# Who wears zoot suits why? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [June 30, 2009, 3:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wears-zoot-suits-why/501480 "2009-06-30T15:09:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 18\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Angel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/d26b3c/32.png) [@Johnny\_Angel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Angel)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 9:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wears-zoot-suits-why/501480/21 "2009-06-30T21:23:21Z")
> [@bouv](#): > > He’s a hipster who is wearing it solely _because_ it’s outdated and retro. He’s being cool by doing things ironically. Hipsters _love_ irony. But being a hipster and being ironic was what the zoot suit was about to begin with. So, are you sneering at the original hipsters, or the modern day hipsters? Because I’ve got to tell you that modern hipsters could use a lot of help from the past. Sarcastic t-shirts and bowling while drinking prole-brau aren’t really holding up the venerable tradition they ought to have inherited. ---
**Author:** ![Olentzero](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/90ced4/32.png) [@Olentzero](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Olentzero)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 9:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wears-zoot-suits-why/501480/22 "2009-06-30T21:37:49Z")
> [@Johnny\_Angel](#): > > But being a hipster and being ironic was what the zoot suit was about to begin with. Not at all; if the article I linked to earlier is at all accurate, the zoot suit was the 1930s and 1940s version of ghetto culture - a conscious “fuck your society that treats us like scum, in yer FACE” attitude in riotous colors and cuts. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2009, 9:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wears-zoot-suits-why/501480/23 "2009-06-30T21:50:10Z")
If you want to be hip, make sure your side vents are five inches long. ---
**Author:** ![minor7flat5](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/minor7flat5/32/258_2.png) [@minor7flat5](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/minor7flat5)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 1:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wears-zoot-suits-why/501480/24 "2009-07-01T01:18:23Z")
And it’s gotta have a “killer-diller coat with a drape shape, reet pleats and shoulders padded like a lunatic’s cell” 🆒 (sez Malcom X) ---
**Author:** ![Auntbeast](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Auntbeast](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Auntbeast)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wears-zoot-suits-why/501480/25 "2009-07-01T02:29:13Z")
I just visited the zoot suit store. I have to say, it has been a long, long time (No thanks to you Kurt Cobaine) that I saw a bunch of mens clothing where I thought the vast majority of them looked down right fantastic. Sure, some of the color choices are rather off the wall, but I have to say, it was rather nice seeing a man dress up. I’m so sick of waistbands around the thighs, manpris and the general slovenliness of men today. I’d love to see a lot more guys wearing those suits. (Even if it means they are prettier than me.) 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![Giltathriel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/b38774/32.png) [@Giltathriel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giltathriel)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 3:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wears-zoot-suits-why/501480/26 "2009-07-01T03:39:32Z")
The only people I’ve seen in zoot suits are hardcore swing dancers, one a 20ish white kid and one a 70ish black man. I’d guess they’re doing it for fun and to be nominally period, though I don’t think either gentleman had a real zoot suit so much as a pinstripe suit with an extra-long jacket. I had no idea that anyone other than a swing dance geek would have one. ---
**Author:** ![Pyper](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5f9b8f/32.png) [@Pyper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pyper)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 3:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wears-zoot-suits-why/501480/27 "2009-07-01T03:47:54Z")
When I was in high school in the 90’s, some guys wore zoot suits to formal events. I think it was a result of the swing revival. Nowadays, you occasionally see young Mexican-Americans wearing zoot suits (again, at formal events). I’ve seen a photo of my four-year-old Mexican-American student wearing a child-sized zoot suit. ---
**Author:** ![Gatopescado](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/gatopescado/32/5711_2.png) [@Gatopescado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gatopescado)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 4:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wears-zoot-suits-why/501480/28 "2009-07-01T04:59:40Z")
I would totally do a Zoot Suit, but I don’t even have anywhere to do a regular suit. ☹ ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 12:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wears-zoot-suits-why/501480/29 "2009-07-01T12:13:58Z")
I want all of [these](http://www.expresssuits.com/servlet/Categories?category=Zoot+Suits)! Especially [this one](http://www.expresssuits.com/servlet/Detail?no=80) and [this one](http://www.expresssuits.com/servlet/Detail?no=64)! And it’s gotta be with the hat. Oh man - and only a hundred twenty bucks. I am seriously tempted! Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 2:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wears-zoot-suits-why/501480/30 "2009-07-01T14:12:36Z")
I think I’ve seen the guy you’re talking about. He always dresses in seriously flashy suits and always looks sharp. What area of downtown are you in? ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 2:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wears-zoot-suits-why/501480/31 "2009-07-01T14:25:16Z")
> [@HelloNinja](#): > > I think I’ve seen the guy you’re talking about. He always dresses in seriously flashy suits and always looks sharp. What area of downtown are you in? This was in the Kluczynski building on W. Jackson - but he is not the only guy I’ve seen dressed like a peacock. ---
**Author:** ![GrandWino](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/grandwino/32/67_2.png) [@GrandWino](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GrandWino)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 4:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wears-zoot-suits-why/501480/32 "2009-07-01T16:05:04Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > This was in the Kluczynski building on W. Jackson - but he is not the only guy I’ve seen dressed like a peacock. Ah ok. The guy I see is on North Michigan, around 500 North. ---
**Author:** ![teela\_brown](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/d9b06d/32.png) [@teela\_brown](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/teela_brown)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2009, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wears-zoot-suits-why/501480/33 "2009-07-01T16:25:20Z")
Any discussion of zoot suits is not complete until you’ve watched the classic Tom and Jerry cartoon called [“Zoot Cat”](http://www.metacafe.com/watch/905623/tom_and_jerry_zoot_cat/). It’s an education about zoot suits and hysterical to boot! ---
**Author:** ![Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/4da419/32.png) [@Gala\_Matrix\_Fire](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gala_Matrix_Fire)\ **Post date:** [July 2, 2009, 9:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wears-zoot-suits-why/501480/34 "2009-07-02T21:14:22Z")
Oh my, **Shodan** , those suits are things of beauty. How I wish more men would wear them. ---
**Author:** ![EvilTOJ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee59a6/32.png) [@EvilTOJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EvilTOJ)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2009, 12:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wears-zoot-suits-why/501480/35 "2009-07-11T12:59:53Z")
Oh man that blue zoot suit is a thing of beauty! I’ve wanted one for awhile, and at $120 I am sorely tempted… ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2009, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wears-zoot-suits-why/501480/36 "2009-07-11T13:51:11Z")
Zoot suits are huge out here among Chicano males, swing dancers, psycho-billys and various hipsters. I love them. You can’t deny a bit of a gangster connection, though. Even the website linked above is El Pachuco zoot suits (Pachucos were an old-school Chicano street gang waaaaaaaaay back in the day). But a sharp-dressed man is always a pleasure to see! 🆒 ---
**Author:** ![Moirai](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/96bed5/32.png) [@Moirai](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Moirai)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2009, 9:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wears-zoot-suits-why/501480/37 "2009-07-11T21:53:59Z")
Of course, thanks to this thread I’ve had “Zoot Suit Riot” playing in my head all damned day… 😃 ---
**Author:** ![msmith537](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/d9b06d/32.png) [@msmith537](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/msmith537)\ **Post date:** [July 11, 2009, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wears-zoot-suits-why/501480/38 "2009-07-11T21:59:35Z")
He was probably either a pimp or auditioning for the roll of Nathan Detroit in Guys and Dolls. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-wears-zoot-suits-why/501480.md?page=1)