History's Runway: A Suit by Anthony Corbett, 1961

Wool Suit
Anthony Corbett, 1961
The Victoria & Albert Museum

In Britain, in the early 1960s, fashionable young men adopted the “continental” or “Italian” style of dress which relied on a slim, fitted suit with a short jacket known, ever-so charmingly as a"bum-freezer.”

This charcoal gray wool suit is cut in the "Italian Style.” This fashion had first been introduced into London fashion in the late 1950s by the designer Cecil Gee. Here’s an example of the look from 1961 by Anthony Corbett. The suit has been paired with its original accessories, an Aquascutum cotton shirt and Emilio Pucci printed silk tie.