FOUNDATIONS REVEALED COMPETITION ENTRY
a modern zoot suit
(click images to to enlarge)
Other Credits
thanks to my model and husband, Gabriel Elmore
Outline the story …
I love swing dancing and have made a number of swing dresses. I can escape into a world of 1920s speakeasies and jazz. I wanted my husband to feel comfortable dressing up and join me in this world, so I dreamed up a kind of modern-day zoot-suit. Zoot-suits of the swing era featured bright, unusual colors, and baggy 3-piece suits for dancing. Right off the bat I knew a baggy suit would look silly, so I designed a well-fitted waistcoat and pants but a jacket with a bit more give to it, so that we could dance together. The color of the suit is a nod to the bright colors of the swingers, with a grey and pink plaid lined in purple.
The waist coat has welt pockets on both the inside and outside
Welt pockets on the back of the pants and front pockets
A zipper and silver button on the pants crotch seam, which have inside seams surged.
All buttonholes are hand-made in contrasting thread.
This garment is completely just me playing around with a lot of new things.
Outline the construction…
This piece was my first completely self-patterned piece of men's clothing. (my first complete piece of men's clothing in general)
If I were to go back I would interline the collar and use a collar pattern because I certainly got confused with the construction and I would pay more attention to which side I'm putting the button on the pants. I ran out of the right buttons and had moved housing, so was only able to give the jacket one button instead of 2 or 3 as I originally imagined. My husband knew I wanted wool and rayon for the suit and bought it for me as a gift, but only bought me 4 1/2 yards of each...which meant I was barely piecing the sleeves together and they had to be shorter than planned. The pants pocket lining had to be made of a different fabric altogether.
I looked at a number of vintage suits online when I created the piece and modeled the general design off of a suit my husband already owned. Hindsight is 20-20 and there are so many things I would now change, but this was an excellent experiment and he has been able to wear it for many occasions.
Fabulous work and your husband looks incredible in it. Loving the light colours and beautiful fit, Well done.
The fit you’ve managed to achieve with so many tailored pieces is stunning. My husband also tends to buy me too little fabric, so I can sympathize with having to piece and make-do. And you did a great job of it!
I am a sucker for a good plaid, and you chose and excellent plaid. The suit looks so good on your husband as well. Great job!
Fabulous work, you’ve done an amazing job on the construction and finish!
This looks amazing
This is beautiful work! A very impressive job on your tailoring, anc how effortlessly dapper he looks!