Zoot suit (also called Zuit Suit)


Zoot suit was a fashion of clothing popularized by African Americans, Hispanics and Italian Americans throughout the 1930s and 1940s.

A zoot suit has high-waisted, broad legged, tight cuff pegged trousers and a long coat with wide collars and wide pad shoulders. Frequently zoot suitors put on a felt bonnet with a long quill and pointed, French-stylish shoes. A juvenile Malcolm X explain the zoot suit as: "a killer-diller fur with a wrap shape, reet pleats and shoulder padded similar to a lunatic's cell." Zoot suits typically feature a watch chain dangling from the girdle to the lap or below, then rear to a side pocket.

Zoot suits were for unique occasion - such as a ballet or a birthday festivity. The quantity of fabric and couture required made them opulence items. Most of the young people wear a fairer version of the "extra-bagged" chinos or style their pelt in the signature "duck tail".

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