determining a suit's age

• Feb 20, 2011

• #1

C Gregory Purbaugh

New in Town

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30

Location

Baltimore, MD

I'm new to this, but I realize there has to be a better way to judge if a suit is truly from the golden age than guessing. Is there something you look for when searching for a vintage suit?

 

• Feb 20, 2011

• #2

Tomasso

Incurably Addicted

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13,719

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USA

Go to the suit thread and start from the beginning. It will take some time but you will learn. We have archives here.

 

• Feb 27, 2011

• #3

D

Daniel

Familiar Face

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53

Location

Denver, Colorado, USA

There are a great many different things that come together when I determine the age of a suit, but the union label is an excellent place to start; see this page: http://www.steelzipper.com/ACWA.html

 

• Feb 27, 2011

• #4

GoldenEraFan

One Too Many

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1,164

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Brooklyn, New York

From what I have learned, the other things I look for besides Union tags is the type of lining. I noticed that the half back liner started apearing on late '50s suits and jackets, while fully lined became a common practice later. There were fully lined suits in earlier years, but in general most pre-'50s ones had no back liner. Another thing to look at are the lapels. The size of them and where the button stance is, is very helpful. 1930's and early 1940's suits and jackets had a high button stance, while the late '40s and 1950's had the buttons much lower.

 

• Feb 27, 2011

• #5

Matt_the_chap

One of the Regulars

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129

Location

Sheffield, England

Weight of the fabric is usually a fairly good indicator of at least some age at any rate. My basic benchmark is 'The heavier, the older' although it doesn't always ring true. A late '60s suit I have is very heavy and could be 1930s but in general it works.

 

• Feb 28, 2011

• #6

Guttersnipe

One Too Many

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San Francisco, CA

Matt_the_chap said:

Weight of the fabric is usually a fairly good indicator of at least some age at any rate. My basic benchmark is 'The heavier, the older' although it doesn't always ring true. A late '60s suit I have is very heavy and could be 1930s but in general it works.

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I would recommend revising that benchmark to "heavier cloth denotes older," rather than "the heavier, the older," or at least add the caveat that "it doesn't hold as true for garments before the mid-60's." In an pre-climate controlled era suits were made with seasonally/regionally variable suiting. Generally speaking I wouldn't say that suits from the 30's were heavier than suit from the 40's. A good guild line, in regards to yardage is to look at what weight/weave/style/fabric contents was common/popular during various era. After a while it gets rather easy to spot a 70's, 60's, 50, and 40's-earlier suit off a rack at a vintage store just by sight.

 

• Feb 28, 2011

• #7

Guttersnipe

One Too Many

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1,942

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San Francisco, CA

Additionally in regards to regional differences, what you are used to tends become an area of more expertise. I am pretty good at guessing the age of vintage suits by looking at cut/fabric (my estimations are frequently confirmed as accurate by union tags, dated tailor's tags, or the assessments of those with more knowledge than I), however, English and European suits consistently tend to stump me.

Recently I came across two sack suits, which to me, had all the earmarks of being from the mid 20's (cut/cloth/construction/hand finishing details/etc.). They were, however, both Eastern European and had dated tailor's tags from the early 50's . . . those wacky Hungarians!

 

• Feb 28, 2011

• #8

Derek WC

Banned

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599

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The Left Coast

I have a DB jacket from the 30's, and it's really light.

 

• Feb 28, 2011

• #9

H

HoundstoothLuke

Familiar Face

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96

Location

London

Speaking of weight, is it not likely that there were many lighter weight suits in the Golden Era, but they didn't stand the test of time so well as their sturdier cousins?

 

• Feb 28, 2011

• #10

avedwards

Call Me a Cab

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2,425

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London and Midlands, UK

Guttersnipe said:

Additionally in regards to regional differences, what you are used to tends become an area of more expertise. I am pretty good at guessing the age of vintage suits by looking at cut/fabric (my estimations are frequently confirmed as accurate by union tags, dated tailor's tags, or the assessments of those with more knowledge than I), however, English and European suits consistently tend to stump me.

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Having only seen English suits in the flesh (with the exception of one Australian suit) I've become reasonably well trained at dating them. They're reasonably easy to date - usually it's just a matter of lapel width, button stance and trouser leg width. Labels can sometimes help but so many English suits were bespoke and have no labels. And lack of pleats or cuffs can give them away as wartime suits.

 

• Feb 28, 2011

• #11

John in Covina

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11,579

Location

Covina, Califonia 91722

I think that in later suits the fabric itself changes as we move to the Supers. The weave of the woolen fabric goes to higher and higher counts. Seems related to the weight but I'd think the feel and drape of the fabric changes.

Look up "arm holes" for a delightful bit of information that helps differentiate modern from true vintage.