THE SACK SUIT

The Sack Suit

Edwardian Mens Day Suits

For starters, Men wore Sack suits. These were long, plain, loose fitting suit jackets with wide lapels and a one to three button closure. Modern suits are similar but usually shorter in length and fitted. Sacks suits were usually 30-32 inches long  and either single or double breasted. Color choices were dark navy, grey, green and occasionally brown. Fabrics were all wool with hints of striping, checks and plaid. The jacket could hang with straight opening edges or rounded. The overall look was a box shape jacket with pants with roomy hips and legs that hung straight down to the ankles,  tapered slightly and were cuffed at the bottom (a drastic change from pre- 1900’s very narrow, tapered legs.) A typical ankle opening was 16 inches. See more pictures of clothing from 1918-1919. 

1917 Men’s Suit with Straw Gambler Hat

When choosing a suit the editors of the Men’s Togs Catalog of 1910 warn buyers “In selecting a fashion, however, careful consideration should be given to the fact that extreme novelty styles are suitable only for young men, and that double-breasted styles look best on slender forms. Corpulent men should adhere strictly to stripe effects in fabrics.”

TIP: Some modern suits can double as Edwardian. If it is long, straight, plain and comes with a matching high cut vest and pants then it’s probably ok. Order one size up for a more Edwardian sack suit “baggy look.”

A matching waistcoat or vest, with or without lapels, was worn under the suit. The vest cut was mid chest, at the lowest, to be seen under the jacket.

Under the vest was a basic day shirt. These, like modern dress shirts, were light colors of whites,  and subtle striping. Shirt fronts have a “yoke” bib style (similar to a modern formal tux shirt.) Collars could be wing tip, pointed, or round club collar. Club collars are my favorite for this time period, even though they are difficult to find in the US.

TIP: You can turn a pointed collar shirt into a club collar by cutting off the points to a rounded edge. This works better on some shirts then others. I suggest picking up a few at thrift stores and trying to cut them. To prevent the cut edges from fraying use a “Fray Stop” available at fabric and craft stores or clear nail polish if your in a hurry

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