Vents & Vests on Golden-Age Suits...

[boushi_mania]

I'm still pretty new here, so I apologize if this has been brought up before, but after browsing the fantastic collection of Golden-Age catalogue images, I've got two questions:

1. None of the suit jackets appears to have any vents in the back. Was that the standard back then, or was a particular style of vent taken for granted to the point that it wasn't even mentioned?
2. All of the single-breasted waistcoats I've seen so far are six-button models, even for suits with two-button jackets. I had previously believed that five-button waistcoats were the norm to match the lower V of the lapels on two-button jackets, but I am forced to conclude that the norm for waistcoats in the Golden Age was exclusively six buttons. So, whither five-button models? Did they even exist, and if so, in what context were they used?

Again, I apologize for questions that I feel fairly certain must have come up at some time or other, but I can't seem to narrow my searches enough to find any hits. Any advice would be appreciated.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

1. None of the suit jackets appears to have any vents in the back. Was that the standard back then, or was a particular style of vent taken for granted to the point that it wasn't even mentioned?
   
2. All of the single-breasted waistcoats I've seen so far are six-button models, even for suits with two-button jackets. I had previously believed that five-button waistcoats were the norm to match the lower V of the lapels on two-button jackets, but I am forced to conclude that the norm for waistcoats in the Golden Age was exclusively six buttons. So, whither five-button models? Did they even exist, and if so, in what context were they used?

1.) In the early '20s, single-breasted (and even some double-breasted) suits had single vents ... but by the mid '20s, vents were disappearing. In the '30s and '40s, few suits had vents; some exceptions were "sportier" suits, which in rare cases had small single vents ... and some "British-style" suits had small double vents. (Fred Astaire favored them for dance scenes in his '30s films.)


2.) In the '20s and '30s, there were more waistcoat design options available than there are now. Five-button waistcoats --which first appeared in earnest around 1920-- were definitely available throughout the era (even Sears offered them), but most men favored six buttons.


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[Marc Chevalier]

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This 1940s suit has a waistcoat with only five buttons: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300366096367


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[avedwards]

I think the lack of vents could be because they were not needed. Vents make the suit easier to move in, but if your suit is so well tailored that you have no problem moving on it a vent was not needed. However, modern suits are not as well tailored as suits back then were, so they have vents to make them more comfortable as they would be too ill-fitting otherwise.

My guess at least, since the only modern ventless suits I have were specifically altered at my request, whilst my only older (60s) suit is ventless.

 

[thunderw21]

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This 1940s suit has a waistcoat with only five buttons: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=300366096367


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And a vent.

 

[Marc Chevalier]

And a vent.

Yup ... and it's a short vent.

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[thunderw21]

I have to say, that material is fantastic. Herringbone with pinstripes?

Nothing today can touch it.