A Suit to Die For or: How I Stopped Worrying and Learned to Enjoy

About a month ago I found a wonderful suit.

Double breasted, a rich brown color, with elegant chalk-striping.  Dating from the late 1930s to early 1940s, it was in very good condition for its age.  A small hole here, some wear on the the lining there.  Nothing major, all of it easily repairable.  The peaked lapels had a nice shape and generous belly to them, giving them an attractive appearance.

And it was a decent price, so I purchased it for myself.

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The only problem: after I brought it home I found that it didn't fit me right.  Just a tad too big around.  The trousers and jacket arms were long enough (a rarity for me) but the waist of both the jacket and trousers were too big around.  Alas, I didn't notice it when I tried it on at the shop.  Maybe I was delusional with awe of having found such a cool suit, who knows.

No big (monetary) loss, I just threw it on my Etsy shop and resold it to a very happy buyer.  But historically and maybe even emotionally it was a big loss.  Rarely do you find a suit like this in condition like this at a price for which this one was available; it hits you hard, brings you down from your high when (perhaps) the find of they year doesn't fit you.

And that brings us to the lesson of the night: don't form an emotional attachment to these physical things, no matter how cool they are, because sometime or another they will go away.  They are just things.  Enjoy them while they last, but don't make them your life.

So while this suit slipped through my fingers, I enjoyed it while it was in my possession and passed it along to someone else who is currently enjoying it even more than I ever could.

That's what it's all about: whether it be a physical item or knowledge, pass it along for others to enjoy.  And that's the main reason this blog exists, to pass along knowledge and experience.

Back to the Basics: Proportionality

This may be the most important piece of the puzzle when it comes to the appearance of a suit.  A suit can fit the wearer perfectly but if it does not have pleasing proportions then it fails at its main goal: to make the wearer presentable and attractive to the eye.

Throughout history humankind has been trying different styles and pieces of clothing in an attempt to create the most balanced, pleasing look.

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If you ask me, humanity reached the pinnacle of proportionality during the 1930s and into the 1940s.  There's a reason it's called the 'Golden Era' of men's style.

The human mind is programmed to identify and be attracted to harmonized shapes.  One such complex yet ultimate simply proportional shape is the human body.  If one is to study its proportions, the shape of the human body, like many other things found in nature, follows elemental natural laws.  The Golden Ratio, also known as the "Divine Proportion", has informed artists for centuries as to the ideal attractive proportions to create in their work.  Derived from Fibonacci numbers, the Golden Ratio can be found throughout different parts of the human body.

Through the ages the human body has changed very little.  Sure, in recent years men tend to be slightly taller and a larger number of men are heavier weight, but the basics are still the same.  Check out Vitruvian Man from 1487 below:

The Vitruvian Man was meant to depict ideal male proportions and it is just as useful a tool today as it was so many centuries ago.  Notice the vertical half-way point is roughly at the crotch.  Above that mark are the hips, torso, and the head.  Below that mark are the legs and feet.

Using the Golden Ratio we find that the proportionally attractive separation point of the human body is roughly the navel/waist area.  This is an important factor and should be remembered for later.

Other parts of the human body, including the arms and face, are based upon the Golden Ratio.


So, why is the navel/waist area such an important item when it comes to dressing?  Because our goal in dressing well should be to present ourselves in an as aesthetically pleasing manner as possible and what better way to do that than to put the Golden Ratio to work?


For example, look at the two photos below.

The photo on the left is of a typical 1930s 3-piece suit while the one on the right is of a typical modern 3-piece suit.  The 1930s suit on the left is very well proportioned and attractive to the eye while the modern suit on the right is not.

Let's look at why.
Below is the same photo of the two men with vest, jacket and trouser length and position emphasized.  Blue indicates the vest, red the jacket, and yellow the trousers.

Notice how the 1930s suit on the left is based around the navel/waist area: the trousers sit at or about the waist while the vest skirt comes down to just below the waist.  The modern suit on the right, however, is based around the crotch area: the trousers hang right on the hips and the vest skirt comes down to just below the hips.  In other words, the 1930s suit on the left is based upon the Golden Ratio, giving the wearer the appearance of long legs and an athletic build, while the modern suit on the right is based around the physical halfway point, giving the wearer the appearance of a longer torso and shorter legs: a top-heavy silhouette that is not very flattering on any man.

Also note that the 1930s jacket has stronger shoulders and is slightly shorter in the skirt (a typical vintage drape jacket) than the modern jacket, which is slightly longer and has weaker shoulders.  The modern longer jacket length does not help the top-heavy silhouette of the modern suit.

Compare these suits to the Vitruvian Man and the differences become apparent.

In order to have a more attractive appearance when wearing a suit, base your proportions around the Golden Ratio point: the navel/waist.  Choose high-waisted trousers that sit at the natural waist, a short vest that comes down to meet the trouser waistband and doesn't let any shirt show between the two, and a suit jacket that's slightly shorter than usual.  Meeting these requirements today when most suits are made to be 'hip', fashionable, and/or ironic is a difficult task but not impossible.

It is important for a man to know how to wear a suit and wear it well.  A man knows what looks right and how a garment should fit, as he's either been taught how or has come to realize it for himself. He knows and follows the code of timeless style, not fashion.  A boy can throw on his father's overly large suit and think himself handsome. That same boy can also slip into one of his own old and much too small suits and perceive himself as being fashionable. The latter of the two seems to be the current fashion trend.  

Hopefully soon men will again understand how important proportionality is to appearance and go back to the Golden Ratio Point that was so common during the Golden Era.  I'll never understand why we moved away from it.

State of the Blog and a Contest

As a special Christmas gift the Houndstooth Kid hit the 100,000th visitor mark (the 100,000th visitor was from Denmark). This website has had visitors from every state in the Union as well as 140 countries out of 195 in the world. As of this writing there are 49 followers. I consider that quite an achievement.

Of course there could be improvements, both in the quality of the postings and the variety of medium used. I've discussed with a couple influential folks about the use of video in this blog and they have been positive toward the idea. Video, of course, means more time and effort to plan, set up, film and edit and therefore possibly means even more time from post to post. But video utilizes both visuals and speech to convey a message. In this way a moving picture is worth well more the 1,000 words.

Another area of improvement is drawing you the reader into the discussion. While getting and responding to comments beneath each post is good, I'd like to do a post every so often that comes directly from the readers. One way to do this is to answer questions from readers.
So, please use the email link on the right side of the window to send me questions you'd like to see answered in a post. Or if you want to see something of interest. Or want something researched. Any number of things would work, so let me know!

A few other things.
Like any good capitalist I wanted to make a little money off of this blog project of mine. This can be done by adding advertisments to the blog that somehow relate to the topics about which are being posted. However, with commercialism slowly creeping further into our lives (as Christmas so blindingly displays each year) I've decided not to go this route. I've decided to keep the Houndstooth Kid uncluttered, so you don't have to worry about flashing ads and confusing layouts for as long as I can foresee. Rest assured.

The appearance of the blog might change though, we'll see.






And now, onto the main event.
As a 'thank you' for getting us up to 100,000 visitors in roughly two years, I'm having a contest.

To enter merely email me using the link on the right side of this window and tell me:

What is style? Is style timeless? Does style change? What is your personal style? Does vintage play a role in your personal style and how?

You can answer these questions however you want: via a written essay, photos with commentary and/or a video, etc. The length and content is up to you. Send your entry via email by January 15th and we'll pick and announce the winner by January 22nd.

What good is a contest without some loot?
The winner will have their essay/photo commentary/video posted on this very blog as well as receive several very nice vintage ties dating from the 1930s-1950s, free of charge or shipping costs. Contestants must live in the Continental United States, sorry, no entries from out of country.

May the most stylish and well spoken man win!

The Color of Life

For me, at least at the moment, color is perhaps one of the most important aspects of an attractive 'kit' or outfit. Color can be dull or exciting, colors can match or clash, express the good and bad of life. It is our tool with which we can paint the story of living.

The thing about the Golden Era is that we are most exposed to it through photographs and old movies that are nearly all in black and white. Just like the photo below of the stereotypical Sunday school class, we have to guess what the colors were in most Golden Era photos (click all photos to enlarge):


But as a collector of vintage clothing I know the Golden Era was a colorful time, perhaps more colorful than today and I'm able to see firsthand what the colors were like. It's an exprience that few people ever knowingly have.



Having these pieces of color history in hand is a connection to the people who wore them. The folks in those black and white photos can seem so different, so far away from what we are today. But holding and wearing the very pieces and colors that they did offers us the ability to see that they were regular people just like us who liked a little color in life. Sometimes that color was deep and mature, other times it was wild and crazy.

Click on the article below from the Feb. 21st, 1929 issue of the "National Retail Clothier Magazine" and pay close attention to the paragraph at the lower right entitled "Attractive Outfit in Brown":

Even the wild use of color today cannot match what this outfit must have looked like. It was something to behold not only because of the unusual combinations, but because vintage color, at least to me, seems better than color today. There were more varieties and while they were often crazy the colors were used moderately, maturely and in a handsome manner.



At times it can seem that the colors of the Golden Era are exaggerated.
Take a look at the colors and styles described in The Great Gatsby:

"He took out a pile of shirts and began throwing them, one by one, before us, shirts of sheer linen and thick silk and fine flannel, which lost their folds as they fell and covered the table in many-colored disarray. While we admired he brought more and the soft rich heap mounted higher—shirts with stripes and scrolls and plaids in coral and apple-green and lavender and faint orange, and monograms of Indian blue. Suddenly, with a strained sound, Daisy bent her head into the shirts and began to cry stormily.

“They’re such beautiful shirts,” she sobbed, her voice muffled in the thick folds. “It makes me sad because I’ve never seen such—such beautiful shirts before.”


While writers of that period were well known for their use of colors to describe certain characters and moods, it seems that the colors described in Gatsby were not too far off from the truth.

To prove my point, examine these quotes pulled from advertisements from the 1929 National Retail Clothier Magazine mentioned above:

"Fancy colors that make the rainbow pale."

"...this years colorings are cream, silver, bottle, biscuit, sunburn and nutria."

"Pearl and Cedar will be the best shades, it is believed."

"Some of these ties are in bright colors."

This sounds like something Gatsby might have worn (from the scan above):
"An attractive ensemble noted in New York City included: Suit of dark brown, with diagonal stripe, rather pronounced, in white, the jacket double breasted with three buttons...demi-bosom shirt in very fine cross stripes, in peach color; tie of black ground with orange polka dots; hat a cocoa brown Homburg; yellow gloves; socks in vertical stripes of orange and black..."

"Just the right weight, in new Algerian tans, Stone greys and Lovat."

This ad speaks volumes:

"The Era of Color Enthusiasm".
A fantastic rainbow available to the common man, some colors that most of us have never even heard of until now. Much more variety than today.



Nowadays there seems to be no rhyme nor reason for the use of color; perhaps merely to shock the eye or cause the viewer convulsions. Though, the Golden Era did have its moments like the deadstock '30s tie below shows:


As a side note, it's interesting to compare the similarities of the patterns in the tie pictured above with the digital alphabet and number set below. This tie is a precursor to the Bold Look, but is it also a precursor to the digital age?


What was it that allowed men of the past to coordinate so many colors so well while looking mature when men of today struggle with a few basic colors? Is it a lack of manly creativity or merely a lack of good colors today?

As I close let me say that color is like a fine wine: with age it will become more flavorful and more mature. Like my vintage clothing that have years and history in their pockets and buttons, I like my colors well aged. That way I stand out in a crowd, like a twinkle of kodachrome in a black and white photograph.

What Suits You: Three Eras of Suits

Let's look at three suits of mine that I've never shown before. All three are from different decades, so note the styles of each of them. Also note the quality of the fabric, patterns and construction and shape.

In chronological order...

This first suit is what I would consider my 'perfect' suit: 3-piece, double breasted, navy blue material with teal chalkstripes, very nice fit and silhouette. And it fits like a glove.

This suit was made by a very high quality tailoring company that will remain unnamed. Truly, this suit blows away pretty much anything nowadays in terms of quality, bespoke or not. The material and craftsmanship of this suit overshadow the best any modern tailor can offer.

click photos to enlarge

Vest is well shaped with 6 buttons and 4 pockets, as an good vintage vest should.


Also note the great waist suppression on the jacket. The lapels are fairly wide but not yet as wide as some Bold Look lapels were. Very little shoulder padding allows for the wearer's natural shoulder shape to show. The button stance is fairly high compared to other DB jackets from the 1940s and the Bold Look.
Note the unfortunate damage to the right arm.


And the pleated trousers with the 'mandatory' 2" cuffs as the finishing touch.

This photo shows the beautiful fabric pattern of this suit. The harmony between the colors is wonderful.

The damage to the arm. How did such a long group of holes appear? Moth? Dog? Rampaging significant other? What stories this suit could tell?

Next is an early to mid-1940s tweed 2-piece. Again, you won't find fabric like this nowadays. It is surprisingly heavy and drapes wonderfully.

The jacket has medium padding in the shoulders and very nice waist suppression. The lapels are fairly wide, would be even wider had the top button been undone. Like the 1930s suit above, the lapels in the early to mid-1940s were on the wide side before flaring out during the Bold Look of the late 1940s-early 1950s.

The early 1940s weren't all too different from the later half of the 1930s except for the war effort putting a damper on some of the more exotic treatments like belted back, bi-swing backs, the Oxford Bags and the like.

Pleated with cuffs:

Again, no modern material can compare to the quality of this fabric. This is why I collect vintage clothing!

Last but certainly not least is this mid-1950s number. Note the heavily padded shoulders and the baggy jacket with little if any shape to it. Also note the 3 patch pockets. While pockets like these were popular on certain suits and jackets during the 1930s and 1940s, patch pockets boomed in the 1950s. They add to an already casual atmosphere.

The lapels are starting to narrow down again as the Bold Look died off.

Also note the very low button stance compared to the two suits above.

Trousers are still pleated with cuffs like the suits above.

But those are not the most important things about this suit. That award goes to the fabric: nubby 'Atomic Fleck'. The colors are truly amazing. The bluish gray background dances with white, medium blue and teal nubby flecks. This is a fairly rare Atomic Fleck pattern.

Hopefully this has given you a glimpse of the different eras of suits of the Golden Era. Unfortunately it was only a glimpse, for a deeper understanding of such things comes only from the touching, handling and wearing of original pieces.

The Bad and the Ugly

Let's not fool ourselves: while the Golden Era was just that for men's clothing, things were not perfect. Not everything was elegant, quality made or well thought out.

Let's examine some of those less than perfect looks.


1. The Fish Net Shirt
From Esquire we see the "fish net shirt" on the right (while I don't mind the striped sports coat on the left, the matching 'muffler' is just too much and the two would only be worn in combination together by someone willing to be seen with someone wearing a fish net shirt).

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Quite frankly, don't do the fish net and don't be seen with anyone wearing one. Avoid anything fish net, especially if it is a shirt. Of note is the commentary stating that in some areas "shirtless bathing is still prohibited". How things have changed.


2. The White Dress Jacket

While I actually like the look of the mess jacket and it was a rather popular style for a short time in the mid-1930s, it was eventually put aside by most well dressed folks in favor of the traditional dinner jacket and tails.

If you tried to pull the mess jacket off today you'd either be mistaken for a waiter or a member of the military (which, surprisingly, has kept the mess jacket for formal wear).

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Too bad Jeeves disapproves of it (starting at the 27 second mark). I think it quite snappy and athletic looking, enhancing the length of the wearer's legs and making him appear taller.

3. Oxford Bags

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While the original Oxford Bags (example shown above) were not horrendously bad (originating at Oxford in the 1920s, hence the name, these wide-legged trousers were worn over plus-fours and similar sport trousers after such 'immature' garments were banned by the school for in-class wear), the later mainstream and more extreme cousin of the Oxford Bags did reach a high level of insanity.

While the original Oxford Bags measured no more than 48" in circumference at the cuff, the extreme Bags measured much more, upwards of 56" or more in circumference. Below are examples of such extreme Bags.

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The French were the most radical in their use of Oxford Bags. Below is one such example of a French dandy sporting extreme Oxford Bags.
Oxford Bags were popular with the youth and some musicians during the mid- to late 1920s and even into the 1930s before (thankfully) dying out.

These are just a few stinkers of the Golden Era; we'll look at some more at another time.