Leisure Suit

Fashionable during the 1970s, the leisure suit for men was a mainstream response to the casual dress style of the hippie (see entry under 1960s—The Way We Lived in volume 4) movement. Made of polyester (see entry under 1970s—Fashion in volume 4) fabric, often in bright colors and plaids, the leisure suit consisted of pants and a matching jacket, styled with an open collared. The suits helped make men's fashion less conservative. The suits also were a forerunner of modern casual Fridays, when less formal clothes may be worn to the office.

Although leisure suits represented somewhat of a breakthrough in men's fashions, they were considered ridiculous by many conservatives and radicals alike. Since the 1970s, leisure suits have often been used as an example of a fashion mistake. However, the suits have left their mark on modern culture. The white leisure suit John Travolta (1954–) wore in the 1977 film Saturday Night Fever (see entry under 1970s—Film and Theater in volume 4) sold at auction in the mid-1990s for $145,000. Leisure-suit conventions, where men gather for competitions such as "Most Flammable Outfit," have become popular events. A series of computer games created in the late 1990s and early 2000s features Leisure Suit Larry as the hopelessly uncool hero, in adventures with titles like "Land of the Lounge Lizards."

—Tina Gianoulis

For More Information

Adato, Allison, and David Burnett. "A Leisure Suit Convention." Life (February 1996): pp. 18–21.

"Leisure Seizure." People Weekly (April 20, 1992): p. 136.

"Leisure Suits." Bad Fads Museum.http://www.badfads.com/pages/fashion/leisure.html (accessed March 22, 2002).

"Leisure Suits." Yesterdayland.http://www.yesterdayland.com/popopedia/shows/fashion/fa1561.php (accessed March 22, 2002).