Henry L. Jackson, co-founder of Esquire Magazine, must have gazed about one evening and figured that his magazine alone was not sufficient enough in circulation for passing the word along to his fellows that the rules for men’s evening wear were rapidly being rewritten; knowing full-well that Collier’s was one of the preeminent American magazines of its day, he no-doubt must have pleaded the urgency of his case to their editors, thus safe-guarding the collective honor of American manhood. We’re very happy that he did so, because now you will have a more thorough understanding as to how you might have dressed if you had lived in the late Forties:
“Dinner coats, among the most popular men’s garments, were scarce during the war because manufacturers were forbidden to make them. But there are plenty of them in stores now, and you need one if you get around much…It used to be that all dinner jackets were black, those worn in the city, that is, for white jackets are properly for resort wear only. But midnight blue is fast replacing the black outfit, and the double-breasted jacket is becoming more popular than the single-breasted.”
Mr. Jackson briefly (but knowingly) went into some detail as to which kind of lapel fabric, tie, shirt, and hat are most suitable for evening attire. His points are well illustrated by seven color photographs, and you should know that he never once referred to the uniform as “a Tuxedo”.
Click here to read more 1940s fashion-tips from Henry Jackson.
Click Here to Read More About Men’s Fashions from the Forties
Read about the Summer suits of 1941…
In 1922 VOGUE MAGAZINE ran a piece in which one women complained that the introduction of the dinner jacket served as an example of how poorly men dress. Read the article
