Trends in Men’s Suits Through the Decades
The suit has never really stood still. Shoulders broaden and soften, lapels widen and narrow, trousers move from full to slim and back again. What looks completely natural in one decade can look unmistakably of its time in another.
Yet the basic idea has proved remarkably durable. For more than a century, the men’s suit has adapted to changes in work, culture and the way men want to present themselves without losing its essential structure.
Looking back at the major shifts also makes one thing clear: there has never been a single “correct” way for a suit to fit.
The 1920s: tailoring becomes less formal
Men’s dressing began to loosen after the First World War. During the 1920s, softer collars and simpler one- and two-button jackets became increasingly common for daytime wear, and a waistcoat was no longer automatic. Pinstripes, flannel and British woolens were popular, while English tailoring and Savile Row remained major influences on how well-dressed men wanted to look.
The decade also produced some notably relaxed trouser shapes. Oxford bags, the famously wide-legged trousers associated with young men at Oxford, were an early example of how dramatically proportions could shift even within otherwise traditional menswear.
What is interesting now is how contemporary some of those ideas feel: softer tailoring, fuller trousers and an easier relationship with formality have all returned in different forms.
The 1930s and 1940s: structure meets restraint
By the late 1930s, a strong shoulder and fuller trouser had become established parts of the masculine silhouette. The Second World War changed the priorities of tailoring considerably.
Fabric restrictions meant suits had to become more economical. In wartime Britain, for example, double-breasted jackets gave way to single-breasted versions, lapels and pockets were restricted, trousers used less cloth and turn-ups disappeared. The change was practical rather than stylistic, but it had a lasting effect on menswear.
The period is also a reminder that suit history was never completely uniform. The dramatically oversized zoot suit emerged from Black and Latino American style during the same era, offering almost the opposite silhouette from wartime austerity.
The 1950s: tradition begins to loosen
The 1950s are often remembered as a particularly conservative period for menswear, but the decade contained more variation than that description suggests.
Mainstream suits still carried some of the fullness of the 1940s, often paired with increasingly narrow ties. At the same time, Savile Row’s sharper New Edwardian tailoring influenced a much slimmer silhouette in Britain, which was then adopted and exaggerated by Teddy Boys.
The bigger cultural change may have been happening outside the suit altogether. Casual clothing was becoming more acceptable, particularly among younger men. From this point forward, a suit was gradually becoming less of an everyday requirement and more of a deliberate choice.
The 1960s and 1970s: the suit becomes expressive
Few periods changed men’s tailoring as visibly as the 1960s and 1970s.
London’s Mod scene brought a sharper, younger approach to tailoring in the 1960s, while designers began experimenting more openly with proportion, fabric and color. Surviving suits from the period show elongated jackets, unconventional details and a willingness to move beyond conservative business dress.
By the early 1970s, wide lapels and flared or generously cut trousers had become defining features of fashionable menswear. Linen-wool blends, velvet, stronger colors and more decorative fabrics expanded what a suit could look like.
The suit was no longer simply a uniform for work or formality. It could make a statement.
The 1980s: power dressing
After the experimentation of the previous decade, the 1980s brought another dramatic change in scale.
Broad shoulders, wide lapels, double-breasted jackets and pinstripes became closely associated with the decade’s “power suit.” Corporate culture played a significant part in the look, with tailoring used to project authority and presence.
But the decade wasn’t entirely rigid. Italian tailoring, particularly the softer approach associated with designers such as Giorgio Armani, also helped loosen the internal structure of the jacket and introduced another idea of sophistication: one based as much on ease as authority.
The 1990s: the dress code relaxes
The 1990s moved increasingly toward casual dressing. Grunge, sportswear and the growing acceptance of business casual all reduced the suit’s role as the default uniform for many men.
That did not make tailoring irrelevant. Instead, it began changing the reason men wore it. As dress codes relaxed, a suit could increasingly be chosen because someone wanted to wear one rather than because an office required it.
That distinction has become even more important in the decades since.
The 2000s and 2010s: everything gets slimmer
By the later 2000s, the pendulum had swung firmly toward slim tailoring. Narrow lapels, shorter jackets and close-fitting trousers became increasingly common, influenced in part by designers revisiting the lean proportions of earlier decades.
During the 2010s, the slim suit became so widespread that it was often treated as the default modern fit. At its best, the cleaner silhouette could look sharp and contemporary. Taken too far, however, it could sacrifice proportion and movement simply for the sake of being narrow.
That is one reason tailoring is moving away from the idea that one fashionable fit should work for everyone.
The suit today: less formula, more individual
There is no single silhouette that defines a good suit now.
Some men prefer a softer jacket and a fuller trouser. Others look better in something cleaner and closer to the body. Double-breasted jackets have returned. Pleated trousers have returned. Fabrics that once seemed reserved for a particular season or occasion are being worn in new ways.
That flexibility is a good thing.
A suit does not need to reproduce the proportions of the 1930s, 1970s or any other period to take something useful from them. The more important question is what works for the person wearing it: his proportions, how he moves, where the garment will be worn and how he wants to feel in it.
That is also where custom tailoring becomes particularly relevant. Rather than forcing someone into the prevailing silhouette of the moment, the proportions can be worked out around the individual.
At Scarborough’s San Francisco showroom, Christian approaches each commission that way, beginning with the client and building from there through the fit, cloth and details.