Harlem Renaissance vs Zoot Suit

ハーレム・ルネサンス / ズートスーツ

Harlem Renaissance comes from Black Arts Movement and Zoot Suit from Subculture Style. Both are read here as style. They are reached for with some of the same intent, which is where they get confused.

Harlem Renaissance

Harlem Renaissance — 『The New Negro』初版 1925 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domainHarlem Renaissance — アーロン・ダグラスの壁画習作 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domainHarlem Renaissance — 『サーヴェイ・グラフィック』ハーレム特集号 1925 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

A cultural movement that rebuilt Black self-representation and modernity in the words and images of Black people themselves, working through literature, music, theater, publishing and art.

Zoot Suit

Zoot Suit — ズートスーツを着た青年 1943 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domainZoot Suit — ズートスーターたち 1943 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domainZoot Suit — ズートスーツ暴動 1943 — Wikimedia Commons / Public domain

The earliest street style: suits with wildly exaggerated shoulders and pegged trousers, by which Black and Mexican-American youth asserted their existence in a discriminatory society.

Harlem RenaissanceZoot Suit
Era1920s–1930s1930s–1940s
FamilyBlack Arts MovementSubculture Style
KindStyleStyle
CuesBlack self-representation / The jazz age / Magazines and publishing / Modern figuresExaggerated shoulders / Knee-length jackets / Pegged wide trousers / Long watch chains
Best used forMagazines and books presenting Black writers and performers in their own terms. · Programs and covers for events linking music and literature around the human figure.Tailoring a garment whose exaggerated proportion is itself the statement · Clothes for dancing whose outline lines up when a group stands together
TypeLetterspaced light capitals for headings, quiet settings for text meant to be read.No lettering, the chain and the tilt of the hat do the signalling
CompositionCut figures into flat silhouettes and run images at the text column width.Wide shoulders, jacket to the knee, trousers pegged hard at the ankle
MaterialPrints and drawn illustration, few inks, the paper doing the shadow work.Generous heavy worsted cut in one light color throughout
CautionBorrowing it as jazz age decoration drops the point, which was Black people representing themselves, and leaves a period flavored ornament.Toning down the shoulder and the peg removes the tension in the proportion and leaves an oversized vintage suit. Do not use it as costume, since it carries a history of racism and riots.

Put these two together

Black Arts Movement ／ Subculture Style

IndexStyle