vintage suit colors

[Blackjack]

Being that movies from the 40's are generally in black & white it's hard to guess what the popular Hollywood colors were on suits or just what the popular colors were on clothes in general during the war years. Watching an Abbott & Costello marathon the other night it looked to me like the were wearing a light tan a lot but for all I know the suit could have been powder blue too. This is a guess but I would think that dark greys, browns and greens were probably the flavor of the day. Anyone know?

 

[Veronica Parra]

Depends a lot on the decade. Browns were popular for men from the 1890s up to the 1980s. Suits in teal were a '30s phenomenon that just about disappeared afterward. Mint-green, lilac, purple, pink, and salmon gabardine suits hit their stride in the '50s and then ... pfffht.

Generally, the prevalent suit colors in the '30s and '40s were darker browns, oxford grey, slate blue, navy blue and black for Winter; dove grey, taupe, mid-browns, mid-shade blues, and black for Spring; white, ivory, champagne, beige, tan, British tan, powder blue and even violet for the Summer; British tan, mid-brown, heather green, and darker greens for Fall. Incidentally, '30s suit and tie hues were brighter and richer than we usually give them credit for.

 

[Veronica Parra]

In the '20s and '30s, rich white East Coast (and some Southern) men between twenty and fifty years old determined the "fashionable-ness" of a given year's suit styles and colors. Fashion reporters would go to Harvard-Yale football games, Palm Beach regattas, debutante balls, and even ski resorts to see what the Astor and Vanderbilt males were wearing. These reporters would then note down the minutest details (cuff width, pinstripe spacing, etc.) in such trade magazines "Apparel Arts" and "Tailor and Cutter". Department stores would take their cue from the magazines and quickly order the suit styles made and delivered. (In those days, suits were made in America, often in the same cities as the department stores and haberdashers; there was no need do things months in advance.)

And where did the Astors and Vanderbilts get their inspiration from? Yearly trips to London (and Savile Row tailors). The Prince of Wales/Duke of Windsor and his brother, the Duke of Kent, were especially strong influences. London's hegemony on American suit fashions died after World War II; Italy took up the slack in the mid-'50s.

 

[Lauren]

I love to read the posts you guys make because I learn so much about clothing, but more importatly the history- the hows and whys. Thanks for such informative posts! Very inspiring to learn more about men's clothing!

 

[Veronica Parra]

Lauren! We learn from you too!

You can get the education of your life by reading Esquire's Encyclopedia of 20th Century Men's Fashions , an enormous, incredibly well-researched book published by McGraw-Hill in 1973. Your best bet would be to find it in a public library; neighborhood bookstores almost never have a copy, and online sellers charge between $350 and $1,500 per book.

 

[Wild Root]

This is a good topic! Even though most films from the 40?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s are black and white, you should check out some of the original Technicolor films from the early 40?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s and late 40?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s. Try watching ?¢‚Ǩ?ìCover Girl?¢‚Ǩ? from 1944 that has some great clothes and colors are just fantastic since it was digitally re-mastered.

Go into an antique shop too and look for quilts! Crazy quilts and some other types will in most cases have old suiting swatches on them. The other day, I saw one that had some BEAUTIFUL examples. It made me cry that the whole suit wasn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t around any more! I found one that was, get this, dark burgundy! A dark burgundy herringbone with a red and light blue broken stripes! I could tell by the texture and weight of the fabric that it was from the mid to late 30?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s. Very unusual in most people?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s eyes for the time but, they had lots of colors we don?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t understand today. Also seen a dark green and gray striped herringbone pattern! That was just too cool for words. Light jadeite green with dark red windowpane patters were also used. The combinations that were used are almost endless! Just when you think you have seen them all, WHAM! You find something else you didn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t expect.

WR.

 

[shamus]

you should check out some of the original Technicolor films from the early 40?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s and late 40?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s.

I'd not take those techicolor films as pure "color fashion" of the times, as Techicolor tended to encourage the clothes to be bright and light so as to make their process seem almost out of this world. That's why the Wizard of Oz is so crazy with color.

 

[Vladimir Berkov]

There are actual color pre-war photographs. They are of course harder to find but I am sure you can find one showing men in suits if you look a bit.

 

[Veronica Parra]

There's a scene in the film THE AVIATOR -- where Howard Hughes goes golfing with Katherine Hepburn -- that imitates exactly the look of the earliest technicolor films of the early '30s. Furthermore, it does an excellent job of highlighting the distinctive color palette of '30s clothing. The scene is awash in authentic '30s coloring.

 

[Wild Root]

I'd not take those techicolor films as pure "color fashion" of the times, as Techicolor tended to encourage the clothes to be bright and light so as to make their process seem almost out of this world. That's why the Wizard of Oz is so crazy with color.

This may be true in some cases but, the film that I made mention of ?¢‚Ǩ?ìCover Girl?¢‚Ǩ? is rather spot on in its color portray. I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢ll tell you why; the colors of most of the suits that I have seen in that film are spot on to most of mine in my closet. I have a casual shirt from the late 40?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s that is bright chartreuse! I have ties that are rather bright in color and navy blues that are very vivid and royal blue suits that are very rich much like those seen in Technicolor movies of the times. The films that seem to posses fake or unreal color to me are those wonderful Turner colorized masterpieces (and I say this sarcastically) that posse the ?¢‚Ǩ?ìfaithful?¢‚Ǩ? color combos.

The movies I recommend are:

The Women 1939
The Gang?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s All Here 1943
Cover Girl 1944
Bathing Beauty 1944


These four have great Technicolor. Oh, and the Wizard of Oz doesn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t exactly count seeing that the color portions of the movie take place in the make believe land of Oz.

All the best,
WR.

 

[shamus]

Wow,

Who knew so many people loved technicolor? It's like I pointed out the pope wears the color white....

All I'm saying is techincolor was a new process to make film in color. So, they would go out of their way to get the most colorful clothes they could find. Now, Joe Public is watching these colorful films and say's to himself, "Gees, I wish I had a colorful suit like that." And Mr. Suit maker, says, I bet people would buy those colorful clothes.

What I'm saying is maybe, techicolor films helped brighten up clothes, and the reason you have colorful clothes is because of technicolor. I don't think the clothes before technicolor were as bright, so as the original question asked, they were your standard browns, blacks and blues.

And if you want to get techical, the "make believe land" of The Wizard of Oz
is just as made up as any other hollywood movie from that period, as they're all shot in a sound stage.

 

[Wild Root]

Interesting points my friend. Now, I have seen swatches of fabric from the ?¢‚Ǩ?ìPre Technicolor era?¢‚Ǩ? and have seen some rather brilliant colors. Mostly women?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s apparel but, some of the men?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s fashions were rather vibrant. There were two types of men back then. There were the rich banker and conservative type and there were the flamboyant youthful type who wore a little more colorful styles. I have seen purple, maroon, green, teal, light blue, electric blue and so on. In fact, I once found a suit that I bought for the pure reason of the color. It was an electric blue single breasted peaked lapel job. It had the NRA tag in it which pointed out the fact that it was made between the years of 1933 to 1935. Bright colors were around for a long time before Technicolor.

I understand that Technicolor isn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t as true to life as some of the more modern forms but, that was then and this is now where most of every thing is drab dark and dull.

Yes, most Hollywood movies were fantasy and fiction I agree. And most were shot on sound stages. However, my point in regards to The Wizard of Oz was that the color sequences didn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t depict men?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s fashion of 1939. So, in that way it isn?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢t a fare argument to men?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢s fashion regarding actual color and Technicolor.

I?¢‚Ǩ‚Ñ¢m just simply offering my many years of collecting experience and study in this time period to better enlighten my fellow members here in this thread.

Have a great night!

WR.

 

[Blackjack]

I've seen a book called (I think) WWII in color, which is of course pictures of the war in color. It would be interesting to see "America in color 1920-1950", don't think such a book exists but old issues of Life and such might have some interesting pics, no? I do know from a classic horror group I belong to that a lot of the old 40's Universal monster movies have color schemes that you might not suspect so that when they shot in B/W they achieved the proper effect. This job was left to guys like Jack Pierce to figure out. For example, there are a few color photos of the Wolf Man floating around that were taken during the filming where his fur is actually very reddish in color, I would have never guessed that but I suppose that's the color they needed to make him look the way he did in B/W. Interesting.

 

[shamus]

Good points.

I'm not saying the world was black and white before color films. Henry Ford Model T only came in Black, but I'm sure there were a few people who repainted them the moment they got them.

Of course you're going to find a few colorfull suits from before technicolor time. It's only logical. But if you walked down a busy street in a city it wouldn't look like a scene from Guys and Dolls.

 

[Wild Root]

It's only logical. But if you walked down a busy street in a city it wouldn't look like a scene from Guys and Dolls.

Oh, I agree! In fact, I have seen some color photos of busy streets in the early 50's that proves your point!

Like so...

The only brightly colored object in the photo is that strange 1949 Packard taxi! Never seen a Packard taxi before. They mostly were DeSoto's and other MoPar makes. But, that's getting of topic.

Most of the color worn by men were seen in spring time or summer months. Also, it depended a lot on the area one lived. Different life styles and standards all play a roll in where you'll see bright colored suits and not so bright colored suits being worn or, suits being worn at all!

Best,
WR.

 

[Sefton]

Oh, I agree! In fact, I have seen some color photos of busy streets in the early 50's that proves your point!

Like so...

The only brightly colored object in the photo is that strange 1949 Packard taxi! Never seen a Packard taxi before. They mostly were DeSoto's and other MoPar makes. But, that's getting of topic.

Most of the color worn by men were seen in spring time or summer months. Also, it depended a lot on the area one lived. Different life styles and standards all play a roll in where you'll see bright colored suits and not so bright colored suits being worn or, suits being worn at all!

Best,
WR.

That is a great pic,but where are the hats?

 

[Wild Root]

Hahaha see, the idea that EVERY man wore hats is some what a myth.

This photo was taken in the early 50's and even at that time most men did wear hats but, if it was a very hot day I'm sure they went hatless. There were plenty men who didn't wear hats in those days and it also depended on the area. Hot muggy humid climates would discourage wearing hats for the lack of the comfort it offers I would think. Make sense?

WR.

 

[Veronica Parra]

It soitenly duzz !

 

[Wild Root]

I knew you'd agree!

Say, that's a swell photo! Ummm, I know who that is but, I forget his name! Who is that pictured?

WR.

 

[Veronica Parra]

That's Robert Woolsey of the early to mid '30s comedy team, "Wheeler and Woolsey". But shhh! Don't tell anyone!