60s Men’s Fashion At Its Best – More About The Suit

Part 1: The Suit

Part 3: Rockers

Part 4: Mods

Last week I looked at the suit and how, from its role as major obligatory wear at the beginning of the decade, it disappeared from the hangers in a matter of a few years from the mid-60s on.

But, before we leave suits firmly locked away in their wardrobes, it will pay to look at what is available now as retro wear and, since there is a lot of interest in 60s fashion, where to get it.

The Sixties are very much in vogue now (did they ever go away?) and this applies particularly to men’s fashions. The 60s suit is seen as smart and very representative, not just of the era, but of the whole riotous 60s culture that wrought so much change to the world.

Suits are suits are suits…
This could not be more wrong since suits can differ so much in their cut, style, colour and cloth. Subtle changes can produce a quite different look and suits, no matter how similar, will always give a different presentation that makes one desirable over another.

Oddly, unless I am looking in the wrong place, there seem to be very few original images from the period but Bing’s excellent long search page does bring you a flavour of 60s men’s fashion. For some reason, despite the word ‘mens’ in the search there seem to as many pictures of women but it is worth a scroll down the page. Try this link here.

Similarly, the ‘Original 60s’ group on Flickr is helpful but you have to plod through all the photos on offer. A link is here.

But the best way to see images of 60s suits, oddly enough, is on Ebay. There are many suits on offer and this page is a must-see page for an idea of what is available and what sort of fashions were current at the time.

It’s also, of course, the place to go to buy with prices, at the time of writing, quite reasonable, or so I thought. Of course, exercise the usual caution that you would buying from an auction site. The search permutations are endless but the link above is a good start.

What should you look out for?
Tailoring is a subtle art and men’s suits differ in quite small ways so firstly look at the length and the colour and cloth. Now look more closely at the way the suit is finished, the stitching, the decoration and the general care that has gone into making it.

Look at the way it is cut and see how fitted it is and notice the position, number and decoration of the buttons. A good indicator of both original attention to detail and wear is to see how the edges are finished.

If it is a three piece, look at the waistcoat and see how much attention and care has gone into making it, a sure indication of quality. Notice the number of pockets and the stitching and check, too, that the waistcoat has a proper fastening at the back.

One make to look out for is Aquascutum. This tailoring company, formed as long ago as 1851 to make waterproofs (hence the name – water shield) and now owned by Jaeger, produced some excellent examples of good British clothing during the 60s. And, if you find a suit produced by Tommy Nutter, who I covered last week, buy it quick!

Those suits tend to fetch a good price but there are many other names to look out for and here are just a few that spring to mind from that period. Burton and Co and John Collier, both well known 60s high street tailors who advertised extensively and were the first port of call for the average suit buyer. Then, perhaps, there are the more upmarket suits by companies like Dunn & Co or Hardy Amies.

If you are interested more in the fashions and styles of the period then a look on Ebay is the fastest way to get up to date with the 60s look.

Suits were for a good part of the 1960s the most important single item of clothing that men owned and a good suit was instantly noticeable and recognised as such just as good clothing is today.

Mens 60s Fashion part 1: Suits

Mens 60s Fashion part 3: Rockers

Mens 60s Fashion part 4: Mods