Puffy's Historical References

“Fast forward a few more years and the intellectual movement that came to be known as the Enlightenment brought with it a new respect for the rational and useful and an emphasis on education rather than privilege. Men’s fashion shifted towards more practical clothing. In England, aristocrats began to wear simplified clothes that were linked to their work managing country estates.

It was the beginning of what has been called the Great Male Renunciation, which would see men abandon the wearing of jewellery, bright colours and ostentatious fabrics in favour of a dark, more sober, and homogeneous look. Men’s clothing no longer operated so clearly as a signifier of social class, but while these boundaries were being blurred, the differences between the sexes became more pronounced.

“There begins a discussion about how men, regardless of station, of birth, if educated could become citizens,” says Semmelhack.

“Women, in contrast, were seen as emotional, sentimental and uneducatable. Female desirability begins to be constructed in terms of irrational fashion and the high heel - once separated from its original function of horseback riding - becomes a primary example of impractical dress.”“

omgthatdress: Garter Belt 1950s The Goldstein Museum of Design

Wed, 16 Jan 2013 14:38:37 +0100

omgthatdress:

Garter Belt

1950s

The Goldstein Museum of Design

omgthatdress: Stockings 1860s The Victoria & Albert Museum

Sat, 05 Jan 2013 00:17:17 +0100

omgthatdress:

Stockings

1860s

The Victoria & Albert Museum

omgthatdress: Suit 1865-1870 The Metropolitan Museum of Art

Mon, 31 Dec 2012 00:48:24 +0100

omgthatdress:

Suit

1865-1870

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

omgthatdress: Union Army Uniform 1863 The Metropolitan Museum...

Sun, 30 Dec 2012 16:30:45 +0100

omgthatdress:

Union Army Uniform

1863

The Metropolitan Museum of Art

superseventies: 1970s bedroom design from Drexel.

Sun, 09 Dec 2012 17:21:18 +0100

superseventies:

1970s bedroom design from Drexel.

theniftyfifties: Girls on the streets of London, late 1950s.

Sun, 09 Dec 2012 06:43:31 +0100

theniftyfifties:

Girls on the streets of London, late 1950s.

Suit PSA

Sat, 01 Dec 2012 03:13:43 +0100

rocketshipsuperstar:

rocketshipsuperstar:

I just made a post about this, but I wanted to make a more detailed one. Because I see this all over the freaking place and it bugs the fuck out of me.

Zoot suits do not come from the 1920s.

Repeat after me: Zoot suits do not come from the 1920s.

1920s men’s fashion tended to look a lot like this:

Of course, suit styles varied depending on who was wearing it, what their social class was, what the event was, etc. The general look of much of the 1920s fashion (even women’s fashion!) was ‘youthful and boyish’. Men’s business suits slimmed down and took a more sporting look.

While pretty much everyone wore suits in the 20s, Zoot suits were worn primarily by Chicano and African Americans in the 1940s. Other people wore them, sure, but there was a lot of social stigma attached to them.

You can tell right away that Zoots have a very distinct look compared to the general suits of the 20s. Particularly, a high waist, baggy pants with tight cuffs, no tie, and a very long jacket with highly padded shoulders. The long coat gave the suits the nickname of ‘drapes’, and was quite a point of controversy. During WWII, the US faced fabric shortages and so suits make with so much fabric were considered a luxury.

Zoots became especially popular among Hispanic teens living in California, including the pachuco subculture, which was heavily connected with gang activity. During the 1943 ‘zoot suit riots’, Hispanic teens wearing their drapes were targeted by white servicemen, often beaten and stripped of the clothes that they wrapped up their identity in. Thus making the suits even more controversial.

Now, it’s fine to draw whatever you want. But if you’re trying to portray the Prohibition Era accurately? Don’t be drawing people in zoot suits. They came around in the 30s at the earliest.

Bringing this back to say: if you’re going to portray a character in the ’40s wearing drapes, you should also be aware of the stigma surrounding them. A white guy walking around LA in in 43 wearing a zoot suit would at least be given some weird looks, since the fashion was usually worn by Chicanos. A person of color wearing a zoot suit would probably be a target by white people, particularly service men.