Zoot Suits
Zoot suits are nothing but men's suits with pegged trousers with wide leg and tight cuffs. Those trousers are also called as tramas. Other features are a long coat with broad lapels along with padded wide shoulders. One point that we don't miss to see in the zoot suiters is the tapa (hats with feathers) and calcos (French shoes that are pointed). These suits which gained popularity in the early 1930s as a cool and casual suit, soon turned to gain much more fame in Los Angeles community. After this it took good place in the world of suits. The suits have an inspiring history behind. They were prohibited for they mirror the war time suits. Despite the restrictions the Zoot suits are still here across the globe.
Fashionable Zoot suits in various colors were and are famous throughout the world and they require higher precision. They are traditional dinner suits which suits the semiformal and informal occasions like parties and celebrations. More information on Zoot suits are given below.
(1) Culture of Zoot Suits
Zoot suits were primarily the fashion of African American youth which was closely connected to jazz culture. These suits were later on adopted by the Mexican American youth which then stayed on there forever till today. Zoot suits were always a symbol of disobedience which is very obvious from the extreme style that they exhibit.
(2) Origin of Zoot suits
The exact origin of the Zoot suits is still unknown. While some argue that it is African-American youth in 1940s, some make it point that it is Mexican American. But it is pretty obvious that the roots were Mexican American, because of the extensive use by their youth in the history. The amount used for the Zoot suits were exceeding the number which was used to be that time. Wartime rules banned zoot suits for wasting the fabric. So those from Mexican-American origin wearing zoot suit as lazybones and ruffians.
Zoot suit is a history and these suits have traveled across the times and established themselves as best entertainers these days. That is the secret of why Zoot suits are liked by every one of today, yesterday and tomorrow.
Zoot suit is a very popular kind of clothing worn by the African Americans, Mexican Americans and Italian Americans around 1935. The word Zoot suit is sometimes spelled as Zuit suit. This suit was created by Harold C. Fox who was a Chicago clothier who claimed the credit for designing and naming Zoot suit.
MensUSA.com offers you, amazing Zoot suits for sale. Before that, you need to know what a Zoot suit is. If you look at the characteristics of a Zoot suit, it has a high waist and wide legs with tight cuffed pegged trousers which are also called as trama, which is accompanied with a carlango, this is nothing but a long coat with wide lapels and padded shoulders. Zoot suits are often worn with a long pointy feather and French style shoes. Zoot suit mostly features a key chain hanging from the belt to the knee, which goes back to the side pocket.
If you are looking for Zoot suits for the perfect occasion, then this is the place for you! MensUSA.com gives you the most excellent suits made from the finest fabrics. Our professional tailors and designers have taken all the efforts to give you the best Zoot suits on earth.
Exclusive Zoot Suits for Sale at Men's USA
At MensUSA you get stunning gangster style 3 piece white fashion Zoot suit with bold black pinstripes guaranteed to impress! You can even try our beautiful purple fashion suit if you are going for a party. If you are looking for some father and son suits, then look no further. We have excellent suits available in all colors for just $99.
Our other collection includes, Festive and Bright men's sky blue pastel fashion Zoot suits, fire engine red men's suit, Vintage gangster style navy blue fashion suits with bold white stripes, Stylish long fashion Zuit suits which comes in elegant colors like cream, ivory and white and here we can get you suits in colors like mustard yellow, mint/apple/lime green.
Coordination fashion Zoot suits always remains in fashion. It comes with solid color vest and pants with a free shirt and tie for $129, available in impressive colors like orange, mint, pink, black and brown. Basically our collection in endless! Our Zoot suits comes even in stylish Mandarin collars and other styles.
Your outfit is sure to go incomplete without these exotic matching leather shoes available in all colors like white, black, green, pink, purple and brown. You should also try our matching Italian shoes which is sure to go well with your fashionable high quality Zoot suits. So what you waiting for, try our Zoot suits for sale right away.
Wear stylish purple pimp suit during functions
Businessmen who fly to different cities or countries should decide to wear best suits which are built with rich fabrics and materials. There are tons of business suits which are crafted brilliantly according to the tastes and beliefs of the wearers. Men will get that gangster look when they wear purple pimp suit which is popular among dancers, rap artists, hosts and other party goers. Guys who are planning to attend Halloween parties will get that rugged and gangster looks when they wear pimp suits. Red color pimp suit is extremely popular among party goers and individuals who attend Halloween types of parties. They have to wear designer jewelries, ear studs, cowboy caps, bell-bottom style pants, eyeglasses, rings and red shoes along with this suit and captivate audience hearts. Boys will get that vintage look when they wear zoot suit pants which come in rich color.
Teenagers who attend farewell, birthday, Halloween, weekend and other types of parties will carry that latino looks when they wear that zut suit. Wearing these loose fitting suits is much easier compared to other suits. Party going men can walk comfortably on the road when they wear these loose fitted dresses which come in various colors like red, blue, black and green. African Americans who are living in the cities of America can get that refined and ancient looks when they wear zoot suits.
Suit that is popular among African Americans Zoot suit which is also popularly called as zuit suit is built with high-waisted, wide-legged ad tight-cuffed trousers. Black skin citizens will get that fashionable looks when they wear zoot suits which are tailored according to their taste. Some of the latest suits which are getting fantastic review and ratings from the users are red pinstripe suit refine red, purple suit and red color suit. Tall guys will look terrific when they wear custom made yellow zoot suit and complement it with black shoes, black ties, suspenders, white shirt, and black cap. Charcoal plaid with gold threat zoot suits is also famous among jokers, models and ramp walkers. Models, ramp walkers and fashion dudes can easily hypnotize others when they wear hypnotic suit which come charcoal color.
Mexican American youths will get that army men look when they wear blue zoot suit. Zoot suits were first worn during 1943 and thereafter these dresses become popular throughout the world. Men will love the cuts, shapes, fabrics and materials that are used in the pimp suits and wear them with confidence during stage shows. Boys will look funnier when they wear 1940s zoot suit. These contemporary suits which are creating ripples are gaining wide popularity. Visitors who are planning to purchase world class pimp dresses should choose this online zoot suit store which sells only quality and warrantied clothing. Black men who are tall and stout will look like experienced and professional pimp when they wear gangster tuxedo which comes in wide varieties of colors. Checked suits are also famous among dancers and stage show artists.
Tramas- Wide-legged, tight-cuffed, or "pegged" trouser.
Carlango- Long coat with wide lapels and wide padded shoulders.
Tapa or Tanda- Felt hat with long feather.
Calcos -PointyFrench style shoes.
Pachucos- Mexican American youths in mid-20th Century who wore flashy clothes such as zoot suit.
Zoot Suit Riots- Series of riots that erupted in Los Angeles, California during World War II between sailors and soldiers stationed in the city and Mexican American youth gangs headed by Pachucos who wore zoot suits.
Zazous- French version of zoot suit worn after World War II. The French youth wore these suits to express their inpiduality.
Zoot Suits Today
In spite of the riots of 1943, zoot suits are still popular in today's world. After the war, the rationing of clothes was over. More and more people started wearing the zoot suits. People feel more relaxed and comfortable in zoot suits than any other men's suit. The teenagers like the loose fitting trouser which is perfect for dancing and cool style with flashy look.
The popularity for mens zoot suits increased with movies such as "Mask," "Wild, Wild West," and trilogy "Matrix," The bright yellow zoot suit with a broad brimmed hat became worn by Jim Carrey in the movie "Mask" increased the sale of zoot suits with vivid colors and designs. Zoot suits got stylish trendy look from the movies such as "Wild, Wild West" and "Matrix." The long stylish coat worn by Keanu Reeves in the movie "Matrix" has brought a new style in zoot suits.
Any person with a little knowledge in the history of the United States would know about the famous riots that broke out in 1943. It started in the month of June when for over a week the white U.S. soldiers and sailors entered the city of Los Angeles and beat the people whom they thought were unpatriotic Mexican - American men, and they were identified by the voluminous attire. This all started from a single person.
In the year of 1942 a man called Diaz who was born in Mexico but was raised in the United States was scheduled for induction. On the previous day of his reporting to the boot camp he went to a party. Though the party went good, at the end of the night a fight broke out. This blew up and many people were injured. Diaz was not so lucky since he was stabbed and later died in the hospital. This incident sparked major fear and was called as The Sleepy Lagoon Murder. This created a hatred and fear about the Mexican teens. This caused the government to issue orders to arrest the Mexican American youths who were then identified by their attire of ballooned pants and long coats which were commonly known as zoot suits then. Soon the police arrested over 600 of these youths and after trail one was sentenced to life in prison. After this the zoot suit riots broke out within months.
This was the time of the Second World War and people were already at the brim of extreme patriotism. This action soon instilled fear among the people where the colored citizens saw this as discrimination. About 350000 Mexican Americans fought for the United Nation in the World War II, but they were considered a threat in their own country. This discontent broke out in the form of riots in various cities across the nation and this had the Mexican Americans at the front and center. People wearing the zoot suits identified as the leaders of the movement that fought barriers to education, fair pay and housing. There were coordinated walkouts and strikes and many organizations were formed fighting for various reasons from farmers to student rights.
At this time a sense of identity was necessary and fashion became the obvious choice. Although the zoot suits were in fashion even before the incident this was the time when they rose into style. This style of suits was characterized by super sized shoulder pads, peg leg pants and sprawling lapels. This style came from the drape suits that were a popular style in Harlem dance halls by the mid 1930s. The jacket's arm usually reached till the fingertips and the pants that were tight near the waist gradually ballooned and choked at the ankles. This extravagant style was worn with accessories like key chain that hung till the knee portion and hats that resembled fedora with feathers attached to them. After some time the suits were frequented by the minority men who were in the working class.
There are many people who claim to be the inventor of the zoot suit but there is no definitive evidence when it comes to the original designer. The zoot suits were not available in the departmental stores so people soon adopted to buy suits that were two to three times larger than the original size and tailored them accordingly to imitate the zoot styles.
Apart from people who identified Zoot suit as a symbol of resistance there were a lot of reasons for why people adopted this style. Some wore them so that they can look sharp and like the young people in the war years. The zoot suits were usually made out of wool and other colorful varieties of rayon. While the exact origin of the zoot suit is unknown the name seems to have come from a rhyming slang spoken among the African American community. The look soon became popular among the dancing community since they were flashy on the dance floor. This caused the young people to adopt this style widely but the elders were not so accepting.
For the mainstream Americans this Zoot suit style was a mystery and why anybody would wear this style was beyond comprehension. But during and after the riot the zoot suits soon became to be known as unpatriotic. This had started even before the riot about the time of the start of the Second World War. The wartime obviously brought with it the scarcity of funds and at this time the style of oversized clothing were seen as a waste. But little did this criticism worked to dissuade the fans from wearing this style and all it did was to attract more people. The look soon spread among all classes of people regardless of their profession. The zoot suits also were soon adopted by other communities like the Italian Americans, Jews and even sometimes by teenage girls.
This was the time when the riot broke out and the white soldiers and sometimes even civilians began attacking the Mexican Americans. They attacked them and tore out their clothing thus making wearing the zoot suits a danger. This riot continued for a week until the soldiers were confined to their bases and about 500 Mexican American youths were arrested. After this the suits went out of style when the government was close to banned it as a punishable offense wearing the zoot suits in Los Angeles. This was officially the first fashion movement that caused a widespread civil unrest in the American history.
This made the zoot suits still more popular and the press accounts exaggerated the price of the suits to about a whopping 50 percent. The zoot suits had this popularity since it created a lasting influence in the American political history. Even the real price of the zoot suits even was so high that young people who coveted them had to buy them with credit.
After all this drama the policemen even slashed the suits that they found. But the real reason why this style faded away was less dramatic. People moved on and the zoot suits were refashioned into other garments. While the original specimens are extremely hard to come by it was last found in 2011 by the curators of LACMA and it cost them about 80000 dollars a fitting price for this great specimen of rich political history.
The zoot suit continued to have a luxurious afterlife spreading and influencing styles among other far nations like Soviet Union and even South Africa. It became the main subject of the Who's first single. Even after around 30 years after the riot the zoot suit featured in the first Chicano play on Broadway when the actor and playwright Luis Valdez wore this style for the play. In the 80s the outfit's classic shape was taken up by Japanese designers who suited up models on the runway in this style of drop crotch pants. Even a swing revival band called Cherry Poppin' Daddies released a record called zoot suit riot became a hit even in the late 90s. The style kept returning since it was an extreme style of mens fashion while mostly men wear relatively conservative styles which makes them inconspicuous while this style still is seen as a style of rebellious imagination.
As for the construction of this style the details of the suit such as the quality of the fabric it was made from, the stitch length of the seams and the collars show that the suits were tailored by seasoned professional tailors. This obviously means that the zoot suits were expensive and the men who couldn't afford it but wanted to don on the uniform of hipsters made them to be semi custom made. In this method the retailer took the said customer's measurements and then sent it to the wholesale manufacturer who in turn made it as per the given specifications. These semi custom suits while were cheaper than the custom made ones still was expensive for the working class men. The extravagance of the said suit suggests that they were mostly semi custom made and were mostly used by performers.
Nowadays the runways are seeing resurrection of the zoot suit hip style. The long length suit jackets are hitting the stores though they may lack the total extravagance of the former style the swagger and the attitude of the classic style. The newer styles are more subtle and different than the full blown zoot suits like the one Jim Carrey rocks in The Mask, but they nonetheless they direct the suit's original punky style.
The nostalgia of the zoot suits great history definitely works in its favor. This long bold checked zoot suits can be wore with vest, braces and loafers. To be honest the style has not gone out of style but was still dabbled with by many designers. It just had now become widely famous since the fashion forward celebrities like Harry Styles have taken this Zoot suit style and made it their own thus bringing back this classic design.
.jpg "testimonials")
.jpg "store-rating")
- SERVICES
- Track Order
- Measuring Info
- Online Privacy
- Shipping Policy
- Terms And Conditions
- Feedback
- Download Catalog
- Returns
- Zoot Suits
- Belvedere Shoes
- Neck Ties
- Mens Hats
- Blazers Sports Coats
- Dinner Jackets
- 3 Button Suits 99
- Womens Suits
- Blazer For Men
- 2 Button Pleated Pants
- Mens Brown Leather Jacket
- Off White Suits
- Mandarin Banded Collar
- Two Tone Wingtip Shoes
- Belvedere Shoes
- French Cuff Shirts
- 2 Button Suits 299
- Vests
- Alli Shoe
- 2 Button Tuxedos
- Trench Coats Rain Coats
- 1 Button Suits
- ABOUT
- Contact
- About Us
- Help / FAQ
- Return Policy
- ARTICLES
- MensUSA Articles
- Mens Suits Articles
- Mens information pages
- MensUSA Blog
- Categories
- Sitemap
- 100% Guarantee
- QUICK LINKS
- Mens Suits
- Mens Sport coats
- Mens Tuxedos
- Mens Blazers
- Men's Dress Shirts
- Mens Dress Pants
- Mens Vest
- Mens Outfit
- Big And Tall
- Prom Tuxedo
- Mens Loafers
- Mens Clothing
- Mens Linen Clothing
- Tuxedo Jacket
- Mens Brands
- Mens Wingtip Shoes
- Mens Outer Wear
- Mens Shoes
- Mens Accessories
- Mens Peacoat
- Mens Dress Sneakers
- Dinner Jacket
- Boys Suits
- Wedding Suit
- Prom Suits
- Costume
- Mens Coat
- Mens Jacket
- Mens Prom Dress Shoes
- Mens Waistcoat
- Mens Attire
- Suit Jacket
- Camisas Para Hombre
- Mens Formalwear
- Church Hats For Women
- Cowboy Boots
- Wedding Tuxedo
- Mens Cowboy Boots
- Mens Western Boots
- Mens Belt
- Mens Tie
- Vaqueros
- Botas
- Trajes
- Mens Dress Boots
