Hey guys, new member here. May I get some general critiques from you gents?

[PhilosophyDragoon]

Greetings, gentlemen. I suppose one question I'd like to start with is what did men in the 20's wear during the summer when it was too hot for a suit?

I've picked up wearing a bowler when it's really cold, and a fedora during the spring and fall.

What did they wear during the summer when it was too hot to wear a normal hat?

I feel weird wearing the fedora when I don't have a jacket to go with it.

Any suggestions?

Here's an image of the type of clothes I like to wear normally; any critiques would be greatly appreciated.

 

[PhilosophyDragoon]

Chaps, let me also add this recent picture for a glimpse into my summer attire at present.

I wear as authentic as I can find to the 1920's when fedoras/bowlers/panamas were popular.

It's a gentlemanly thing to do - and I'm sure you gents will concur.

 

[TroutAle87]

go with a solid color tshirt...or maybe a vneck. well thats what my girls telling me as i type. lol. nice jacket btw

 

[Brevetti]

It's never too hot for a suit. I love that jacket, but for it to be worn over a T-shirt seems counterproductive.

 

[PhilosophyDragoon]

It's never too hot for a suit. I love that jacket, but for it to be worn over a T-shirt seems counterproductive.

Friend, I most wholeheartedly concur, but mournfully enough it can get dreadfully warm where I am...though I see you live in Dallas so perhaps I should be complaining not!

 

[boushi_mania]

Others will probably give you more information, but for starters (in the first picture), people would wear lighter fabrics in the warmer months. You appear to be wearing tweed, and if so, I could see why you think it's too hot. Consider instead tropical-weight wool, wool/mohair, wool/silk, linen, or seersucker.

T-shirts with sport jackets (especially with more traditional ones like the one you're wearing) are not a "vintage" look. The order of removing things in the heat is:

1. Necktie,
2. Jacket (at which point you should roll up your shirt sleeves to create the impression that your jacket and tie are off because you're about to get down to business),
3. Waistcoat/Vest (if present), and finally,
4. Shirt and trousers (generally only done in medical emergencies or one's bedroom).

The jacket may also be too big on you, but it's difficult to tell without a full body shot and a collared shirt.

In the first picture, your hat appears to be sitting on top of your ears, and if so, it's too big. It's hard to tell from the lighting, but it may also be one of those wool-felt approximations of a classic hat style (either a bowler, or a homburg with the dent flattened out because the top of the head is hitting the too-low crown inside the hat). At this time of year, one really ought to be wearing a straw hat, but in any case, it's not too hard to find a vintage piece in the right size, for a decent price, if one hangs around here long enough.

In the second picture, your hat fits you much better. The ensemble gives off more of a 1950s vibe than 1920s to me, though. Maybe it's the shirt pattern.

 

[Dubya]

Friend, I most wholeheartedly concur, but mournfully enough it can get dreadfully warm where I am...though I see you live in Dallas so perhaps I should be complaining not!

Dreadfully warm!?

In Blighty!? :laugh:

We don't have a climate in England, we just have weather! Anyway, take a look at this thread for some summertime headwear inspiration Old Boy!

http://www.thefedoralounge.com/showthread.php?26728-Boater-faction!/page59&highlight=Boater+faction

 

[John in Covina]

A straw boater always works well for the warm weather wear.

 

[Edward]

Greetings, gentlemen. I suppose one question I'd like to start with is what did men in the 20's wear during the summer when it was too hot for a suit?

I've picked up wearing a bowler when it's really cold, and a fedora during the spring and fall.

What did they wear during the summer when it was too hot to wear a normal hat?

I feel weird wearing the fedora when I don't have a jacket to go with it.

Any suggestions?

Here's an image of the type of clothes I like to wear normally; any critiques would be greatly appreciated.

You're not wearing combats and squaddie boots with that by any chance? Reminds me of me in the early nineties, though I was never a one for a bowler...

Have a look out for a linen jacket, or something in cotton, for the warmer weather. Oddly enough, I've found a couple of really nice ones for very little in sales in Uniqlo of all places over the past couple of years. For a Summer casual shirt, I have had great experiences with Sainsbury's (yes, you read that right) - they do a lot of nice, casual check short sleeve shirts. More a late Forties / early Fifties look to my eye, but great in the heat instead of a tshirt. Do wear an undershirt with whatever shirt you wear this time of year, though. Sounds counter-intuitive, but really soaks up the sweat, stops your shirt sticking to you, and actually feels much cooler.

For a Summer hat, try a boater when you want to really go for it, or for something more laid back seek out a nice straw or poly-straw. My top tip is the Akubra Capricorn.

Dreadfully warm!?

In Blighty!? :laugh:

All relative.... for a Celt like me from the Six Counties, SE England is unbearably hot for most of July and August.

 

[resortes805]

Coupla' things.....t-shirts worn with shirts was popular in the '30s and '40s, not so much the 1920s. For more of a '20s undershirt-with-a-suit sort of thing, get your self a cream or oatmeal colored henley.

If you want a strictly 1920s summer look, than get yourself a linen newsboy cap.

 

[Hal]

...people would wear lighter fabrics in the warmer months. You appear to be wearing tweed, and if so, I could see why you think it's too hot...

Correct - that's certainly the way to go.

The order of removing things in the heat is:

1. Necktie,
2. Jacket (at which point you should roll up your shirt sleeves to create the impression that your jacket and tie are off because you're about to get down to business),
3. Waistcoat/Vest (if present), and finally,
4. Shirt and trousers (generally only done in medical emergencies or one's bedroom).

I definitely do NOT agree with this order. The waistcoat and/or the jacket should be removed BEFORE the tie, basically because they are layers which hold the heat. I have to say that I particularly dislike the open-necked shirt-with-a-jacket look - it always looks sloppy and unfinished to me.
(I'm well aware that many disagree with me on this.)

Dreadfully warm!? In Blighty!?

Anything over 25C is dreadfully warm to me - and many places in the UK had that last week!

 

[reetpleat]

I kind of like the open collar, either a dress shirt or convertible collar (loop type button closure) under a suit jacket or sportcoat. But that is a bit of a stretch for 20s, although if you go for a california movie guy look, you could make it work. Go for a particularly 20s or 30s looking collar, narrow with long tips.

And, for the record, while not so popular in the 20s, by the 40s and early 50s, a t shirt was not so uncommon with a sportcoat, at least for the kids, and maybe a stylish young man. This would be a striped sport t shirt rather than a white undershirt. When I went dancing, I often paired striped t shirts with a hollywood jacket or houndstooth check sportcoat. Very California sportswear.

 

[DameWhoDrinks]

Is there a way for you to get a white, lightweight suit in a 20s cut? That would be very "Gatsby".

All this talk of 20s and shirts is reminding me of Gatsby when he flings his shirts everywhere.
that being said...I love your Panama, but second the newsboy suggestion

 

[LoveMyHats2]

I think you have some basic ideas of what you desire to be dressed, and not badly for a start. Straw or Milan or Panama for hot weather....I would not wear a t shirt with any logo or design of a commercial fashion on the front of it under a suit or sport coat...the Hawaiian look shirt you have on is nice, if you keep heading into the right direction, you will have it all down just right.

 

[Rathdown]

Today, with temps in the upper 80s or low 90s I am wearing: v-neck t-shirt, loose fitting cotton boxers, thin cotton socks, white full-cut shirt with French cuffs, linen tie, single breasted seersucker suit, white Cole Haan wingtips, and a broad brimmed panama hat. After church several of us are getting together for Pimms and sandwiches. Typical of the south the ladies will probably remain in doors, while the gentlemen, sans jackets, will sit on the back porch, smoke cigars, rub the dogs, and curse the Federal government.

 

[MisterGrey]

Are those 3D glasses you're wearing? If so, they could be wrecking your eyes in the daylight. Because the lens is dark they'll cause your eyes to dilate, but because they're not UV protective this will have the effect of exposing your eyes to far more damage than unprotected sun exposure.

And even if you're just wearing them at night, they scream "hipster" much louder than "vintage."

 

[Dubya]

Today, with temps in the upper 80s or low 90s I am wearing: v-neck t-shirt, loose fitting cotton boxers, thin cotton socks, white full-cut shirt with French cuffs, linen tie, single breasted seersucker suit, white Cole Haan wingtips, and a broad brimmed panama hat. After church several of us are getting together for Pimms and sandwiches. Typical of the south the ladies will probably remain in doors, while the gentlemen, sans jackets, will sit on the back porch, smoke cigars, rub the dogs, and curse the Federal government.

Still fighting the War of Northern Aggression in ol' Virginia are ya!?

 

[McMurdo]

Today, with temps in the upper 80s or low 90s I am wearing: v-neck t-shirt, loose fitting cotton boxers, thin cotton socks, white full-cut shirt with French cuffs, linen tie, single breasted seersucker suit, white Cole Haan wingtips, and a broad brimmed panama hat. After church several of us are getting together for Pimms and sandwiches. Typical of the south the ladies will probably remain in doors, while the gentlemen, sans jackets, will sit on the back porch, smoke cigars, rub the dogs, and curse the Federal government.

I wish we could be there, I do love your home, and the hospitality you have shown my wife and myself is a wonderful example of Southern Hospitality. Have a grand day my friend.

 

[William Stratford]

any critiques would be greatly appreciated.

From my own experience, look for a linen suit for summer - on all but the hottest days they remain wearable. As for shirts, a cotton oxford will be comfortable (both as regards temperature and stopping the jacket collar rubbing on your neck) and look better (t-shirts I think always look like they are taking the mick out of the suit...as if to say "I'm wearing a suit but not taking it seriously").

A linen suit can be picked up for less than £50 on the bay of Ee, whilst cotton oxfords are a little over a tenner.

 

[Shangas]

What did they wear during the summer when it was too hot to wear a normal hat?

Summer hats would've been palm-woven Panamas, or straw boaters. The boater is the flat, straw hat commonly worn by butchers, barbershop quartet-men, and Venetian gondoliers, after whom they're named (they were invented in Italy).

Panama hats were invented in Ecquador in the 1830s, I believe, and were exported chiefly to Panama (which is why they're called 'Panama hats'). They were a popular summertime hat during the Golden Era because they're lightweight, breathable and they don't retain sweat and heat like a comparable felt hat, worn in wintertime.

The order of removing things in the heat is:
Necktie,
Jacket (at which point you should roll up your shirt sleeves to create the impression that your jacket and tie are off because you're about to get down to business),
Waistcoat/Vest (if present), and finally,
Shirt and trousers (generally only done in medical emergencies or one's bedroom).

I also don't agree with this. If it's too hot, order of removal is:

- Jacket.
- Waistcoat.
- Tie.

By the 20s and 30s, the obsession with keeping your shirt covered up as a matter of decency was dying out. If you were the really old-fashioned type, though, then under NO circumstances was the waistcoat ever removed.