A zoot suit (occasionally spelled zuit suit [1] ) is a men's suit with high-waisted, wide-legged, tight-cuffed, pegged trousers, and a long coat with wide lapels and wide padded shoulders. It is most notable for its use as a cultural symbol among the Hepcat and Pachuco subcultures. Originating among African Americans it would later become popular with Mexican, Filipino, Italian, and Japanese Americans in the 1940s. [2] [3] [4] [5]
The zoot suit originated in African American comedy shows in the 1920s. Comedians such as Pigmeat Markham, Stepin Fetchit, and others would dress in rags or in baggy suits for their comedic routines. This style of baggy suits would later become more stylish over time in urban ghettos. Many tap and Lindy hop dancers would wear loose fitting suits to the clubs and ballrooms. These suits made it much easier to navigate through the dance floor while dancing. Jazz and Jump Blues singers helped popularize the style in the 1930s and 40s. Cab Calloway called them "totally and truly American". The suits were worn mainly by men of color, including a young Malcolm X. [6] During the rationing of World War II, they were criticized as a wasteful use of cloth, wool being rationed then. In 1942, the War Production Board issued restrictions aimed at stopping the sale of zoot suits. [6]
In the so-called Zoot Suit Riots of 1943, groups of predominately Mexican zoot suiters became victims of repeated racial mob violence. [7] [8] Wearing of the zoot suit was never banned, despite a debate of its prohibition by the Los Angeles City Council in the aftermath of the riots. [6] [8] [9] The zoot suit become an important symbol of cultural pride and defiance of oppression in the Chicano Movement. [10] It experienced a brief resurgence in the swing revival scene in the 1990s. [11] The suit is still worn by Chicano in Mexican subcultures for memorialization events, regular celebrations, and special occasions. [12] [13] [14]
The suits were first associated with African-Americans in communities such as Harlem, [15] Chicago, and Detroit in the 1930s, [15] but were made popular nationwide by Jazz and Jump Blues musicians in the 1940s. According to the Oxford English Dictionary , the word "zoot" probably comes from African American Vernacular English and reduplication of suit. The creation of the zoot suit have been variously attributed to Harold C. Fox, a Chicago clothier and big-band trumpeter; [16] Charles Klein and Vito Bagnato of New York City; [17] Louis Lettes, a Memphis tailor; [18] and Nathan (Toddy) Elkus, a Detroit retailer. [19] [20]
"A Zoot Suit (For My Sunday Gal)" was a 1942 song written by L. Wolfe Gilbert and Bob O'Brien. [21] Jazz bandleader Cab Calloway frequently wore zoot suits on stage, including some with exaggerated details, such as extremely wide shoulders or overly draped jackets. [22] He wore one in the 1943 film Stormy Weather . In his dictionary, Cab Calloway's Cat-ologue: A "Hepster's" Dictionary (1938), he called the zoot suit "the ultimate in clothes. The only totally and truly American civilian suit." [23]
Pachucos and Pachucas were early Chicano youth who participated in a subculture that fashioned zoot suits. [24] The subculture emerged in El Paso, Texas, in the late 1930s and quickly spread to Los Angeles. [25] Pachucos and Pachucas embraced this style that challenged white American norms around race and gender norms [26] [27] The Mexican American zoot suit style was usually black, sharkskin, charcoal gray, dark blue, or brown in color with pinstripes. [8] African American styles usually incorporated brighter colors, thick chalk stripes, floppy hats, and long chains more often than Mexican Americans. [8] Both Pachucos and Hepcats functioned on the margins in American society. [8] Some Pachucos and Hepcats shared solidarity or respect for one another because of this. [8]
In the early 1940s, Pachucos were associated with violence and criminal behavior by the American media, which fueled anti-Mexican sentiment and especially negative views of the zoot suit style in Los Angeles. [28] Pachucas, some of whom also wore the zoot suit, often with some modifications and additional accessories like dark lipstick, were seen as threatening to ideas of family stability and racial uplift, often shunned by their communities and the wider public. [29] The zoot suits became framed as unpatriotic, referring to the excessiveness of cloth during wartime. [7] [30] In 1942, police from across Los Angeles arrested 600 Mexican Americans in the Sleepy Lagoon murder case, which involved the murder of one man, José Gallardo Díaz, at a party. [7] Almost all of those arrested as allegedly potential suspects were wearing zoot suits. [7]
Media coverage before and after the case sensationalized and further fanned the flames of hostile anti-Mexican sentiments in the city and abroad. [7] This made some Mexican Americans hesitant to wear the zoot suit, since they did not want to be viewed as criminals simply for their style of dress. [8] Some Pachucos became affiliated with early gangs in Los Angeles and embraced their presumed-to-be criminal status with the zoot suit. [8] Others wore the zoot suit, but refused to refer to themselves as 'zoot suiters.' [8] Mexican Americans who rejected Pachucos and zoot suit attire became known as 'squares' who were said to believe in assimilation and racial uplift theory. [8]
This tension exploded in 1943 in a series of anti-Mexican riots in Los Angeles that became termed the Zoot Suit Riots. [28] For ten days, white U.S. servicemen cruised Mexican American neighborhoods searching for zoot suiters to attack. [7] In some cases, youth as young as twelve were attacked and dragged out of establishments. [7] Filipinos and Black zoot suiters were also targeted, such as a Black man who had his eye gouged out with a knife by "a crowd of whites." [8] After being attacked, Mexican and Black zoot suiters rioted against white U.S. servicemen. [8] On the fifth day of the riots, the zoot suiters repelled attackers in a coordinated effort. [8] Busloads of police were brought in to rescue "the retreating servicemen," after which "dozens of Mexicans" were arrested. [8] Military officials declared Los Angeles off limits to servicemen the next day. [8]
After hearing of the event, an article for the Pittsburgh [PA] Courier warned that Black zoot suiters could be the next target for "the patriotic lawlessness of men in uniform" and stated that both "Los Angeles Negro and Mexican zoot suiters are closer together than they are to members of their own racial group." [8] Norris J. Nelson, Los Angeles City Council member, proposed outlawing zoot suits, although this did not occur due to questions about its constitutionality. [6] [8] [9]
Cesar Chavez sported zoot suit attire in his younger years and the zoot suit became an important cultural symbol for the Chicano Movement. [31] The earliest youth who reclaimed the word Chicano as an identity of empowerment were in fact Pachucos. [32]
Throughout the 1940s, white American views on the zoot suit varied. The jive talk of African American hepcats had spread, or been appropriated, among white middle class youth in the early 1940s. [33] This began to erase the origins of the zoot suit as a Black cultural symbol, which made it more acceptable to white Americans. [33] Prior to the Zoot Suit Riots, the zoot suit was sometimes positioned as a symbol of American individualism and even patriotism in comparison to the fascist uniform attire and regimentation of Nazi Germany. [33] White and Black soldiers would sometimes be seen "zooting" their uniforms in war effort photos, with the press presenting the zoot suit as a symbol of youthful relatability rather than as an oppositional or unpatriotic symbol. [33] Most of the visible tension surrounding the zoot suit prior to the riots was concentrated in the Los Angeles area regarding the spread of anti-Mexican sentiment among whites in the city. [33]
Zoot suits not only played a historical role in the subculture in the United States in the 1940s, but also shaped a new generation of men in Trinidad. These Trinidadian men who adopted this American fashion became referred to as the "saga boys"; they wore these suits and embraced the glamorous lifestyle that they represented. "Their fondness for the zoot suit, in particular signified a rejection of Anglo-centric precepts not only about fashion but, more profoundly, about manhood." [34]
Therefore, although the "saga boys" had the appearance of adapting to the urban American way of life, they were in fact using this clothing and lifestyle as a way to improve their lives in Trinidad, rise above the restrictions that imperialism brought and create through this oppositional dress, a culture of their own. [34]
In the swing revival era, which started in 1989 and carried to about 1998, the zoot suit experienced a small resurgence mostly based in nostalgia of the 1940s era, yet notably missed many of the racial dynamics that surrounded the zoot suit. [11] [35] Bands included The Brian Setzer Orchestra, Royal Crown Revue, and Cherry Poppin' Daddies. [11] One of the popular songs of the era was the Cherry Poppin' Daddies' "Zoot Suit Riot", which presented the historical moment of the Zoot Suit Riots through a lens of masculine power. [11]
The zoot suit is regularly memorialized by the Chicano community today as a symbol of cultural pride. [12] [36] [37] Some of this is owed to Luis Valdez's 1979 play Zoot Suit and its subsequent 1981 film, which carried knowledge of the era and interest in the style forward. [38] [39] Outside of memorialization events, such as those held on the anniversary of the Zoot Suit Riots, [36] [12] the zoot suit is still sometimes worn by Chicanos for special occasions, including proms, usually as a dual display of formal wear and cultural pride. [13] [40] It is also worn in certain urban areas in Mexico for similar purposes. [41]
Traditionally, zoot suits have been worn with a fedora or pork pie hat color-coordinated with the suit, occasionally with a long feather as decoration, and pointy, French-style shoes.[ citation needed ]
A young Malcolm X, who wore zoot suits in his youth, described the zoot suit as: "a killer-diller coat with a drape shape, reet pleats, and shoulders padded like a lunatic's cell". [42]
Zoot suits usually featured a watch chain dangling from the belt to the knee or below, then back to a side pocket. A woman accompanying a man wearing a zoot suit would commonly wear a flared skirt and a long coat. [43]
The amount of material and tailoring required made them luxury items, so much so that the U.S. War Production Board said that they wasted materials that should be devoted to the World War II war effort. [44] When Life published photographs of zoot suiters in 1942, the magazine joked that they were "solid arguments for lowering the Army draft age to include 18-year-olds". [43] This extravagance, which many considered unpatriotic in wartime, was a factor in the Zoot Suit Riots.
To some, wearing the oversized suit was a declaration of freedom and self-determination, even rebelliousness. [45] [46]
Some observers[ who? ] claim that the "Edwardian-look" suits with velvet lapels worn by Teddy Boys in Britain are a derivative of the zoot suit. [47]
Chicano or Chicana is an ethnic identity for Mexican Americans who have a non-Anglo self-image, embracing their Mexican Native ancestry. Chicano was originally a classist and racist slur used toward low-income Mexicans that was reclaimed in the 1940s among youth who belonged to the Pachuco and Pachuca subculture. In the 1960s, Chicano was widely reclaimed in the building of a movement toward political empowerment, ethnic solidarity, and pride in being of indigenous descent. Chicano developed its own meaning separate from Mexican American identity. Youth in barrios rejected cultural assimilation into the mainstream American culture and embraced their own identity and worldview as a form of empowerment and resistance. The community forged an independent political and cultural movement, sometimes working alongside the Black power movement.
The Zoot Suit Riots were a series of riots that took place from June 3–8, 1943, in Los Angeles, California, United States, involving American servicemen stationed in Southern California and young Latino and Mexican American city residents. It was one of the dozen wartime industrial cities that suffered race-related riots in the summer of 1943, along with Mobile, Alabama; Beaumont, Texas; Detroit, Michigan; and New York City.
Pachucos are male members of a counterculture that emerged in El Paso, Texas, in the late 1930s. Pachucos are associated with zoot suit fashion, jump blues, jazz and swing music, a distinct dialect known as caló, and self-empowerment in rejecting assimilation into Anglo-American society. The pachuco counterculture flourished among Chicano boys and men in the 1940s as a symbol of rebellion, especially in Los Angeles. It spread to women who became known as pachucas and were perceived as unruly, masculine, and un-American. Some pachucos adopted strong attitudes of social defiance, engaging in behavior seen as deviant by white/Anglo-American society, such as marijuana smoking, gang activity, and a turbulent night life. Although concentrated among a relatively small group of Mexican Americans, the pachuco counterculture became iconic among Chicanos and a predecessor for the cholo subculture which emerged among Chicano youth in the 1980s.
A pork pie hat is one of several different styles of hat that have been worn since the mid-19th century. The pork pie hat gained further popularity in the 20th century, being worn by famous actors and musicians. This style of hat features a flat crown that resembles a traditional pork pie, thus earning its name.
Zoot Suit is a play written by Luis Valdez, featuring incidental music by Daniel Valdez and Lalo Guerrero. Zoot Suit is based on the Sleepy Lagoon murder trial and the Zoot Suit Riots. Debuting in 1979, Zoot Suit was the first Chicano play on Broadway. In 1981, Luis Valdez also directed a filmed version of the play, combining stage and film techniques.
Eduardo "Lalo" Guerrero was an American guitarist, singer and farm labor activist best known for his strong influence on later Latin musical artists.
Zoot Suit is a 1981 American independent drama musical film of the Broadway play Zoot Suit. Both the play and film were written and directed by Luis Valdez. The film stars Daniel Valdez, Edward James Olmos—both reprising their roles from the stage production—and Tyne Daly. Many members of the cast of the Broadway production also appeared in the film. Like the play, the film features music from Daniel Valdez and Lalo Guerrero, the "father of Chicano music."
Wide-leg jeans, colloquially called baggy pants, are a style of clothing that were popular from the early 1980s to the 2010s.
The "Sleepy Lagoon murder" was the name that Los Angeles newspapers used to describe the death of José Gallardo Díaz, who was discovered unconscious and dying near a reservoir with two stab wounds and a broken finger in Commerce, California, United States, on the morning of August 2, 1942. Earlier, Díaz was seen at a party for Eleanor Delgadillo Coronado where he left afterwards with two friends, Luis "Cito" Vargas and Andrew Torres. He was then confronted by a group of young men from the 38th Street neighborhood, who came to the party seeking revenge for an earlier beating of some of their friends.
Caló is an argot or slang of Mexican Spanish that originated during the first half of the 20th century in the Southwestern United States. It is the product of zoot-suit pachuco culture that developed in the 1930s and '40s in cities along the US/Mexico border.
The 38th Street Gang is an American criminal street gang in Los Angeles, California, composed mainly of Hispanic-Americans. The 38th Street Gang is one of the oldest street gangs in Los Angeles and has been occupying its territory since the 1920s. They engage in many criminal activities. The Mexican Mafia controls and routinely uses 38th Street gang members to carry out their orders.
"Zoot Suit Riot" is a song by the American ska-swing band the Cherry Poppin' Daddies, written by vocalist and frontman Steve Perry for the band's 1997 compilation album of the same name on Mojo Records.
Fashion in the years following World War II is characterized by the resurgence of haute couture after the austerity of the war years. Square shoulders and short skirts were replaced by the soft femininity of Christian Dior's "New Look" silhouette, with its sweeping longer skirts, fitted waist, and rounded shoulders, which in turn gave way to an unfitted, structural look in the later 1950s.
Chicano poetry is a subgenre of Chicano literature that stems from the cultural consciousness developed in the Chicano Movement. Chicano poetry has its roots in the reclamation of Chicana/o as an identity of empowerment rather than denigration. As a literary field, Chicano poetry emerged in the 1960s and formed its own independent literary current and voice.
Fashion and clothing for Filipino-Americans has been a symbol of political action since their arrival to the U.S. in the early 20th century. Dealing with U.S. occupation in the Philippines, both students and laborers adopted American styles of dress while also maintaining styles of dress that originated in the Philippines. Fashion remains an integral aspect for the Filipino-American community, with many cultural celebrations regarding fashion such as Canada Philippine Fashion Week in Toronto and other fashion weeks occurring in numerous global cities. Aside from partaking in fashion, the Philippines also produces clothing that is made for mass consumption overseas, in places such as the U.S., Europe, and Canada.
Pachucas were Mexican American women who wore zoot suits during World War II, also known as "cholitas", "slick chicks", and "lady zoot suiters". The suit was a symbol of rebellion due to the rationing of cloth for the war effort. Wearing the longer and loose-fitting jackets and pants was therefore seen as being unpatriotic. The zoot suit was the most salient identifying feature of "pachuquismo", a Mexican American youth subculture. This subculture emerged during a time of increased racism and the fight for Mexican American rights and equality within American society. Both men and women wore the fingertip coats, but for women it became more than just a style. Pachuca gangs, like the Black Widows and Slick Chicks, with their black drape jackets, tight skirts, fishnet stockings and heavily emphasized make-up, were ridiculed in the press. This was not just the case for pachuca women in gangs, but pachuca women in general. Participation in the movement was a way to openly challenge conventional notions of feminine beauty and sexuality, especially in Mexican culture.
A cholo or chola is a member of a Chicano and Latino subculture or lifestyle associated with a particular set of dress, behavior, and worldview which originated in Los Angeles. A veterano or veterana is an older member of the same subculture. Other terms referring to male members of the subculture may include vato and vato loco. Cholo was first reclaimed by Chicano youth in the 1960s and emerged as a popular identification in the late 1970s. The subculture has historical roots in the Pachuco subculture, but today is largely equated with anti-social behavior, criminal behavior and gang activity.
A Mexican American is a resident of the United States who is of Mexican descent. Mexican American-related topics include the following:
Gringo justice is a sociohistorical critical theory developed by Chicano sociologist, lawyer, and activist Alfredo Mirandé in 1987, who used it to provide an alternative explanation for Chicano criminality in the United States and challenge the racist assumption that Chicanos were inherently criminal, or biologically, psychologically, or culturally predisposed to engage in criminal behavior. The theory is applied by Chicano and Latino scholars to explain the double standard of justice in the criminal justice system between Anglo-Americans and Chicanos/Latinos. The theory also challenges stereotypes of Chicanos/Latinos as "bandidos," "gang-bangers," and "illegal alien drug smugglers," which have historically developed and are maintained to justify social control over Chicano/Latino people in the US.
Fashion is known to be a form of expression throughout many cultures, just like the Mexican American culture. Over the decades Mexican American women's fashion evolved to celebrate beauty and fashion standards of the day. However, such evolution wasn't often well seen by society, instead it was often deemed non-normative or un-American. This style evolution started in the 1920's with American influence creating the Pelonas, the1940s when the Pachuca culture came to be, and later evolved into the Chicanas in the 70s and the Cholas in the 90s.
The council approves the resolution, but the ordinance never goes into effect. Instead, the council urges the War Production Board to take even further steps to curb the production of zoot suits.
Some of the store's busiest times of the year include Halloween and prom season.
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: CS1 maint: location missing publisher (link)They are still worn from time to time by pachucos and vatos who want to dress up.