1940s: The Zoot Suit Riots
Zoot suits were a powerful symbol of social nonconformity in the late 1930s and early 1940s, with its racial and social tensions culminating the in 1943 Zoot Suit Riots. Created from dance hall and jazz fashion, these suits quickly evolved from a fashion trend to a "uniform of resistance" (O'Shaughnessy, 2017) against the dominator culture of affluent, white, suit-and-tie culture and the all-American values this represented: to be obedient, successful, and accepted. Implicitly, the very structure of these zoot suits – loose and "unprofessional" – flipped the societal view of how a man should look and dress upside down, resisting against both how a suit should look and be made as well as the traditional belief of how masculine success can be achieved. Through a single suit style, zoot suit wearers protested against racial and gender norms, challenging the perception of alternative masculinity and cultural pride.
