This gorgeous 1922 Spring & Summer “Correct Styles for Men & Young Men” clothing catalog came to the Beehive in a lot of antique paper ephemera. Oversized at 13″ x 17.5″ and in full-color lithography, it was an expensive work tool that stayed at the tailor’s shop. It’s possible multiple shops used printings of the same fashion pages bound in their own custom covers.
In 1922, American clothing was transitioning from homemade to the mass-produced fast-fashion we enjoy(?) today. Prior, 2/3 of all clothing was homemade. Mom or Grandma sewed your wardrobe and if you didn’t have a seamstress at home you paid a lot for custom-made or you scrounged for used clothes. All but the wealthiest Americans owned substantially less clothing than now, and mending, re-sizing and remaking into completely different garments (usually from adult to child) was a vital skill. And because measuring the customer’s body for fit involved touching, professionally-made clothing for men was made by (male) tailors and for women by (female) seamstresses. But as America industrialized leading up to the outbreak of the Civil War in 1861, two groups of people who had no control over their wardrobes were stuck with the first mass-produced factory clothing: sailors and enslaved people. The shoddy garments were issued in a SINGLE SIZE for everyone, no matter your physique. Ugh.
By the 20th century, factories making clothes for the public were in full swing, primarily staffed with poor, immigrant women (as they often are today). In 1911 one of America’s first industrial accidents occurred at the Triangle Shirtwaist Factory; 146 young workers died in a fire, trapped by locked emergency exits. The public outrage triggered new safety and child labor laws.
Smaller shops of “Master Clothes Builders” such as the Traymore Tailoring Co. of Philadelphia offered something between factory and high-end bespoke – the customer chose from this year’s suit patterns in the company’s catalog, selected the fabric from bolts already in stock, and had a few measurements (neck, shoulders, chest, waist, hips, and inseam) taken to match him to established sizes. Standardized sizing was a by-product of the Civil War, developed to better fit the mass-produced uniforms to the soldiers who had to fight in them. The bespoke practice of taking up to 18 individual body measurements and producing a ‘muslin’ (cotton mock-up suit) to test for fit was eliminated. With these shortcuts, tailors strove to compete with factories. And, if you were in a profession that required you to provide your own uniform, in the back is one black & white page of them: Chauffeur, Elevator Boy, Band member, Knights Templar (a Christian fundraising organization), Railway Conductor, Fireman, even Policeman. The last page offers hats to match your suit, along with custom-engraved belt buckles or watch fobs. Stylish!
This lush catalogue not only showed young men 1922’s sleeker, more streamlined fashions, it also portrayed the life they craved and offered the means to achieve it. (Just keep in mind that with Prohibition going on, those are “non-alcoholic” drinks!) Tailors’ shops did not clothe women, but these nattily attired young men are accompanied by beautiful, smiling young ladies in almost every spread. And not just flapper girls, either, if you’re hankering for a sporty girlfriend, the right suit will get you a girl golfer, or an athletic baseball player, or even (gasp) a woman who shows up to a soiree of fully-clothed young men in just BATHING ATTIRE. WOW! That’s right, boys, sexy girls are irresistibly attracted to a man who looks good in his clothes – you better order that new suit NOW! (Laugh, but it’s not like advertisers have gotten any better.)
Tuesday Treasures was started by our staff member, Jeanne Lusignan. Each week she will be featuring items that have been found at our estate sales. If you would like to submit a treasure for Jeanne to feature in a future installment of “Tuesday’s Treasures”, please follow the button below and send us an email! Please attach a few photos of your treasure in a beautiful setting as well as any details you have about your item such as manufacturer, use, age, region of origin. If you don’t know about the piece, that’s okay! We still might be able to research it for you! Don’t forget to tell us what makes this item such a treasure to you!