Beatle fashions.

[voggmo]

I know the suit idea came from Brian Epstein, but where d'ya suppose he got it from? 50's bands like the Coasters & others who wore suits?

The boots & hair came from Germany.

I deliberately labeled this openly so different eras could be covered if anyone likes. Mainly I was curious about the suit thing.

 

[ITL]

In The Beatles Anthology, McCartney said that when they got back from Hamburg one time, they felt out of place as all the other bands were in suits and they were still in leather, so it was time for a change. Apparently the other bands were copying the be-suited look that The Shadows had at the time.

 

[Holdfast]

Not a particular Beatles fan, but I do know a little about fashion.

The early collarless suits are of a lineage with Pierre Cardin's suits of the early 1960s, though the Beatles versions were done by a London tailor. Looking back further, they're essentially more stylised versions of Edwardian era suits. The mod style of pairing them with Chelsea boots is very much a London style of the times, though again throws back to the use of button boots and similar styles of the Edwardian era.

The Beatles fashions are seminal enough that it's difficult to tease out cause and effect on styles at the time though.

 

[voggmo]

Nice post ITL.