Good deal on a Demob suit

[Baron Kurtz]

Well, who knows the actual era? Single picture, no real details on show, but external buttons with no sign of a watch pocket in the trousers would, for me, put this in the 1930s. 34 chest, my ass. I'll bet this is bigger. Note to FLoungers: How NOT to list a suit on eBay:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/BLUE-STRIPE-1940s-DEMOB-SUIT-32in-WAIST-/400529263665?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEWAX%3AIT&nma=true&si=Wz3DLIUtF%252FxQsSt73cXrshNrZ%252FY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

 

[Two Types]

Someone's potentially got themselves a nice suit - god knows whether it will fit them!

 

[herringbonekid]

...but external buttons with no sign of a watch pocket in the trousers would, for me, put this in the 1930s.

not sure why you think that Baron. they were lucky to get £90 with such a poor listing, and lack of measurements !

 

[Baron Kurtz]

not sure why I think what? That it was a good deal, or that it might be 30s?

 

[herringbonekid]

...that external buttons and no watch pocket is a 30s thing.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

The external suspender buttons put it in our era, say before 1960 or so. A 40s suit (certainly a CC41 suit) would be much more likely to have that massive flapped watch pocket, which is much less frequent on 30s trousers. I guess if it is a true demob suit, the ones I've had never had a watch pocket, so it could be one of those.

Didn't we do a straw poll/hunt through our trousers once and found that 30s trousers were much less likely to have the watch pocket?

 

[Baron Kurtz]

The external suspender buttons put it in our era, say before 1960 or so. A 40s suit (certainly a CC41 suit) would be much more likely to have that massive flapped watch pocket, which is much less frequent on 30s trousers. I guess if it is a true demob suit, the ones I've had never had a watch pocket, so it could be one of those.

Didn't we do a straw poll/hunt through our trousers once and found that 30s trousers were much less likely to have the watch pocket?

 

[Fastuni]

There is the chance that it will be relisted... if the buyer expected a different size.

 

[herringbonekid]

Didn't we do a straw poll/hunt through our trousers once and found that 30s trousers were much less likely to have the watch pocket?

i know they're less common generally.
i have 3 definite CC41 suits that have externals buttons and no watch pocket. the suit above looks pure mid-late 40s to me.

 

[Two Types]

That discussion on British trouser styles started on page 5 of the british suits thread. This was HBK's results:

i've just done a count on the 1930s-1940s Brit trousers and the results are surprising:

with flapped watch pocket: 3

without watch pocket at all: 11

with flap-less watch pocket: 0

those with the flap are all the same width and shape, as shown on the previous page. never the narrower, squarer European version.

 

[herringbonekid]

TT, thanks for finding that. of the 3 with flaps 1 is 40s, the other 2 are debatable.

 

[Two Types]

My pleasure: I always like to see debate about various details of suits etc. We need as much debate as possible on the FL. It's a great way to learn about things if your not actually handling loads of old suits.

 

[Stanley Doble]

Demob suit? Wasn't that a cheaply made suit issued to British soldiers on leaving the army after WW2? Demob short for demobilisation?

I thought they were a distinctive style of suit made for a short period of time like 1945 - 46. I understood they were usually only worn for a short period of time until the ex soldier could buy something better.

Or is the term being used in a different way here?

 

[Baron Kurtz]

"Demob suit" refers correctly to the demobilisation issue suit you mention above. They have very specific style of labels and are unmistakeable because of the labels.

It is (wrongly) a general catch-all term these days for anything from around the right era, for sellers at least.