Zoot suits were a popular style of clothing in the 1930s and 1940s, associated with minority groups, youth gangs, and jazz music. The oversized suits were a sign of ostentation and were banned during WWII. The Zoot Suit Riots broke out in Los Angeles in 1943, but the fashion remained a symbol of cultural pride and a stand against racism.
A zoot suit is an outlandish style of clothing that became popular during the 1930s and 1940s. At the time, he was associated with certain minority groups in the United States, such as Chicanos and African-Americans. This style of costume was also associated in popular culture with youth gangs and jazz music. Today, most people think of jazz and swing culture when they think of zoot suits.
The zoot suit is an oversized suit, with wide pants gathered at the ankles or wefts, and a long jacket with huge shoulder pads, called a carlango. The excessive amounts of fabric required to make it made the style a sign of ostentation. This garment is usually worn for formal occasions and is often accessorized with a long watch chain on the pants, pointy shoes, and a large fedora with a feather.
This style of suit first emerged in African-American jazz culture in Harlem, New York, and was soon adopted by minority communities in other American cities, notably Los Angeles. The name may derive from a Mexican-American slang pronunciation of “traje.” Female versions of the costume also existed, though rarely seen today, some with knee-length skirts instead of wefts.
The use of zoot suits became openly defiant after the style was formally banned in 1942 by the Federal Board of War Production, which deemed the suits a waste of fabric. In 1943, the so-called Zoot Suit Riots broke out in Los Angeles, where the style was very popular among young Mexican-Americans. Soldiers and sailors on leave began beating up anyone found wearing such a suit in East Los Angeles, the heart of the Latino community, though African Americans and Filipino Americans were also among the victims. The military also destroyed as many suits as they could, ripping them off the wearers and burning the clothing in the streets.
Although zoot suiters suffered the most violence in the riots, they also suffered hundreds of arrests. Only nine sailors were arrested, all but one were released without penalty. The United States military responded by resolving that Los Angeles be off-limits to military personnel.
In a sense, the Zoot Suit riots cemented the fashion’s popularity as a symbol of cultural pride and a stand against racism. The first Chicano play on Broadway was the Luiz Valdez musical Zoot Suit (1979), made into a film in 1981.
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