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 symbol among the Hepcat and Pachuco subcultures. Originating among African Americans it would later become popular with Mexican, Filipino, Italian, and Japanese Americans in the 1940s.
African American teenagers in zoot suits, 1942
Trumpeter from Lionel Hampton's band wearing a zoot suit
Cab Calloway wears a white zoot suit in a lobby card for the 1943 musical film Stormy Weather.
Malcolm X wearing a zoot suit (1940)
A suit, lounge suit, or business suit is a set of clothes comprising a suit jacket and trousers of identical textiles generally worn with a collared dress shirt, necktie, and dress shoes. A skirt suit is similar, but with a matching skirt instead of trousers. It is currently considered semi-formal wear or business wear in contemporary Western dress codes, however when the suit was originally developed it was considered an informal or more casual option compared to the prevailing clothing standards of aristocrats and businessmen. The lounge suit originated in 19th-century Britain as sportswear and British country clothing, which is why it was seen as more casual than citywear at that time, with the roots of the suit coming from early modern Western Europe formal court or military clothes. After replacing the black frock coat in the early 20th century as regular daywear, a sober one-coloured suit became known as a lounge suit.
Actor Matt Smith wearing a traditional English suit.
Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India, and Vladimir Putin, President of Russia, in business suits. Note that Modi is wearing a Jodhpuri with Mandarin collar, commonplace in India, while Putin's jacket features notch lapels, more common in the Western world.
U.S. Ambassador to the U.N Samantha Power and Israeli President Reuven Rivlin wearing business wear suits as per their gender, 2016
A man dressed in a three-piece suit and bowler hat.