What the heck is this?

[thunderw21]

Jazz Suit? Summer frock coat? A costume, perhaps?

Surprisingly lightweight houndstooth material, no liner, no pockets, one faded tag on the collar, a single long vent that's offset to the right, no cuff buttons, almost looks homemade but is well constructed. Frock coat length and is around a size 42R so not a woman's jacket but can be buttoned both ways. "Simons" is written on the inside collar.

 

[zetwal]

Could it be an employee uniform? Perhaps for use in a grocery store, restaurant, or something along those lines?

 

[Marc Chevalier]

It's a costume; probably theatrical. Has a "blackface minstrel show" vibe to it.



.

 

[Bugsy]

I'm with Marc C. I think it's a theatrical costume. The big question is what are you going to do with it??

 

[thunderw21]

I think you're both right. Made well but crudely done. It appears to be relatively old, though (>40 years at least).

No idea what I'm going to do with it. It was strange and cheap, can't go wrong with that!

 

[Chad Sanborn]

Looks like a vaudeville piece. Something that a performer would have made himself.

 

[Tomasso]

strange and cheap, can't go wrong with that!

Au contraire, my first wife fit that description and it was a disaster.

 

[thunderw21]

 

[GBR]

Costume probably, possibly uniform but does not have the (false) gravitas associated with such uniform. The cheap nature of the construction suggests the former.

 

[zetwal]

Tomasso, did your first wife perchance exude an air of false gravitas as well?!

 

[dhermann1]

About 20 years ago Cheap Jack's, an old clothes store on Union Square in New York (and an infamous wrecker of vintage clothes) had a pile of costumes from the old Broadway production of "Barnum", with Jim Dale. Having looked at those makes me agree with the verdict of theatrical costume.

 

[RP McMurphy]

Huh...

Perhaps from the '60's or '70's? Didn't frock coats, ruffles, and the like come in to style with the Beatles/mod scene? Might be something along those lines... Looks like a rather nice print though. How's the fabric to the touch?

 

[Enigma1947]

I'd say definitely theatrical

I am a theatre major and have worked on costume crews for the past 2 1/2 years and this looks exactly like the stuff we used on our shows. Theatrical costumes are usually made like this one because (at least in the cases i've experienced) costumers are working on very, very tight budgets so the pieces usually appear badly made from the inside but are usually quite strong so that they can hold together for several shows. The name written on the inside collar, "Simons", is probably the last name of the first actor it was made for- we always write the last name of our actors on a little tag and pin it to the inside collar. Hope this helps!