Suit

Department Store Lord & Taylor American

1950

Not on view

The gray flannel suit, like this one dated to 1950, became an icon of the post-World War II era focus on work and upward mobility, as men returning from war replaced their military uniforms with a corporate one. Sloan Wilson's 1955 novel, "The Man in the Gray Flannel Suit," and the 1956 film of the same name portrayed this development as a constrictive, potentially destructive influence. The gray flannel suit became even more popular after the book's publication and publisher Simon and Schuster created life-size cardboard cutouts of the silhouetted man on the book's cover and distributed them to stores.

Artwork Details

Object Information

Overview

Signatures, Inscriptions, and Markings

Title: Suit
Department Store: Lord & Taylor (American, founded 1826)
Date: 1950
Culture: American
Medium: wool
Credit Line: Brooklyn Museum Costume Collection at The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Gift of the Brooklyn Museum, 2009; Gift of Robert Riley, 1964
Object Number: 2009.300.877a, b
Curatorial Department: The Costume Institute

More Artwork

By Lord & Taylor

In the same medium

From the same time and place

Evening dress, Lord & Taylor American, silk, linen, American — Evening dress
Department Store Lord & Taylor
1900–1902

Gray and Brass, John Sloan American, Oil on canvas, American — Gray and Brass
John Sloan
1907

Suit, wool, gilt metal, British — Suit
British
ca. 1760

Evening clutch, Lord & Taylor American, silk, metal, probably French — Evening clutch
Department Store (attributed) Lord & Taylor
1933–34

Necklace, Meta Overbeck American, Gold, emeralds, Montana sapphires, topazes, enamel, American — Necklace
Meta Overbeck
Louis C. Tiffany
Manufacturer Tiffany & Co.
ca. 1914–15

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