Show us their suits

[Metatron]

A bunch of stuff from a couple of Jean Renoir films, Toni and La bete humaine (which I found a bit too melodramatic)

 

[Metatron]

Uh oh, bottom two buttons buttoned?



This suit is the star in my opinion. Donegal tweed, with no excesses in shoulders or lapels, just tastefully done.

 

[Tomasso]

The chap in the polka dot tie appears to be wearing a jacket that is very 1920s 9to my eye at least)

But for the length.

 

[Two Types]

Fantastic selection, Metatron!

 

[Two Types]

Here is Paul Dupuis in 'Passport to Pimlico'

We've seen this jacket before:

The same jacket also appears in 'I Believe in You' (1950)

 

[Two Types]

To follow that, here's a selection of outfits from 'I Believe in You' to inspire you (maybe). it's the story of a retired member of the Colonial Office who becomes a probation officer in South London in the late 1940s.

Cecil Parker:

Wide Boys in court:

Laurence Harvey in court:

Wide Boys:

Imagine how heavy this suit would have been:

Harry Fowler in a sports Jacket and casual shirts. Very much the late forties/early fifties teenage look:

Very nice long collars.

 

[Fastuni]

Awesome. Plaid casual shirt with sports jacket... also my everyday look.

Is there a particular reason given why these lads wear rather "American" ties?

 

[Two Types]

More from 'I Believe in You':

Boy in court:

Casual shirt with tartan collar and extremely large tartan pockets:

Another view of Laurence Harvey:

Harry Fowler in a zip-up leisure shirt:

side view of the same:

worn under jacket

 

[Two Types]

Awesome. Plaid casual shirt with sports jacket... also my everyday look.

Is there a particular reason given why these lads wear rather "American" ties?

That was very much the uniform for young men in the UK in the late forties and early fifties. The ties often came to the UK with American servicemen and from Merchant Seamen who had travelled to the USA. It was a particularly popular look with 'Wide Boys' (i.e. the young up-and-coming, would be criminal types) who also favoured dark shirts and bold striped suits. It is similar to the 'Spiv' image, although that term is usually used to refer to those men trading on the 'black market'.
I don't know whether the image was primarily used by criminals, but it was certainly favoured by those who wanted to look like outsiders and wasn't really a respectable look.

 

[Tomasso]

We've seen this jacket before:


The same jacket also appears in 'I Believe in You' (1950)

That jacket is probably still hanging in the wardrobe department at Pinewood.

 

[Two Types]

Most of the films featuring that jacket were made by Ealing Studios. The British Film Institute has the records of the sale of costumes (sold with the Studios, I believe, to the BBC). I intend to search the records one day to see if it can be identified in there.

 

[Metatron]

I love the transitional stuff, where you can see a bit of 1950s casual seeping into the 1940s style.
Great plaid shirt and zipped shirt.

 

[esteban68]

some great research again TT!

 

[herringbonekid]

 

[Metatron]

low gorge, high gorge.

 

[Tomasso]

Soft collar, stiff collar.

 

[ottawa_adam]

This photograph reminds of the way the youth of today wear their caps and touques - with a tuft of hair sticking out the front. How things don't change.

 

[herringbonekid]

How things don't change.

agreed. their type of quirky-cool is very modern looking, especially when you consider the photo is somewhere around 1918.

 

[Tomasso]

They were likely copying the iconic Will Rodgers whose trademark look was wearing his hat askew.

 

[Rudie]

How do they manage to keep their hats on their noggins in this manner? If I were to wear a hat in the same fashion (I have some that are too small, so they would probably sit on my head like this) it would just fall off as soon as I move my neck or wrinkle my forehead. Or I would have to jam it down hard, making it uncomfortable and likely damaging the sweatband.