1 00:00:04,230 --> 00:00:06,950 Speaker 1: Hey, and welcome to the podcast. I'm Josh, and there's Chuck, 2 00:00:07,030 --> 00:00:09,570 Speaker 1: and Jerry's here too, sitting in for Dave. So that 3 00:00:09,630 --> 00:00:12,540 Speaker 1: automatically just converted this to a short stuff, whether you 4 00:00:12,570 --> 00:00:13,760 Speaker 1: like it or not, sucker. 5 00:00:15,580 --> 00:00:16,079 Speaker 2: Converted. 6 00:00:17,020 --> 00:00:21,259 Speaker 1: Very good. And we converted right back into the 70s accidentally, Chuck, 7 00:00:21,300 --> 00:00:24,599 Speaker 1: because we're talking about leisure suits. And there's really no 8 00:00:24,660 --> 00:00:27,920 Speaker 1: other decade that the leisure suit truly existed in. It's 9 00:00:28,680 --> 00:00:30,660 Speaker 1: It's an icon of the 70s. I'm just going to 10 00:00:30,700 --> 00:00:33,080 Speaker 1: come out and say it. Face it. Yeah, I agree. 11 00:00:34,500 --> 00:00:36,440 Speaker 2: And why do we feel the need to be so 12 00:00:36,479 --> 00:00:38,820 Speaker 2: silly in shortstuffs? When did we give ourselves that permission? 13 00:00:39,040 --> 00:00:39,519 Speaker 2: From the get? 14 00:00:40,000 --> 00:00:42,229 Speaker 1: Pretty much from the get-go, yeah. All right. 15 00:00:42,370 --> 00:00:44,150 Speaker 2: They have a different tone, which I enjoy. 16 00:00:45,090 --> 00:00:47,449 Speaker 1: Well, yeah. I mean, you don't want just the same thing. 17 00:00:47,530 --> 00:00:48,430 Speaker 1: That's crazy. 18 00:00:48,650 --> 00:00:51,570 Speaker 2: Yeah, you never hear me going, meep, meep, meep, meep, 19 00:00:51,690 --> 00:00:54,990 Speaker 2: converted on a regular episode. Those are far too serious. 20 00:00:55,450 --> 00:00:58,170 Speaker 1: For sure. They're dead serious. Very dry. All right. 21 00:00:58,310 --> 00:01:00,050 Speaker 2: It also gives us a chance to cover things like 22 00:01:00,110 --> 00:01:05,010 Speaker 2: leisure suits, which, you know, we'll talk about sort of 23 00:01:05,030 --> 00:01:07,490 Speaker 2: the precursors that weren't really leisure suits but may have 24 00:01:07,510 --> 00:01:09,150 Speaker 2: led to them. But the leisure suit that we're really 25 00:01:09,190 --> 00:01:13,479 Speaker 2: talking about, obviously, is the one from the mid-70s, which was, 26 00:01:13,580 --> 00:01:18,380 Speaker 2: you know, the jacket and pants thing with the wide lapels. 27 00:01:18,540 --> 00:01:22,520 Speaker 2: And apparently they came about really in the 70s but 28 00:01:22,620 --> 00:01:25,840 Speaker 2: had a lot of precursors, including the 1960s when hippies 29 00:01:25,880 --> 00:01:29,440 Speaker 2: were like, Yeah, I got to wear a suit sometimes, too, 30 00:01:29,480 --> 00:01:32,720 Speaker 2: but I don't want to be a stuffy. So I 31 00:01:32,740 --> 00:01:33,940 Speaker 2: want something a little more chill. 32 00:01:34,790 --> 00:01:38,670 Speaker 1: Yeah. And so like the guys in the 70s looked 33 00:01:38,770 --> 00:01:41,030 Speaker 1: up from their lines of Coke and said, hey, we 34 00:01:41,069 --> 00:01:44,190 Speaker 1: want to be more chill, too. But we still have jobs, 35 00:01:44,270 --> 00:01:47,240 Speaker 1: unlike those dirty hippies. So we need to have something 36 00:01:47,580 --> 00:01:51,440 Speaker 1: to wear to the office, but also chill. So weirdly, 37 00:01:51,460 --> 00:01:55,419 Speaker 1: a leisure suit is or came out of the concept 38 00:01:55,560 --> 00:02:01,620 Speaker 1: of hippies. Wearing suits at the office. That was where 39 00:02:01,640 --> 00:02:03,340 Speaker 1: the leisure suit was born. Yeah. 40 00:02:04,400 --> 00:02:07,660 Speaker 2: Some early maybe inspirations. Maybe some of these are reaches, 41 00:02:07,780 --> 00:02:11,209 Speaker 2: but there had been in fashion history, some other kind 42 00:02:11,220 --> 00:02:15,450 Speaker 2: of a little more relaxed suits, including in 1800s Britain, 43 00:02:15,470 --> 00:02:18,549 Speaker 2: there was something called a lounge suit that was, you know, 44 00:02:18,570 --> 00:02:22,190 Speaker 2: that was a very stuffy time when everything matched and 45 00:02:22,230 --> 00:02:25,980 Speaker 2: everything was maybe even had like Coattails and things. And 46 00:02:26,020 --> 00:02:28,720 Speaker 2: this was just a little less structured, a little softer. 47 00:02:28,840 --> 00:02:31,100 Speaker 2: And maybe the jacket and the pants didn't match, which was, 48 00:02:31,360 --> 00:02:33,440 Speaker 2: you know, like a very casual look at the time. 49 00:02:33,960 --> 00:02:37,950 Speaker 1: Right. It was the original navy blazer with khakis. 50 00:02:37,990 --> 00:02:38,590 Speaker 2: Yeah, probably. 51 00:02:38,970 --> 00:02:39,809 Speaker 1: Pleated khakis. 52 00:02:40,130 --> 00:02:40,370 Speaker 2: Yeah. 53 00:02:40,389 --> 00:02:42,589 Speaker 1: So, yeah, that one's kind of like, all right, you 54 00:02:42,630 --> 00:02:46,320 Speaker 1: can connect that just in that it was like a less, 55 00:02:46,600 --> 00:02:47,960 Speaker 1: like you said, stuffy suit. 56 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:48,220 Speaker 2: Yeah. 57 00:02:48,910 --> 00:02:51,970 Speaker 1: And connected a little further, starting in the 1920s, the 58 00:02:52,150 --> 00:02:54,489 Speaker 1: Roaring Twenties in the United States, there's something called a 59 00:02:54,550 --> 00:02:57,410 Speaker 1: sack suit. And if you go look for images of this, 60 00:02:57,430 --> 00:02:59,950 Speaker 1: you're going to see basically every type of suit there is, 61 00:03:00,510 --> 00:03:03,870 Speaker 1: all called sack suits. So I'm still not entirely certain 62 00:03:03,950 --> 00:03:07,570 Speaker 1: what a sack suit looks like, but it's a tailored, 63 00:03:08,380 --> 00:03:12,420 Speaker 1: relaxed type of suit, as opposed to, say, something in 64 00:03:12,460 --> 00:03:15,650 Speaker 1: like flannel form. with like sharp lines and stuff like that. 65 00:03:15,690 --> 00:03:18,530 Speaker 1: That's the best I can explain it as. Yeah, agreed. 66 00:03:18,550 --> 00:03:20,530 Speaker 2: It can get confusing when you're looking this stuff up. 67 00:03:21,669 --> 00:03:25,190 Speaker 2: But the leisure suit is noted for polyester and polyester 68 00:03:25,210 --> 00:03:29,130 Speaker 2: didn't come around until the 1940s in the UK and 69 00:03:29,190 --> 00:03:33,850 Speaker 2: didn't really like get big until the 1970s in the 70 00:03:33,910 --> 00:03:38,310 Speaker 2: United States when the leisure suit came around. And maybe 71 00:03:38,330 --> 00:03:41,330 Speaker 2: we should take an early break because we have a 72 00:03:41,330 --> 00:03:44,780 Speaker 2: little bit of a teaser on Why? Well, I don't 73 00:03:44,800 --> 00:03:46,400 Speaker 2: know if it was named this for this reason or not, 74 00:03:46,440 --> 00:03:47,620 Speaker 2: but we'll settle it after this. 75 00:03:48,220 --> 00:04:19,830 Speaker 1: Okay. Okay. All right. 76 00:04:20,570 --> 00:04:23,190 Speaker 2: This is what I don't quite understand. When the first 77 00:04:23,230 --> 00:04:25,170 Speaker 2: sort of leisure suit as we know it came around 78 00:04:25,190 --> 00:04:30,390 Speaker 2: in the 1970s, it was manufactured by Lee Jeans as 79 00:04:30,480 --> 00:04:36,820 Speaker 2: the L-E-E-S-U-R-E suit. And is that where the name came from, 80 00:04:36,860 --> 00:04:40,000 Speaker 2: like the leisure suit? 81 00:04:40,260 --> 00:04:41,440 Speaker 1: My two cents is yes. 82 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:43,540 Speaker 2: Or were they playing on the fact that it was 83 00:04:43,580 --> 00:04:45,940 Speaker 2: a leisure suit and they were like, Lee, sure. 84 00:04:46,940 --> 00:04:49,560 Speaker 1: No, I think that they were they were playing. It 85 00:04:49,730 --> 00:04:52,150 Speaker 1: was a play on leisure, obviously, but I think they 86 00:04:52,170 --> 00:04:55,970 Speaker 1: were the ones who introduced the the word leisure to 87 00:04:56,529 --> 00:04:59,229 Speaker 1: the concept of a relaxed suit. That's my take. 88 00:04:59,610 --> 00:05:02,339 Speaker 2: OK, I found one ad that I think I found 89 00:05:02,420 --> 00:05:04,440 Speaker 2: for the actual Lee Shore suit. 90 00:05:04,740 --> 00:05:05,440 Speaker 1: I saw that, too. 91 00:05:05,720 --> 00:05:08,120 Speaker 2: And, you know, it's everything you think. It's it's like 92 00:05:08,160 --> 00:05:09,500 Speaker 2: a disco stew like guy. 93 00:05:10,580 --> 00:05:14,409 Speaker 1: Yes. It was designed by a guy named Jerry Rosengarten, 94 00:05:14,529 --> 00:05:16,750 Speaker 1: who was designing for Lee at the time. And I 95 00:05:16,790 --> 00:05:21,589 Speaker 1: think I saw it debuted in 1970 on the Lee website, 96 00:05:21,710 --> 00:05:27,430 Speaker 1: which is gold. It debuted in 1972. Okay. But regardless, 97 00:05:27,810 --> 00:05:30,890 Speaker 1: when Lee debuted it, remember, this is something that guys 98 00:05:30,910 --> 00:05:32,909 Speaker 1: were like, we want something relaxed, but that we can 99 00:05:32,950 --> 00:05:35,770 Speaker 1: wear for the office. And moms were like, we want 100 00:05:35,810 --> 00:05:39,330 Speaker 1: something relaxed that is made out of durable fabric for 101 00:05:39,450 --> 00:05:42,990 Speaker 1: my little boy to wear to Easter mass. And that's 102 00:05:43,130 --> 00:05:45,730 Speaker 1: that's pretty much what it was originally released for. It 103 00:05:45,790 --> 00:05:50,360 Speaker 1: was like meant to be like less stuffy business attire 104 00:05:50,480 --> 00:05:52,540 Speaker 1: slash Easter attire. Yeah. 105 00:05:52,860 --> 00:05:55,320 Speaker 2: And if you've never seen one, you know, the pants 106 00:05:55,360 --> 00:05:58,339 Speaker 2: and the jacket match. It was the 70s, so the 107 00:05:58,360 --> 00:06:02,320 Speaker 2: pants were flared, maybe a bell-bottom, maybe just a nice flare. 108 00:06:03,779 --> 00:06:06,690 Speaker 2: The jacket looked sort of like what you might call 109 00:06:06,730 --> 00:06:08,870 Speaker 2: a shacket these days, like a shirt jacket. 110 00:06:09,330 --> 00:06:10,450 Speaker 1: I've never heard that before. 111 00:06:10,710 --> 00:06:12,350 Speaker 2: Oh, you've never heard of a shacket? No. 112 00:06:12,630 --> 00:06:15,130 Speaker 1: I've heard of Shaquille O'Neal, but that's the closest. 113 00:06:15,870 --> 00:06:18,789 Speaker 2: I mean, you've seen shackets. It's like a shirt jacket. 114 00:06:19,470 --> 00:06:20,030 Speaker 1: All right. 115 00:06:20,050 --> 00:06:21,270 Speaker 2: I'll point one out next time we're hanging out. 116 00:06:21,730 --> 00:06:22,330 Speaker 1: Okay, thank you. 117 00:06:22,470 --> 00:06:23,290 Speaker 2: Or maybe I'll buy you one. 118 00:06:24,010 --> 00:06:24,390 Speaker 1: Okay. 119 00:06:24,410 --> 00:06:28,380 Speaker 2: Okay. So they have wide lapels. The leisure suit did. Uh, 120 00:06:29,360 --> 00:06:30,900 Speaker 2: some of them did have a vest. Like if you 121 00:06:30,940 --> 00:06:33,320 Speaker 2: think of the classic Travolta suit that we'll talk about 122 00:06:33,339 --> 00:06:36,659 Speaker 2: at the end, that, that had a matching vest and 123 00:06:36,940 --> 00:06:42,790 Speaker 2: another kind of big, uh, giveaway was, uh, they usually 124 00:06:42,830 --> 00:06:45,730 Speaker 2: had contrasting stitching. So the stitching was a different color 125 00:06:45,750 --> 00:06:47,310 Speaker 2: than the suit, which is a look. 126 00:06:48,190 --> 00:06:51,809 Speaker 1: It is definitely a look. Um, A lot of people, 127 00:06:51,890 --> 00:06:54,030 Speaker 1: I don't want to say a lot, some people would 128 00:06:54,110 --> 00:06:58,549 Speaker 1: actually just go buck wild and wear white patent leather 129 00:06:58,589 --> 00:07:01,589 Speaker 1: shoes with them. You can see there's plenty of pictures 130 00:07:01,630 --> 00:07:04,930 Speaker 1: from the 1970s, people standing in front of their Malibu 131 00:07:04,990 --> 00:07:08,919 Speaker 1: proudly wearing a leisure suit with like white patent leather shoes. 132 00:07:09,620 --> 00:07:13,220 Speaker 1: And I think Cousin Eddie wears patent leather shoes, white 133 00:07:13,660 --> 00:07:15,960 Speaker 1: shoes with his leisure suit, if I'm not mistaken. 134 00:07:16,000 --> 00:07:16,740 Speaker 2: He's a great example. 135 00:07:17,420 --> 00:07:20,980 Speaker 1: And then another great example is Otho from Beetlejuice. When 136 00:07:21,040 --> 00:07:24,420 Speaker 1: Beetlejuice pulls his smart suit off and all of a 137 00:07:24,420 --> 00:07:27,260 Speaker 1: sudden he's wearing blue polyester leisure suit with white patent 138 00:07:27,280 --> 00:07:30,300 Speaker 1: leather shoes. People actually wore that, Chuck. 139 00:07:30,940 --> 00:07:34,360 Speaker 2: Yeah, they wore that stuff. It never became office wear 140 00:07:34,400 --> 00:07:36,960 Speaker 2: like they were hoping it would, I think. I'm sure 141 00:07:37,020 --> 00:07:39,610 Speaker 2: some people wore it to the office, but it was 142 00:07:39,960 --> 00:07:42,010 Speaker 2: kind of frowned upon. It was for like a more 143 00:07:42,070 --> 00:07:44,190 Speaker 2: formal thing like that. And it was definitely more for 144 00:07:44,980 --> 00:07:48,280 Speaker 2: Like hitting the disco or going out or getting together 145 00:07:48,300 --> 00:07:49,920 Speaker 2: with neighbors and that kind of thing when you wanted 146 00:07:49,940 --> 00:07:53,800 Speaker 2: to look dressy. But I guess still be comfortable. But 147 00:07:53,860 --> 00:07:56,450 Speaker 2: it was like an it look for about 10 minutes. 148 00:07:56,830 --> 00:07:58,310 Speaker 2: And then it became a bit of a joke. 149 00:08:00,070 --> 00:08:02,710 Speaker 1: Yeah. I think it started to be forbidden at like 150 00:08:02,850 --> 00:08:05,950 Speaker 1: nicer restaurants. You couldn't wear it. And I'm guessing the 151 00:08:05,990 --> 00:08:07,980 Speaker 1: reason why is because most people paired it with a 152 00:08:08,540 --> 00:08:11,040 Speaker 1: shirt that was well open at the collar. Lots of 153 00:08:11,080 --> 00:08:15,190 Speaker 1: chest hair flowing out. Medallions. Like it was not. It 154 00:08:15,230 --> 00:08:19,310 Speaker 1: was not an appropriate suit for the kind of place 155 00:08:19,380 --> 00:08:21,820 Speaker 1: the Blues Brothers showed up to get their maitre d' 156 00:08:21,940 --> 00:08:23,280 Speaker 1: horn player fired from. 157 00:08:24,260 --> 00:08:27,660 Speaker 2: Boy, nice reference. And, you know, before too long, it's 158 00:08:28,180 --> 00:08:31,340 Speaker 2: out of style. You know, styles come and go, but 159 00:08:31,680 --> 00:08:34,719 Speaker 2: the leisure suit did not last long. That 80s power 160 00:08:34,760 --> 00:08:38,690 Speaker 2: suit came in pretty quickly. And, you know, now it's 161 00:08:38,730 --> 00:08:41,650 Speaker 2: just a little blip on the radar of fashion history. 162 00:08:42,120 --> 00:08:45,820 Speaker 1: Yeah, it's a signifier, right? So, like, Disco Stu is 163 00:08:46,100 --> 00:08:49,560 Speaker 1: definitely going to be wearing a leisure suit. Or Leisure 164 00:08:49,600 --> 00:08:52,839 Speaker 1: Suit Larry, obviously, is going to be wearing a leisure suit, too. 165 00:08:54,210 --> 00:08:56,569 Speaker 1: But like you said, I think the most iconic leisure 166 00:08:56,590 --> 00:08:59,330 Speaker 1: suit of all time was Travolta's from Saturday Night Fever. 167 00:08:59,890 --> 00:09:02,790 Speaker 2: Yeah, that's had an interesting history over the years. It 168 00:09:02,809 --> 00:09:07,570 Speaker 2: was purchased for the film from a store in New Jersey, 169 00:09:07,710 --> 00:09:08,290 Speaker 2: not surprisingly. 170 00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:08,430 Speaker 1: Right. 171 00:09:08,920 --> 00:09:11,590 Speaker 2: For about $ 100, and very famously, and we've talked about 172 00:09:11,610 --> 00:09:16,690 Speaker 2: this before, Gene Siskel, the great, great movie reviewer with 173 00:09:16,730 --> 00:09:19,010 Speaker 2: his partner Roger Ebert, owned that suit. He bought it 174 00:09:19,530 --> 00:09:22,589 Speaker 2: in 1978 for a couple of grand, which was a 175 00:09:22,670 --> 00:09:30,170 Speaker 2: great deal because he sold it in 1995 for $ 145, 000. 176 00:09:29,530 --> 00:09:33,199 Speaker 1: Yeah, which is worth about $ 300, 000 today. 177 00:09:33,360 --> 00:09:34,130 Speaker 2: What an investment. 178 00:09:34,700 --> 00:09:37,240 Speaker 1: Yeah, for real. Did you know that Gene Siskel's favorite 179 00:09:37,280 --> 00:09:38,400 Speaker 1: movie is Saturday Night Fever? 180 00:09:38,780 --> 00:09:40,540 Speaker 2: Oh, yeah. We talked about it in that episode. 181 00:09:41,120 --> 00:09:45,660 Speaker 1: I know. Many times since then, I think. So it 182 00:09:45,730 --> 00:09:48,730 Speaker 1: actually has gone down in value. I guess people are 183 00:09:48,850 --> 00:09:52,350 Speaker 1: less attracted to kitsch today because the most recent time 184 00:09:52,410 --> 00:09:53,910 Speaker 1: it was sold was at auction in 2023. And it 185 00:09:53,929 --> 00:09:54,530 Speaker 1: had dipped down to. 186 00:09:56,559 --> 00:09:56,719 Speaker 2: $ 260, 000. 187 00:09:56,600 --> 00:10:02,660 Speaker 1: Yeah. It's not bad for a white leisure suit. Yeah, 188 00:10:02,780 --> 00:10:03,219 Speaker 1: not bad. 189 00:10:03,500 --> 00:10:06,300 Speaker 2: And the good news is if you ever get invited 190 00:10:06,340 --> 00:10:09,510 Speaker 2: to a 70s party or something, a leisure suit is 191 00:10:09,550 --> 00:10:12,630 Speaker 2: always a great way to go for men and women. 192 00:10:12,650 --> 00:10:16,030 Speaker 2: I feel like the women had sort of the pantsuit 193 00:10:16,090 --> 00:10:17,689 Speaker 2: leisure suit version of this as well. 194 00:10:18,770 --> 00:10:22,309 Speaker 1: Yeah, like Kate Jackson in Charlie's Angels wore that kind 195 00:10:22,330 --> 00:10:22,609 Speaker 1: of thing. 196 00:10:23,650 --> 00:10:24,220 Speaker 2: Kate Jackson. 197 00:10:25,360 --> 00:10:28,500 Speaker 1: I'll go down as a Jacqueline Smith fan. 198 00:10:29,460 --> 00:10:30,540 Speaker 2: Oh, sound like a real fan. 199 00:10:31,179 --> 00:10:31,599 Speaker 1: Beset? 200 00:10:33,240 --> 00:10:35,080 Speaker 2: Jacqueline Smith was Charlie's Angels, yes. 201 00:10:35,620 --> 00:10:39,360 Speaker 1: Why can't I keep that? They look alike. Do they 202 00:10:39,380 --> 00:10:40,359 Speaker 1: look at all alike? 203 00:10:40,750 --> 00:10:44,310 Speaker 2: I mean, they were both brunettes, attractive brunettes in the 70s, sure. 204 00:10:44,350 --> 00:10:48,340 Speaker 1: There you go. So, yes, I'm justified. That's right. I 205 00:10:48,380 --> 00:10:50,900 Speaker 1: think short stuff should be out, Chuck. Let's go. 206 00:10:54,600 --> 00:10:57,460 Speaker 2: Stuff You Should Know is a production of iHeartRadio. For 207 00:10:57,480 --> 00:11:01,610 Speaker 2: more podcasts from iHeartRadio, visit the iHeartRadio app, Apple Podcasts, 208 00:11:01,770 --> 00:11:03,570 Speaker 2: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.