1920-1929

As womenswear valued simplicity in the 1920s so, too, did menswear. Men moved away from starched collars and formal three-piece suits during the day. Instead, they adopted soft collars and one- or two-button suit jackets often worn without a waistcoat as seen in the different styles shown on the fashion plate in figure 1. Pinstripes were popular, as were British wools and English tailoring. Martin Pel writes that “British men were perceived to be sartorially the most elegant, and fashionable men hoped to emulate the style and heritage of Savile Row and the English elite” (28). Popular materials were tweeds and flannels, depending on the season (Shrimpton 31).

The most significant development in men’s fashion occurred in two unique kinds of trousers: the Oxford bags and the plus-fours. Oxford bags grew in popularity around 1924-25 when undergraduates at Oxford adopted these wide-legged trousers. Though the origin of the style is contentious, it is generally agreed that it derived from the trousers that rowers on Oxford’s crew teams pulled on over their shorts, and you can see how The Bystander satirized this in 1924 (Fig. 2). The original style was about 22 inches wide at the bottom, several inches wider than the average men’s trouser leg. Oxford undergraduates began wearing these around the university and soon the style spread. As the style spread, so too did the width of the trouser legs until at one point they reached up to 44 inches wide. The trousers were made out of flannel and came in a variety of colors. They were mostly worn by youths - perhaps the male counterparts of the flapper - and became a favorite of Britain’s “Bright Young People,” a group of wealthy, aristocrats known for their antics in London’s nightlife.

The other development in menswear in the twenties was the plus-fours. Plus-fours developed out of ordinary knickers - short-legged trousers that gather around the knee - and like Oxford bags were a bit baggier version of their precursor. They had four extra inches of material (hence the name) but instead of extending the trouser leg, they still fastened around the knee and the extra material hung over the band, creating the baggy look as seen at a racecourse in 1920 (Fig. 3). Often worn with a sweater, plus-fours were popular golf attire, but much like how tennis-wear crept into casual womenswear, this style was also popular daywear for men, as was tennis-wear for men, too. You can see the casual way men dressed to play tennis, though some still wore ties in 1920 (Fig. 4).