Boys' Suit Jackets: Late 20th Century


Figure 1.--Younger American boys wore suits lossesly based on the Eton suit, with short jackets without lapels. Theywere often worn with Peter Pan collars.

Suit styles did not change much from those worn in the post-war era. The major change was that suits were avoided as much as possible. Moms often had a struggle to get a boy into a blazer, let along a suit. This was especially true in America, but by the 1980s most European boys had adopted the same attitudes.

Suits did not totally appear. While it usually took a little convincing to get boys out of their "T"-shirts and jeans, some mothers perservered. A variety of non-standard styles like the Mao and Nehru jackets appeared in the 1970s, but were never very popular for boys. Most boys, however wore standard single-breasted coats, sport jackets, and blazers. The double-brasted coat was still worn. Although not as common as single breasted coats, it was considered by many to be stylish. Lapels were worn larger than the narrow widths popular in the 1960s. Some younger boys in the 1970s still ore short pants suits, but this generally went out of style in by the 1980s and standard suits almost always came with long pants. Grey continued to be the dominare color in England while navy blue was more popular in America.

Younger American boys continued to wear suits loosely based on the Eton style. While the style varied, the basis characteristics were a short jacket wiothout lapels. They were normally worn with Peter pan collars and short pants, often suspender shorts, although some boys also wore them with long pants.







Christopher Wagner

histclo@lycosmail.com


Navigate the Historic Boys' Clothing Web Site:
[Return to the Main suit jacket chronology page]
[Introduction] [Chronologies] [Style Index] [Biographies] [Bibliographies] [Contributions] [Frequently Asked Questions]
[Boys' Clothing Home]



Navigate the Historic Boys' Clothing Web chronological pages:
[Early 19th century] [Mid-19th century] [The 1860s] [The 1870s] [The 1880s]
[The 1890s] [The 1900s] [The 1910s] [The 1920s] [The 1930s] [The 1940s]
[The 1950s] [The 1960s] [The 1970s] [The 1980s]



Navigate the Historic Boys' Clothing Web style pages:
[Skeleton suits] [Eton suits] [Norfolk jackets] [Kilts] [Knicker suits]
[Blazers] [Short pants suits] [Long pants suits]



Created: December 23, 1999
Last updated: December 23, 1999