Australian Vintage Suits

[Benny Holiday]

Right, we've got the British and the American suits under scrutiny, why we've even mentioned the features of German and French tailoring. It seems to me it's time to have a look at Aussie suits of the Golden Era, which when all is said and done, appear to fall pretty much under the British style of tailoring, which of course makes sense given Australia's past as a British colony and the ties with England that continued through last century.

I have two outstanding Australian suits, and I know at least that the good Baron has one fine example. Anyone with a vintage Aussie suit, please post away.

I purchased my first vintage suit back in 1995 from a shop in Paddington:

This suit is constructed froma heavy, coarse wool of about 14oz weight, and fully lined. Yep, nothing like building up a good sweat back in the colonies back in the day. The colour is a light brown with a faint orangey stripe running through it. The lapels are a good five and a half inches wide, the trousers measuring just over twenty-four inches at the knees and twenty-two at the cuffs. This suit could have been made anywhere between the late 30s through to 1950; Australian men's style varied very little in that time.

 

[Benny Holiday]

Note that on the trousers, the twin pleasts on each side pleats face one other, a feature I haven't come across on American vintage suits as yet. There are no belt loops, but the trousers feature a waistband with side adjusters. The rear of the suit features one pocket (a 'welt' pocket?) on the right side which is slightly curved.

 

[Benny Holiday]

There is a single inside jacket pocket on the right side which features a tag reading: "Stamina Clothes, Tailored by Wilson, Crusader Cloth."

Here's a photo of the one of the very cool bakelite buttons sewn inside the waistband:

The suit orignally had three buttons on the sleeves, but one was chipped and currently each sleeve has two. The waist pockets on the DB jacket are flapped.

 

[Benny Holiday]

The second suit is quite similar, and is made of dark blue wool, again thick and heavy to the tune of about oz, and fully lined. Its lapels are five and half inches wide, and the jacket is quite short, only 29 inches long from the top of the collar to the bottom - an indication of a 1930s suit perhaps?

I apologise for the coloiuring in the photos, I've had a hard time getting any light here, as we're skipping summer this year in Sydney and having continuous rain and winter temperatures instead. The fabric has a lighter blue stripe running through it.

 

[Benny Holiday]

The trousers feature inward-facing pleats in the British tradition, and the side pockets are lined up with the side seams, whereas the previous suit had the side pockets angled slightly from the waistband to the side seam. Again, the rear of the trousers features one 'welt' pocket (I hope my terminology is accurate here), slightly curved, on the right side. There are no belt loops but there are side cinchers as on the first suit.

 

[Benny Holiday]

Both suits feature a fob pocket on the right side of the trousers. The blue suit has the same leg widths as the brown suit, with wide 22 inch bottoms on the trousers. The blue suit trousers differ, however, in the the rear rises slightly to be higher than the front. There are two inside pockets in the jacket, the primary being on the right side with a label that reads 'Whytes, phone 207, Distinctive Clothing, Moss Vale NSW". Moss Vale is only about 45 minutes from my home on the south-western edge of Sydney. The other pocket is a small, lower pocket on the left side of the jacket. Again, this jacket is fully lined.

 

[herringbonekid]

Again, the rear of the trousers features one 'welt' pocket (I hope my terminology is accurate here), slightly curved, on the right side.

double jetted

excellent suits Benny... i don't think i've handled a single Australian suit so i'm glad to learn about some of the features.

 

[Qirrel]

double jetted

The terms are actually interchangeable. Although "jetted" seems to be the more common name in America. In Britain they are usually referred to as a double welted pocket; the breast pocket is simply a large single welt.
However, the pockets on the trousers of the suits pictured in this thread I would call "piped" rather than welted -- even though a piped pocket is essentially a pocket made with narrow welts. They are usually finished a bit differently from double welts, with top-stitching along the pocket mouth, and bar-tacks on the ends.

 

[Benny Holiday]

Thank you gentlemen, I knew someone here could set me straight! You know it's funny how you get caught up in the 'cliched' details - the wide lapels, the button stance, and so on - but for years I never really took much notice of how different those little back pockets are from the ones on my American suits.

 

[Oldsarge]

Benny, I read a long time ago that there was a time in Australia when businessmen switched over to suits with shorts in the summer time. I have never seen a photo of any such and can't find any on the web. Was this true or some kind of bizarre antipodean myth?

 

[Benny Holiday]

The closest I can think of Oldsarge is the Safari suit of the late 60s-mid 70s. There was at the same time a trend for men to wear shorts with long dress socks (called 'walking' socks here) and dress shoes, a short-sleeved shirt and a tie in the summer. I had school teachers that would dress like that back in the 70s and 80s. Prior to the late 60s though, I've only ever seen photos and footage of men wearing regular two-piece suits.

The odd thing is, referencing the same photos etc, I've never seen any suits that appear to be made from seersucker or linen, or in lighter shades. They always look to be the heavy wool variety, worn all year round!

 

[dr greg]

Ha! Crusader cloth, I had a pair of grey school pants made of that stuff, lots of fun to wear in the Queensland summer. along with your woollen tie and top button done right up at all times.....

 

[Mrs Chaddsley_Corbett]

[video=youtube;9IF92uEctBc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9IF92uEctBc[/video]

[video=youtube;XdfsrhRimZ0]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdfsrhRimZ0&feature=related[/video]

 

[Baron Kurtz]

I'll get some good pics of that one you found for me, Benny.

I found a very similar one in Sydney a couple years ago, and have since sold it to FLounger avedwards so hopefully he'll show his, too. There's also a 1930s belted back jacket I got in Australia that I can't decide if it was made in England and went out with an emigrant, or if it was made in Australia.

bk

 

[avedwards]

I'll get some good pics of that one you found for me, Benny.

I found a very similar one in Sydney a couple years ago, and have since sold it to FLounger avedwards so hopefully he'll show his, too. There's also a 1930s belted back jacket I got in Australia that I can't decide if it was made in England and went out with an emigrant, or if it was made in Australia.

bk

I'll post pictures of that one later today . When I saw this thread I was surprised by how similar the cut of that suit is from the brown one Benny posted.

 

[avedwards]

My first ever vintage suit, and to this day one of my favourites. As promised:

The high button stance suggest 30s or early 40s to me but it could be later for all I know. It's half lined with only the back bottom pannel unlined which seems illogical to me given the heavy material (about 15oz). The material is too fuzzy to be worsted but not quite flannel. The jacket has very wide lapels with only one buttonhole and the trousers have forward pleats and the same sort of buckle side adjusters as Benny's first suit.

What I find strange is that it originally had a 28" inside leg and 26" arms - it almost conjurs up images of some ape-like figure. I also like the way Australian suits have some British influence but at the same time have unique features.

 

[Chasseur]

Benny and Alan,

Thanks for sharing, and most informative. I just love those British style trousers!

 

[Benny Holiday]

Ha! Crusader cloth, I had a pair of grey school pants made of that stuff, lots of fun to wear in the Queensland summer. along with your woollen tie and top button done right up at all times.....

Yeah . . . the good old days. Sometimes you've got to wonder what were they thinking? :eeek:

 

[Benny Holiday]

Thank you Baron, that'd be great! I have seen some Max Dupain photos taken in Sydney in the 30s and 40s with beltbacks in them, and it does appear that Australian tailoring was very influenced by British style then, but still, as you say the beltback you found could well have belonged to an emigrant.

Mr Edwards that is a superb-looking suit, thanks for posting that photo! With those original dimensions, it must have belonged to a yowie (Aussie version of Bigfoot)! LOL

And Chasseur, thank YOU for posting your suits in the other thread, every one of them a beaut!

 

[avedwards]

Mr Edwards that is a superb-looking suit, thanks for posting that photo! With those original dimensions, it must have belonged to a yowie (Aussie version of Bigfoot)! LOL

Perhaps an accountant/lawyer yowie?

I couldn't locate the Baron's photos from when he sold it so I'll try to take some pictures to show the details when I have access to a camera.