"Unequaled Bargains" (Chicago Mail Order Sale, 1933)

 Every once in a while I like to move away from women's fashions and take a look at what the men were wearing.  This colour page from a Chicago Mail Order sale catalogue gives us a pretty good idea of what the average male had in his wardrobe in 1933.

Starting at the upper left corner we have "a man's handsome three-piece suit" tailored in "Extra Fine Quality All Wool Cheviot in self-color herringbone weave".  It's easily the most expensive item on the page, and probably would have been worn on the job by white collar workers, or as "best" by manual workers.

Next is a shirt in cotton broadcloth, "printed in the latest way, in a small, very modish plaid".

At top right is a "snappy pullover... in striking pattern and color combinations".  Men's clothes may have been dull by women's standards, but occasionally a bit of colour snuck in via casual wear or knitwear.  The same can be said of the "smart, dressy, summery socks" for sale at the bottom left.

For young men, and just that little bit jazzier (though teen fashions weren't yet a thing in 1933) are a pair of

cool, snappy, dressy, yet serviceable trousers.  Look like expensive "flannels", but are washable and shrinkproof.  Fine for dress, sports and all occasions.

These trousers were a trendy 22½ wide at the bottoms.

For younger boys we have yet another suit, a cheaper version of the men's ("½ Wool, Balance Cotton"), a boy's blouse ("Mothers!  To sew blouses for your boy when you can buy this good-looking Good Quality Percale blouse for so sensationally little, is indeed unprofitable and unmodern") and a two-piece outfit consisting of  trousers with wide cuffed bottoms and a matching v-necked "slipover".  As I said above, teen fashions weren't really a thing in 1933.  These youths are dressed like little men!

Gentlemen of Fashion (La Mode, 1832)

 J.C. Flügel called it "the great masculine renunciation", that is, the early nineteenth century abandonment of colour and ornament in men's dress.  That's not to say that men's dress couldn't be stylish —as depicted in these fashion plates from La Mode below.

 

 

Here we have one gentleman on the left wearing an early version of the frock coat, another on the right in a double breasted tail coat.  Both were acceptable forms of daywear in the 1830s.  The man on the right wears his coat flung open to display his patterned waistcoat, also nicely framed by his wide revers.  The outfits are not yet what we'd call suits, as the coats are worn with lighter, not matching trousers.  They are accessorised with high hats, canes, and fancy neckcloths worn over high collars.

This plate depicts two gentlemen in sporting gear.  The man on the left is dressed to go shooting (complete with natty cap and hunting belt), while the gentleman on the right is ready to go riding (as shown by the riding crop he is carrying). 

At first I thought both these gentlemen were wearing dressing gowns, but then I noticed the hat on the mantelpiece, and the buttons on the garment worn by the gentleman on the left, I realised that he was wearing a form of long overcoat ("reddingote" in the French caption, from the English "riding coat").  He's clearly a man-about-town dropping in to visit his friend in the velvet dressing gown on the divan at the right.  The man on the right is also wearing some kind of cap, possibly a smoking cap used to keep the smell of tobacco from permeating the wearer's hair.

All the models have neatly trimmed and styled facial hair, an intermediate step between the clean-shaven faces of the previous generation, and the wild whiskers of the mid-Victorians!

(Images from the Bunka Gakuen University Library.)

Menswear from the Myer catalogue (Autumn-Winter 1949)

I don't often post pictures of menswear, but I got hold of this little catalogue and I couldn't resist.  Myer was a Melbourne-based department store (now part of the Coles Myer group).  It issued these catalogues twice-yearly for its country customers.  They didn't advertise all the goods available in Myer's city store, but they did list a representative sample.  Here are some of the clothes offered to the well-dressed man of 1949.

A selection of overcoats in a choice of navy velour coating or grey, brown, fawn check tweeds.  The one on the far right is "fully lined with art. Silk"—ie. rayon.

Shirts, striped and plain, in shades of blue, grey and fawn.  (The last shirt on the right also came in aqua, gold tan, dark blue green and maple cream.)  The first shirt has old-fashioned detachable collars and cuffs (extras supplied) but the rest of the shirts in this illustration are modern-style "coat" shirts with attached collars.

(I used to think that until the late 1960s men only wore plain white shirts, or plain blue work shirts.  Clearly I was wrong!  The men shopping from this catalogue had a range of colours and patterns to choose from.  Many of them would have worn a similar palette in the Army, Navy or Air Force a few years earlier.)

SPORTSWEAR FOR AUTUMN AND WINTER

At far left:

Stylish Tweed Sports Suits, Single or double-breasted, self-supporting trousers.  Perfectly cut and fitting.  Fawns, browns, grey, grey-green, blue-grey.

(Random thought that shot through my head when I read “self-supporting trousers”: isn’t it great when your pants can hold down a job!  Presumably the copywriter meant that they didn’t need braces to hold them up.)

At top:

MEN’S SUPERBLY TAILORED SPORTS JACKETS. 

...In a selection of checks and tweeds.  This is the 1940s version of "smart casual"—though the fact that all the models are wearing ties makes them look formally dressed to modern eyes.  

At bottom:

Sports trousers, in flannel, worsted and tweeds.  The small insets show that the flies were fastened with buttons, not with zips.

MEN’S FINE SWEATERS FOR ALL OCCASIONS 100% PURE WOOL QUALITY YARNS KNIT FOR COMFORT, LOOKS AND WEAR

On the right are two heavyweight ribbed pullovers—with V- or roll neck—in grey, maroon, kasha, navy and brown.  On the right is a cardigan in "Fancy Jacquard, all wool.  The favorite of men who want good looks plus warm, easy comfort.  Fawn/Brown, dark grey, light grey, green/grey."   And once again, two of the models are wearing ties, even with casual attire.

Fashion Supplement to The Tailor & Cutter, Autumn-Winter 1939-40

  

  

 


This little guide to gentlemen's tailored fashions has been sitting in my collection for years.   Since it was published at the very beginning of World War II, it includes pictures of RAF and (British) Army officers' uniforms.  Later in the war civilian men's clothing would be strictly regulated and rationed - so these dapper and generously cut outfits would be treasured items in the wardrobes of any men lucky enough to own them.

Koch & Co., Fall and Winter 1892-3

Next up for my Menswear Month, a page from a late Victorian catalog that includes pretty much everything a 19th century gentleman would want to wear - except evening dress!  Outfits include a "sack suit" (figure 2), the ancestor of the modern business suit, a "fancy English house coat" (figure 9), a "Bath Robe" (figure 10) and a "all wool tricot serge and velvet smoking jacket" (figure 11).

Menswear ads from "Punch", 1974

I don't usually post pictures of men's fashions - but over the years I've accumulated a small stash of them.  So I've decided to make February 2013 a "menswear" themed month on my blog.  To kick off, I scanned these advertisements from 1974 issues of Punch:

I found a pile of these magazines for sale at a Lifeline Bookfair some years ago and couldn't resist buying them.  Not only were they going cheap, but the advertisements were as good as a scholarly thesis on middle-class consumers' desires in the 1970s.  They were a real little piece of social history!

And as you can also see from these advertisements I've just posted, they also demonstrate why the 1970s are known as "the decade taste forgot".  While not promoting the most extreme of seventies mens' fashions, there's plenty to wince at - from over-loud plaids, to over-wide ties, to ridiculously flared pants!