Fabrics stayed the same as the Victorian era with the addition of top-stitching being used on jackets to show off the shape better.
Shirt
Shirt shapes stayed the same as the Victorian era.
Jacket
The correct dress for men during social events was a black frock coat and black silk top hat. On an ordinary day to events such as the races, tweed suits were wore. Prince of Wales disliked how constricting clothes were such as in the military. As he got larger he asked his tailor to make an open version of the frock coat were the sides were attached together by a chain on each side which was far more comfortable. It also highlighted the beautiful waistcoats details.
This suit style went into decline to be replaced by morning coat. Frock coats moved into formal and church wear. Morning coats became popular as they were semi-formal and could be worn through out the day. This did not last long however because by the beginning of the new centenary lounge suits were most worn. This is the suit shape that most modern suits are based on. It was not fitted at the waist unlike the jackets before it, and it was wide at the shoulders with small lapels and for buttons down the front. Chesterfield was considered to be the most elegant of town overcoat.
A MacFarlane was a cape-style coat of the sort that Sherlock Holmes would have worn.
By the early twentieth century the Mackintosh made its original head-to-toe 'tent' designed to keep the wearer completely shielded from the weather. This was one of the most popular styles of jacket in the early part of this century.
The lounge jacket became the men's formal wear jacket of choice. This shorter jacket was to later influence evening clothing to create the dinner jacket. When and how Dinner jackets were invented remains open to debate as the English claim it comes from the era of Smoking jackets worn by gentleman when they would smoke cigars in the billiard room as seen in picture to the right. These jackets were heavily brocade or quilted to help take in the odours of the smoke so that when they rejoin the ladies it would not offend their noses...
Another competitor is the American with there claim that it was based of the Tuxedo which was born in Tuxedo Park Club in 1886. It was worn by Criswold Lorillard who cased a scandal as he was in such "informal dress" but he gained many followers as a result.
The French claim the jacket was their own Monte Carlo who wear it to the casino in Riviera during the summer evenings. Agruements aside the dinner jacket was considered the first casual wear for men. The jacket style was always black and was worn at informal family dinners, intimate parties and theatres.The true evening for main still remained top be the black tail coat, waistcoat (white or black), white shirt and white tie. Black ties were worn with dinner jackets. Black trousers and patent leather shoes were worn with both. Over the course of the first decade, dinner jackets started to replace tailcoats which became reserved for only the most formal of occasions.
Lounge suit lost its leisure associations and became the practical base of the modern business suit and wardrobe for white collar workers worldwide. It was only available in dark and muted colours however. This was aided to being popular by the arrival of ready to wear suits.
The lounge jacket became the men's formal wear jacket of choice. This shorter jacket was to later influence evening clothing to create the dinner jacket. When and how Dinner jackets were invented remains open to debate as the English claim it comes from the era of Smoking jackets worn by gentleman when they would smoke cigars in the billiard room as seen in picture to the right. These jackets were heavily brocade or quilted to help take in the odours of the smoke so that when they rejoin the ladies it would not offend their noses...Another competitor is the American with there claim that it was based of the Tuxedo which was born in Tuxedo Park Club in 1886. It was worn by Criswold Lorillard who cased a scandal as he was in such "informal dress" but he gained many followers as a result.
The French claim the jacket was their own Monte Carlo who wear it to the casino in Riviera during the summer evenings. Agruements aside the dinner jacket was considered the first casual wear for men. The jacket style was always black and was worn at informal family dinners, intimate parties and theatres.The true evening for main still remained top be the black tail coat, waistcoat (white or black), white shirt and white tie. Black ties were worn with dinner jackets. Black trousers and patent leather shoes were worn with both. Over the course of the first decade, dinner jackets started to replace tailcoats which became reserved for only the most formal of occasions.
Lounge suit lost its leisure associations and became the practical base of the modern business suit and wardrobe for white collar workers worldwide. It was only available in dark and muted colours however. This was aided to being popular by the arrival of ready to wear suits.
Waistcoat
The Prince of Wales Edward made the decision to leave is mark on men's fashion yet again. He decided to lower the height of the waistcoat to revel more of the shirt at the front. The only down side this caused was it meant the starched fronts were more like to get stained. This lower neckline was loved by the Prince as it made it less constricted. The prince on normal waistcoats used to undo the top button of his waistcoat when feeling bloated, this is still a fashion detail that people ahear to today but more so then. As in the Victorian the range of pockets were still widely use with the addiction of ticket pockets and pockets set into a panel seam. Jackets became more commonly single-breasted and the waistcoats started to match the trouser fabric during this era. Wrist straps with buckles or buttons were added to the back to ensure the best fit after manufacturing so that it didn't need to be permanently altered so it could be worn for longer. This ensured waistcoats in men's fashion; both as informal evening wear and leisurewear from the 1960s onwards.
At the beginning on this century physical exercise and sports became an part of peoples lives; the Prince of Wales again stepped up and promoted a wardrobe which combined practicality and elegance. Because of this he is credited with introducing the Norfolk jacket and wearing of trousers with a crease and turn-ups. He also encourage people of this class to stop changing four times a day to now change twice which to him was more than enough- shooting tweeds for day and dinner. The Norfolk jacket to begin with started to be paired with knickerbocker trousers. These were worn for shooting parties and became adapted for middle classes as a weekend in the country wear.
Another legend involving the Prince consented his trousers. He was caught in the rain and asked a village tailor to dry then. When they were returned they had a crease pressed into both legs. Before the creases had only been from the knee down but by 1900 long, straight, waist-high creases at the front made available by the arrival of the specially-designed trouser press had become popular.
Accessories
Until the beginning of the 20th century Top hats were the standard dress code for hats, they had there own etiquette and maintenance attached to them.:- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Top_hat
http://www.wikihow.com/Practice-Male-Hat-Etiquette
At the beginning of the 20th century the Topper (centre) became replace by the bowler or derby (top right). Other popular hats include the Homburg (top left), the Panama and the Boater (bottom left). Boaters became popular with a stripped blazer and flannel trousers became part of the sporting look in 1910s and 1920s.
Ties were allowed to have some colour however any 'peacocky' ornamentation was viewed with suspicion as a possible threat to masculine values.
At the beginning of the 1910s mens fashion entered a new phase called "the speed up" which was a movement of young men who wanted to no longer look like there Victorian fathers. In it's place was a single-breasted jacket with two or three closely spaced buttons, a high, slightly nipped in waist and naturally sloping shoulders, which was worn with narrow, cuffed trousers cut short above the ankle to reveal boots. This became extremely popular. Shoes toes were more rounded. This was when broguing (a decorative pattern of punched holes) became popular. men began to have slight heels and wider laces. Men's body shapes began to change also for a more athletic being the more preferred look.In the traditional tailoring trade each garment was made separately by a single worker, a practise known as the 'complete garment system' that continues today in the bespoke tailors of London's Savile Row. In medieval Europe, tailors had been among the first independent craftsmen and had set up their own guilds and associations. Travelling tailors also called at villages and farms, making clothes for entire households before moving to the next village. Know they died out in the 19 century the concept still remained as it was cheaper than owning a store. Introduction of sewing machine and fabric cutter machinery made it possible to mass produce credible copies of garments that previously, because of the skills required and cost of labour, could only be produced in tailors' workshops. This caused many divisions between tailors and semi-skilled factory workers.
References:-
Men's Fashion in the Twentieth Century from Frock coats to Intelligent Fibres by Maria Costantino
http://lifestyle.howstuffworks.com/style/fashion/trends-looks/100-years-of-mens-fashion.htm#page=1
http://www.costumegallery.com/1910/Men/Suits/
http://www.periodclothing.co.uk/Edwardian_Fashion.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_suits
http://mens-fashion.lovetoknow.com/Smoking_Jacket_for_Men
http://lifestyle.howstuffworks.com/style/fashion/trends-looks/100-years-of-mens-fashion.htm#page=2
http://bespokeunit.com/the-waistcoat-the-history-background/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Collar_%28clothing%29
http://lifestyle.howstuffworks.com/style/fashion/trends-looks/100-years-of-mens-fashion.htm#page=1
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