Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
A zoot suit (occasionally spelled zuit suit [1]) is a men's suit with high-waisted, wide-legged, tight-cuffed, pegged trousers, and a long coat with wide lapels and wide padded shoulders. It is most notable for its use as a cultural symbol among the Hepcat and Pachuco subcultures.
The zoot suit typically included bright-colored fabric, long suit coats that often reached the knees, wide shoulders, and gathered or tapered pants. The arm and ankle areas were often much tighter than the rest of the fabric, giving the whole look a triangular shape.
During the 1930s and 1940s, the Chicano look known as pachuco appeared and was associated with the zoot suit and hep cat subcultures. [13] The press at the time accused the pachucos in the U.S. of gang membership, petty criminality, and a lack of patriotism during World War II leading to the Zoot Suit Riots . [ 14 ]
'Zoot Suit' is by far the most influential play by a Chicano writer, and the only one to reach Broadway. It changed Los Angeles' historical memory and the American theater forever
The L.A. County Board of Supervisors condemns the Zoot Suit Riots that targeted Latino, African American and Filipino youths 80 years ago.
The Los Angeles City Council formally apologized for its role in the racist and brutal attacks on young Latino, Filipino and Black Angelenos.
The zoot suit was the most salient identifying feature of "pachuquismo", a Mexican American youth subculture. This subculture emerged during a time of increased racism and the fight for Mexican American rights and equality within American society. Both men and women wore the fingertip coats, but for women it became more than just a style.
The entry of the United States into World War II was heralded by new legislation making zoot suits illegal due to the extra cloth required. In June 1943, white American servicemen stationed in Los Angeles rampaged through Mexican American neighborhoods, attacking young people wearing the suits and often stripping them, in what has become known ...