Male Fashion in the 1930s
Written by Anonymous, Anonymous, Anonymous
In the 1930's, culture was different from today. Clothing is not an exception. Clothing back then was inspired by the Great Depression. Since money was scarce, clothes were made up of cheaper materials. Cheaper materials means cheaper clothes for people to buy. Citizen clothes looks more formal back then compared to today.
On October 24th, 1929 Wall Street crashed and put many people in America out of work; by 1931 eight million people had lost their jobs, which led into the Great Depression. However, men's fashion continued during this time and in particular suits were very popular. A particular suit was designed in 1930 and raised fast in popularity, soon known as “the American summer suit”, worn commonly by rich Wall Street businessmen and was most popular in Europe. Other fads in men’s fashion were plaids also known as Glen Plaid (Lehnert 54). The low economy demanded a new business suit, which gave birth to the “London cut” aka the “drape cut” designed by the London tailor Fredrick Scholte (Costantino 23). Knickerbockers are also becoming more popular in the 1930s.. Accessories included top hats and handkerchiefs (Sharma).
Men's clothing was important in To Kill a Mockingbird. When Jem showed up with shorts, Atticus immediately asked where did his pants go (Lee 54). This says that shorts were unacceptable most of the time. Other clues that shorts were not worn very much is that the author barely mentioned shorts. The word “shorts” was only used five times throughout the book. Hats were also an important menswear item. For example, “Atticus's office in the courthouse contained little more than a hat rack, spittoon, a checkerboard and an unsullied code of Alabama” (4). Although it does not tell us directly what the men of Maycomb wore, we could draw from Lee's hints that many of them wore hats.
Over all, suits were symbolic, showing your wealth and class. To Kill a Mockingbird showed that suits were an important role in society. If you did not wear a suit back in the 1930's, you were not as socially accepted.
On October 24th, 1929 Wall Street crashed and put many people in America out of work; by 1931 eight million people had lost their jobs, which led into the Great Depression. However, men's fashion continued during this time and in particular suits were very popular. A particular suit was designed in 1930 and raised fast in popularity, soon known as “the American summer suit”, worn commonly by rich Wall Street businessmen and was most popular in Europe. Other fads in men’s fashion were plaids also known as Glen Plaid (Lehnert 54). The low economy demanded a new business suit, which gave birth to the “London cut” aka the “drape cut” designed by the London tailor Fredrick Scholte (Costantino 23). Knickerbockers are also becoming more popular in the 1930s.. Accessories included top hats and handkerchiefs (Sharma).
Men's clothing was important in To Kill a Mockingbird. When Jem showed up with shorts, Atticus immediately asked where did his pants go (Lee 54). This says that shorts were unacceptable most of the time. Other clues that shorts were not worn very much is that the author barely mentioned shorts. The word “shorts” was only used five times throughout the book. Hats were also an important menswear item. For example, “Atticus's office in the courthouse contained little more than a hat rack, spittoon, a checkerboard and an unsullied code of Alabama” (4). Although it does not tell us directly what the men of Maycomb wore, we could draw from Lee's hints that many of them wore hats.
Over all, suits were symbolic, showing your wealth and class. To Kill a Mockingbird showed that suits were an important role in society. If you did not wear a suit back in the 1930's, you were not as socially accepted.
Works Cited
Costantino, Maria. Men's Fashion in the Twentieth Century: From Frock Coats to Intelligent Fibers. New York: Costume & Fashion, 1997. Print.
Lehnert, Gertrud. A History of Fashion in the 20th Century. Cologne, Germany: Konemann, 2000. Print.
Sharma, Tanya. "Fashion of the 1930s." LoveToKnow. Web. 15 Apr. 2012.
Lehnert, Gertrud. A History of Fashion in the 20th Century. Cologne, Germany: Konemann, 2000. Print.
Sharma, Tanya. "Fashion of the 1930s." LoveToKnow. Web. 15 Apr. 2012.