Zoot suit Zoot suit A zoot suit (occasionally spelled zuit suit) is a men's suit with high-waisted, wide-legged, tight-cuffed, ged trousers, and a long coat with wide lapels and wide padded shoulders. This style of clothing became especially popular among the Latino, African American, Italian American, and Filipino American communities during the 1940s. Some observers claim that the "Edwardian-look" suits with velvet lapels worn by Teddy Boys in Britain are a derivative of the zoot suit. Zoot suits were first associated with African Americans in urban communities such as Harlem, Chicago, and Detroit, but were made popular by jazz musicians in the
Leisure suit Leisure suit A leisure suit is a casual suit consisting of a shirt-like jacket and matching trousers, often associated with American-influenced fashion and fads of the 1970s. Leisure suits originated on the west coast of the US in the late 1930s as summer casual-wear for the wealthy, possibly derived from the heavy tweed Norfolk jacket or khaki safari jacket worn by English sportsmen. Made from lightweight fabric and originally known as "Hollywood suits" these were worn until the 1950s, especially in the Southwest where, together with suits derived from the Ike jacket, they became popular formal-wear and often featured contrasting