The Thread to Display Your 1930s Suits

[cookie]

Found this at the thrift shop today. Great fabric and buttons.

That looks like a Jazz suit to me. with the 'belly' in the waist area.

 

[Baron Kurtz]

My newest one. German (it has the tell-tale rear suspender buttons on extender tabs and a keyhole buttonhole on the lapel); I'm guessing about the middle 1930s, based on my comparisons of the lapel shape with dated British examples.

bk

 

[Two Types]

My newest one. German (it has the tell-tale rear suspender buttons on extender tabs and a keyhole buttonhole on the lapel); I'm guessing about the middle 1930s, based on my comparisons of the lapel shape with dated British examples.

bk

Interestingly I saw those 'tell tale' extender tags on another pair of suit trousers recently - but it wasn't German. It was a South African suit for sale on Ebay (dated 1972). I'm guessing the tailor was a German who had settled there. It shows that we can't always make assumptions about details revealing the birthplace of a suit.

 

[Mario]

Nice one. Is it only me or does the jacket have a comperatively low gorge?

 

[herringbonekid]

i have a German suit with a similar low-ish gorge and down-sloping gorge-line. the button placement is lower than BK's above. i always thought it was late 40s (which is why i didn't put it in this thread) but never been quite certain:

 

[Mario]

Lovely. I'd definitely wear it!

Due to the lower button stance and the longer lapels the placement of the gorge doesn't seem to be as low as on Baron Kurtz's jacket.

 

[AntonAAK]

Lovely. I'd definitely wear it!

Due to the lower button stance and the longer lapels the placement of the gorge doesn't seem to be as low as on Baron Kurtz's jacket.

The gorge seam (is that a term?) on the Baron's jacket is incredibly long. I count six pinstripes in it as opposed to four in HBK's. Obviously that is not a scientific measure as I don't know that the stripes are the same widths. But it certainly gives the lapels an unusual, bottom-heavy appearance. I like it.

 

[Txmason]

Those are beautiful suits! Are there any vintage suits in Omar the tent maker size? (60 size jacket, 56x30 pant). Surely there where big men in the 30s and beyond! Also where can I find some vintage hats etc?

 

[Marc Chevalier]

Are there any vintage suits in Omar the tent maker size? (60 size jacket, 56x30 pant).

In my 25 years of vintage-ing on the West Coast, I have never come across any vintage (pre-1970s) suit or sportcoat in a size 60, with 56" pants. Unfortunately.

 

[BrandonCarlson]

Also where can I find some vintage hats etc?

Have you tried the classified section of this forum? I just bought a vintage Stetson from a fellow lounger..

 

[Mario]

Gorgeous 1930's German Suit With Belted Back

Now here's a suit to die or kill for but, alas, it isn't mine...

Some time ago I paid a visit to the guys at Cinetex. Over the years they have gathered an enormous collection of German-made vintage clothing, ranging from the 1930's to the 70's. Not so long ago they finally created two online outlets for their stuff, Cinetex (serving wholesale purposes) and VintageSuits (for private sales), the links of which I had already posted before in another thread.

When I went to see them at their office here in Berlin I had the chance to get my hands on a very nice rarity, a 1930's German suit with belted-back jacket (in plain German those belted backs are called Sportrücken…). Not a lot of them have survived over the years so this suit (which is chock-full of the typical telltale signs of German tailoring) is one that really stands out even from the vast Cinetex collection.

The suit is made from a lovely worsted wool fabric in light gray with lighter stripes running through it. It’s also a remarkably light-weight fabric, especially when compared to most other German suits from that time which tend to be rather heavy.

The jacket sports a scalloped shoulder yoke and two box-pleats to allow for ample movement of the arms. Together with the half-belt that has only been sewn to the side seams of the jacket, this construction is one of the hallmarks of German belted backs from the 1930’s. That the lapel has a keyhole buttonhole goes without saying.

The pants have one forward pleat on each leg. As is to be expected there are no belt loops on the fairly wide waistband, which has no fishtail back but a two-button front-closure (BTW: I don’t want to hear a single word about the make-shift clip-ons…). The front pockets are slightly angled; the single back pocket has a scalloped flap and the rear suspender buttons are attached to the typical extender tabs.

Ah, well...look for yourself. It's a wonderful suit. As is common with me the pants turned out to be that tad too short - again. I'd be glad to go with the jacket alone if I could find one like this...

BTW: Lest you ask - the suit is not officially for sale as it has a few stains and discolorations to it. A potential buyer would have to take a good look at it beforehand. I guess this suit would be a case for specialists like RaveFabriCare.

Thanks to Flo for these catalog scans:

​

 

[thunderw21]

^Excellent suit. The Germans really had a thing for the scalloped yoke. Love it.

 

[Mario]

Now imagine my emotional state when I learned - not really unexpectedly, but hope dies last, no? - that the pants were 2" too short on me...

Some people don't seem to like those scalloped yokes as they think it makes the jackets look too western-like but I really love them.

 

[thunderw21]

Now imagine my emotional state when I learned - not really unexpectedly, but hope dies last, no? - that the pants were 2" too short on me...

Some people don't seem to like those scalloped yokes as they think it makes the jackets look too western-like but I really love them.

No hope to sacrifice the cuffs and add faux cuffs?

 

[Mario]

Not really. There seems to be some discoloration to the fabric on the inside of the cuffs.

 

[herringbonekid]

^Excellent suit. The Germans really had a thing for the scalloped yoke. Love it.

they certainly did. mind you, i have a Hart Schaffner & Marx 'style book' from 1923 and scalloped backs feature prominently.

Some people don't seem to like those scalloped yokes as they think it makes the jackets look too western-like...

that's exactly my reservation about them.

interesting thing about that suit is how the front gives very little idea of what the back will look like. most American fancy-back jackets have patch pocket fronts to go with the overall 'sporty' feel. that front is very clean. maybe the topstitching around the lapels being the only giveaway that it's a sportier model.

 

[Mario]

interesting thing about that suit is how the front gives very little idea of what the back will look like. most American fancy-back jackets have patch pocket fronts to go with the overall 'sporty' feel. that front is very clean. maybe the topstitching around the lapels being the only giveaway that it's a sportier model.

Yes, it's a bit unusual but I actually like this sort of hybrid model. I've seen images of German suits with scalloped yoke and patch pockets with scalloped flaps, incl. the breast pocket(s).

 

[herringbonekid]

VintageSuits

they've just put quite a few german suits up on ebay.co.uk
new seller, no feedback yet.

 

[Mario]

Yes, I just stumbled across some of their stuff and even posted one in the Vintage Finds & Deals thread. About two years ago they sold a few suits via ebay, which is how I first got in touch with them.

 

[herringbonekid]

anyone (with patience) who has dug through the old suits thread will have seen this one already, but for those who haven't:

undated but around 1936/7 U.S.
the observant might notice that the jacket has three shoulder pleats, just visible.
sorry for the posey pose. these were taken nearly five years ago. i'm more haggard looking now.