Oxford Bags

[Baron Kurtz]

The most worrying thing is that it doesn't put people off wearing these very unforgiving styles. And so we have a huge number of people wearing stuff that makes them look awful, that highlights and magnifies every aspect of the poor fit. And they can't see it! My personal bugbear is single breasted single rear vent jackets. Coming up out of the tube staring at badly fitting jackets being pushed open at the rear vent is not good.

These styles can work on bigger guys (below). My Gary Cooper fetish has convinced me that shortarses can get away with less than larger chaps, though.

Short brim, narra lapels, slim cut suit, very large chap:

From bitter experience I know this ain't workin' for a short man:

 

[Metatron]

What isn't working? He even has the vertical stripes which elongate.

Interesting conversation regarding perceptions of sex appeal in clothing.
The funny thing is that the lack of 'sexiness' is part of why I like conservatively/vintage cut trousers.
To me, skinny trousers seem to communicate 'playah on the prowl' which does not suit my personality to say the least.

High waists are now very common in womenswear. Shouldn't this indicate that there is a chance menswear will follow suit?
You do see pleated high waisted trousers shyly peaking through here and there, but mostly in cutting edge, avant-garde fashion shows.
Last year I even saw trousers on the Topman website, baggy and pleated, albeit not high waisted.
they even called them oxford bags, but a full fledged trend didn't follow.

Edit:
Ah! Just remembered. There was a baggy, pleated trousered suit at the fashion section of my University's degree show.
A pleasant surprise.

 

[Tomasso]

. My Gary Cooper fetish.......

I read an interesting quote by Coop the other day concerning his inclusion on a best dressed list: "I don’t know a darn thing about dressing. I just trust in the Lord and keep my shoes shined.” Yeah, right......

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Nothing - it looks perfect. He was something like 6' 3". The stripes in that jacket are far too widely spaced for a short man. Believe me, someone 5' 2" looks ridiculous in that kind of pattern. I've tried; It's overwhelming.

What isn't working? He even has the vertical stripes which elongate.

 

[Two Types]

This discussion is central to my own original reason for loving wide trousers:
The flared trousers of the 1970s were swept aside by punk (back to narrow trousers), then the mod revival, narrow trousers. At that time, any form of wide trousers (and wide lapels) was considered the spawn of satan. So as a teenager we wore narrow trousers. I searched for old suits and can recall ignoring all those wide legged wide lapelled suits dating back to the thirties and forties because they reminded me of the seventies.
But as time went on I just became self conscious about my size 11 feet. They always looked so damn large in narrow trousers. They probably didn't look big to anyone else, but to me they looked dreadful. Added to that, I played rugby and so my seat and thighs were large and unsuited to narrow trousers. So I wanted wider trousers and gradually became interested in the old wide legged trousers and suits (of course, unfortunately for me, by that time there didn't seem to be any good suits left in the charity shops).

Even though size 11 feet isn't particularly big, I still remain self conscious about them. So when I wear morning suit or dinner suit trousers (which were traditionally narrow) I still feel a bit uncomfortable.

So if I feel like that about my feet, why don't other people feel ridiculous when they cram themselves into ludicrously skinny suits?

 

[Benny Holiday]

Well I can't speak for what it's like in your neck of the woods chaps, but here in Sydney town your average Joe doesn't even care about his clothes, he wears baggy shorts and t-shirts that his wife/live-in girlfriend/de-facto something-or-other buys for him. If he does have to wear a suit, again said partner usually busy it for him or he takes five minutes to quickly purchase a black or dark grey suit, totally oblivious to fashion or style, just knowing that he needs to have one for a particular purpose. This is the case for every man I work with or know outside the vintage clothing scene.

The only reason they might feel ridiculous crammed into their skinny suits is because they only feel at home wearing baggy shorts/t-shirt/baseball cap. It's sad, but true.

 

[Metatron]

http://ayeshakapadia.wix.com/saleha#!look-4/c4ca

Here are those vintage inspired styles by a graduate from my University.
Certainly not high waisted, but baggy and pleated and a completely different approach to the familiar 'sexy/skinny' look.
Hopefully a future trend setter!

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

1924 Oxford University Boat Race Crew

 

[herringbonekid]

interesting that only one of the pairs has been drawn to look fuzzy.

 

[Feraud]

They look like wooly chaps.

 

[Metatron]

What is the tiny guy wearing? Looks like overalls. He is the interesting one!

 

[Fading Fast]

I read an interesting quote by Coop the other day concerning his inclusion on a best dressed list: "I don’t know a darn thing about dressing. I just trust in the Lord and keep my shoes shined.” Yeah, right......

As you said, "yeah right." What nonsense. It reminds me of an interview I read where Sheryl Crow, in her mid forties and with a rock-hard, well-toned body, said in response to a question about the incredible shape she was in (I'm paraphrasing from memory) that I don't work out but I carry my guitar around a lot. Yeah right.

While I understand that it is neat, cool or something auspicious if a good thing - a well-toned body or a great sense of style - occurs naturally, we all know that Gary Cooper didn't just grab one after another beautifully put together and well-tailored outfit out of his closet by accident (did all those clothes sneak into his closet when he wasn't looking?). We also know that forty year old men and women don't just get perfectly worked out and toned bodies by lugging a guitar around.

Honesty is an incredibly attractive traits that many people carelessly and constantly throw away in an attempt to cover up something else or to present a false impression. How much more impressive would it be if Coop had just said that he enjoys clothes and thinks dressing well is important or if Sheryl Crow had said she enjoys being in great shape and works out regularly because it is harder to stay in shape as you get older?

 

[Metatron]

Maybe they are just trolling the interviewers.

 

[Two Types]

1927: Suits for youths with 'Semi Oxford style' trousers:

 

[herringbonekid]

so was the semi-Oxford the style that became the ubiquitous wide legged trouser of the 30s and 40s ?
or did they just make the name up as something novel sounding ?
what defines a semi-Oxford ?

and where are the ads for the full Oxford ?

questions, questions, questions.

 

[Two Types]

so was the semi-Oxford the style that became the ubiquitous wide legged trouser of the 30s and 40s ?
or did they just make the name up as something novel sounding ?
what defines a semi-Oxford ?

and where are the ads for the full Oxford ?

questions, questions, questions.

answers, answers, answers:

Here's an add for oxfords

available in biscuit and lovat

or in fawn and grey:

or grey flannel and 'hard court shade' (a sort of reddish brick hue, like a clay tennis court?):

I think the 'semi oxford shape' does refer to the trouser that became ubiquitous through the thirties and forties. The newspapers at the time referred to trousers going back to being narrower than at the height of the oxford bags trend and, as such, I suspect that advertisers (needing a name since 'Wider than 1924 but not as wide as 1925' doesn't exactly catch the eye) chose 'semi-oxford' as a convenient name. The size and shape stuck, the colour scheme returned to the more conventional shades, and they just became trousers as known to everybody for the next 20 years.

 

[Two Types]

More evidence to support the Herringbonekid's theory about rowing over-trousers being the origin for Oxford bags:

from the Dundee Courier in May 1925:
There are Oxonians who have whispered that the Oxford "bags" we hear so much about originated in the need in the frightfully cold days of Boat Race training for flannel "slacks" that would easily slip on or off when shorts were being worn.

 

[Luxire]

For those who like these: Vintage style high-waisted Oxford Bags:

 

[Fastuni]

I wouldn't call these "Oxford bags" - more like US "Collegiate" or "Campus style" slacks, as found in the 30's Sears catalogs.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

They are what they are … but they ain't bags. Also, pleat placement is very 80s.

I like the waistband lining, though!