Vests and shirts to wear with a 40's suit

[Pantherman]

I was wondering if anyone thinks that any one of these styles of vests are acceptable for a 40's look, I am trying to get as close to the orginal style as possible.

http://afterhours.com/accessories_vest.asp?

Also, all the adds that I see for the suit/vest combo look like white dress shirts, is that what they are and are other color acceptable, or is it just white that's acceptable?

Thanks

Pantherman

 

[frontmanvintage]

Depends on whether you're talking early 40's or post war 40's.

The bella luna vest with its V bottoms is closer to early 40's. But you do know that many suits were vestless until about 1947 (WPA regs.). It was popular throughout the 40's and 50's to wear a sweater vest / slipover sweater with a suit or slacks & sports jacket.

As for shirt colors, in the early 40's you wore dark colors of navy, brown or maroon with light coat & trousers or suit. A darker suit commanded a white shirt or possibly a light blue or stripe on white.

 

[Pantherman]

No, actually grandfather never spoke of vests as to when they came to be "in fashion" in '47. He just referenced them from the '40's and continued to wear them forever. I am, however refering to the late '40's then. It seemed that his (grnadfather's) seemed a little more pointed than the ones that I saw at afterhours.com.


thanks

Pantherman

 

[herringbonekid]

But you do know that many suits were vestless until about 1947 (WPA regs.).

while war-time restrictions may have limited the amount of vests, don't forget that their popularity was already in decline since their heyday of the victorian-early 30s period.

Pantherman if you want to look authentically 40s i'd advise against any of those vests. the colours are too pastel-like. 40s suit fabrics are generally more somber and subtley patterned and modern vests are longer to reach the lower rise of modern trousers. have a good look around the suits forum for some ideas. better still, go to a vintage store and buy a vintage vest. they're not hard to find. once you've handled a few you'll see and feel the difference...it's a different world

 

[Pantherman]

while war-time restrictions may have limited the amount of vests, don't forget that their popularity was already in decline since their heyday of the victorian-early 30s period.

Pantherman if you want to look authentically 40s i'd advise against any of those vests. better still, go to a vintage store and buy a vintage vest. they're not hard to find. once you've handled a few you'll see and feel the difference...it's a different world

Trust me Herringbone Kid, I'd LOVE to. Unfortantly, the furthest back any of the vintange stores around here go is the 50's and only had one vest that wasn't exactly in the best of condition. I've looked at the salvation armies around here too with no luck. I'll just keep looking around.

thanks

Pantherman

 

[Pantherman]

I forgot to ask, is there anywhere else that I can go on the net, to get vintage clothing? Alot of the websites I googled, where for t-shirts or skip the 40's for some reason.

Pantherman