Teens vs. 1960’s

 

The teens was a revolutionary period for menswear as far as detailing and breaking from the norm was concerned. 
Pockets on vests (widely worn then, both as a traditional piece but also as there was no heating in many buildings, 
therefore layering was often a necessity), cuffs on sleeves and buttoning on coats (jackets), belt loops,  pockets on trousers; 
all of these were taken to extremes and some interesting and innovative pieces were born. At the time,  leading men's fashion historically were the UK 
(thanks to its immense colonial wealth/theft , the industrial revolution, its military history and educational tradition from where so many items were rooted, 
up to its Monarchy) and the US (wealth, military tradition, Universities, film-industry/Hollywood,  but also vastness of its territory with multi climates  
and the multi ethnicity of its population, its direct and historic relationship with the UK).  So it was only normal that these two countries were leading 
the way in all things cool. 


After a brief period of more generous and loose fitting suits of the early teens (with wild detailing like the pointed quarters 
or the star shaped pockets), the late teens saw a much thinner figure, natural, supressed shoulders, narrow armhole and high nipped waist line. 
Accompanying this were very slim fitting trousers with high waist rise (natural waist), short, thin hems and usually cuffed. 
1,2,3 and 4 button jackets went wild with button stance, and lapels were both wider (rounded) and narrower (much like the ones that would be seen 4 decades on). 


Shirt still had  clip-on collars but also fixed collars were making their appearances (early-twenties?) with all sorts of cool shapes, reflecting the crazy styles of the times. 
Once the collars were permanently attached, the ties then started appearing les of a cravat and more of a modern day tie (tied with knots that no longer needed 
to be exceptionally thin to fit the clip on collar). 


   

These are all styles that were then re-born in the late 50s until the mid-60s. The thin trousers (only this time mostly - but not exclusively - with a lower waist) 
with narrow legs revived the eccentric pockets and loops of 4 decades earlier. The coats too matched this slim look albeit a shorter coat, and with a natural waist line to its '10/20s predecessor. 
Lapel was slim, and shoulder line mostly natural and suppressed. A young teenager in 1920 could easily have blended in with the gum chewing little Lords of London's Soho nightclubs. 
The only difference being the hair styles of the times and the shoes. 
Styles (like in the 20s) started changing in the latter part of the 60s following the same trends of the 20s: wider lapels, wilder trouser bottoms ending up looking 
like the Bell bottoms of the early 70s ('Oxford Bags' as they were names in the late 20s). That will be another topic for another day.