Zoot suit
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A zoot suit is a men's suit with high-waisted, wide-legged, tight-cuffed, pegged trousers, and a long coat with wide lapels and wide padded shoulders. It is most notable for its use as a cultural symb
Hispanic man in zoot suit
Man wearing a zoot suit c. 1942
Frank Tellez, a Mexican American man, models a zoot suit while arrested during the Zoot Suit Riots (1943).
Mexican American men were stripped of their zoot suits by U.S. servicemen in the Zoot Suit Riots. Despite being attacked, many were also arrested.
Hipster (1940s subculture)
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The terms hipster or hepcat, as used in the 1940s, referred to aficionados of jump blues and jazz, in particular bebop, which became popular in the early 1940s and later into the 1950s being associate
Zoot suit
…tight-cuffed, pegged trousers, and a long coat with wide lapels and wide padded shoulders. It is most notable for its use as a cultural symbol among the Hepcat and Pachuco subcultures. Originating among African Americans, it later became popular with Mexican, Filipino, Italian, and Japanese Americans in the…
Thelonious Monk, Howard McGhee, Roy Eldridge, and Teddy Hill, in front of Minton's Playhouse in New York City, wearing zoot suits