The 1920 JAZZ SUIT

Those are what I call SUITS! WOW those are nice, I wish they were still around on the market these days, modern suits for the lack of a better word kinda suck, but I have a great upswing in mens fasion in suits, ties, and shirts, maybe we headed backwords towards the era we all love in mens dress fasion, would be nice. I am seeing more double breasted these day and have you noticed how wide the lapels are getting, just like the old days.

 

Those are early Matt! I like the coats and hats, but the pants man look like they shrunk on the guys. I know that's how they were styled from 1919 to the mid 20's. Just not my style. However it is a lot better then what they are making today.

This is more my style...

Regards.

 

Ladies and gentleman, I give you the 20th century's shortest-lived suit style: the 1920-1921 "Jazz" suit.

Back in late 1919, as victorious U.S. soldiers were returning from Europe, some misguided suit manufacturers invented what was to be the least successful suit of modern times. The conversation must have gone something like this:




MANNY (AN N.Y.C. SUIT REP): Say, Jack! I have a swell idea for a suit!

JACK (HIS PARTNER): Talk to me.

MANNY: Well, all these doughboys are coming home from the Great War. They've spent some time in Paris, so they'll want to whoop it up some here. They'll need a fun suit for fun times. They'll need a Jazz suit.

JACK: A what?

MANNY: A Jazz suit! To dance to jazz tunes in! Them soldier boys are loaded with dough -- army pay -- and they'll be sliding right back into those industrial jobs left behind by their wives and sweethearts.

JACK: I'll say! What'll the suit look like?

MANNY: Well, the jacket'll have narrow shoulders and be suppressed in the waist, with a long flared bottom, and the pants legs will be nice and narrow. Just like the Army uniforms those doughboys have learned to love!

JACK: Er ...

MANNY: And it'll have buttons right in the middle of the jacket, and the sleeve cuffs will be fishtailed!

JACK: Um, Manny, I don't know if ...

MANNY: And we'll put a high price tag on it. America's the money king of the world now!

JACK: Hmmm ... but ...

MANNY: No, no buts! We're gonna take the menswear industry by storm with this one!






Alas, it was not to be. Doughboys were keen to get out of their tight-fitting uniforms: they didn't want some tight-fitting suits to take their place. It didn't help that in 1920, the U.S.A. plunged into a two-year long depression, caused by wartime overproduction. Who could afford a superfluous "fun" suit? Things being as they were, the Jazz suit barely survived 1920 and collapsed in 1921.

And here is what it looked like:

 

That's fabulous. And the wordplay matched.

 

It died but came right back...

I recall many suits looking something like that in the 1970's! I'm almost sure that's where they got the style for such horrible suits in that period.

The Jazz suit... what a name! Today's "Jazz suits" are overly baggy and are black or purple.

Very interesting Marc, I can see why the Jazz suit flopped! If I were a "Dough Boy" back from France, I'd never want to wear a suit that fit like a WWI Uniform.

=WR=

PS. NOS Jazz suit, I wonder what it went for!

 

It flopped badly. In one sense, it was ahead of its time in trying to latch onto the jazz phenomenon. Heck, jazz was still a newborn baby in 1920.

 

The suit in the photos above just sold on eBay (finished auction) for a little over $300. It was a size 36R.

 

I understand why you guys don't like it asthetically, but you have to admit- from a historical standpoint- that it is valuable and interesting.

I still like it

 

You can see fashion plates of Jazz suits in Stella Blum's book, "Everyday Fashions of the '20s." The author reproduced selected pages from 1920s Sears, Montgomery Ward, and J.C. Penney catalogs.

 

Oh, I'm with you Dear, I think it's an extremely rare item! The size doesn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t surprise me but, that suit belongs in a museum I think! If I found one in my size, I'd buy it and wear it to a 20's event! I'd love to see how many people would take it as a 70's suit. LoL.

But, this suit however rare, I can see why it lasted only a year or so. I'm still trying to figure out why in the world would the 70's pattern suits from such a flop. Maybe it has something to do with the over generalization of associating particular items with time periods such as, the 30's and 40's = Zoot Suits and the 50's = Poodle Skirts and Jeans and Leather Jackets and so on.

=WR=

 

It seems our good friend Matt is looking for a ?¢‚Ǩ?ìRevolutionary?¢‚Ǩ? revival. That would be some revival I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢m sure! I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢d wear it that stuff in a flash!

=WR=

 

Oh, I'm ready.

 

:clap :clap :clap

Yeah, I knew we were singing your song!

=WR=

 

Taken before the beheading, apparently!

 

apparently.