Show us your British suits

[Baron Kurtz]

they could easily be let out.

 

[herringbonekid]

some scans from a 24 page Horne Brothers booklet, probably early to mid 30s:

 

[Baron Kurtz]

the lunatic ways the heads are illustrated would suggest towards the earlier end of that date range?

 

[herringbonekid]

Baron, you're more hardcore than me if you can date by head illustration style !
i was just going by the suit cuts. could even be late 20s do you think ?

notice that all the DBs are 4 button.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

ha! It's that kind of mad disembodied Leyendecker-style heads that's a give-away to me.

but notice he very high buttoning of all the single breasted jackets. Pure late 20s style.

et la

I do love the idea that you should "state age"

 

[herringbonekid]

it would be really helpful if they actually put a date in it... i'm going with 1930.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I agree. The Horne Bros catalogues are never dated, and neither are Willerby. Burtons always included a date on the back cover.

 

[herringbonekid]

Weybourne (North Norfolk) 1934:

 

[herringbonekid]

1946:

( nicely illustrates how most British suits of the past were definitely NOT 'soft roll' or '3 button 2s' )

 

[Two Types]

Rather bold stripes from the 1938 film 'Penny Paradise':

It is easy to think that such a suit might be a costume piece, rather than a regular suit. However, I was recently reading about the film company (ATP - which later became Ealing Studios) and this would have been a rather low budget production. As such, it appears that most of the male costumes used by the studio were regular suits, acquired through high street shops.

 

[herringbonekid]

that suit almost looks like it strayed in from a French early 30s film (Marcel Carné).

 

[esteban68]

It might not have been so bright in colour, black and white film often brings out the contrast more then reality.

Rather bold stripes from the 1938 film 'Penny Paradise':

It is easy to think that such a suit might be a costume piece, rather than a regular suit. However, I was recently reading about the film company (ATP - which later became Ealing Studios) and this would have been a rather low budget production. As such, it appears that most of the male costumes used by the studio were regular suits, acquired through high street shops.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

What kind of character is wearing the suit, TT?

The whole ensemble would, I think, NOT be welocome in the Putting It All Together thread. The mixture of stripes in suit, tie and shirt, the herringbone cap that doesn't work well with the stripes, the trousers that don't close properly at the waist. Altogether a mess.

Seems like the character might be a bit of a spiv or chancer?

 

[Two Types]

Absolutely: He is a bit of a dodgy character. He only wants to marry the girl after he discovers her dad has won the pools.

That said, whilst it's the sort of outfit that would be way too over the top for me to wear, I can imagine someone else wearing it with such a confident swagger that they'd get away with it (Yes Edward, I'm thinking of you).

 

[herringbonekid]

although DB waistcoats have descended from formal wear they always look a bit vulgar to me; i can only see them on the spiv type character.

 

[herringbonekid]

1946:

 

[epr25]

Hi I know this is not that helpful without photos, I will be taking some tonight. I believe that I have quite a find. Today I was lucky enough to purchase a navy pin striped double breasted wool suit made by Lesley & Roberts, 16 George Street, Hanover Square London, dated 11-37. I will be selling this but the only reference that I could find was one suit from 1989 on ebay but they were asking $595? I thought that it would be a good move to gather more information about this suit before it's listed. Does anyone have a good resource they could point me to?

 

[Two Types]

I don't recognise the name of the tailors however George Street is just around the corner from Savile Row. I believe that many very good tailors have traditionally been based in the streets around 'the Row' and thus the suit could easily match the quality of Savile Row tailors of the period.

 

[herringbonekid]

Lesley and Roberts were acquired by Welsh and Jefferies (Savile Row) in 1999:

http://welshandjefferies.wix.com/welsh-and-jefferies#!the_story/c161y

...they are in the same premises, but they still have their own site:

http://www.lesleyandroberts.com/

L&R have supposedly made suits for Rudolph Valentino, Clark Gable, Cary Cooper, and Bing Crosby (can't get much more 'golden era' than that list)

... and Michael Powell, director of 'the Red Shoes':

http://www.permanentstyle.co.uk/2009/05/my-50-year-old-black-tie.html#.UgqD72S3iuM

 

[herringbonekid]

1931 suits from Kays that look 20s: