Recommended Reference Guide for 30's/40's men's fashions

[Deleted member 16736]

Hi, I'm remaking my whole wardrobe in vintage style and I'm looking for a reference guide. The period I'm aiming for is 30's/40's, but will consider 50's. (20's is hard to find even in reproductions.) I own the Sears Catalog for Everyday Fashions of the 40's and find that it focuses too much on female fashion. Can anyone recommend a style guide for this period that shows what the men were wearing? Thank you.

 

[Dinerman]

Take a look through the threads on these stickies. These will tell you just about everything you want to know.

General Attire
Suits

 

[Deleted member 16736]

Thank you very much.

 

[Flat Foot Floey]

If we are talking about books there is no holy grail. Maybe the Esquire Men's Fashions Encyclopedia comes next but it is hard to get and goes for high prices.

Most of the time you have to buy books with chapters about the other eras too. Or with womens stuff. I would recommend 100 years of menswear by Cally Blackman. The explanations are not very long but the pictures are great. I think the 30s and 40s have more pages than say the 60s or 70s but I could be wrong. There is also a book called: Sharp Suits by Eric Musgrave and Richard James. I don't have it but it seems to be nice. Also with photographs instead of illustrations.

Apart from the stickies. This is a nice guide and could also be bought as a book.
Collectible Fashions of the Turbulent 1930s- Men's Chapter

For your general style there is already a reading list. The authors will often mention when their "rules" were first made. Pften this goes back to the 1920s or 1930s...
Dress like a Swell! - (Suggested Gentleman's reading list)