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

[mattface]

Popular culture is a great resource. I think the reruns of Leave it to Beaver I grew up on give excelent examples of school and casual style. Wally was in HS, but the Beave dressed similar to his older brother. Also Archie comics have been around since the 1939, and they have always striven to represent current teen fashion. You can buy reproductions from the 1940s to get a really good sense of what high school style was like at that time.

Archie Americana Volume 1: Best of the 1940s

Archie Americana Volume 2: Best of the 1950s

 

[Gabriel]

Just thought about this but, how were ties & bowties back in the golden era? Were they the same as today or is there such thing as 'vintage' ties? Was thinking about getting this tie but still want to try and keep things vintage.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CBAT5F8...5F8&tag=wwwshopstylec-20&ascsubtag=1244897177

 

[lordwinters]

Just thought about this but, how were ties & bowties back in the golden era? Were they the same as today or is there such thing as 'vintage' ties? Was thinking about getting this tie but still want to try and keep things vintage.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CBAT5F8...5F8&tag=wwwshopstylec-20&ascsubtag=1244897177

There is most definitely a thing called vintage ties, just as with suits things have changed since the 1940's. Have a look at the "show us your ties" thread here on FL, there is plenty of things there to give you an idea of how ties used to look. As for the tie you linked, that wouldn't be very 1940's or 50's. Solid colour ties were something not too common, and those that did wear them were most likely older men, not high school kids. There are plenty of differences apart from that, lengths were different, shape and not to mention the fact that vintage ties were not heavily padded with lining like modern ones. Which makes for a small, and elegant knot, as opposed to a large fist-sized one.

 

[mattface]

I'm very fond of skinny ties from the 1950s and 60s. They often had really neat patterns and decorative details woven in. The wide ties from the 30s-40s had some beautiful designs, but they were meant for the higher rise pants of the time, and just aren't long enough to wear with modern-rise pants. I can get away with it if I use a 4-in-hand, and leave very little tail, but they really aren't right unless your waistband sits over your belly button.

 

[Luftwaffles]

I generally think of something like this.

 

[The Good]

I'm very fond of skinny ties from the 1950s and 60s. They often had really neat patterns and decorative details woven in. The wide ties from the 30s-40s had some beautiful designs, but they were meant for the higher rise pants of the time, and just aren't long enough to wear with modern-rise pants. I can get away with it if I use a 4-in-hand, and leave very little tail, but they really aren't right unless your waistband sits over your belly button.

Normally, with pre-1950s ties, I could get away with getting it to work with the four-in-hand knot, having the tie appear as long as the top of my pant's waistband or about an inch or nearly two above that. It is much easier for me to tie a latter half of the 1950s and 1960s tie, because of added lengths that became fashionable during that period, but that is indicative that pants' rises have generally changed since the 1940s as well. However, there is a 1900s or 1910s tie that I own, which is more tricky to tie in order to just get it at the length of my last showing shirt button, two inches above the pants, and that is with the back end going nearly as high as the knot. I think that ties length is 45 inches long. Clearly, that tie was meant for a much higher rise, or it was meant for a short tie look, like I sometimes saw with some late 19th and early 20th century photography. I tend to wear all of my pants either an inch below, or directly at my navel (belly button), which I don't think is so low.

 

[tnjyoung]

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:

This last picture tells a story...I'm not sure what story, but a story nonetheless...

 

[jamespowers]

Normally, with pre-1950s ties, I could get away with getting it to work with the four-in-hand knot, having the tie appear as long as the top of my pant's waistband or about an inch or nearly two above that. It is much easier for me to tie a latter half of the 1950s and 1960s tie, because of added lengths that became fashionable during that period, but that is indicative that pants' rises have generally changed since the 1940s as well. However, there is a 1900s or 1910s tie that I own, which is more tricky to tie in order to just get it at the length of my last showing shirt button, two inches above the pants, and that is with the back end going nearly as high as the knot. I think that ties length is 45 inches long. Clearly, that tie was meant for a much higher rise, or it was meant for a short tie look, like I sometimes saw with some late 19th and early 20th century photography. I tend to wear all of my pants either an inch below, or directly at my navel (belly button), which I don't think is so low.

The early 1900s ties were made to be worn with a vest. That is why it is so short. A vest gorge was pretty high back then too.

 

[Gabriel]

Hey there, and apologies (again) for the long waited response.

This past week was quite crazy and I think I should share it with you guys since you all would probably know better on how to deal with these sorts of problems compared to me. During the past week or so, I've been doing my best to keep my clothes clean, pressed, and sharp. In regards to what I've been wearing, I've simply been doing the kackies with my sweaters and dress shirts tucked in (are you even suppose to tuck in a sweater?) and wearing along with my kackies and bashe cargo pants. Other then that, I've just been slicking my hair like normal and trying to wear my 1 long sleeve white dress shirt tucked in with my clothes. However, over this weekend, it was certainly quite a school day that I'd like to share with yous. Again, if you have any advice for these situations, please feel free to share them.

So here's my little mini-story for you all to enjoy.

A few days ago, I was walking into my house from school with my nice clothes on and took a step that led immediately to me slipping straight into the mud. As I got up, I was covered in mud and smeared with grass stains all over my clothes (It sucked). In a frenzy, I rushed into the house, threw my clothes into the washer, poured soap into the cap, poured it in the wash machine, and washed my clothes for a about an hour on medium settings with cold water. After it washed, I threw my clothes into the dryer (clothes that day: sweater, dress shirt, tshirt, socks, and kackies) and dried them all for an hour. Unfortunately, I forgot to use something like 'Shout' on my clothes and ended up leaving a nice dirt stain on the sleeve of my only white dress shirt. This prompted me to go out and look for new dress shirts.

After the mess, I forced myself with the help of my godmother to learn how to iron clothes, fold shirts neatly, and properly clean my laundry CORRECTLY. (LOL!). In addition, I'll be getting a shinebox along with a new pair of dress shoes relatively soon so, hopefully those items will also lead me to learning some new skills to master. Anyway, I'll jump to the main point of this story.

Thanks to my lack of knowledge, I pretty much permanently stained my dress shirt's sleeve which has forced me into looking around for some new places to shop for some dress shirts. After this event, I sort of thought to myself why I only limited my clothes shopping to Old Navy and then recalled that JCPenney sold oxford and other nice dress shirts as well. While looking at their site, I noticed they sell vests as well as other various items that could bring my look a step nicer than wearing the same old shirts every other day. After searching 'dress shirt' on their site, here's what I came up with.
- http://www.jcpenney.com/dotcom/jsp/...ame=XGNSZone&grView=&redirectTerm=dress+shirt

To sum everything up, I'm still interested in trying to keep a vintage look while looking nice. With this frame of mind, would anyone feel that shopping here vs only limiting myself to old navy would be a good idea? I sort of like the dress shirts they sell here and wanted to know if there anyway I could throw some outfits together that looked decent from this store.

Thanks!

 

[Mathematicus]

I may suggest you to look also at http://savilerowco.com/shirts/. They have a good range of dress and casual shirts, with different sleeve length. I bought some shirts from them and I'm quite happy (at least for having shirts with proper sleeves, as I've got rather long arms for a 15'' neck).

 

[Benzadmiral]

I thought it might even be a bowler.

Now that I look at it carefully, I think it could be.

 

[Gabriel]

I may suggest you to look also at http://savilerowco.com/shirts/. They have a good range of dress and casual shirts, with different sleeve length. I bought some shirts from them and I'm quite happy (at least for having shirts with proper sleeves, as I've got rather long arms for a 15'' neck).

Any idea what exactly a 'vintage collar' would look like?

 

[AdeeC]

Not sure if mentioned but there are great examples of 1950's teenage clothes and fashion in James Dean's film REBEL WITHOUT CAUSE and in glorious colour too.

 

[Mathematicus]

Any idea what exactly a 'vintage collar' would look like?

If you're looking for a shirt with a collar like those in vogue before 1960s, Savile Row Company isn't the best choice (although I hope they'll begin to make them). They offer a couple of tab collar but no spearpoint collar, that is the one. Shirt made with that knd of collar are not common, and sadly rather expensive; you can have one made by Luxire. Look at http://custom.luxire.com/blogs/luxire-custom/6514547-classic-vintage-shirt to have an idea of the appearance. Many people say they make good jobs, but I've never ordered anything yet.