1920s men’s fashion reflected a decade of changing attitudes toward how men dressed. Following World War I, traditional tailoring remained central to the male wardrobe, but the rules surrounding it began to loosen. Suits adopted more relaxed proportions, sportswear gained greater importance, and younger men embraced bolder colors and patterns.
The decade’s expanding leisure culture also influenced style history. From collegiate dress and golf clothes to the eveningwear associated with the Jazz Age, men’s fashion increasingly accommodated a life that extended beyond work and formal occasions.
What Men Wore in the 1920s
Changes in 1920s men’s fashion also reflected the growing reach of ready-to-wear clothing. Mass production and an expanding retail industry made fashionable suits and everyday clothes available to a much broader range of men. Good style was no longer dictated solely by bespoke tailors or the wardrobes of the wealthy.
Department stores and mail-order catalogs helped spread these ideas across the United States. Men far from major fashion centers could see the latest suits, shirts, shoes, and accessories, then purchase versions for themselves. Long before fashion inspiration arrived through a screen, catalogs helped establish a shared vocabulary of American menswear while giving men more choices in how they dressed.
1920s Men’s Suits
The suit remained at the center of 1920s men’s fashion, but its proportions and styling evolved with the decade. Tailoring could be sharp and traditional or more relaxed and youthful, particularly as collegiate style influenced mainstream dress. The well-dressed men of F. Scott Fitzgerald’s world offer a familiar reference point, with suits, polished shoes, fine shirts, and carefully chosen accessories projecting status while leaving room for personality.
Suit Colors & Patterns
Color gave 1920s menswear much of its character. Navy, brown, and gray remained wardrobe standards, while ivory, pale blue, mustard, and olive introduced more variety. Season played its part, with lighter colors and fabrics favored during warmer months and darker shades becoming more prominent in fall and winter.
Wool and tweed jackets reflected the changing proportions of the decade. Natural shoulders, broader lapels, flap pockets, and defined waists shaped many suits, while single- and double-breasted styles offered different approaches to the silhouette. Traditional tailoring remained the foundation, with changes in cut, fabric, color, and pattern giving the familiar suit a distinct 1920s identity.
The Three-Piece Suit
The three-piece suit remained an important part of 1920s menswear, pairing a tailored jacket and trousers with a high-cut waistcoat. Sweater vests offered a more casual alternative, particularly as sports and leisure increasingly influenced everyday dress. Colorful knitted versions became a golf course staple, establishing a connection between golf and preppy menswear that continues today.
Pinstripe Suits & Accessories
Pinstriped suits paired with white shirts and striped ties offered a sharper approach to 1920s dressing. Wide-legged trousers brought volume to the silhouette, while fedoras, polished leather shoes, and occasionally spats completed the look. These accessories carried almost as much weight as the suit itself, giving men another way to distinguish otherwise conventional tailoring.
Black Suits
Black clothing retained strong associations with mourning and formal occasions during the 1920s, making it an important part of traditional funeral attire. For everyday suits, men had considerably more choice. Navy, charcoal gray, brown, and patterned fabrics offered alternatives that suited business and daily life while reflecting the decade’s growing interest in color.
1920s Men’s Shirts
Men’s shirts brought additional color and pattern to 1920s wardrobes. Stripes were popular, while shades of blue, pink, yellow, and other colors offered an alternative to the traditional white shirt. These choices allowed men to introduce personality without departing from the conventions of a suit and tie.
Collars also varied considerably. Men wore pointed and rounded club collars, while detachable collars continued to appear alongside increasingly popular attached styles. Band collars, related to what is now commonly called the mandarin shirt, offered another option, though they were less representative of mainstream 1920s dress than the familiar shirt-and-collar combinations of the period.
High-Waisted Trousers & Oxford Bags
Traditional trousers sat high on the waist, often featuring pleats, cuffs, and a pressed crease running down the leg. Socks were part of the overall look, with solid colors and argyle patterns appearing above leather shoes and sometimes held in place with sock garters.
Trousers could be worn with suspenders or a belt, while silhouettes grew more generous as the decade progressed. The famously wide Oxford bags pushed this trend to its extreme. Emerging from British collegiate style, their exaggerated proportions helped turn fuller trousers into one of the most recognizable menswear developments of the 1920s.
Ties, Pocket Squares & Suit Accessories
Bow ties and neckties gave 1920s men another opportunity to introduce color and pattern. Stripes, polka dots, geometric motifs, and solid colors complemented the increasingly varied shirts of the decade, making neckwear an important part of the overall outfit.
Silk scarves offered a less formal option and could lend an outfit a bohemian influence. Pocket squares, gloves, collar pins, tie pins, and cufflinks provided further finishing touches. Colors ranged from red and green to brown and more subdued shades, allowing accessories to add personality to otherwise traditional tailoring.
1920s Casual Attire
Sweaters & Knitwear
Sweaters became an increasingly important part of 1920s menswear as sports and leisure influenced everyday dress. V-neck pullovers, cardigans, and shawl-collar styles gave men alternatives to the suit jacket, with stripes, geometric patterns, and colors such as red, blue, and yellow bringing a playful quality to knitwear.
Made primarily from wool or cotton, sweaters were worn over collared shirts and paired with high-waisted trousers. The combination captured a more casual side of the decade, particularly among college students and men dressing for weekends, sporting events, and other leisure pursuits.
Casual Shirts
Away from more formal dress shirts, 1920s men had increasingly practical options for sports and leisure. Cotton and linen shirts appeared in white, blue, tan, and other versatile colors, with softer collars lending themselves to more casual outfits. Open-neck styles also reflected the decade’s growing appetite for less formal dress.
These shirts were easily paired with sweaters, high-waisted trousers, or sporting clothes, reflecting how leisurewear was becoming a more established part of the male wardrobe.
Country Jackets
Country jackets brought the practical side of British sporting dress into 1920s menswear. Tweed was a natural choice for the outdoors, appearing in shades of brown, green, gray, and other earthy tones. Leather buttons, patch or slanted pockets, and durable wool fabrics reinforced their connection to hunting and country life.
Their appeal extended beyond outdoor pursuits. Worn with a collared shirt and tailored trousers, a tweed jacket provided a less formal alternative to the matching suit and helped establish the sport coat as an increasingly useful part of a man’s wardrobe.
Plus Fours & Casual Trousers
For sports and casual attire, men frequently turned to knickerbockers and plus fours. Cut below the knee, these abbreviated trousers had a fuller shape and were commonly worn with long socks. Tweed, checks, plaids, and earthy colors reinforced their association with golf and other outdoor pursuits.
Plus fours became particularly associated with fashionable leisure dressing during the decade. Paired with a sweater, collared shirt, or sport jacket, they represented a 1920s approach to casual menswear at a time when men were gaining more options beyond the conventional suit.
White Pants
White trousers became a familiar sight in 1920s summer and leisure dressing. Previously associated strongly with affluent resort and sporting wardrobes, light-colored trousers reached a broader audience as ready-to-wear clothing expanded.
Men paired them with blazers, knitwear, and casual shirts for warm-weather occasions, helping establish a summer menswear formula that continued into the 1930s and beyond.
Sleeve Garters
Sleeve garters were a practical accessory in 1920s menswear. Worn around the upper arm, they helped keep shirt sleeves at the desired length at a time when ready-made shirts did not always provide a precise fit. Elastic and fabric versions could remain concealed beneath a jacket or become visible when a man removed his coat.
Their function offers a small but telling glimpse at everyday dress during the period. Before modern sizing became more standardized, accessories often helped men adjust clothing to achieve a better fit.
1920s Men’s Hats
1920s hats remained an essential part of men’s dress, with different styles suited to work, leisure, formal occasions, and the season. Felt fedoras and homburgs accompanied suits, while flat caps had strong associations with casual and sporting clothes. Top hats remained appropriate for formal dress.
During warmer months, straw boaters and Panama hats provided lighter alternatives, often finished with contrasting hatbands. Twenties hairstyles worked naturally with these styles, with short hair typically worn neatly parted or slicked back beneath a hat.
1920s Men’s Clothing Trends
Men’s fashion of the 1920s evolved without abandoning the conventions that had defined earlier decades. Suits, collared shirts, ties, and hats remained everyday standards, but changing proportions, brighter colors, sportswear, and a growing leisure wardrobe gave familiar clothes a new character.
The decade’s most lasting changes often came through these adjustments. Wider trousers, colorful knitwear, softer casual clothes, and sporting influences expanded how men could dress while keeping traditional tailoring at the center of the wardrobe.
Detachable Shirt Collars
Detachable collars remained part of men’s shirting during the 1920s, allowing the collar to be changed or laundered separately from the shirt. Stiff white versions were associated with more formal dress, while softer collars increasingly suited everyday wear.
Many detachable collars were heavily starched to maintain their shape, producing the firm, precise appearance associated with early twentieth-century menswear. Their continued use also reflected an older approach to dressing that gradually gave way to the convenience of attached collars.
The Rise of Relaxed Dressing
Sportswear became increasingly important to men’s fashion during the 1920s. Golf, tennis, boating, and other leisure pursuits gave men a reason to adopt sweaters, pleated trousers, knickerbockers, and softer shirts outside the conventions of business dress.
This influence gradually extended beyond the playing field. Clothes originally associated with sport became acceptable for weekends and other informal settings, helping establish a distinct casual wardrobe alongside the suits that continued to dominate professional and formal life.
Art Deco & Men’s Fashion
The Art Deco movement provided a wider visual backdrop for the 1920s, with its fascination with geometry and decorative pattern finding parallels in menswear. Pinstripes, checks, and geometric motifs brought visual interest to suits, shirts, ties, and knitwear, while silk and velvet added richness to evening dress.
Pocket squares, felt and straw hats, and two-tone shoes gave men further opportunities to personalize their clothes. The decade expanded the possibilities of the male wardrobe, as tailoring remained essential alongside sportswear, knitwear, wider trousers, brighter colors, and a growing distinction between work and leisure dress.
Collarless Vests
The collarless vest offered a simple variation on the traditional three-piece suit. Typically cut with a V-shaped opening and a row of contrasting or matching buttons, it could coordinate with a suit or be worn separately with trousers and a collared shirt.
Fabric choices followed the season, with lighter linen and cotton suited to warmer weather and wool providing greater weight during colder months. Worn without a jacket, the vest also gave men a practical way to relax traditional tailoring while maintaining a dressed appearance.
1920s Formal Wear
Men’s formal wear in the 1920s remained governed by established dress codes. Morning coats and striped trousers served daytime occasions, while tailcoats and dinner jackets defined evening dress. Black and white remained central to these formal wardrobes, creating a clear distinction from the growing color and pattern seen elsewhere in menswear.
Hollywood stars such as Douglas Fairbanks and Rudolph Valentino gave these traditions a new audience. Their carefully dressed screen appearances helped turn formal wear into part of the emerging culture of celebrity style, showing men far beyond Hollywood how evening clothes could convey glamour and sophistication.
Morning & Evening Dress
Morning dress remained one of the most formal choices for daytime occasions. The morning coat featured a cutaway front extending into tails at the back and was typically worn with a waistcoat, striped trousers, and a formal shirt and tie. Accessories such as pocket watches, gloves, and spats could complete the outfit.
For formal evenings, men turned to tailcoats worn with white shirts, waistcoats, and bow ties, while the dinner jacket provided another increasingly established option. Oxfords and highly polished or patent leather shoes completed the period’s formal wardrobe, with the choice depending on the occasion and level of formality.
Special Occasion Dressing
Suits worn for special occasions could feature broader lapels, coordinating waistcoats, and patterned neckties that added color to otherwise traditional tailoring. The finishing details were equally important, with felt hats, pocket watches, braces, gloves, and occasionally spats completing the outfit.
Canes and walking sticks also appeared with more formal dress, reflecting a period when accessories played a prominent role in defining how a man presented himself for the occasion.
Workwear & Social Class
Class and occupation shaped how American men dressed during the 1920s. Suits, ties, and hats were standard for many office and professional workers, with wool dominating tailoring and lighter fabrics becoming useful during warmer months.
Manual labor required different clothes. Denim, sturdy cotton trousers, work shirts, and overalls prioritized durability and freedom of movement. These wardrobes reflected practical differences in daily life, though the boundaries were not absolute. Men could move between work clothes, everyday suits, and leisurewear depending on occupation, income, and occasion.
What Working Men Wore
Men’s workwear in the 1920s depended heavily on occupation. Factory, farm, and manual workers relied on durable cotton shirts, denim or twill trousers, overalls, and jackets with practical patch pockets. Hard-wearing fabrics and freedom of movement mattered more than decorative details.
Office workers followed a different dress code, typically wearing suits with collared shirts and ties. Knit ties offered a less formal alternative to silk, while fedoras and other felt hats accompanied men on the commute. Together, these wardrobes show how the meaning of dressing for work varied considerably according to profession.
Department Stores & Ready-to-Wear Fashion
Department stores and mail-order retailers helped spread 1920s men’s fashion well beyond major cities. Sears, Roebuck and Montgomery Ward offered suits, shirts, shoes, hats, and accessories through widely distributed catalogs, giving men across the country access to current styles at different price points.
Established menswear companies such as Brooks Brothers and Jos. A. Bank represented the country’s tailoring tradition, while department stores and ready-to-wear manufacturers served an expanding mass market. Newspapers and magazines further circulated images of fashionable men, helping turn clothing trends once associated with particular cities or social circles into recognizable styles across the country.
1920s Men’s Style Icons
British Fashion & the Prince of Wales
British style exerted a strong influence on American menswear during the 1920s, bringing a more dandyish spirit to linen, tweed, and wool tailoring. Colorful ties, bow ties, pocket squares, and sporting clothes further reflected an American fascination with British dress.
At the center of that fascination was Edward VIII, then the Prince of Wales, who emerged as one of the era’s most closely watched male style figures. His tailor, Frederick Scholte, developed the softer “London cut” associated with the prince, characterized by a fuller chest, natural-looking shoulders, and a shaped waist. Wealthy American clients reportedly sought versions of the Prince of Wales’s clothes from Scholte, illustrating how closely his wardrobe was followed across the Atlantic.
The prince’s 1920s visits to North America gave Americans an opportunity to see this style firsthand. His public appearances helped fuel interest in British tailoring and sporting dress, from checked suits and plus fours to the relaxed proportions that would become increasingly influential in menswear.
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s Style
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s legacy is inseparable from the Jazz Age he chronicled, and his own wardrobe reflected the fashionable world captured in his writing. Fitzgerald wore finely tailored tweed suits with ascots or cravats, two-tone shoes, and spats, adding accessories such as fedoras and walking sticks to complete the look.
His clothes reinforced the image of the sophisticated 1920s man familiar from novels such as The Great Gatsby. Fitzgerald ultimately became both an observer and a participant in the style culture of the decade, making his personal wardrobe another window into the world he documented.
1920s Men’s Fashion in Pop Culture
1920s men’s fashion continues to shape how the decade is portrayed on screen. Series such as Boardwalk Empire and Peaky Blinders, which moves from the post-World War I years into the 1920s, draw heavily on period tailoring, overcoats, waistcoats, flat caps, and other recognizable elements of men’s dress.
Costume designers often consult surviving garments, photographs, and vintage sewing patterns to recreate period silhouettes and construction. These productions have also introduced 1920s style to new audiences, with three-piece suits, fuller trousers, and flat caps becoming visual shorthand for the era.
The Great Gatsby
F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby has reached the screen multiple times, with each adaptation interpreting 1920s men’s fashion through a different lens. The 1974 film, directed by Jack Clayton and starring Robert Redford as Jay Gatsby, favors wide lapels, double-breasted jackets, and suits in browns, tans, grays, and other muted shades. Pocket squares, hats, and ties complete a wardrobe rooted in traditional tailoring.
The film’s measured approach differs sharply from Baz Luhrmann’s flashier 2013 interpretation, where Leonardo DiCaprio’s Gatsby inhabits a brighter world of cream suits, colorful shirts, patterned ties, and conspicuous luxury. Together, the adaptations show how 1920s menswear can support two visions of Fitzgerald’s world, one grounded in period tailoring and the other amplifying the decade’s reputation for Jazz Age excess.
Boardwalk Empire Style
Boardwalk Empire uses 1920s menswear to establish the wealth and status of Prohibition-era Atlantic City. As Nucky Thompson, Steve Buscemi wears three-piece and double-breasted suits, patterned shirts, colorful ties, overcoats, and hats that make clothing an important part of the character’s public image.
The production drew on vintage patterns and original period garments to recreate the proportions and details of 1920s tailoring. Nucky’s wardrobe is particularly memorable because it embraces the decade’s appetite for color and pattern, showing that period menswear extended well beyond the gray and brown suits often associated with historical dramas.
Peaky Blinders Outfits
Peaky Blinders brought a stylized vision of post-World War I British menswear to a modern audience. At the center is Thomas Shelby, played by Cillian Murphy, whose three-piece suits, long overcoats, flat caps, pocket watches, and severe grooming created one of television’s most recognizable menswear identities.
The costumes draw from working-class and tailored dress of the period while sharpening the silhouettes for the screen. That combination of historical reference and modern styling helped turn the Shelby look into a fashion phenomenon far beyond the series itself.
The show’s influence is especially apparent in the popularity of the Peaky Blinders haircut. Its short sides and longer top became closely associated with Thomas Shelby, translating a period-inspired look into a contemporary men’s grooming trend.
Downton Abbey Style
The third season of Downton Abbey moves the series firmly into the 1920s, using its country-house setting to show the different dress codes that still governed men’s wardrobes. Three-piece suits and formal eveningwear appear alongside country tweeds, sporting clothes, and the uniforms worn by the household staff.
The series is particularly useful for understanding how clothing changed according to class, occupation, and occasion. Its men rarely dressed according to a single idea of 1920s style. Instead, their wardrobes show a period negotiating long-established rules of dress alongside the more relaxed attitudes that were beginning to reshape menswear.
How to Wear 1920s Style Today
1920s men’s fashion expanded the possibilities of a wardrobe still grounded in tailoring. Three-piece and double-breasted suits remained important, but wider trousers, colorful knitwear, sporting clothes, and more casual combinations reflected changing ideas about how men dressed for work and leisure.
Accessories completed the period look. Pocket watches, ties, collar pins, and pocket squares introduced personal detail, while fedoras and flat caps served different occasions and social settings. Brogues, Oxfords, and two-tone shoes provided equally varied footwear choices. Together, these elements created a menswear vocabulary that remains immediately recognizable as 1920s style.
Wearing 1920s style today works best when the decade serves as inspiration instead of a complete costume. Start with high-waisted trousers, a textured tweed jacket, a knitted vest, or a fuller-cut suit, then combine it with pieces already in a modern wardrobe.
Accessories can carry the reference further. A patterned tie, pocket square, brogues, or flat cap can introduce a period influence without recreating a head-to-toe 1920s outfit. The goal is to borrow the decade’s attention to proportion, fabric, and detail while keeping the overall look grounded in contemporary menswear.
The Legacy of 1920s Men’s Fashion
From Douglas Fairbanks on screen in the 1920s to Steve Buscemi’s Nucky Thompson in Boardwalk Empire, the decade has left menswear with an enduring visual vocabulary. Three-piece suits, high-waisted trousers, patterned ties, knitwear, tweed, and carefully chosen accessories continue to inform how designers and men revisit the period.
The strongest 1920s references today rarely require recreating the decade from head to toe. A fuller trouser, vintage pocket square, tweed jacket, or pair of two-tone shoes can bring its character into a contemporary wardrobe. More than a century later, the appeal lies in the details and in a period when men were discovering that dressing well could leave considerably more room for personality.
