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| Wool suit with a small
"skimmer" hat. Almost every style of hat
except a top hat could be worn with a sack suit.
(1880) |
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The sack suit, or business suit, (or,
in Britain, the "lounge suit") was
leisure wear for men who might wear a frock coat, and
the best clothes of vast majority of American men. A
banker would wear a sack suit to a picnic, and a cowboy
or farmer would wear it to church.
It first came into fashion in the 1850s as a very large,
baggy garment, and then became more fitted in the '60s
and beyond. It evolved into the modern three piece suit.
Its popularity was assured by the fact that it could
be purchased, ready made, at prices working men could
afford
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A summer sack suit, of white linen
or lightweight wool, with a straw hat. Linen sack
suits tended to be baggier than wool ones. (1880)
Note that one often sees straw
hats worn with dark, winter weight wool suits
as well, as the 19th Century gentleman's only
concession to summer heat.
Click
on the image for a larger view
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The most common colors were black or gray, and
the pieces usually, but not always, matched. They could be almost
any color though, and plaid was particularly popular.
The coat usually had four buttons, the top one of which was
generally buttoned--the rest left undone.
The gentleman on the left is breaking the rule of matching
trousers and upper garments, and is in fact wearing the striped
gray tousers which one is supposed to wear with a morning
or frock suit. Since he is also wearing a white tie, he may
be a member of a wedding party, and this is his way of "dressing
up" his ordinary sack suit, or maybe he is a just an
American and doesn't worry too much about "the rules".
Note the splendid tall crowned bowler hat (typical of the
late '70s and 1880s), the watch chain attached to one of the
top vest buttons, the vest cut straight across the waist,
and the bone, wood or gutta-percha (gavinized rubber) buttons.
On frock or morning coats, the buttons were usually covered
in silk or other fabric, while they were usually uncovered
on sack suits.
Click on the image for
a larger view.
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| Note the bowler hat
and pocket handkerchief on this young man. While
it is possible he is wearing a white tie (probably
for a wedding), it is most likely he is wearing
no necktie at all. This was frowned upon by the
fashion-conscious, but not at all uncommon. |
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| A contrasting plaid
sack suit with a white vest |
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