■ ■ ■
DITTO SUITS
starting the fad. In either case, the new jacket soon took on the name of the resort and became known simply as a tuxedo. In 1930 Philadelphia tailors Marliss and Max Rudolphker produced the first mass-marketed ready-to-wear tuxedos. During the economically depressed 1930s, dashing tuxedos became a symbol of hope, as Hollywood movies popularized not only the black “tux” but also the white dinner jacket and the velvet and brocade versions called smoking jackets. Dinner jackets have remained the fundamental ingredient of men’s formal attire into the 2000s. Though each decade has seen slight alterations, wide lapels during the 1920s, narrow lapels during the 1930s, bright-colored brocades during the 1960s and 1970s, the basic style has changed little from Edward VII’s original Cowes jacket. While “white tie” formal occasions still call for a tailcoat, far more common is the “black tie” occasion, which demands that men wear a tuxedo. FOR MORE INFORMATION
Belkin, Lisa. “A Party for the Tuxedo at 100: Suit Regains Its Popularity.” The New York Times (May 10, 1986): 17, 35. Boyer, G. B., and Henry Wolf. “R.S.V.P. Black Tie.” Town & Country (June 1986): 124–31.
■ ■ ■
Ditto Suits
The mid-nineteenth century saw the introduction of a type of men’s suit that would become the dominant form of Western men’s dress clothing of the next century. The ditto suit, as it was called, featured a jacket, vest, and trousers made from the same fabric. Also called the sack suit, the new style was characterized by a loose-fitting jacket which hung straight from the shoulders with no seam or fitting at the waist. The ditto suit was a fairly informal type of dress clothing, and it was generally worn for business, travel, or street wear. The early part of the 1800s had been a time of careful dress for men, sometimes called the era of dandies. Dandies were men
620
■
FASHION, COSTUME, AND CULTURE