Retro 30s: 1930s Men’s Vintage Clothing Styles + Fashion

The past years have been prompted mainly by events of historical and past origin and as this was during the thirties, before the crash of Wall Street in 1929, in the month of October. During that period, the fashion industry died slowly as many other sectors. The aim was to grow the flow of money and in order to do so retailers started to propose styles/fashions of clothing with lowered price during the years of the Great Depression, which is the period that followed the crisis of October 1929. And when finally signs of relief returned, the fashion business reflected the successes that small and great businesses were experiencing during those years.

Suits for men were designed, in the early thirties, to create the illusion of a larger upper body – coat collars were suited to create the V shaped-neck chest, that is very typical of that period, and the shoulder pads were then added. This was intended to give a more masculine look and boxy appearance to the men’s suits.

The double breasted suit was created, in the same period, more and more common: jackets were indeed long and in the so called ‘dressed up’ style. These suits had long lapels and buttons: Pants, on the other hand, were longer and looser than in the previous years. In the years during which President Roosevelt signed and approved the New Deal the business suit was entirely refashioned.

At this point of the century the fashion industry wanted to reflect the new period pf prosperity that was returning, and so it did in its design. This is the period where the so called London drape suit was designed. It was showing off shoulder-pads that also oriented the triceps & shoulders with pieces of cloth around the shoulder location. Other original characteristic were indeed high pockets and flared lapels.

The predominant colours were dark colours such as black, grey or navy blue and these were in demand in the early thirties, many sources inform. What also became commonplace were stripes of all sizes and the most often seen stripes were diagonal and vertical ones. They also come in varying sizes: I mean double, wide or single. In the same period it plaid saw a rise in demand and Scottish checks known as Glen plaid checks were also considered stylish and fashionable designs for men.

What is fundamental is that as the season changes, so does the fashion: during the winter, for example, what was often seen is brown cheviot that is heavy twill weave wool: During the spring what were added were silk like fabrics additions to soft wool to manufacture that lighter feel. A new level of fashion derived from the histories of gangster of the thirties: gangster still carried themselves as businessmen and so they were wearing the correspondent suit.

Typical business suits came in darker colour and gangster always flashed more flamboyant & colorful suits in bolder stripes. Another main theme were colourful ties and smaller waist and larger trouser.
The 1930 fashion was influenced by the Great Depression: Dwindling supplies threw the population into chaos and being stylish was a priority. The colours of the thirties reflected the morale of the population.