Zoot Suit

Click on an image to enlarge

Mick Tighe wearing his zoot suit top on Hoy pier in 1974
Kathy Tighe wearing Mick’s ‘Zoot’ suit
Kathy (in ‘Zoot’ suit) and Suki
Description
Green nylon over shirt with zippered pocket on chest and zipped neck. Drawstring at hem. Trousers with drawstring waist and ankles.
Inscription description
Acquisition Method:
Donated by Mick Tighe
Number of Objects:
2
Related Items:
Provenance:
The Collins Dictionary describes a Zoot Suit as:”(slang) a man’s suit consisting of baggy trousers with very tapered bottoms and a long jacket with wide padded shoulders” The outfit was popular with Latino American youths in the 1940’s when the Zoot Suit Riots took place between American Servicemen in Los Angeles and the ‘suit’ wearing Latinos some of whom had been convicted of the Sleepy Lagoon Murder in 1942. Our Zoot Suit has a rather different story having been made by Chinese tailors in Singapore in 1969 from ex-army parachutes. Mick Tighe was a young Royal Marine Commando based out there at the time and had this one made, like just about every other marine at the time. They were used mainly for sleeping in, like a pair of pyjamas, as the ‘silk’ from which they are made felt cool in those tropical climates. Not sure why the marines, or the Chinese makers, named them after the American version. The bottoms are a bit’zoot suit-ish’ but the top isn’t. A nice bit of history whatever.
Object Production
Production Place:
Materials:
parachute silk
Maker:
Colour:
green
Dimensions:
top 72(l) x 70(w) cms
Object Condition:
broken zips
Condition Date Check:
05/11/2010
Administration
Accession Number:
862.2010.1(a-b)
Creator:
Hermione Cooper
Accession Date:
05/11/2010
ID:
1
Category:
Location
Location:
Bohuntin
Current Location
Rules:
Spectrum : UK Museum documentation standard, V.3.1 2007