How did people in the 40s-50s casually dress? (Without Suits)

[Hal]

In Europe I understand that dungarees or work pants, turtleneck sweater and leather jacket was the uniform of the student radical, copied from the working man's everyday clothes. This look would not have passed the eagle eye of an American high school teacher.

The "student radical" would be of university, not of high-school age, and the style would not be much seen before the "cultural revolution" of the second half of the 1960s. Secondary schools in continental Europe did not then, and do not now, have official school uniforms, but most in Britain and Ireland did and many do still.

 

[Rabbit]

The "student radical" would be of university, not of high-school age, and the style would not be much seen before the "cultural revolution" of the second half of the 1960s.

Quite. The non-conformist styles at university were also not as abundant on the continent as we may think. Media make them appear to be more widespread in retrospect than they really were.

 

[Benny Holiday]

And they would almost certainly not tuck their shirts in.

How true . . . clearly the inability to simply tuck a shirt in is a dilemma endemic to all parts of the Western world these days.

 

[resortes805]

Let's start with working with what you have already, or readily have access too.

Hold onto those oxford dress shirts and sweaters, you'll use them. But let's fine tune some of the buttoned shirts you can grab from Old Navy.

Grab some chambray shirts like these. You can wear them tucked in or out and consider rolling them up at the sleeve.
Same with some of their flannel shirts. Be warned, as these shirts don't have the prominent collars of 1940s and 1950s, but no-one will slight you for it.

Also don't overlook graphic tees. As long as they have a vintage style print (limit to 1-3 colors) and have a vintage fit (trim with high cut short sleeves) they will work.

As for slacks, avoid pants with a skinny fit. Straight, boot-cut, regular, and maybe even loose. are the fits to go for. It's tough to find high waisted jeans or khakis nowadays, so just work with what you can find. Something like this is fine, as long as you carry a straight line from inseam to cuff with little to no break. Nothing breaks up vintage style jean lines like denim pooled around the ankle. A cuff of any size is a typical option.

 

[resortes805]

As for shoes, you can go with some Converse Chuck Taylors like everyone else, instead how about some PF Flyers?

Unbleached white canvas or black are popular choices

 

[resortes805]

As you fine tune your look, you may want to turn to ebay or etsy for actual vintage clothing.

Here are some staples:

Flap pocket sport shirt in rayon gabardine

Plaid Pendleton or Mcgregor shirt or shirt jacket might work too

Some high waisted slacks with a hollywood waist!

Some white bucks for the spring and summer!

Finally, finish it off with a short casual jacket...

 

[AdeeC]

Here are some samples of Grizzlies from another thread. These were quite mainstream jackets. Sadly most likely out of the budget for a teenager now. An original in wearable condition or a modern copy will cost well over a $1000 dollars.

 

[Two Types]

I think Resortes has pretty well nailed it in terms of giving practical advice.

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

I think Resortes has pretty well nailed it in terms of giving practical advice.

True! Very good and easy to follow. Here are a few more items which work well with 40s/50s casual:

The striped T-Shirt. Works perfectly with cuffed jeans too.

For colder weather the V-Neck cricket sweater is also still around. Made from wool or cotton depending on the climate you live in.
Maybe the pictures are earlier (30s) but it is kinda timeless.

 

[Metatron]

I think it is commendable that you want to go for a classic/vintage style. There are many benefits to being well put together.
However, as you are in highschool, which can be a brutally judgmental environment. My humble advise is to make sure your look is lively and flattering, as well as vintage.
It is no good if you look in the mirror and cringe but go ahead with it just because it's retro.
I think many of us have done this in the early days of our transformation.
Pay attention to colour and how it works with your hair and complexion, and remember that fit and quality are paramount.
Having said all this, you will have to make your own mistakes along the line.

Well, I guess this is another opportunity to post some pictures:

postwar Russia


I could be wrong, but I think this is a Japanese/American man interned in the US during the war.


Brando


Jean Gabin in Moontide

 

[TSP13]

I'm a high school student, and I do my best to look vintage everyday. I even won best dressed and I've influenced some other people. I usually wear dress shirts with v neck sweaters, dark 501's or wranglers, with loafers and dress socks. I have other military surplus and Nordic sweaters that I wear with casual button ups, same loafers. I wear some khaki pants when I feel like ironing them. I have a peacoat and a harrington jacket that are the perfect for school everyday. I also wear white socks, black loafers, and pearl snap shirts sometimes for a good look. Workwear is good, you can't go wrong with workwear as long as the fit is good. Me and a group of my friends started tie day Friday as an excuse to dress our best once a week. A teacher took it that we were preparing for the job market, and started offering extra credit for her students that dressed up on Friday, (she isn't a good teacher). Camp socks, white socks, dress socks, a nice pair of boots, some loafers, a cardigan, you can't go wrong with certain things. Just look at pictures of well dressed high school students. I desperately need some good fitting grey wool trousers. This is what I wore for my "best dressed" yearbook photo. You'll dress better everyday you try, and whatever you do do it in confidence. Hope this helps. -T.S.

 

[resortes805]

The striped T-Shirt. Works perfectly with cuffed jeans too.

Yes, the stripey tee! Another Old Navy Staple!

 

[TSP13]

Don't thank me, esteban. The pics with watermark are courtesy of Dinerman; many of the workwear photos are from the Vintage Workwear thread. The two illustrations are from the Esquire thread.
You'll also find a few more workwear- and sportswear-related photos in the Non-Shorpy thread.

From the Non-Shorpy thread:

I can never find a decent leather jacket. That tucked in tie is perfect.

 

[Christopher Scoggins]

As an American Highschooler myself, I am also faced with similar issues as the OP. As I really don't own that much vintage stuff, my solution is wearing modern and recent vintage stuff in a vintage "flair" usually done with adding tasteful vintage accessories, such as ties and jewelry. For example: Today I wore pleated modern worsted trousers (That remind me of the early '60s), a black knit RL half-zip sweater, recent vintage light blue dress shirt (fairly classically made), a '60s narrow wool tartan tie, and topped off with a black leather jacket that doesn't remotely look vintage. Mind you, I might have paid a little over $20 for the entire outfit. Thrift shops and estate sales are where I get most of my stuff. Just gotta look for the good stuff, even if it's not vintage. The only synthetic material in that entire list, is the jacket lining, might I add. However, as many others on this forum are quick to point out, thrift shops aren't as good as they used to be, considering that their flooded with oversize '90s and '00s crap nowadays, and if you do find vintage, it's '70s.

Jeez, for a guys who does't post much, I sure do write a lot...

 

[Seb Lucas]

How true . . . clearly the inability to simply tuck a shirt in is a dilemma endemic to all parts of the Western world these days.

And throughout Asia.

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

Found some pics that look less like dustbowl farmer and more like students.

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

Some more including some bobbysoxers.

Search for the photgraphers Nina Leen and Alfred Eisenstaedt who shoot quite a few series about american teenagers from the era for the LIFE magazine.

 

[Edward]

I love the variation of characters in those photos... the gang kids are a hoot. The black kids in the porkpie hats look really sharp and have a real flare to them.

Were letterman jackets as common then as Hollywood today would have us believe? I think they're a sharp look, but one that's hard to work over two decades after "high school" became a distant memory...

I can't comment directly on the experience of dressing for school as I had the relative good fortune of a uniform for fourteen years. By university, I was sufficiently rooted in myself that I didn't much care what anyone else thought of how I dressed, though I wasn't into vintage then. Most students outside the art school set in those days were fairly non-descript... Wish I'd taken the time to play around al ot more with my look. Looking back ,I regret never having a quiff when I still had the hair for it....

There's a thing you might want to consider, though: the right haircut for your selected era. Doesn't have to be a quiff, but going with hair that suits is the final piece of the look that imo shifts it away from costume to clothes...

Leather waist-length jackets:

I'd love to know what's gonig on in the right hand corner, front row - those two guys wearing their DB suit jackets buttoned in opposite directions. Are they clowning around, or did the French not buy into the convention that it button a certain way?

You can find vintage orginals for lower prices than new clothes if you're patient. 1940s/50s trousers are not that difficult to find; waist-length jackets don't turn up every day, but you can still find them. Even WWII and post-WWII military garments which can often be found for very low prices might work for you. I have a WWII navy wool shirt of the USN that was converted for civilian use by cutting the length to the height of the waist and adding a knitted waistband. The drab olive WWII U.S. Army trousers and the airforceblue post-WWII USAF trousers make passable trousers for everyday use in my opinion. They're extremely durable, too, have a very nice cut and razor-sharp trouser creases. I think of them as an alternative to jeans.

I've never bee lucky enough to be of a size where vintage was readily available at cheap prices, but I do wear a lot of repro military trousers with blazers or more dressed down. Even some modern military dresswear can be pretty good for period civilian wear; dress uniforms don't seem to have changed much, in many cases, since the late 50s. The main problem you'll face here, especially with WW2 repro, is a limited colour pallette (would have been great but the Wehrmacht and their Axis chums were obsessed with buckles and ties at the ankle, rendering repros of most of their trousers no real use for wear without tall boots). Still a good source for a lot of period looking trousers that will enhance a vintage look much cheaper than buying any tailored trousers though. Bonus: you don't have to worry about them being accurate, as long as the general shape is good. Buy long, and have them cuffed. If you want more colours, try and find cotton ones and dye them (I've had great uniform results using washing machine dye). Another option - seek out P.I.R. Cargos' Overlord model trousers - nice vintage cut. Ignore the blurb about being resized for modern tastes - they have a very good fifties silhouette to my eye. Look to rockabilly oriented clothing sites, though be careful there as some of them aren't so much decent repro as expensive fancy dress for £$%^ing lindy hoppers.

FWIW..... based on the photos I've seen, the kids in the 50s high school scenes in Back to the Future look surprisingly authentic. Might be worth looking at for inspiration.

The "student radical" would be of university, not of high-school age, and the style would not be much seen before the "cultural revolution" of the second half of the 1960s. Secondary schools in continental Europe did not then, and do not now, have official school uniforms, but most in Britain and Ireland did and many do still.

Agreed; I think the student radical didn't really spread across Europe until the time of the Parisian student riots - 1968? It's a look you see a lot in photos of the Northern Ireland Civil Rights Association marches in 68/69. Much prior to that, photos of over there most people still look like they're living in 1950.

I think it is commendable that you want to go for a classic/vintage style. There are many benefits to being well put together.
However, as you are in highschool, which can be a brutally judgmental environment. My humble advise is to make sure your look is lively and flattering, as well as vintage.
It is no good if you look in the mirror and cringe but go ahead with it just because it's retro.
I think many of us have done this in the early days of our transformation.

Nice term.... I've3 always referred to it as a 'regeneration'.

I could be wrong, but I think this is a Japanese/American man interned in the US during the war.

Jinkies, he could pass for one of the hipstery models you see in the Japanese repro catalogues today! I like his hair.

 

[Fastuni]

The group shot of the class is not French but American (Washington State).

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

Yes, there is quite a lot goin on in that washington state (thanks fastuni) group picture. One of the guys in the last row wears a DB with really tiny lapels. All in all they look like they didn't get the memo for the picture and just stopped whatever they were doing to get it taken. Quite authentic.