what is a sack suit

[BBC]

Originally Posted by voxsartoria

I'll add to this the wide range of bargain priced items at Cable Car.


- B

Funny, I thought about listing CCC as an example, but their prices are outrageous. Nice to look at, but I might as well go to Winston Tailors for those prices.

 

[Parker]

Nice "sacks", BBC.

I think the sack can look pretty good when it's a tad trim on the wearer.

 

[Bentley]

Originally Posted by voxsartoria

What the Victorians knew as the sack coat first appeared in France at the end of the 1840's and quickly spread to England and America, becoming very popular in the East by the mid-1850's. Intended for extremely informal occasions, sack coats soon became working and business wear for skilled workers and clerks. By the end of the 1850's the U.S. Army had adopted a military version of the sack coat as fatigue wear. By the 1870's civilian sacks were being worn as general purpose outdoors and working jackets by many people out west.

Despite what you may have read, they are not called "sack coats" because they are oversized, loose, or otherwise fit like a sack. Sack, sac, sacque, etc. all refer to the way the back of the jacket is cut; i.e. "sack cut". This simply means the back is formed of two pieces only, cut relatively straight down, instead of being made up of four curved pieces with hidden pockets in the tails as on more formal and traditional coats such as tail coats, morning coats, and frocks. Some tailoring manuals of the 1850's and 1860's refer to the sack coat by other names, but it's the same garment. Length of skirt and sleeve, number and style of pockets, collar, lapels, and the cut of the front skirt were the elements of changing style in the sack coat from 1850 to 1900. At all times in the period, sack coats were made in "close cut", "full cut", "single breasted", and "double breasted" versions

In 1900, Brooks Brothers introduced its "No. 1 Sack Suit." This version of the sack became the inconic model of the American upper class RTW version of the English lounge suit, and the basis for the collegiate style variants of other multi-store makers like Chipp and Press, as well as all the individual boutique shops, often adjacent to elite colleges and prep schools, that serviced the social groups wearing this look. In the late 1950's and early 1960's, this look became entwined with American confidence and optimism, and a shared sense of destiny among social classes that had been more stucturally divided in the past: many wore it.

Today, it is the preserve of the dwindled social class that wore it originally and of mid-20th century clothing re-enactors.

How's that?


- B

Wow!!! Your knowledge is very impressive. How do you know this stuff?

I've never heard of a sack suit before but from the pictures/links it looks like what I have heard referred to as a "Gentleman's Cut". Would this be accurate?

 

[BBC]

Originally Posted by Parker

Nice "sacks", BBC.

I think the sack can look pretty good when it's a tad trim on the wearer.

Thanks, Parker. My fits aren't perfect, but I'm a flawed individual

 

[voxsartoria]

Originally Posted by Bentley

I've never heard of a sack suit before but from the pictures/links it looks like what I have heard referred to as a "Gentleman's Cut". Would this be accurate?

It depends on who's wearing it.

Originally Posted by BBC

Funny, I thought about listing CCC as an example, but their prices are outrageous. Nice to look at, but I might as well go to Winston Tailors for those prices.

I believe that at Cable Car, the layer of dust on everything displayed is far deeper. In contrast, CCC's prices look forward to future, and they use pricing suitable for the year 2174.

Originally Posted by Parker

Nice "sacks", BBC.

I think the sack can look pretty good when it's a tad trim on the wearer.

Originally Posted by BBC

Thanks, Parker. My fits aren't perfect, but I'm a flawed individual

Sacks look fantastic. Parker, BBC, and New Old Stock poster Patrick carry them off with soignÃ

. I agree with Parker that a fitted sack looks best. It also helps if it well made with natural shoulders.

In some ways, I mourn this being my standard look.


- B

 

[A Y]

Originally Posted by voxsartoria

Today, it is the preserve of the dwindled social class that wore it originally and of mid-20th century clothing re-enactors.

SFers as LARPers is an interesting thought. Thank you.

--Andre

 

[edmorel]

Originally Posted by BBC

As a person who wears "sack" suits/sport coats all the time, I simply chose the style because I don't like darts on the front of my jackets - it's nothing more meaningful than that.


thanks for posting the Southwick, I have some "modified" sack coats in the works and the Southwick factory is one of the places that I am considering working with.

 

[voxsartoria]

Originally Posted by edmorel

thanks for posting the Southwick, I have some "modified" sack coats in the works and the Southwick factory is one of the places that I am considering working with.

Can you actually deal directly with the new factory in Haverhill, or do you have to go through RBA/Brooks Brothers?

If would be awesome if you could get some American-made fully-canvassed sacks out there.

- B

 

[edmorel]

Originally Posted by voxsartoria

Can you actually deal directly with the new factory in Haverhill, or do you have to go through RBA/Brooks Brothers?

If would be awesome if you could get some American-made fully-canvassed sacks out there.

- B

through BB. Very early stages so no promises.

 

[voxsartoria]

Originally Posted by edmorel

through BB. Very early stages so no promises.

Godspeed, John Glenn.


- B

 

[deveandepot1]

Originally Posted by holymadness

 

[Jay Gatsby]

Originally Posted by voxsartoria

What the Victorians knew as the sack coat first appeared in France at the end of the 1840's and quickly spread to England and America, becoming very popular in the East by the mid-1850's. Intended for extremely informal occasions, sack coats soon became working and business wear for skilled workers and clerks. By the end of the 1850's the U.S. Army had adopted a military version of the sack coat as fatigue wear. By the 1870's civilian sacks were being worn as general purpose outdoors and working jackets by many people out west.

Despite what you may have read, they are not called "sack coats" because they are oversized, loose, or otherwise fit like a sack. Sack, sac, sacque, etc. all refer to the way the back of the jacket is cut; i.e. "sack cut". This simply means the back is formed of two pieces only, cut relatively straight down, instead of being made up of four curved pieces with hidden pockets in the tails as on more formal and traditional coats such as tail coats, morning coats, and frocks. Some tailoring manuals of the 1850's and 1860's refer to the sack coat by other names, but it's the same garment. Length of skirt and sleeve, number and style of pockets, collar, lapels, and the cut of the front skirt were the elements of changing style in the sack coat from 1850 to 1900. At all times in the period, sack coats were made in "close cut", "full cut", "single breasted", and "double breasted" versions

In 1900, Brooks Brothers introduced its "No. 1 Sack Suit." This version of the sack became the inconic model of the American upper class RTW version of the English lounge suit, and the basis for the collegiate style variants of other multi-store makers like Chipp and Press, as well as all the individual boutique shops, often adjacent to elite colleges and prep schools, that serviced the social groups wearing this look. In the late 1950's and early 1960's, this look became entwined with American confidence and optimism, and a shared sense of destiny among social classes that had been more stucturally divided in the past: many wore it.

Today, it is the preserve of the dwindled social class that wore it originally and of mid-20th century clothing re-enactors.

How's that?


- B

I award Vox the points.

 

[Sator]

Originally Posted by voxsartoria

Despite what you may have read, they are not called "sack coats" because they are oversized, loose, or otherwise fit like a sack. Sack, sac, sacque, etc. all refer to the way the back of the jacket is cut; i.e. "sack cut". This simply means the back is formed of two pieces only, cut relatively straight down, instead of being made up of four curved pieces with hidden pockets in the tails as on more formal and traditional coats such as tail coats, morning coats, and frocks...At all times in the period, sack coats were made in "close cut", "full cut", "single breasted", and "double breasted" versions
Pretty good. I'll add my editorial comments: Sac/sacque coat = British English Sack coat = American English Note the different spelling. They actually mean totally different things. Sac/sacque coat in British English does mean a loose cut and oversized coat - whether undercoat or overcoat. In American English a sack coat was traditionally a jacket that was as fitted or draped/loose as fashion and taste dictated. A sack coat is always an undercoat and never an overcoat (the overcoat equivalent used to be called an oversack). The equivalent British English term is a lounge coat when it is single breasted and a reefer coat when it is double breasted. Body coats eg different types of tail coats, are traditionally made with six rather than four panels for the upper body. Modern body coats often have eight panels.

 

[voxsartoria]

Originally Posted by Sator

Pretty good. I'll add my editorial comments:

Body coats eg different types of tail coats, are traditionally made with six rather than four panels for the upper body. Modern body coats often have eight panels.

Thank you.

On the number of panels, I was referring to the back...

...exclusive of the sides and tails.

But as you note, in this pre-Cambrian era of vast tailoring variety, many alternatives existed before the mass extinction.


- B

 

[Sator]

Originally Posted by voxsartoria

Thank you.

On the number of panels, I was referring to the back...


- B

OK, I get it. You don't usually think of the side body as being part of the "back". You think of it as being as much part of the side section. Mostly, that because that's kind of how it behaves in the fitting process.