What Men REALLY Wore in the 1920s

Welcome back to the Gentleman's Gazette and our series, What Men Really Wore. Today, we turn back the clock again to determine what men wore during the 1920s. I know where the great Gatsby makes us believe that they wore pink striped suits and we'll take a look if that was actually the case or if it's a complete myth. The rolling 20s are remembered for technology, innovation, high fashion, party time, and then, of course, this. Many people cite this decade as a start of the golden age in menswear. Some even argued that the suit, as you know today, started blossoming at that point in time. It was really time to say bye-bye to the stuffy Edwardian cutaway fashions of the previous decades. World War I was over, freedom, celebration, and frivolity ensued and young people simply enjoyed their life at the moment. People simply wanted to dress up again. Along with the partying and dancing, fashion was rapidly evolving, not just for women who had just recently gained the right to vote, but also for men. Fashion had become a means to express oneself through style. No longer did you have to wear tones of green, brown, and khaki, but you could just pick up whatever you wanted and just say, this is who I am, this is how I feel, and I'm enjoying life. So, the question arises, what were they wearing? Let's explore it together, but first, let's deal with some misconceptions around 1920s style and clothes. Maybe you've watched a virally popular video from Glam about 100 years of men's fashion. While the production crew was excellent, the subject matter, the clothes, was mostly inaccurate. Maybe you've watched some gangster movies, or maybe Boardwalk Empire, and you think all that men wore back then were pinstripe suits and tommy guns. No, they didn't really. No, they didn't really. Instead, we promise you, we'll talk about what real men wore back then. Of course, different countries and different climates and different clothing traditions, we focus here mostly on the US and bring in comparisons to Europe. If you've seen our previous video on the fashions from 1910 to 1920, you know the drill. If not, it's waiting for you here. The jackets of the 20s were cut much more closely to the body to accentuate the natural waist. If you look at them today, they're much closer to a body coat than a modern suit. The buttoning stance was a bit lower than the 1910s, and it had about two to three buttons. Sometimes, the fronts of jackets were cut away and probably inspired by morning coats. The most popular fabric was, of course, sheeps wool, but they were a lot heavier than what you can get today, and the finish was a lot coarser. The jacket body was usually lined in silk, if you could afford it, and the sleeves in cotton because you needed something a bit more sturdy in your arms because that's where you typically wear things out first. Also, because you sweat a little bit more in the arms, things are more likely to get soiled or dirty in that part. For countrywear, tweed was really popular material, and for summer, you also saw cotton and linen suits. For time, the fabrics were slightly less stiff and lighter weight, but compared to today, they were still heavyweights. 1910s and maybe early 20s, you might have seen jackets that had a bit more of a cutaway front, but as the decade progressed, they became more closed, which is more in line with what you know from a modern suit. Now, the fronts weren't fully square, but they were definitely more square than before. Frankly, if you look at those suits, they're very similar to the modern business suit, don't you think? As for patterns, plain tweeds, smaller micro patterns, window panes, and stripes were all around. Subtle pinstripes were particularly popular, which explains their omnipresence in gangster movies. By the way, if you want to learn more about the styles and the clothes in gangster movies, check out this video. Just look at these jackets. You can definitely see a higher buttoning point more around the area of your sternum. On the early 20s, the waist was overall much higher. By the late 20s, you can see a lower buttoning stance and wider lapels, which makes it look more like suits or jackets from 2020. Now, the clothes enthusiast in you will recognize their subtle differences. Just compare the gorge height, the shape of the lapel, the pockets, the vents, the lengths, and the fabric, and you'll see the differences. But, Joe Average on the street would likely not spot them. If you're interested in more vintage menswear, check out Erin White's YouTube channel. We'll link to it in the description. Now, the sleeve cuffs typically had about three buttons that were spaced much more widely and more like in the 19-teens than they're spaced today. However, there was no cuff stitch that was truly something of the Edwardian period. Unlike today, most jackets back then had no vents because it made them look sleeker, even though when you put the hand in your pocket, your bum might have been exposed a bit. Overall, I really enjoyed the fabric choices of the decade. They're often darker, but they had subtle under patterns and different colors, which create this rich depth that is harder to find these days. Waistcoats or vests were no longer mandatory in 1920s and you could see men out and about skipping them all together. That was especially true during the summer months. Now, if men still wore waistcoats, they were typically cut lower. Remember, the 19-teens were cut really high. In the 20s, you would see more the V, more the tie, and more the shirt front. The bottom of the waistcoat also started to create longer, pointier tips, which then led to leaving the bottom button of the waistcoat undone. And if you want to learn more about that habit, check out this piece on our website. That being said, in the U.S. at the time, men might not have caught on to that fashion quite yet and buttoned their waistcoat all the way down. Overall, if men wore vests, they were matching the suit so you had a proper three-piece suit, but you could also find odd vests, which just create a slightly more casual look. As you know, I'm a big fan of waistcoats and vests, especially odd ones, because with very little money, you can make an outfit look completely different. And if you want to learn more about that, check out our in-depth guide here. Next up, let's talk about trousers, pants, or slacks. Starting in the 1900s in America, the belt had become more popular, taking over from side adjusters and suspenders. Across the pond in the UK and most of Europe, suspenders were still probably the number one means to keep your pants in the proper position. Nevertheless, belts were catching on there as well. At the start of the 20s, the trouser fashion was still heavily influenced by the Edwardian area. Drainpipe fashion, very slim and tapered towards the bottom. But remember, they didn't have pleats. By the mid-20s, you actually started seeing single pleats in pants. The idea was to help with the drape of a pressed trouser leg. Because as you know, when you have a nice crease and you wear it and you sit, that crest becomes less pronounced. And the idea was by having a pleat that you have this nice crease for a longer point of time, which makes everything look better. If you look at the cuffs from the period, they were neither very slim nor very tall. They were relatively modest, I would guess between one and one and a half inches. Towards the end of the decade, trouser legs had gotten a little bigger at the bottom but were still quite tapered. Later on in the 30s, you'd see more pleats in trousers and a much wider leg. Now, this is a good transition to the Oxford bags. Oh dear, the vintage enthusiasts among you may be familiar with this trend of students of the University of Oxford wearing excessively wide trousers starting in the mid-1920s. Even though you can find plenty of pictures of impressively baggy Oxford bags out there, in the 20s, they were typically around 23 inches. This all continued thereafter into the 40s and 50s and I think the biggest pant leg I've seen was 43 inches. I mean, at that point, you might as well just wear a skirt or maybe a kilt. Now, another popular style of the 1920s was a so-called jazz suit. Very defining features was their very slim silhouette, the very high waist. It either had a higher or lower buttoning stance with the idea to give you the ultimate hourglass shape. At the time, these were novelty suits marketed to young men and worn by young men. Often, they had slanted pockets which created a certain dynamic that was pretty much in line with the hourglass shape and, of course, they had more darts to get this really suppressed shape. Sometimes, they even had belts like an Norfolk jacket which would help you accentuate the waist even more. In terms of day shirts, the 20s weren't too dissimilar from the 1910s. Overall, you could still find detachable collars. Typically, older men or upper-class gentlemen would prefer them. Younger men would want a softer turned-up collar. Sometimes, also an attached one. Cuffwalks usually had single cuffs for cufflinks, French cuffs or double cuffs for cufflinks, and single barrel cuffs that were buttoned with buttons. Some men still even wore starched bib fronts that were attachable to shirts but they were nowhere near as popular as they used to be in previous decades. While in Europe, you could still see a lot of detachable collar shirts, in the US, men preferred a shirt with an attached collar, an attached cuff, and attached bosoms, and it was overall a more casual shirt but it was much closer to the shirt that we wear today than compared to the previous decade. Even for Joe Average, it was now affordable to get a striped shirt where everything was attached. So, we focus in on the collar. The collars, especially the turndown ones, were not as high as in previous decades. You also had the trend of the soft collar. So, previously, they were heavily starched and polished. These modern collars were not starched, were made of the same fabric as the body, and they had longer tips that were, of course, a lot more floppy because there was no stability from the starch. Men still would wear them with ties, though, and so, the collar clip became really popular. It held the collar tips down, it elevated the tie knots slightly, and overall, it was just a fashionable look. You could also find detachable soft turndown collars and sometimes, they were made in the same fabric as the shirt or they could be contrasting. If you've watched shows like Boardwalk Empire, you see that a lot of men wear these collar prints and collar clips. Personally, I think it's a very stylish look that is different than what most men wear today and if you're interested in that, we have a really good selection of those on our website here. In terms of footwear, boots were slightly less popular in 1920 than they were in 1910. Streets had gotten better, there were fewer horses and fewer manure on the streets, so it was okay to just have regular oxfords or brogues or for that matter, spectators. Two-tone shoes were definitely more popular than they are today, but it's not like every man wore them. If you just look at the style, you'll think, oh, they wear oxfords, we wear oxford, but if you go into the details, you can see they had a higher heel and the toe had typically a more rounded shape. Also, the broguing was sometimes a little smaller, the stitching was a little neater, and vintage shoes, overall, were a bit different than what you see today. The quality of shoes the average man wore was a lot higher back then than what it is today. Most men would still wear dress shoes, there were no real sneakers, and production happened in the US or in Europe. We didn't have this globalized economy quite yet where we could make really cheap shoes in places. Even though rubber sole shoes date back to the 1870s in Britain, Chuck Taylor's or Converse All-Stars were invented during the 1920s. I know, a lot of people look at Chuck Taylor's All-Stars as an all-purpose shoe today, but back then, it was specifically designed for basketball. It was supposed to be more flexible in the ankle and prevent skidding or sliding around when playing the sport. Most men would not have worn those shoes on the street just to walk around. When it comes to headwear, the 1920s were still quite interesting for men because most everyone wore them. Head styles hadn't changed much since the Edwardian era and you still had people wear top hats sometimes. Even the bowler hat was still worn, of course, more so in England than in the US. Now, the most popular hat of the decade was definitely the fedora. If you want to learn more about the history of the fedora or any other hat, we got you covered. While most people today would look at a man wearing a fedora as being quite formally dressed, at the time, the fedora was a casual alternative. It had a snap ring because the felt was soft and not stiff and starched. It was much floppier, it was crushable, you could adjust the creases, and that made it popular back then. Today, for most people, that's a lot and not casual at all. Even though you can still find fedoras today, 1920s fedoras typically had narrower or shorter rims and higher crowns. Regarding the headband, they were often quite wide and they were worn by regular working-class men on an everyday basis. Looking at all the photographs from the 1920s, you can see that the shape of each fedora is slightly different because a man individually shaped it. It wasn't just a factory shape that you got and wore that way, you just made the hat in its particular style your own. Another casual hat was the flat cap. Of course, we have a full-fledged guide about that here. Now, unlike what you see on peaky blinders, not all flat caps were eight-piece ones with a wide brim. The most popular style was the pancake-like one-piece flat cap, which means it was round and flat on top and it was also a bit wider and more like a beret than what the same style of flat cap would look like today. Coming in many styles including tweed, wool, linen, cotton, many different patterns such as houndstooth, prince of wales check, donegal, tweeds, and so forth. So, what about 1920s facial hair, you might wonder? Now, during the Edwardian and Victorian era, a moustache was the height of madness. During World War I, toxic and lethal gas was used like it had never before, but the pickedly whisker was often in the way of putting on your gas mask quickly, so it wasn't as popular anymore. Similarly to 2021, having a beard really impedes wearing masks effectively. Because of that, socials were told to shave off their beards so the gas mask would work more efficiently. So, when men returned from the war and settled back into their lives in 1920s, they were used to just shave every day and not have any facial hair. If men wanted facial hair, you saw a little moustache, but you didn't see much hair on your chin, which was typically something only worn by older men at the time. Now, let's have a look at some of the accessories of the 1920s. One of them that's not really popular anymore is canes. Today, if a man has a cane, it's typically for practical or utilitarian purposes. In the 20s, men would wear canes for decorative purposes. It truly was a fashion item and, of course, it had to have the right length. Some were flexible, others were stiff, and you can find some with really elaborate decorations, maybe built-in flasks, knives, and so forth. Regarding pocket squares, the mass manufacturing of items allowed introduction of silk pocket squares to a broader range of men. So, they no longer had to wear just a plain white cotton or linen squares, they could have printed silk squares. When it came to time pieces, the pocket watch with a watch chain was still popular, but wristwatches definitely gained ground. That makes sense. As men wore fewer and fewer waistcoats, there was not a natural spot for their pocket watch and so they just wore a wristwatch instead. In terms of eyewear, the really helped to create more styles than, let's say, during the Edwardian era. Celluloid originated in 1856. It's one of the earliest thermoplastics. When it was first used in movie film, it was later also utilized to replicate tortoise shell or ivory or horn products. That meant that even the working-class men could get the latest looking style without having to shell out the big bucks that they previously would have to spend. It was really much like the trend of gold-filled or rolled gold jewelry which looked like a solid gold piece, but it was a lot more affordable even to the average man. Of course, you could still find wireframe glasses, sometimes even covered in celluloid, but you could also find frames that were fully made from celluloid itself. The actor Harold Lloyd was known for popularizing the imitation celluloid glasses that looked like horn or tortoise shell. When it came to neckwear, ties and bow ties were still popular in the 1920s. Compared to the previous decade in the 1910s, bow ties had gotten slightly bigger. Also, because the color of the shirts had become softer, it was easier to tie a tie yourself. In the previous decade, you could have still found more clip-on ties or pre-tied ties because it was harder to put them on in a stiff collar. But now, with a softer collar, it was easy-peasy. The style of the tie changed sometimes and looked more like a modern knit tie with a solid width or just a slightly more graduating width because, again, it was easier to tie them. Overall, ties looked less like a cravat from the previous decade and more like the tie you know today. That being said, ties back then were much lighter in construction. They often had no lining or very lightly lined and they were also, again, shorter than ties are today. Interestingly, a tie often also had unfinished edges on the blade and it wasn't until the mid-20s when interlinings became somewhat more popular or introduced into tie production. Style-wise, ties were bold, colorful, and interesting. In the 20s, there was also a boom for the regimental or club ties. And if you think about it, it made sense. There was a void being left by the end of active service and by being a member of a club or having some association, you felt like you belonged to something. Now, what about formal clothing? In terms of morning wear, the rules were well-established by 1920 but it definitely declined in popularity. The full morning coat outfit was worn for celebratory events or special events, not for a regular business Tuesday. Now, there was a slight change in style in previous decades. You saw morning coats that sometimes had two or three buttons and now, you saw more one or two-button morning coats. Also, but previously, you might have seen solid pants or maybe glen check pants. Now, striped pants with morning wear were solidly established. In terms of evening wear, white tie was reserved for galas, dinners, or special occasions, whereas black tie was quite a bit more popular. As it was still in somewhat of a transitional period, you would often see the black tie ensemble being worn with a stiff evening shirt previously worn with white tie and likewise, the Marcella starched waistcoat. Later on, you'd have a softer turndown color popularized by the Prince of Wales paired with a black waistcoat. Overall, the 20s were a lot of fun and if you've liked the style, I suggest you check out the series Babylon Berlin which is a German series and it's not all accurate but it has some cool styles as well. It goes beyond the stuff you might have already seen. Now, I wish I could tell you that everything in today's outfit was from the 1920s but it's not. I'm a little over six foot tall and it's really hard to find original pieces that fit me today. Because of that, I just chose an outfit that was inspired by the 20s. It consists of a white shirt with a barrel button cuff, kind of a darker tie with a micro pattern in silk, a tennis sweater in off-white with dark navy elements on the v-neck, the bottom, and the cuffs. I mean, without the jacket, people play tennis in that. Can you believe it? The tweed jacket is orange and it has stripes in green and yellow. It's very bold and fun and I thought it worked well with my white flannel trousers. In fact, they're more off-white. As you know, I'm a fan of pleats so I have two pleats which, again, is not quite 1920s but a single pleat would have been definitely 1920s. My cuffs are maybe a little bigger than 1920s but I'm wearing a pair of leather shoes. Here, they are full brogue derby shoes. I put in contrasting shoelaces to just pick up the lighter colored theme. My socks are orange and blue from Fort Belvedere, pick up the color of the jacket, and you can find them in our shop here just like the silk wool pocket square which is blue with green and off-white micro patterns trying to tying the entire outfit together with the colors I choose. Last but not least, I have a flat cap, one piece. It's a modern one but it has a nice donagle tweed that picks up the oranges and the greens and again, tying it all together.