Show off the sports coats.

[resortes805]

This is a two piece herrigbone but it looks great as a sportscoat.

I know what'cha mean; I have a handful suit of which I've never worn the pants too; the coat just looks better matched to contrasting pants.

Here are some orphaned suit coats that I have no choice but to wear them as sportjackets; where are your pants?!?

These mugs have '39 tags.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Here's one:

Currently for sale in classifieds.

bk

 

[Matt Deckard]

 

[Baron Kurtz]

bk

 

[Archie Goodwin]

Non-standard drop

I have a non-standard drop, which makes buying off the rack difficult, and made to measure is a little too expensive, so I buy sport coats that fit in the shoulders to wear with odd trousers that fit in the waist. Sorry, no pix with me right now.

 

[AlanC]

This is probably my favorite sportcoat. I particularly like the side vents, which can't be seen here, of course:

 

[Griemersma]

Got this from the London Lounge website...

I can't remember exactly, but I think I heard once that the whole sportjacket concept started on college campuses where students mixed and matched suits to be rebellious. Does anyone know if there is any truth to this or did I just dream it up? Of course the name itself "sportjacket" implies more of a active/hunting origin. Anybody know the history?

I did find this article about the phenomenon, but it isn't exactly what I was looking for. here's part of the article from Apparel Arts 1934 that I cut and pasted. The article concerns fashions on American campuses, primarily Ivy League. More can be found here:

http://thelondonlounge.net/gl/forum/viewtopic.php?t=5433

Great pics, too! Here's the article:

ODD JACKETS

Few fashions attach more interest to themselves than the pronounced vogue for wearing odd jackets, slacks and waistcoats. This trend is responsible for the very popular mixed suit ensembles which have been dinned into the ears of so many people, not without appreciable effect.

Favored odd jackets are made up in Harris tweed, Shetland, cheviot, Irish homespun, Donegal tweed and gabardine. They find their greatest vogue in a three-button single breasted notched lapel model and very often they carry a belted back with bi-wing pleats. It should be added, however, that on the smarter jackets fancy backs are on their way out, with probable cause being traceable to the increased popularity of bold plaids and checks.

The more fashionable sports jackets carry a center or side vents, regular pockets with flaps and a cash pocket. These odd jackets are quite long and follow very much the same lines as those of the single breasted rough fabric suits.

The Norfolk jackets, which were popular year ago, have again been caught up in the fashion wave and are finding acceptance with clothes-minded undergraduate. A few Norfolk jackets were seen on the campus of Princeton University in the fall of 1933 and at that time Apparel Arts mentioned the return to this once-popular garment for sportswear. Since then, the Norfolk jacket has gone on to an acceptance, or rather re-acceptance, that is little short of remarkable.

But there are as many downs as there are ups in fashion, and on the downward trend are to be listed solid colored sports jackets. These, in fact, are seldom if ever seen. Practically all sports jackets carry definite patterns, whether hound’s tooth check, Glen-plaids, over plaids, district checks or herringbone. These jackets are very often worn in contrast to solid colored dark grey flannel trousers, or trousers that carry a small check or herringbone pattern.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Flussers book pretty much reiterates the above. Post WWI invention, rather than simply wearing a suit jacket with odd trousers (white flannel, generally) for less formal occasions, specific "sports" jackets were introduced.

I also don't know the authenticity of this story.

bk

 

[Fletch]

Griemersma, thanks awful for that link...that guy Etutee goes into (if anything) TOO MUCH detail about the clothesways of the 30s as depicted in Esquire..

To your (and his) point about the Ivy League: Princeton and Yale were pretty much the whole story as far as collegiate clothing trends for two reasons.
a) Harvard was just too far from New York. (When Esquire spoke of what to wear in Town, where do you think Town was?) Besides, it was too firmly in the pull of Boston, whose upper-class culture was very closed and conservative indeed. And it had the stigma of being first in academic excellence, which was thought of as very much secondary to the u/c priorities of social and sport activities.
b) Other Ivy schools, such as Brown, Penn and Columbia, were very much considered second-raters by the u/c culture. If any trends originated at those schools, much less the Big Ten or (heaven forbid) the West Coast, Princeton and Yale wouldn't have noticed or cared.

-Fletch, Michigan '89

 

[Baron Kurtz]

But weren't most of the Ivy League-originated trends really what were being brought back from the continent after the summer holidays by the richer students?

bk - Purdue '07

 

[Fletch]

According to that link, the style trends actually went both ways: England->US, and US->England. I don't think the Continent quite existed menswear-wise, except as a place for resort clothes and swim suits.

 

[Griemersma]

I'm no Ivy League-er, but here are two of mine...

Blue SB. Pretty sure it is a sportjacket because it only has two buttons on each sleeve. Sometimes I think it looks a bit small. What do you think? I know the sleeves need about another inch or so:

And another more modern sb. Really it is a thiftstore suit jacket, but the pants didn't work, so now it is a separate for me. Goes with a lot of stuff though. Is this what what you call "Glen Plaid" ?:

 

[Fletch]

Blue SB. Pretty sure it is a sportjacket because it only has two buttons on each sleeve. Sometimes I think it looks a bit small. What do you think?

Breathing is optional. Sacrifices must be made to attain true elegance. Does it have any extra material? Even 1/2" in each of 3 seams = 1 1/2". Room to live.

I've seen suits with the 2B sleeve. Usually it was associated with the Brooks/J Press type 3B sack coat where the top button isn't meant to be used.

Is this what what you call "Glen Plaid" ?

That's it. (Short for Glenurquhart, a place along Loch Ness, where I suppose they liked to wear muted plaids so as to sneak up on the Monster and take snaps.)

 

[Orgetorix]

Blue SB. Pretty sure it is a sportjacket because it only has two buttons on each sleeve. Sometimes I think it looks a bit small. What do you think? I know the sleeves need about another inch or so:

If it's comfortable, I think it looks fine. You're showing just the right amount of shirt cuff now, so if you're going to lengthen the jacket sleeves you should wear your shirt sleeves longer, too.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

(Short for Glenurquhart)

trivia time:

pronounced "ukk art" preferrably with a glottal stop on the "t"

bk

 

[Lancealot]

Question

All this talk of using suit jackets has sport coats has prompted a question.

Can you wear the suit coat and vest with a different pair of pants and pull it off?

I'm still on a learning curve on this so please forgive me if this was covered elswhere.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Yes. Or a suit with a contrasting waistcoat. Care must be taken, of course, but it can, and has, been done with success . . .

bk

 

[Fletch]

pronounced "ukk art" preferrably with a glottal stop on the "t"

"Ukk! Ar*!" As in "Lorrrd he'p meh, I'm chokin' on an oatcake"?

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Yeah, but run the two words togevva inta "ukkart". Actually, those Invernesians with their "clearest English in the World" propaganda would probably pronounce the t.

bk

 

[Benny Holiday]

Orphaned suit jacket

Another favourite sportscoat:

And one I found in a menswear store in Parramatta that looked so Golden Era, I had to get it!