Prohibition Hats NZ Blog: The Newsboy: Creating the Gatsby look

Monday 10 June 2013

Baz Luhrmann’s “The Great Gatsby,” premiered in New Zealand on the 6th June and you’re probably thinking to yourself, “That Gatsby was a stylish fellow! I wish people still dressed like that.”

Well, the good news is the style is having a renaissance in the northern hemisphere - so why not here as well?

The Prohibition era style

The roaring 1920s was a decadent era for Society's elite. They held opulent parties for their peers; where indulgence reigned supreme and people wanted for nothing. Basking in the rays of a pre-Depression America: the Land of the Free where the streets where paved with gold.

On the working side of the class divide, people lived a different existence. One of varying degrees of hardship (to become decidedly harder when the Depression hit).

What brought the classes together was society's shared sense of style; of dressing for the occasion.

Dress like Jay Gatsby

The long reach of the British Empire had withered and with it, the extent of her influence. From her new found freedom, the USA found a personality that would forever more be synonymous with the Prohibition era.

1920s America borrowed much of its style of dress from Britain (due in part to the mass immigration of the time) but that's where the similarities ended.

A gentlemen always wore a suit - befitting the occasion for which it was to be worn. Tailoring was impeccable; the concept of 'off-the-rack' was yet to be invented. Colour, layering and flamboyance was in.

The hat maketh the man

Whether working class or social elite, a man would not be seen outdoors without a hat.

Every outdoor pursuit was an occasion to Don a different outfit and with it, the appropriate head wear.

It was during this period that classic hats like the cheese cutter and modern versions of the fedora really came into their own. (The short brim trilby wouldn't appear for another four decades.)

During this time, the golf ivy came into vogue, along with the boater and of course, the Newsboy (or Gatsby).

You need Gatsby's millions to dress like him!

Finding the full set up may be a bit tricky for your average Kiwi man but there are a few places in the US of A that do specialise. But the prices are not for the faint hearted!

Throw on one $698 jacket, a pair of $598 shoes, some $298 trousers and a single $98.50 tie and you, too, can be Jay Gatsby – for just under $1,700 US old sport! (That's closer to $2100 to us Kiwis.)

1920s era options this side of the world

For most of us, the odd 1920s flourish is sufficient. Just enough to accentuate the outfit and a little bit of that 'head turning' interest I'm always talking about.

Pop online to www.indochino.com for a quality tie ($60), and a decent shirt ($200) and pick up your shoes from Scarpa ($200) and you're already on your way.

And, of course, the hat. Well, now you can satisfy your 1920s urges with a Newsboy hat for under $100.