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1920s suits

Guttersnipe

One Too Many
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1,942
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San Francisco, CA
I call it cult of youth because it only really works for what would be considered a youthful body shape - skinny. Tall is a distinct positive for these cuts as the lines tend to be so long. But you don't want to be carrying any excess through the waist, let's say.

I'd say this is true of modern, fashion forward skinny suits too. If a fellow is tall and rail thin, the the low rise, aggressively tapered leg, short jacket with tons of waist suppression looks okay (if you're into that sort of thing). For the rest of us mere mortals, that look is a recipe for channeling our inner Humpty Dumpty. Although, I'd be willing to give the '20s "Cult of Youth" look a try,if I ever found one of those suits in my size. However, the proportions of early to mid-30's suits do make most physiques look better, in my opinion.

Just for giggles, here is another of those exaggerated fashion plates from the teens.

1390755_10151766181322301_2037226326_n.jpg
 
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It looks like someone's borrowed his dad's coat. Not flattering at all. It's too much the other way from cult of youth, almost denying the existence of a body shape underneath.

Were they to be driving coats or something similar, that boxy cut kinda works, but it looks like they're intended as suit coats?
 

volvomeister13

One of the Regulars
Messages
107
Location
United States
these are the two narrowest shoulder jackets i've made:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v53/herringbonekid/Laurence John Clothes/_1010371.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v53/herringbonekid/linen_suit_01.jpg

(they look extra narrow on the dummy since there's no wadding - or person's shoulder - to fill out the shoulder area).


less padding alone won't give you a narrower shoulder; it will give you a sloping shoulder. to get a narrower shoulder the only way to do it is to bring in the armhole.




'costumy' is a term that the modern bespoke crowd apply to virtually ANY clothing that is too period-specific for them. i don't see why the early 20s style is more costumy than any other period. you could argue in fact that because of the slimmer trousers and neat fitting jackets it actually looks more modern than a 30s-40s look.

INCREDIBLE! You make those as a hobby? Your work is amazing!

Cullen Landis:

Cullen_Landis_3_zpsbb8099c6.jpg


cullen_landis_1922_zpsd0226c3b.jpg


(red arrows are not by me).

While I'm a huge fan of the 20's style the suit on the right is an example, IMHO, of how it can sometimes not work. It just looks frumpy on him. Don't know if that's the suit, his body type, or just the way he's standing. Definitely prefer the suit of the guy on the left.

There have been lots of designers showing a 20s shoulder over the last decade, the Japanese (Yamamoto, Miyake, Watanabe, to name a few) in particular. Jill Sander and John Varvatos come to mind as well.

The 20s shoulder is a very unforgiving treatment that requires just the right physique to look good. They round off even the squarest shoulders and they accentuate the size of one's head, neck and girth.

Oh, wow! Those Japanese designers are awesome! Ironically, despite all the time I've spent in Japan I didn't start discovering their amazing vintage-inspired men's fashions until after the last time I was there a year ago. There's so much I want to check out the next time I go.
 

Guttersnipe

One Too Many
Messages
1,942
Location
San Francisco, CA
It looks like someone's borrowed his dad's coat. Not flattering at all. It's too much the other way from cult of youth, almost denying the existence of a body shape underneath.

Were they to be driving coats or something similar, that boxy cut kinda works, but it looks like they're intended as suit coats?

I don't think they were intended as outerwear or anything like that. They're just sack suit cost, with box backs, from the early '20s . . .
 

cpdv

One of the Regulars
Messages
284
Location
United States
I'd say this is true of modern, fashion forward skinny suits too. If a fellow is tall and rail thin, the the low rise, aggressively tapered leg, short jacket with tons of waist suppression looks okay (if you're into that sort of thing). For the rest of us mere mortals, that look is a recipe for channeling our inner Humpty Dumpty. Although, I'd be willing to give the '20s "Cult of Youth" look a try,if I ever found one of those suits in my size. However, the proportions of early to mid-30's suits do make most physiques look better, in my opinion.

Just for giggles, here is another of those exaggerated fashion plates from the teens.

1390755_10151766181322301_2037226326_n.jpg

Maybe its me and my large head on my small body but those don't seem exaggerated at all. Kind of like looking at myself in the mirror. This is from a while ago and but I do have the big head on the small body look like the teens and early 20s advertisements
 

Gin&Tonics

Practically Family
Messages
899
Location
The outer frontier
What say you fellas to this particular look?

1502400_596811510354330_1460090243_o.jpg


DamienM, I still this one from a FB post by you. Sorry!

They look rather like dapper refrigerators with heads and legs...apologies if I offend anyone, but who ever thought this looked good? o_O I guess it goes to show you that although style was far more common in the Golden Age, it certainly wasn't universal!
 

Tomasso

Incurably Addicted
Messages
13,719
Location
USA
Il Duce looks like an angry accountant; Nowhere near as sinister looking without the shaved head.
 

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