Zoot Suit Girls, 1940s
Girls on the West Coast adopted and adapted zoot suits, made popular by working-class men in cities across the United States in the 1940s. During an era of rationing cloth, young Latinas donned loose pants and oversized jackets, challenging gendered expectations and authority.
During World War II, women and girls were asked to support the war efforts by conserving cloth. Zoot suit girls bucked the norm and used more fabric.
This is a zoot suit, not a business suit!
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The girls wore their own style of dress, consisting of a long finger-tip length coat or letterman's sweater, draped slacks or a short, full skirt above or just to their brown knees....They usually made up heavily with mascara and lipstick, and the favorite hairstyle was a high pompadour with flowers and earrings.
