Zoot suit occasionally with a long feather as decoration, and pointy, French-style shoes. A young Malcolm X, who wore zoot suits in his youth, described the zoot suit as: "a killer-diller coat with a drape shape, reet pleats, and shoulders padded like a lunatic's cell". Zoot suits usually featured a watch chain dangling from the belt to the knee or below, then back to a side pocket. A woman accompanying a man wearing a zoot suit commonly would herself wear a flared skirt and a long coat. The amount of material and tailoring required made them luxury items, so much so that
1860s in Western fashion notched collars. Waistcoats were generally cut straight across the front and had lapels. The loosely fitted, mid-thigh length "sack coat" continued to slowly displace the frock coat for less-formal business occasions. The slightly cutaway morning coat was worn for formal day occasions. The most formal evening dress remained a dark tail coat and trousers, with a white cravat; this costume was well on its way to crystallizing into the modern "white tie and tails". While during the first half of the decade the waist was long, after 1865 the waist became shorter, with pockets in the pleats. Full-length trousers were