Single-breasted three-piece suit, peak lapels

[AEF17]

I have a somewhat rare (for where I live anyway) opportunity to purchase a single-breasted three-piece suit with generous peak lapels. I'm not going to say that it's "vintage" or "antique," quite frankly it looks as though it is not more than a few years old.

A few questions/comments:

1. I will get to the "revival" of peak lapels shortly, but when did they flourish for single-breasted business suits? I have seen them in films and photos from the late 'teens onwards, with lapel-width widening by the late '20's, and then not much of them after, say '36-'37, maybe. I have seen two-piece suits from '46 and '51 that had them, but by then, I'm guessing they were the exception?

2. As to the modern revival, which in my neck of the woods would go entirely un-noticed because I have never laid eyes on anyone wearing them, was it prevalent anywhere the last few years, and what are your opinions about the lapels being so narrow for the modern incarnation?

3. Trouser cuffs. I have to admit that every pair of suit trousers that I own has cuffs. I'm not trying to pretend that it's 1931, but I tend to like the look. Unfortunately, this suit does not have cuffs, and the inseam is such that I won't have enough room to have them added. This may sound really foolish, but what can I expect to be different about not having cuffs? Is it going to feel different?

4. Lastly, since this suit looks as though it came straight from the mid-'30's, (and believe me, I can't believe that it's of modern manufacture), wouldn't it have been more acceptable back then not to have cuffed trousers anyway? They are a '20's innovation if I'm not mistaken, and were not ubiquitous right away were they? I'm going by films and photos, only

I welcome any discussion/dissection of what I've stated and asked.

 

[splintercellsz]

Photo's would be of great assistance to us! Also, are there any labels to be found on/in the suit?

 

[herringbonekid]

1. you've pretty much summed up the dates.

2. i've seen a lot of peaked lapels on jackets in London (in the last six or so years) in the more designer stores and also the budget influenced-by-designer stores such as Topman. most of the regulars on here prefer wider lapels but they're not really in vogue. 60s super-skinny is still in. (Tom Ford did some 30s proportioned lapels not long ago).

3. i think cuff-less works better on some workwear trousers. for a 30s-40s suit though, i think cuffs are pretty crucial personally.

4. no; if you look at images (found photos / catalogue images) of early - mid 30s suits they nearly always have cuffs.

 

[Dinerman]

You see a lot of three piece peak lapels throughout the '30s, a huge revival in the '70s, and a smaller revival in recent years. The '70s ones usually had no cuffs and larger lapels. As HBK said, in the '30s, on suits, cuffs were the norm, no cuffs were decidedly the exception.

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

One exception is formal wear of course. It often has peak lapels and never cuffs.
In Germany they had a black "Sunday suit" which seems to be between the business suit and black tie (waistcoat closing high though). That's why many of them also had no cuffs too.

 

[AEF17]

Thank you to all for the information thus far. I wondered at the fact that perhaps since peak-lapels carried over from day-time formal wear (maybe?) that cuffs didn't catch on as quickly for that lapel style, but I have no problem with being proven wrong.

I wish that I could show you a picture of the suit itself, but I'm not to see the seller again until the weekend.

Conveniently, this suit on eBay is from the same company and is very similar, except that the one in which I now have a waning interest is gray, and there are no side waist-adjusters. The price is also less than half. Hope this helps!

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Vintage-DAK...877&pid=100015&prg=1006&rk=1&sd=330811729082&

 

[Matt Crunk]

Funny I find this thread tonight. Earlier this evening I was dining downtown and wondered into a Jos. A. Bank store next door to kill a little time. I asked the salesman if they had anything in single-breast with peaked lapels. That they didn't wasn't very surprising. What was surprising is that the salesman had no clue what a peaked lapel was. What a sad commentary on our times.

 

[Guttersnipe]

Funny I find this thread tonight. Earlier this evening I was dining downtown and wondered into a Jos. A. Bank store next door to kill a little time. I asked the salesman if they had anything in single-breast with peaked lapels. That they didn't wasn't very surprising. What was surprising is that the salesman had no clue what a peaked lapel was. What a sad commentary on our times.

But to be fair, Jos. A. Banks isn't exactly Savile Row . . .

 

[Tomasso]

this suit does not have cuffs, and the inseam is such that I won't have enough room to have them added.

There is a bit of tailoring trickery that can give the look of a full cuff without require very much material.

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?36004-faux-trouser-cuffs&highlight=faux+cuffs

 

[Aoresteen]

I just bought a 3 piece suit, single breasted, with peak lapels at Macy's Millinium Mall Orlando. On sale pre-Christmas.

I also just bought a 2 piece suit from the Men's Wearhouse single breasted with peaked lapels.

Both sales persons knew what peaked lapels were

 

[AEF17]

Thank you, all, for the input. I ended up not purchasing the suit for the lack of trouser cuffs. Here's hoping something will eventually materialize!