Pinch Pleats

[resortes805]

This great thread got me thinking about pinch pleated jackets:

I currently have a pinch pleated suit that is to small for me.

Here is a great reproduction owned by Scotty Moore of the band BBVD. It looks like an Avalos suit. Check out the multi-pinch pleats!

I rarely encounter suits with this feature....does anyone else have one?

 

[Fletch]

What probably nipped this trend in the bud was postwar prosperity. Two chickens in every pot meant a spare tire in every trunk. If you're not a perfect vee silhouette to begin with, this style will make you pay, you fool - pay AND PAY AND PAY. BWA ha ha ha haaaa!

 

[kools]

Scotty pulls it off well!

 

[reetpleat]

I know Scotty way back, and think he is a great dresser, but I don't like the four pleats. Too many. It makes me think of the eighties baggy pleated slacks with three or four pleats in them.

Nice suit though.

I have seen one and posted some pics of it on the lounge about a year ago. It was in a vintage shop and was in a fairly standard suit fabric, a blue windowpane I think.

The problem is, as cool as it sounds and seems, it just doesn't look so good most of the time. It kind of breaks up what should, to my eye, be a clean silouette.

Now, mind you, most suits have a couple of pleats here, don't they. But they are treated so as not to pouf out. And I know Studio clothes by macintosh were fairly distinct for their tight pleats here, and maybe using three rather than two, I can't remember, but they did not pouf out, they just gave a really sharp exagerated sillouette.

Am I remembering right?

 

[reetpleat]

Back pleats good, front pleats bad. Back pleats good, front pleats bad.

 

[kools]

As a rule, I don't disagree with you. But at least from this photo, I think all the details of the suit work well together...and looks good on Scotty. I'm not so sure, however, I could pull it off.

 

[thunderw21]

I'm glad someone latched onto that scan.

I really think that this style of pinch pleat depends upon the suit. While they can be over done, a couple simple pinch pleats can help the shape of the suit, like those shown in the scan (though they are merely illustrations).

The one thing I think we all can agree upon is that these pinch pleats along with the belted backs posted in the other thread show us how diverse and high quality the suits from a single department store could be in the past, unlike today. And if these exact same suits were made today they would cost several hundred if not thousands of dollars and would not come from a department store.
That speaks volumes about the decline of the suit.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

.

This pays homage (albeit in an exaggerated way) to the triple darts on coats made for "Studio Clothes by Macintosh" in the '30s and '40s.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Marc, did you keep the pics of that first "Holy Grail" eBay suit from way back? IIRC thhat had some stunning pleatage.

bk

 

[Matt Deckard]

Very nice. Ads a bit of a figure to those that don't have one.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Marc, did you keep the pics of that first "Holy Grail" eBay suit from way back? IIRC thhat had some stunning pleatage.

bk

Did that "Holy Grail" suit jacket have pinch pleats on its front? I don't recall such a detail. [huh]

.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Boy, did it!!!. STUNNINGLY so!!!!

I found my copies of the images. I'll upload them from work tomorrow.

bk

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I promised these yesterday, but here they are today. This suit was sold on eBay about 4 or 5 years ago. There was much discussion at the time as to whether it was a man's suit - there are several "feminine" features about it which created some doubt. I am convinced it is a man's suit. Didn't sell for that much either, IIRC. This was back in the day on eBay when this suit would knock you back about $300.

Note the triple pinch pleats.

The back of the jacket. Surprisingly conservative.

The trousers were also covered in lovely features:

bk

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Now I remember!


A tiny suit, circa 1936. Its original owner was a swimming champion or something.


Two unusual details: the jacket's buttons were cloth-faced. (One button was missing, as I recall.) The jacket's slash pockets were "smiling" like crescent moons.


Thanks for holding on to those photos, Baron! I lost 'em long ago.



.

 

[herringbonekid]

these aren't pinch pleats but they're just as quirky. three darts on the outside of the jacket. 1934:

 

[Mario]

That sure looks like a jacket I'd love to wear! Thanks for the photo.

 

[herringbonekid]

and how can a thread on pinch pleats not include this example from Mr. Chevalier which features pinch pleats on the back too !

 

[Nick D]

these aren't pinch pleats but they're just as quirky. three darts on the outside of the jacket. 1934:

Interesting look. Imagine if the line of the darts had been carried over to knife pleats on the patch pockets? Not something I've seen, but something I would imagine of some 1930s designers.

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

The green sportscoat sold by Marc is truely a holy grail.

I promised these yesterday, but here they are today. This suit was sold on eBay about 4 or 5 years ago. There was much discussion at the time as to whether it was a man's suit - there are several "feminine" features about it which created some doubt. I am convinced it is a man's suit. Didn't sell for that much either, IIRC. This was back in the day on eBay when this suit would knock you back about $300.

Oh wait. There are some pictures missing here. I bet some loungers would have downloaded them. Would you mind to upload them again for future reference please? pleeeeease!

 

[Mario]

Don't forget that other jacket that was sold a few weeks after Marc's. Amazing fabric and construction!

​