Questions regarding the price of a suit 100 years ago.

[comrade]

Agreed. But 1720- 1820 was more than the accumulation of subtle clues. Although, the subtle
clue observation would probably work , say between 1720 and 1750, for example.

 

[comrade]

Take Cary Grant's suit and Ralph Bellamy's raincoat 80 years ago. Both would
probably go un noticed except by a menswear maven:

Cary Grant And Rosalind Russell wearing hat in a scene from the film...

Cary Grant And Rosalind Russell wearing hat in a scene from the film 'His Girl Friday', 1940.

www.gettyimages.fi

Here's another:

 

[JJ Katz]

Agreed. But 1720- 1820 was more than the accumulation of subtle clues. Although, the subtle
clue observation would probably work , say between 1720 and 1750, for example.

I expect there might be even less difference between 2020 and 2120...

 

[comrade]

My 16 year old grandson speculates that no one will be wear suits in 10 years.
Around here- Silicon Valley, it's practically true already.

 

[letsgofire]

I'm sure back in this era, there were great suits at expensive prices like $3. Drake's of London would change the label and charge $8 though.

#oldtimeyjoke

John

 

[Harold Rose]

Hello all,

There are some questions that I would like to know regarding this topic. I have searched the internet and found little to nothing relating to the topic of the history of clothing prices. My point is, high-quality suits are extremely expensive in the 21st century. High-end RTW suits such as Kiton, Brioni, Attolini, or Oxxford have a hefty price tag above $3,000 (retail). Bespoke suits in England cost pretty much the same and maybe more.

My question is if we go back in time to the 1900s, how much did a suit cost back then? Let's say if we go back to the 1900s in London, in a scenario where a working-class man needs to don a suit every day. How much did he have to pay for a suit? I believe that ready-to-wear stuff was still unavailable, so the only option for him was to go bespoke (either British or Chinese tailor I would guess). If the only option for him was to go bespoke, then the price should probably be high?

If anyone has insight, please enlighten me. I desperately need to know.

 

[Harold Rose]

Hello,
I cannot comment on the price of a suit in 1920, however, 100 years ago Leeds England was the mens clothing centre of the world. In fact the world's first clothing factory was established in Leeds in 1856 by John Barron. He had seen a wood cutting machine and realised that this could be adapted to cutting many layers of cloth at the same time. This meant that ready to wear garments could be produced for the masses. Montague Burton started his clothing empire in 1913 and become one of the largest clothing manufacturers employing 1000's in several factories around the UK. They had around 400 shops supplying mens suits for the working man.
In the 1950's a mans suit was roughly equivalent to the weekly wage of £20.
My own family history is just 75 years old when my father Alexander Rose opened a clothing factory in Leeds.
Please check out my time line on www.alexrose.uk
Happy to reply any questions or comments about the history of mens tailoring.
Replying to an earlier comment, fusible interlinings were introduced in the 1960's
Harold Rose

 

[Over/Under]

Hello all,

There are some questions that I would like to know regarding this topic. I have searched the internet and found little to nothing relating to the topic of the history of clothing prices. My point is, high-quality suits are extremely expensive in the 21st century. High-end RTW suits such as Kiton, Brioni, Attolini, or Oxxford have a hefty price tag above $3,000 (retail). Bespoke suits in England cost pretty much the same and maybe more.

My question is if we go back in time to the 1900s, how much did a suit cost back then? Let's say if we go back to the 1900s in London, in a scenario where a working-class man needs to don a suit every day. How much did he have to pay for a suit? I believe that ready-to-wear stuff was still unavailable, so the only option for him was to go bespoke (either British or Chinese tailor I would guess). If the only option for him was to go bespoke, then the price should probably be high?

If anyone has insight, please enlighten me. I desperately need to know.

My background is on Wall St/investments and I had read (I cannot find the source, sorry) that a well made suit kept consistent with the price of gold. I actually remember seeing the chart and was rather astonished how accurate that it was.

 

[ermo]

My background is on Wall St/investments and I had read (I cannot find the source, sorry) that a well made suit kept consistent with the price of gold. I actually remember seeing the chart and was rather astonished how accurate that it was.

They say one ounce of gold will buy a high end mens suit, throughout history. This thread shows how bad inflation of our money is over 100 years. 2% per year inflation doesnt sound like much, but it adds up quickly. This is a hidden tax on you, as your savings are continually worth less every year, unless you invest them and earn more than inflation. However, most people dont realize it because they have the same amount of money, it just doesnt buy as many goods or services one year later.

 

[Man of Wealth and Taste]

They say one ounce of gold will buy a high end mens suit, throughout history. This thread shows how bad inflation of our money is over 100 years. 2% per year inflation doesnt sound like much, but it adds up quickly. This is a hidden tax on you, as your savings are continually worth less every year, unless you invest them and earn more than inflation. However, most people dont realize it because they have the same amount of money, it just doesnt buy as many goods or services one year later.

This is only true if your lifestyle is funded more by wealth or by income. Inflation absolutely destroys wealth. It is a cost on holding money. However, if you are primarily income funded (i.e. you spend a portion of your earnings) then this isn't necessarily true, or even likely, in my opinion. Wages tend to raise with inflation (although they haven't recently) and raises are a part of inflation. Any increase in your pay that is above the increase in your productivity is inflation. If you got a 2% raise, but didn't get 2% better at your job, that's inflation. If your income keeps pace to inflation, it's of no impact to you.

TL;DR - Don't spout wealthy propaganda, even if you are wealthy, it's bad form.

 

[comrade]

"They say one ounce of gold will buy a high end mens suit, throughout history. This thread shows how bad inflation of our money is over 100 years. 2% per year inflation doesnt sound like much, but it adds up quickly. This is a hidden tax on you, as your savings are continually worth less every year, unless you invest them and earn more than inflation. However, most people dont realize it because they have the same amount of money, it just doesnt buy as many goods or services one year later."

This rule of thumb is basically incorrect. The US went off the Gold Standard in 1971.
For decades prior since the 1930s the price of 1 oz of gold was fixed at 35$.
A few years before, I had purchased a Southwick suit from Paul Stuart for $85.
This was not a high-end garment a la Isaia, Brioni, etc. In the late 80s my
MTM suits from Chipp were $600-700. At the time the price of Gold was
approx $325/oz.

 

[HuggyBear]

Perhaps another way to look at the cost of suit over the years is to compare disposable income over the years. This might be a better barometer as it aligns with affordability

 

[JLibourel]

An ounce of gold? That sounds pretty optimistic these days. At the moment $1,945. I'm not sure that will get you VBC from W.W, Chan nowadays. It's certainly not going to get you Oxxford or Brioni at anything like regular retail.

 

[Rich G]

Here's a porcelain window sign from what I always assumed to be around 1912. It looks to be done by the same painters of the time that worked on the occupational shaving mugs. The price does seem pretty steep for a made to order suit.

 

[comrade]

A bit off topic but an article that I just found on the economics of Bespoke:

What’s a $4,000 Suit Worth? (Published 2012)

Tailors pose an odd riddle for our economy: Why can’t a wealthy city support a niche business like bespoke suits?

www.nytimes.com