Cream wool flannel suit (British 1930s?)

[Two Types]

Old British summer suits are pretty rare finds these days. This cream coloured, unlined, wool flannel two piece was therefore a very pleasant find.

Now, I'm not 100% certain it's British, so I'm hoping for some help from the folks out there. I guessed British primarily by the fact it came from a shop that seldom has anything else but old British stuff (such as BK's 1920s lightweight hacking jacket that he posted last year and Barmey's 1930s black melton suit that I'm still waiting for him to post photos to show you all the magnificent waistband and pocket arrangement).

The suit is in a moderately heavy cream flannel. It doesn't appear to have any moth holes and only has a few stains. Apologies but my only available model wasn't the perfect size (and hadn't polished his shoes).

Anyway, here goes. I hope you all like it:

waistband:

Sloping shoulder seams:

Lining:

The side adjuster buckles on this suit are marked 'Prima'. Is anyone familiar with this manufacturer?

What about the buttons? British?

As you can imagine, it doesn't fit me, so I'll soon be looking to find it a new home.

 

[Tomasso]

Nice find, TT! No labels or markings whatsoever?

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Nice one. Could be any time up into the 50s, depending on features of course. The button stance of the jacket is pretty standard for a vintage jacket of the 30s onwards. What's the shoulder area liner material? How are the sleeves cut?

 

[Rabbit]

What a beautiful find, TT. My fingers are itching.
If this one happens to be my size, I'd happily buy it from you without thinking twice about it. I wear jackets with 17-17.5" shoulders, 19-20" chest, and a 29-30" trouser waist.

 

[GHT]

The side adjuster buckles on this suit are marked 'Prima'. Is anyone familiar with this manufacturer?

I've seen those buckles, worn by those in Axis uniforms, at re-enactors events. A search confirmed this.

Unused stock from a former Third Reich Military outfitters / taylors The famous Prima claw buckle used as a waist ajustment buckle on the rear of the army Mod 37 enlisted straight leg trousers

It was on Malcolm Wagners site, just Google his name.

 

[Fastuni]

¨Prima¨ is German. The jacket buttons look like some German sportcoat buttons I have.
Semi-lined jackets (while often immediately seen as American, were not unusual on European summer coats).

I tend to German and would buy/trade it if it fits me.

 

[Two Types]

Nice find, TT! No labels or markings whatsoever?

Nothing.

 

[Two Types]

The German angle is very interesting. The shop gets its stock locally (it doesn't buy in from the worldwide rag trade) so that might give the suit an interesting history. I think the bloke in the shop said it came from a house clearance somewhere in Dorset.

Ex-Wehrmacht Prima buckles

P.S. The suit has an inside leg measurement of about thirty inches.

 

[Fastuni]

I'd guess that the owner possibly spent some time in Germany before the war and had this suit made there, before returning to Britain.

 

[Tomasso]

The German angle is very interesting.

Yes but not conclusive. There are instances where garment closures (zippers, buckles, buttons, etc.) have been imported for use in the original manufacture or used as an aftermarket replacement.



Just muddying the water a bit.

 

[herringbonekid]

i don't think i've seen this type of suit before, and i'm puzzled by it. the trousers look very similar to standard British cricket flannels. what width are they ?
the jacket resembles a typical university blazer or unstructured summer jacket in cut and construction, except the shoulders appear to be more padded.

what's that horizontal line between the bottom buttonholes ?

 

[Two Types]

i don't think i've seen this type of suit before, and i'm puzzled by it. the trousers look very similar to standard British cricket flannels. what width are they ?
the jacket resembles a typical university blazer or unstructured summer jacket in cut and construction, except the shoulders appear to be more padded.

what's that horizontal line between the bottom buttonholes ?

Yes, it is odd. In fact it gets odder the more one thinks about it. The horizontal line between the bottom buttons is where the area around the top buttons has been strengthened. Why it doesn't extend to the bottom button, I don't know.

You are right, the shoulders are very heavily padded. And it is lined more like a summer suit rather than a standard sporting blazer.

The trousers are only about 9 inches at the bottom. But yes, they do seem like standard cricket flannels - but maybe not as wide as one might expect in the thirties.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

It looks to be attached to a vertical line running north through the thin end of the buttonholes. Maybe where a patch has been added where buttonholes had worn out?

[obviously cross-posted with TT] is that a patch "reinforcement", TT?

 

[Two Types]

I will double check, but I don't think so. The stitching runs right up under the lapel.

I must get some more photographs to show the details.

 

[simonc]

Dust for prints and do a DNA test.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

This sounds very odd. I wonder why they would have such an obvious line of quite distracting and aesthetically unpleasing stitching in such an obvious place?:eeek: One can take such things if they're in the nature of a make do and mend-type fix-er-up arrangement, but intended? That's a bit much.

Crazy idea, I know, but if this jacket was intended to be buttoned to the bottom button, the roll of the lapel would hide this stitching.

I will double check, but I don't think so. The stitching runs right up under the lapel.

I must get some more photographs to show the details.

 

[herringbonekid]

although i've never seen cricket / tennis flannels with a matching jacket it seems feasible that such a thing existed.

 

[Two Types]

That was my initial thought, however the padding on the shoulders would suggest the jacket wasn't intended to be worn during any sporting use. I suspect one was supposed to saunter onto the tennis court whilst wearing the jacket, then cast it aside just before starting the game. The chest to waist drop between chest measurement and trouser waist is nearly ten inches, suggesting quite an athletic physique.

 

[Tomasso]

I suspect one was supposed to saunter onto the tennis court whilst wearing the jacket, then cast it aside just before starting the game.

I think you're onto something, TT. The narrower trouser opening would be better for tennis.


Rene Lacoste with the crocodile emblem on his jacket.

 

[Two Types]

That looks about right. Lacoste's jacket also appears to have a structured shoulder like my jacket. His jacket appears to be two button, but with wide spacing between the buttons.