Development of Tailoring and Menswear

Below is some of my research gathered from Norah Waugh's 'The Cut of Men's Clothes' and Penelope Byrde's 'The Twentieth Century: a visual history of costume'. 

'The Cut of Men's Clothes' (p.130-132):

The start of the C19th was a turning point for male tailoring. There was a revolution in the art of cutting, brought on by realisation that the systems in place were not suitable for the increased concentration on the cut and fit of men's garments. One innovation in particular, the tape measure, greatly contributed to the change in practice. With this new instrument, tailors were able to see and measure the proportions of the male figure, and from this worked out the first simple drafting system with a much more mathematical and scientific approach.

However, some soon realised that the simple breast measurement system was only suitable for well-proportioned figures. Tailors still cut from patterns but these were now drafted from a basic block and adapted to the measurements and anatomy of the individual customer. For wholesale mass production, patterns for the main figure types were used.

Although the cutting of a garment is important, it is by no means the whole art of tailoring - the subtle techniques of interlinings, padding, pressing and sewing etc. are also key. The scientific approach developed in the C19th century has made tailoring a highly skilled profession.

Lounge Jacket (p.115)

This derived from the simple two-seamed paletot by taking a long dart from the under-arm slightly forward and extending it down to the waist - giving it a better fit. The lounge jacket had become very popular for informal wear by the 1870s, and in the 1880s the 'dress lounge' appeared for informal evening wear.

'The Twentieth Century: a visual history of costume' (p.13-14):

At the beginning of the century, men's dress was generally formal and dictated by their occupation and the time of day. The frock coat and morning suit were correct for day wear, but the three piece lounge suit was worn for less formal occasions. The cut of the suit was fairly narrow.

The second decade of the century was dominated by the First World War which drew attention away from civilian men's dress. During the 20s however, the frock coat was out of fashion and the mourning suit was reserved for more formal occasions. Professional or business men wore single or double breasted three piece lounge suits, the shape of which had changed quite considerably. Trousers became wider, together with the shoulders of the jacket and loosened at the waist to become much squarer in shape. This became even more exaggerated during the 30s, accentuated by shoulder padding, wide lapels and the double breasted fastening. Trouser legs were cut wide with turn ups.

Once again, the outbreak of war put an stop to any progress in fashion - 'new suits were allowed only a certain number of pockets and buttons, had single-breasted jackets and trousers no wider than 19 inches with no turn ups.'

By the 1950s, men's suits began to narrow, with slimmer trousers and more fitted jackets which had a natural shoulder line, smaller lapels and the single-breasted fastening. This was in part due to the influence of Italian designers and the so called 'Italian suit', cut in light cloths which resulted from new developments in the production of man-made fibres which produced lighter weight and crease resistant suitings.