Show Us Vintage GERMAN Suits

[Chasseur]

Great find at thrift store!

I thought pocket squares were...square,,, not the shape of tiny womens underwear? [huh]

Must have been a good party that guy went to the last time he wore the suit!

 

[Two Types]

A party where midgets discard their underwear would either be the most amazingly bizarre night of one's life or the beginning of the descent into hell (depending on your tastes)

 

[herringbonekid]

vintagesuits.de

Mario, it seems that your cinetex friends have departed English ebay for good. have you heard if they have any plans to sell on there again ?

 

[Mario]

I just phoned them and they told me that they have deleted their UK-account. Too much hassle, it seems. But soon they might be listing stuff on the US-site instead...

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I'm pretty sure I saw some of their stuff on the ebay.de site …

 

[Mario]

Yes, they keep selling on the German ebay but no longer on the UK site.

 

[Fastuni]

Here two German 1930's black striped suits - one exquisitely made by a tailor, the other simple off-the rack:

Mid-30's three piece suit with Herringbone weave and blue and pink stripes.
The only label is the hanger denoting "fine made-to-measure work"... which it indeed is. Fortunately the original owner had the same measurements as I do.

30's off-the rack pinstripe suit mady by "C&A Brennikmayer"... The "Formtreu" label (true to form) was introduced AFAIK in 1934.
The suit is no masterpiece of tailoring, but solidly made. Alas too short for myself... but then again I bought it for the label.

Best Regards

 

[Rudie]

What are those pinkish tabs inside the trouser waistband halfway between the suspender buttons?

 

[Fastuni]

I see them frequently in German suit trousers... they have snap-buttons and I assume they can hold elastic suspender loops. I have to test that theory however. I never made use of them in that manner...

Another theory (and this works quite well): long underwear pants have sometimes loops at the waist... I can better hold them up when fixating them with these snap-button strips. However no idea whether this was the intended purpose.

 

[Rudie]

Never seen those tabs before. The underwear theory sounds more likely to me. Just like some shirts that have a loop halfway down the placket to fasten them to the trousers so they can't ride up.

 

[herringbonekid]

i have two German trousers with those loops, however i don't think i've ever seen a shirt or underwear with the loops to fasten to them !

(although to be honest i don't buy vintage underwear so i wouldn't be the person to spot them)

 

[Fastuni]

My only point of reference are deadstock Swedish army winter undies (which I assume to be 40's to 60's)... they have two loops at the waist which fit well with these snap-button loops. [huh]

 

[Rudie]

About twenty years ago I knew a guy who dressed completely in period clothes 24/7, including underwear. He also buttoned his underpants to his waistband.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

This suit (now for sale) probably fro the late 40s or early 50s, also has those PRYM snap-bearing loops, but not positioned at the back. Rather, they're between the two front interior suspender buttons.

 

[Fastuni]

Nice evening/"sunday" suit...

The legs have the taper which became widely fashionable during the 50's. If you check the trousers seams from the left, you might see whether the legs were originally sewn with the taper or narrowed down afterwards (which would make a pre-1950 dating more probable). Except of course the tailor/alterationist did such a good job of cutting down the excess and finishing the edge.

also has those PRYM snap-bearing loops, but not positioned at the back. Rather, they're between the two front interior suspender buttons.

They always are placed between the front buttons - at least I haven't seen anything to the contrary.

Best Regards

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Ah sorry, yes, I misread the posts above and thought they were talking about these snaps at the rear not the front. My bad.

The cuffs on my one seem to be original width and are 19" circumference, so not crazily narrow. Not a very good dating tool, in any case, in any country, in my experience but late 40s would be the earliest, I would say. I've seen French catalogues from the very late 40s and early 50s pushing this cut of trouser as the latest Italian style. The DAKS waistband I would say pushes this into the 50s.

 

[Fastuni]

That would translate to around 48 cm... very late 40's as an early date would be thinkable.
For what they are worth the 1948 instructions for Berlin tailors (printed by "Allg. Schneiderzeitung"), who had to work for German, Soviet, US, UK and French costumers give the following specifications:

German trousers:
50 - 52 cm cuffs
(also shorter so they hover over the shoes)

French trousers:
54 cm cuffs
(preferably with round waist)

Russian trousers (they take the price ):
60 cm cuffs
(with very high waist)

No width specs for US and UK palates... but mentions that Americans prefer zippers.

 

[Two Types]

Excellent info from the Berlin tailors book. Interested to know any more details from the book.

 

[herringbonekid]

i don't think i've ever seen a Russian 20s-40s vintage suit (in real life) !

 

[Two Types]

Nor have I. However, in Boris Yeltsin's autobiography 'Against The Grain' he has some photos of himself and his mates in the late 40s/early 50s. They are all wearing very wide trousers with deep turnups. The jackets are cut in a very angular style (if I remember rightly) and they are wearing white open collar shirts, with very wide collars worn out over their jackets. They look very cool.

And I know that in the 1920s there was a Russian fashion movement known as the 'Douglaschivna' (or something like that) who were fans of Douglas Fairbanks and were disliked by the authorties for wearing super-wide trousers.