lapels, and still be from the 40s.

It's the trousers that catch in my craw. I don't think even a home sewer in the 1940s would make trousers that look quite like that, especially the waistband. I would love to see the "double hook closure" and "metal zipper".

I'm just not sure about it …

 

[herringbonekid]

i don't think it's home made, but it could be theatrical.

i know what you mean, it gives me pause too. it could, as Cobden suggests, have been made for stage performer / comedian (you'd need a sense of humour to wear it).

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Interestingly there's a wrecked British sports/coating jacket in a shop on Cheshire Street that's made of very similar fabric. I'm convinced it's from the 'Teens or earlier.

So, the fabric doesn't throw me so much as the features. The double hook closure sound just like all those 70s trousers you come across in vintage shops. Apart from the lapels, the jacket is a dead ringer for an American '40s jacket.

But I think it's from the 70s. But who knows?

 

[Two Types]

It rather reminds me of this suit: http://www.ericmusgrave.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/Duke-of-Windsor-1.jpg
made for the Duke of Windsor in the early 1950s: The suit jacket was made by Scholte of London, while the trousers, with zipped fly, were tailored by Harris of New York. The matching waistcoat was made by Hawes and Curtis.

 

[herringbonekid]

also, there were those late 40s jackets sold a while ago by Savvy Row that had extremely bold checks and velvet collars.

 

[Nick D]

The pattern matching is very poor, even in the 70s a tailor would have lined things up better. I'd say stage costume, probably for a stock spiv character. A theater company could get a lot of mileage out of that suit.

 

[Feraud]

Yes it seems like a costume piece. The jacket skirt is short and the collar is comically wide.
The exaggerated lapels remind me of Okisaka.

 

[Cobden]

One possibility that occurs, that would marry up the 1970s features in the hidden details with it being an exagerration of a 1940's suit for the theatre is that it was made in the 1970's for a play or some such set in the 1930s or 40s

 

[Mountain Man]

"Not necessarily, Sir. I am told that Mr. Freddie 'He's a Riot' Flowerdew often appears on the music hall stage in comparable attire." (Jeeves & Wooster, "The Golf Tournament")

 

[GoldenEraFan]

Looks like it's a zoot suit styled costume made for a 1940's boogie woogie soundie film. Unless an old '70s era tailor still remembered how to cut a suit in the exact '40s specs.

 

[DamianM]

70s no doubt. the slacks give it all away.

 

[Stanley Doble]

Harold Lloyd wore a similar zoot in The Sin of Harold Diddlebock in 1946.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o1lAxrp1mxo

Get a load of the glad rags at 1:33

Tailor: I made this one for a dog act

Manicurist: I can hear it barking.

 

[DamianM]

yeah there is no doubt about the material being used earlier but the slacks are not of the time