The Glidden Homestead contains many articles of clothing in its archive that have been obtained for its collection. Many of them have been owned by people in the Glidden family or were closely related. This series will be looking at these clothing articles.
This piece is a men’s double breasted tailcoat in fair condition that had been dated between the 1920’s and 1940’s. Some details include a notch lapel, three buttons in the front, and its machine stitching. Labels inside the coat indicate it was a piece from a line of suits called Society Brand Clothes manufactured by Alfred Decker & Cohn, a fashion house headquartered in Chicago and has been acknowledged as one of the largest clothing houses in the United States by the Chicago Daily Tribune in 1934. This coat would be considered high-fashion formal wear for evening events such as ceremonies and celebrations. Tailcoats would often be paired with matching trousers and perhaps a white dress shirt with a bow tie.
Tailcoats are very fine formal wear but have been outdated in fashion for many years and is considered a novelty if worn today. Do you think a tailcoat would ever have a chance of re-entering the modern fashion world? Could you see yourself or somebody you know wearing this to your next formal event? – Corbin Tyson
glidden homestead 