Stroller - Morning Dress only?

[Happy Stroller]

Should a Stroller jacket be worn during day-time only?

What exactly is/are the difference/s between a Stroller jacket and a business suit jacket? Aren't their lengths the same?

 

[Baron Kurtz]

never heard the term stroller jacket before. When (era) were they worn?

bk

 

[shindeco]

A stroller (aka a director's jacket) is the sligtly less formal alternative to a morning coat. It's worn with the usual striped trousers and accessories of a morning coat. You see them in movies from the 30s and 40s (often on floorwalkers). It was to a morning coat what a dinner jacket was to tails.

It's cut exactly the same as a suit jacket and, yes, it should only be worn during the day. The difference is in the trousers/accessories: striped trousers; waistcoat to match coat or in grey; whatever tie you'd normally wear with a cutaway (but not a formal ascot); usually a homburg or bowler instead of a top hat.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Ahhhh, like lawyers used to wear (and barristers/QCs still do, i believe, under their gowns) ...

bk

 

[shindeco]

Yup! That's it exactly.

 

[Happy Stroller]

A stroller (aka a director's jacket) is the sligtly less formal alternative to a morning coat. It's worn with the usual striped trousers and accessories of a morning coat. You see them in movies from the 30s and 40s (often on floorwalkers). It was to a morning coat what a dinner jacket was to tails.

It's cut exactly the same as a suit jacket and, yes, it should only be worn during the day. The difference is in the trousers/accessories: striped trousers; waistcoat to match coat or in grey; whatever tie you'd normally wear with a cutaway (but not a formal ascot); usually a homburg or bowler instead of a top hat.

===================== End of quote ======================

I've just noticed that my Stroller jacket has something quite different from the normal lounge jacket. It has only one button, which is covered in black, similar to those normally found on Tuxedo dinner jackets. Other than that, its lapel is peaked rather than notched. Would these two traits (single button plus peak lapel) characterise the Stroller jacket?

I thought the swallow tail should not be vented, but my Stroller jacket is single vent.

 

[Shaul-Ike Cohen]

?

 

[Orgetorix]

Here's a picture of Stephen Fry's Jeeves character (From the Jeeves & Wooster TV show) wearing a black stroller: http://www.hatsharpening.com/j&w/newimages/photos/jeeves2.jpg

A stroller is much like a suit jacket, as shindeco said, but it's always single breasted, always has peak lapels, is usually only one-button, and often has cloth-covered buttons. As with any other single-breasted jacket, vents are acceptable.

And the morning coat ("swallowtail") usually has a single long center vent.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Here's a picture of Stephen Fry's Jeeves character (From the Jeeves & Wooster TV show) wearing a black stroller: http://www.hatsharpening.com/j&w/newimages/photos/jeeves2.jpg

A stroller is much like a suit jacket, as shindeco said, but it's always single breasted, always has peak lapels, is usually only one-button, and often has cloth-covered buttons. As with any other single-breasted jacket, vents are acceptable.

And the morning coat ("swallowtail") usually has a single long center vent.

Also highlighting Hugh Laurie's wonderful vintage wardrobe. That show really is a goldmine of vintage suits.

bk

 

[Orgetorix]

Also highlighting Hugh Laurie's wonderful vintage wardrobe. That show really is a goldmine of vintage suits.

bk

I've always wondered whether his wardrobe was vintage or modern bespoke reproductions. Do you know for sure that his clothes were vintage?

Either way, you're right--watching the show is a delight simply because of the suits. And the male characters sport some of the most stunningly well-done dresswear I've ever seen.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I don't know for sure that it was a vintage wardrobe. On a recent rewatching, i just got that general feel - particularly the episode when he's bicycling wearing plaus fours and an sb jacket. That get-up just LOOKS vintage. (knowing the BBC budget for these shows and their extensive wardrobe dept., i'd be very surprise if they'd spring for modern bespoke - unless of course Laurie provided his own.)

bk

 

[Happy Stroller]

Here's a picture of Stephen Fry's Jeeves character (From the Jeeves & Wooster TV show) wearing a black stroller: http://www.hatsharpening.com/j&w/newimages/photos/jeeves2.jpg
===================== End of quote ======================

We have to be careful with servants' clothes, though. There seems to be a rule they have to wear something not exactly right, otherwise they'd be too well-dressed versus their employers. Perhaps, it's that black tie worn by Jeeves in his Morning Dress attire.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I highly recommend that all Loungers read the novel, The Remains of the Day.


.

 

[nightandthecity]

We have to be careful with servants' clothes, though. There seems to be a rule they have to wear something not exactly right, otherwise they'd be too well-dressed versus their employers. Perhaps, it's that black tie worn by Jeeves in his Morning Dress attire.

is it not the tradition that servants should always be more formally dressed than their employers? Not that I have any direct experience!

The clothing and sets in that series were superb. I haven't seen them since first showing but I'm still lusting after a stunning brown tweed suit Bertie wore on one of his trips to the country.

 

[Frederick Chook]

It seems that one day's formal wear becomes, with some alterations, the next day's servant uniform. The more formal the occasion, the more antiquated the uniform. So a headwaiter might wear a tailcoat with a black bow, but when employed in the court of a king might be seen in justcourps and wig.

 

[Happy Stroller]

It seems that one day's formal wear becomes, with some alterations, the next day's servant uniform. The more formal the occasion, the more antiquated the uniform. So a headwaiter might wear a tailcoat with a black bow, but when employed in the court of a king might be seen in justcourps and wig.

==================== End of quote ======================

"Justcourps"? What is/are that/those?

Saw an American Revolutionary War film the other day and was quite impressed with the uniforms of the various armies. Whether French, British or American, the tailcoats looked very smart with the white collars(?), decorated with large metalic buttons, running almost all the way down the front of the coats in place of lapels. Since such tailcoats are out of date, they could serve as suitable livery. Perhaps some present-day military dress uniforms, e.g., for brass bands and honor guards, have similar tailcoats.

 

[Frederick Chook]

18th century suit - coat, long waistcoat and knee-breeches.

 

[filfoster]

I am sorry to revive this old thread but I like the stroller/morning suit look and wondered if the number of buttons and/or 'cloth covered' is dogmatic. Churchill and others seem to wear three button jackets with otherwise 'moring suit' or 'stroller' items.

 

[Nick D]

I am sorry to revive this old thread but I like the stroller/morning suit look and wondered if the number of buttons and/or 'cloth covered' is dogmatic. Churchill and others seem to wear three button jackets with otherwise 'moring suit' or 'stroller' items.

I've just had a trawl through all the pics I have saved of formal-wear photos and catalogue scans. The stroller jackets can be 1, 2, or 3 button, single or double breasted, and single breasteds even sometimes had notch lapels. I didn't find any cloth-covered buttons. The only real common and defining factor is that it's black. It's the jacket in combination with the rest of the outfit that makes it a stroller.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

I didn't find any cloth-covered buttons.

Earlier ones often had buttons faced in black 'basketweave' braided silk.