Thread: A couple questions about 'The Roaring 20s'

This is kind of a three part post, I have to explain a few things to get to my point.

1. Has anyone seen the HBO show Boardwalk Empire? It's a great show, season 2 is coming out soon. It's about Atlantic City during prohibition and features some great historical gangsters such as Lucky Luciano, Al Capone, Arnold Rothstein, and quite a few others.

2. I know it features mostly gangsters but I love the way the characters act towards eachother. I can't be sure the way the show portrays the lifestyle in the 20s is true, but I really enjoy seeing that even gangsters and hookers are respectful, polite, well spoken, and can read. It's certainly not like that today.

3. The way they dress is awesome. I have been a big fan of cufflinks lately, I just like the old-style class. In this show, they wear tunic shirts, removable collars, collar pins, vests, etc. Even the "poor" gentlemen in the show wear suits classier than those you would find in a department store today.

That being said... I am wondering if any of you gentlemen know of somewhere than I can buy this "old-style" clothing. I've found a few places that sell the tunic shirts and collars, but that's about it. I'd like to give it a shot because I like the style... I just feel it may not look as great in a modern world, I'm sure I'd look grossly out of place if I were to wear this stuff to work. I'm thinking more along the lines of special occasions or events.

To those who may be more familiar with this time in history... is any of the "Hollywood" portrayal of the early 1900s even true? I'd imagine there was much more hardship and less education than they care to show but it seems like it was a great time in our history (excluding, of course, a few factors such as civil rights, the depression, etc.).

if you wanna dress that way go for it!!! I almost always have my pants cuffed and lots of pomade in my hair looking like I just walked off the set of the outsiders or cry baby. People will ask questions every now and then but no worries. Best place to look for clothing like that is vintage clothing stores, and clothing patterns. You can always have it made or take up sewing and make it.

Check out the Art of Manliness. Its got some good articles and look at the links down at the bottom. I believe there may be one called the well dressed gentlemen, it's a blog if I'm not mistaken and the guys there should be able to help. But I'm with you I wish more people wore suits today.

Back in those days most folks were really poor and had very little. Wages were low and benefits non exsistant and there were no social safety nets. You either made it on your own depended on family or starved. Medical Science was primitive. Yes, folks dressed better and acted more civil towards each other than now and were generally better educated (with less years of education than now) and smarter-street smarts that is.

Don't be enamored with Hollywood treatment. It was a tough time.

Yeah I can't imagine what it was like to live in the time but it's very interesting to me. I'm sad that a lot of the traditions and culture haven't made it to 2011 although there are obvious benefits to living nearly 100 years later

+1 to what TBS said. I was talking to an old fellow in Newark, NJ twenty some years ago. I was commenting on the fact that all of the apts in old buildings had very little closet space. He told me that in the '20s and '30s, when those buildings were built, people didn't have large wardrobes. A man might have one good suit and a pair of shoes. Average people couldn't afford more. If my depression era father and mother saw me buying more than one razor and shaving brush they would be shaking their heads at the "waste" of money.