American Men and Identity: Contemporary African‐American and Latino Style

Abstract

African-American and Latino men adorn and wear clothing as an integral part of personal iden- tity. Their styles, fashions, and popular music have impacted American culture during both the twentieth and twenty-first centuries. Ironically, there is little written about these two groups as innovators of male fashion style responsible for such looks as zoot suits, mambo, rhythm and blues (RB therefore, they cannot be categorized into one neat label. Confirming these same notions of individuality, Helen Bradley Foster contends that while the clothing of American blacks has traditionally been clustered into one style, it possesses many unique looks and qualities that reflect the dichotomy between American and African. She also argues that while African Americans have traditionally the prevailing cultural dress of each period, their style often sets them apart (Foster 16). She notes that American fashions came from Europe until the 1950s; however, black styles began to inspire the fashions of white American dress as well. Many items from both Latino and black style have been adopted as mass fashion, including sneakers that minority athletes have worn first, doo rags popular by African Americans and Latinos during the late 1960s, Yamamoto Kansai sweaters (also known as Bill Cosby sweaters), and hip-hop and reggaeton apparel (Foster 16). However, it is the zoot suit that launches the associations of minority men to fashion in the United States. Suits and Pachucos In the early 1940s, African-American and Mexican-American youths adopted the zoot suit, a fashion connected with the swing jazz craze and interpreted through such dances as the Lindy hop, swing, and jitterbug in halls and clubs across the United States (Alvarez 303; Pagan 466-68; Tortora and Eubank 415). Besides its connection with music, this dandified suit was a statement of defiance by a generation of young men negotiating their place in society. As noted in Street Style: From Sidewalk to Catwalk, the zoot suit, with its lavish fabrics (e.g., sharkskin) and accessories was the vehicle for minority youths to advertise, I've got it made (Polhemus 17; Zoot Suit Riots). The zoot suit is an extreme version of the 1930s and 1940s English drape suit (Figure 1) and the sack suit for men (Candelaria 265; FarrellBeck and Parsons 103; Pickens 339; Tortora and Eubank 465). 1 It consists of a long, almost kneelength single- or double-breasted coat with wide shoulders and lapels as well as fingertip-length sleeves. The trousers are very baggy, with reat (exaggerated) pleats, fitting high on the waist, tapering to extremely narrow cuffs and held in place with suspenders. The zoot suit attire is accessorized with a wide-brimmed pancake or porkpie hat, a necktie or bow tie, a very long watch chain, and thick-soled shoes (Escobar 897-98; Webb 231-33, 235-36). …