A 1912 Suit/Tie/Boater you could wear 100 years later and look at home.

[scotrace]

This is a photo from Shorpy.com.

This photo deserves a second and third look, though it is outside our usual time frame. Would this man's clothes (sans boater) be so out of place now?

It's a summer suit, very lightweight (he's in an open car) [EDIT: It's Palm Beach cloth!] - but look how well it drapes. Also note the pressed flat sleeve creases (seen into the 1960's), the soft collar, the subtle windowpane fabric, the modern-looking tie and knot. Also look at the tight sleeve head attachment, even though the shoulder is padded. The lapels are softened and rounded and pick stitched. There's not a pucker anywhere. The slanted breast pocket (no hanky) is also unusual. Contrast it all with his chum in the background, who looks much more as we would expect a fellow to be dressed in 1912, with a high stock collar, very thin knot peeking out of it and those wide lapels. The chap on the right looks dated to us, Mr. Bennett Clark on the left does not. That's classic styling.

​

The full Shorpy descrition:
1912. "Democratic National Convention, Baltimore. Bennett Clark, son of Champ Clark." Beauchamp Clark, favored to win the presidential nomination, ended up losing it to Woodrow Wilson. Son Joel Bennett Clark represented Missouri in the Senate from 1933 to 1945. Harris & Ewing glass negative.

I'd wear this, no problem.

 

[funneman]

Wow, you're right.

Even the paisley tie looks modern.

 

[carter]

Great Photo

I like the wide ribbon on his boater. I've often wondered what size a boater should be relative to the size of one's fedora since the stance when worn seems to be consistently higher than that of a felt hat.

I'd like to see all of his paisley stripe(?) necktie. Very dapper.

 

[Atterbury Dodd]

It does look very classic, although if you could see a full length picture of the man standing, the coat might be a bit long and it might have four buttons. It doesn't look like a really high button stance though, so I bet it had a more normal number of buttons.

I love the man's shirt collar and the rounded lapels on the suit jacket!

 

[Jay]

Is that a button-down collar? I can't be sure.

 

[scotrace]

It's pinned under the knot, rather than buttoned.

 

[scotrace]

~

Bump for the Californians.

 

[Widebrim]

Bump for the Californians?

Yes, it does look rather modern for that time. Nifty jacket, and I'm surprised at the tie; the former looks early '60s, the latter mid '50s.

 

[Miss Neecerie]

Bump for the Californians.

I'll take one please. You know the shipping address.

 

[MisterGrey]

It amazes me sometimes what "modern" fashions actually existed back in the day. I guess they just weren't popular enough to have become associated with the era. The button-down collar in another thread here, from the 1930s/40s, really took me off guard, as I honestly didn't believe that'd come around until the preppy era.

That being said, I really don't like the ribbon on the boater. It eats up the crown of the hat; a ribbon should accent a hat, break up the flow of the crown to create a more pleasing image, not dominate the entire hat.

 

[tonyb]

Interesting timing there, Scotrace. Just yesterday I took a long look at a 1903-vitage photo of a Seattle commercial district street scene. Daytime. Lots of hustle and bustle. Streetcars and horse-drawn conveyances. Many people out and about. I noted that almost all the men were wearing suits and hats, of a style that wouldn't look entirely out of place today. (Not that it would fit right in either, but, you know, the basic elements survive more or less intact.) If a modern city-dwelling woman, though, were to wear the sorts of things her counterparts of 105 years ago went out in, well, she'd definitely provoke stares and raised eyebrows.

 

[Slim Portly]

I agree that the gentleman on the left is wearing clothing of a style that can be considered "timeless," but of the two I personally would prefer to dress like the gentleman on the right.

 

[DerMann]

I'll have to agree with SlimPortly.

The bloke on the right is very well dressed. High, starched collar, wide, peaked lapels on a SB jacket, and a boater.

Great look.

 

[Erewhon]

The soft collar is a surprise, though the pinning is odd to post WWI eyes, great tie, that thinnish style is coming back again now.

The notched rounded lapels on his coat are very "Ragtime" to my eyes and I wonder if the jacket has a belt back as it looks very smooth for a summer weight.I get the feeling that like Slim Portly I could wear the coat on the right more myself, as the pre WWI summer coat was a bit tight-but that oversized Eton stock collar!

I once had a summer job as a punter( boats, not the casino) and had to wear a boater(skimmer) hat, like a top hat they're really comfortable but the wind blows them off all the time. That's because modern ones are too light and flexible.

I do not have the courage to wear a skimmer on the street though...

 

[BellyTank]

Nice.

That "Cloverleaf" collar/lapel style was big through the '20s.

The shirt collar closure looks like a cuff-link type, 2 buttons on a chain,
or a long stud.

Definitely stylish.


B
T

 

[cookie]

The overall relaxed style is such a contrast to the other guy's buttoned up and stiff look....a precursor style as suggested by BT?

 

[scotrace]

Here's the real stunner. Marc Chevalier was kind enough to pass along that the summer suit Mr. Clark is wearing is made of Palm Beach cloth! Yes, it was around in 1912, though not cheap.

So a young man from Missouri, in Baltimore for a Dem convention, wears an expensive, unusual, stylish suit. I'm thinking Dandy.

 

[Feraud]

I'm thinking Dandy.

Or the son of a moneyed politician.

 

[scotrace]

Or the son of a moneyed politician.

May as well have it painted on his forehead.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

Lovely suit.

Here's the real stunner. Marc Chevalier was kind enough to pass along that the summer suit Mr. Clark is wearing is made of Palm Beach cloth! Yes, it was around in 1912, though not cheap.

Did Marc also pass along the provenance of his information? Not that i doubt it, it certainly looks like it could be, but where the info came from would be interesting. I hope it's not a case of fabric identification from photograph.

bk