USA HISTORY

Detailed explanation-1: -The youth of Harlem, who often felt under-represented and unnoticed, took to both music and fashion as a form of rebellion and expression-wearing a zoot suit was seen as a declaration of pride in one’s self and one’s culture, and an embrace of the freedom found in self-expression.

Detailed explanation-2: -The zoot suit originated in an African American comedy show in the 1930s and was popularized by jazz singers. Cab Calloway called them “totally and truly American". The suits were worn mainly by men of color, including a young Malcolm X.

Detailed explanation-3: -The zoot suit originated in Harlem, New York in the late 1930s and was adapted from the London “drape” suit, a design popularized by the Duke of Windsor, Edward VIII, earlier in the decade.

Detailed explanation-4: -Zoot Suit Riots, a series of conflicts that occurred in June 1943 in Los Angeles between U.S. servicemen and Mexican American youths, the latter of whom wore outfits called zoot suits. The zoot suit consisted of a broad-shouldered drape jacket, balloon-leg trousers, and, sometimes, a flamboyant hat.

Detailed explanation-5: -These were ad hoc outfits, regular suits bought two sizes too large and then creatively tailored to dandyish effect. To some men, the suit’s ostentatiousness was a way of refusing to be ignored. The garment had “profound political meaning, ” wrote Ralph Ellison, author of Invisible Man.