9 - Zoot Suits (1940s)
Adam teaches Erin a thing or two about some of the best of men's fashion and the hippest of slang. However, there's so much more than padded shoulders, feathered caps, and slick watch chains to the history of Zoot Suits.
Trigger warning: racialized violence, as it pertains to the infamous LA Zoot Suit Riots of 1943.
Select Sources:
- The legendary Cab Calloway performing in a zoot suit
- LA Times article on the history of zoot suits, and the legacy of the zoot suit riots
- The Forgotten History of Japanese American Zoot Suiters (Nikkei Chicago)
- El Pachuco in LA (Where you can buy a Zoot Suit!)
- Janet Jackson's "Alright" music video
- Lena Waithe and Kerby Jean-Raymond at the Met Gala in zoot suits
