A leisure suit is a casual attire suit consisting of a shirt-like jacket and matching trousers (pants),[ "Leisure suit", Merriam-Webster Dictionary.] typically made from polyester.
History
Leisure suits originated on the West coast of the United States in the late 1930s as summer casual-wear for the wealthy,
[ Early leisure suit or "Hollywood jacket" ] possibly derived from the heavy tweed
Norfolk jacket or
khaki safari jacket worn by English sportsmen.
Made from lightweight fabric and originally known as "Hollywood suits" these were worn until the 1950s, especially in the Southwest where, together with suits derived from the
Ike jacket, they became popular formal-wear and often featured contrasting yokes, collars and cuffs
[Beard, Tyler (2001). 100 Years of Western Wear, p. 72. Gibbs Smith, Salt Lake City. .] (see
Western fashion). Suits of this pattern, embellished with embroidery and
, were made by
Nudie Cohn["Nudie, The Man Who Set Rhinestones in Fashion History." Nudie's Rodeo Tailor Web site . Retrieved 2010-09-28.] for 1950s country and western musicians, including
Tex Williams and the young
Elvis.
[Nudie, Jamie Lee; Cabrall, Mary Lynn (2004). Nudie: The Rodeo Tailor. Smith, Gibbs Publisher. . Retrieved 2010-08-26.]
Suits as casual wear became popular among members of Britain's mod subculture in the 1960s, but only achieved widespread popularity in the United States when—with the creation and popularization of synthetic materials—unprecedented inexpensive prices met with a culture that had come to hate formality. They are frequently associated with that era's disco culture.[Linda Welters, Patricia A. Cunningham (ed.), Twentieth-Century American Fashion, Bloomsbury Academic, 2005.] Leisure suits gained popularity by offering a fashionable, inexpensive suit which could conceivably be used in formal business, yet was casual enough to be worn out of the workplace setting.[ June 2004 Pic of the Month at The Henry Ford museum]
The leisure suit became associated in popular culture with bars, gangsterism, and conversely, with clueless dressing—the adventure game series Leisure Suit Larry being an example.
Today
Leisure suits are still being offered and worn today, although not in the form of
bellbottoms and
pastel colors which came to be most associated with the term.
Fashion label such as
Dior Homme and Dolce & Gabbana include casual suits among their collections, which are more reminiscent of suits in the style of
Mod culture than
Disco. Also, progress since the 1970s with respect to the technology of
Synthetic fiber such as
polyester has resulted in the creation of new textures.
See also
External links
