Show us their suits

[herringbonekid]

i've seen a normal arm-hole seam front and raglan back (on a 30s casual zip-up jacket) but never on a suit/sports jacket.
looks like a movie wardrobe anomoly !

 

[Two Types]

i've seen a normal arm-hole seam front and raglan back (on a 30s casual zip-up jacket) but never on a suit/sports jacket.
looks like a movie wardrobe anomoly !

This takes us back to what has recently been discussed on one of the other threads: there is always something a little bit different out there waiting to be discovered. So when and if you finally spot one of these for sale you can say with confidence "That reminds me of the one worn by Dirk Bogarde in 'Once a Jolly Swagman'" and amaze everyone with your knowledge.

 

[herringbonekid]

Early 1920s

Lloyd George, 1920

Buster Keaton, circa 1920

photo by August Sander, 1921

anon, 1922

Vladimir Mayakovsky, 1924

1924 (from the recent book 'City of Shadows')

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I've seen a normal arm-hole seam front and raglan back (on a 30s casual zip-up jacket) but never on a suit/sports jacket.
Looks like a movie wardrobe anomoly !

Nope, it's not a movie wardrobe anomaly. In fact, a version was sold to the public in Los Angeles as early as March 14, 1935:

 

[herringbonekid]

does the jacket in the illustration have a normal armhole and a raglan seam though (edit: cutting through the raglan !)- which the Bogarde one does ?
hard to tell.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

does the jacket in the illustration have a normal armhole and a raglan seam though - which the Bogarde one does ?
hard to tell.

I believe that the 1935 Roos Bros. sportcoat does have a normal armhole at the front, yes ... but perhaps not a seam running down the outside of the sleeve.

 

[herringbonekid]

Marc, look again at the back of the Bogarde jacket... it has a normal armhole-seam AND raglan seams which cut through it.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Marc, look again at the back of the Bogarde jacket... it has a normal armhole-seam AND raglan seams which cut through it.

You're right; I see it now. As you said before, it's hard to sell from the drawing whether the Roos Bros. sportcoat has a normal armhole-seam at the back. (Does anyone but the two of us find these things remotely interesting?)

 

[herringbonekid]

i'd like to see the front of the Roos.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

i'd like to see the front of the Roos.

Me too, but they put only one advert for that sportcoat in the Los Angeles Times: back view only, alas. Maybe it wasn't a big hit.

 

[Qirrel]

(Does anyone but the two of us find these things remotely interesting?)

I do! And when were on the topic of such novelties as a raglan sports coat, has anyone ever seen a picture of a jacket with no shoulder seam? (I know they were made.)

 

[herringbonekid]

has anyone ever seen a picture of a jacket with no shoulder seam? (I know they were made.)

i haven't... what era were they made ?

 

[Qirrel]

I have seen them referred to in magazines from the late 19th c. up to the 1960s.

 

[Two Types]

(Does anyone but the two of us find these things remotely interesting?)

I do - and I am glad that by posting the photographs of Dirk Bogarde's jacket I have opened up this discussion, thus giving Marc the opportunity to post the 'Roos' jacket advert.
I think it's splendid that there always seems to be something new that only a handful of people have seen before.

 

[S_M_Cumberworth]

Reminds me a bit of Brian Donlevy's suit from The Great McGinty, though I think Hartnell's is better.

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

I can't contribute to the raglan sleeve discussion because I have never seen them on suits before. But Herringbonekid might like this suit from the german actor Conrad Veidt

 

[herringbonekid]

lapped-seam trousers and two flapped breast pockets ? i'm all over it !

 

[Two Types]

I watched 'The Lady Vanishes' (1938) recently. There are a couple of things worth looking at:

A good view of the back of Michael Redgrave's trousers:

Basil Radford and Naughton Wayne. Showing how to wear polka-dots and checks together:

Cecil Parker: Note how the rise seems much shorter than on Michael Redgrave's trousers, and appears to be worn without braces. I am rather keen on seeing ties worn short (I don't agree with the oft repeat rule that a tie should reach the waistband):

 

[Two Types]

Here is Leslie Philipps in 'The Pool of London' (1950). He is wearing a jacket with three flapped pockets, all of which have a large rounded button to close them.

The same year Dirk Bogarde appeared to wear the same jacket in 'The Blue Lamp' (the films were released six weeks apart and were both made by Ealing Studios):

 

[Two Types]

Here is Noel Coward in 'The Astonished Heart' (1950). He was always known as a very stylish man. Therefore, his combination of what appears to be a double breasted suit jacket (as opposed to a blazer) with what seem to be pin-striped trousers, seems rather curious. It is not a look I have seen elsewhere, apart from worn by people who couldn't afford to buy new suits. At first I thought he was wearing morning suit trousers with a blazer, which would work, but I am certain it is just an odd combination.

However, elsewhere in the film he redeems himself. I rather like his dressing down:

He also wears two ties that are a combination of close diagonal stripes mixed with areas of solid colour. I think these look splendid - so that's something for my shopping list: