# What is a Palm Beach suit?



## venus (Nov 18, 2008)

I am fashion student studying in LA and I am learning so much about men's fashion from everybody here...thanks! I grew up observing women's fashion but never bothered to look at men's clothing...this site has helped me a lot in understanding men's fashion, but I have lots of questions like ...What is a Palm Beach suit? :icon_smile:


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## Will (Jun 15, 2004)

I believe you are referring to a suit made from Palm Beach cloth, a warm weather blend of mohair and cotton that, to the best of my knowledge, hasn't been woven for fifty years.


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## Wizard (Feb 29, 2008)

venus said:


> I am fashion student studying in LA and I am learning so much about men's fashion from everybody here...thanks! I grew up observing women's fashion but never bothered to look at men's clothing...this site has helped me a lot in understanding men's fashion, but I have lots of questions like ...What is a Palm Beach suit? :icon_smile:


Palm Beach is also a product line/subsidiary of HSM. They make a serviceable line of low to mid-range suits & suit separates. Check here for an example.


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## dfloyd (May 7, 2006)

*The Wiz is correct ....*

the HSM Palm Beach line is usually sold at outlet stores so you don't see them in department stores much. It definitely is a low end suit, so now you can forget it.


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## jamgood (Feb 8, 2006)

"Palm Beach" style suit may have originally derived its name from a French-faced jacket with a butterfly shoulder lining, or no lining, popular in tropical climates in the '20s. The brand was subsequent to the style. Then again, one could be woefully misinformed. It could be the Nyquil effect.

The original suits were probably made of the cloth Mr. Will references, or linen.

Member Matt Deckard may be more familiar with said jacket style.

Palm Beach brand advertisements from the early '40s. Palm Beach brand suits were not necessarily made in the Palm Beach tropical style. The brand eventually became just a brand name based at its height in Cincinatti(?), not Palm Beach. The Palm Beach style jacket, without the nomenclature, became more popular in Europe than the U.S.


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## DorianGrey (Jul 6, 2007)

True - Plam Beach is a brand of clothing. But this term is also used to identify a particlular fashion ensemble commonly seen in Palm Beach in the Summer. The "Palm Beach Suit" is a term used to describe the combination of navy blazer, buttondown oxford cloth shirt, stone colored chino's or khakis, and brown slip-on mocs like topsiders worn with no socks. That is known as a Palm Beach suit I believe.


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## Will (Jun 15, 2004)

DorianGrey said:


> But this term is also used to identify a particlular fashion ensemble commonly seen in Palm Beach in the Summer. The "Palm Beach Suit" is a term used to describe the combination of navy blazer, buttondown oxford cloth shirt, stone colored chino's or khakis, and brown slip-on mocs like topsiders worn with no socks. That is known as a Palm Beach suit I believe.


Oxford cloth shirts in summer? Those guys died of heat stroke in the 1950's.


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## Brooksfan (Jan 25, 2005)

Will said:


> Oxford cloth shirts in summer? Those guys died of heat stroke in the 1950's.


I wore (and wear) oxford cloth all year and have actually found that in the heat of summer they are as cool or cooler than all cotton broadcloth or pinpoint. That's just my experience and I certainly don't want to launch yet another debate over the virtues (or shortcomings) of OCBDs but they've worked for me for over 35 years and I don't see anything coming along soon to take their place.


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## jamgood (Feb 8, 2006)

I give up


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## Literide (Nov 11, 2004)

DorianGrey said:


> True - Plam Beach is a brand of clothing. But this term is also used to identify a particlular fashion ensemble commonly seen in Palm Beach in the Summer. The "Palm Beach Suit" is a term used to describe the combination of navy blazer, buttondown oxford cloth shirt, stone colored chino's or khakis, and brown slip-on mocs like topsiders worn with no socks. That is known as a Palm Beach suit I believe.


Thats a California Tuxedo

And boat shoes are a rarity in Palm Beach FL except on the yacht crews. Guccis with no sock go from casual to black tie in my observations over the years. Stubbs & Wootton slippers w/o socks have taken some market share for all the above though.


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## Literide (Nov 11, 2004)

I only know Palm Beach as a brand. Always seemed to be warm weather items: Khaki, olive, and seersucker suits etc. I happen to own a washable white dinner jacket that, judging by the lapel width is early 60's, that has a Palm Beach label along with very little lining inside.

And nobody wears a suit in PB anymore with the possible ecxeption of lawyers and high net worth bankers who have offices there, though maybe not even them anymore.


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## Will (Jun 15, 2004)

Brooksfan said:


> I wore (and wear) oxford cloth all year and have actually found that in the heat of summer they are as cool or cooler than all cotton broadcloth or pinpoint. That's just my experience and I certainly don't want to launch yet another debate over the virtues (or shortcomings) of OCBDs but they've worked for me for over 35 years and I don't see anything coming along soon to take their place.


Well yes, they would be as cool as pinpoint, since that's another winter shirting. Compare them to voile and you'll see a difference.


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## Brooksfan (Jan 25, 2005)

Will said:


> Well yes, they would be as cool as pinpoint, since that's another winter shirting. Compare them to voile and you'll see a difference.


I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. Write it off to my lack of sophistication since over 40 years I've never reconciled myself to the idea of suits and shirts becoming verbs instead of nouns. I'll serve out my time in blissful ignorance having only once felt the gossamer wonder of voile and taken a pass since once down that slippery slope it would lead to who knows where. I did take the time to look up voile in the Webster's New Collegiate dictionary and confirmed my now distant memory, to wit: "a fine soft sheer fabric used especially for women's summer clothing or curtains." Looks good on you guys though.


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## manton (Jul 26, 2003)

Brooksfan said:


> I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. Write it off to my lack of sophistication since over 40 years I've never reconciled myself to the idea of suits and shirts becoming verbs instead of nouns. I'll serve out my time in blissful ignorance having only once felt the gossamer wonder of voile and taken a pass since once down that slippery slope it would lead to who knows where. I did take the time to look up voile in the Webster's New Collegiate dictionary and confirmed my now distant memory, to wit: "a fine soft sheer fabric used especially for women's summer clothing or curtains." Looks good on you guys though.


FYI, "shirting" is a noun. It is the industry term for cloth before it is made into a shirt. Ask your moderator.

Voile is not purely for women, whatever Webter's says.

The tone of this place has certainly improved!


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## jackmccullough (May 10, 2006)

Brooksfan said:


> I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. Write it off to my lack of sophistication since over 40 years I've never reconciled myself to the idea of suits and shirts becoming verbs instead of nouns.


Suit yourself.


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## DorianGrey (Jul 6, 2007)

Literide said:


> Thats a California Tuxedo
> 
> And boat shoes are a rarity in Palm Beach FL except on the yacht crews. Guccis with no sock go from casual to black tie in my observations over the years. Stubbs & Wootton slippers w/o socks have taken some market share for all the above though.


A California Tuxedo is a Palm Beach Suit with the addition of a tie and socks isn't it?


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## manton (Jul 26, 2003)

As the inventor of the term "California Tux", I get to define what it is: Blazer & khakis. BD shirt, knit or repp tie, and boat or saddle shoes complete the look.


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## Brooksfan (Jan 25, 2005)

jackmccullough said:


> Suit yourself.


Will do. Right now I'm perusing the latest in suitings, shirtings, tieings,sockings,shoeings,...


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## JerseyJohn (Oct 26, 2007)

Shoeings? 

I love it! From now on, I'm definitely going to call shoe leather "shoeings"! :icon_smile_big:


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## windsor (Dec 12, 2006)

Jamgood...The Palm Beach manufacturing plant was actually in Newport Kentucky, across the Ohio river from Cincinnati. At least this was so in the 50's,60's and 70's. They had a real factory outlet there. Plain room, pipe racks and the hum of machinery on the other side of the wall. Later they jazzed it up...merchandising don't you know?


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## hockeyinsider (May 8, 2006)

dfloyd said:


> the HSM Palm Beach line is usually sold at outlet stores so you don't see them in department stores much. It definitely is a low end suit, so now you can forget it.


It's sold in local, independent men's shops up here. I didn't think it was that bad, though it is pricey for the quality. I bought a pair of slacks from the brand this summer.


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## jazzquintet (May 13, 2008)

*3 piece Palm Beach Suit in South Africa*

I am 29 years old and i have inherited a 3 piece Palm Beach tailored suit bought by my father in Johannesburg in the 60's. My father only wore the suit twice and dry cleaned it once. The suit is in very good condition. I wore the suit for the first time to my college graduation ceremony.

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## Literide (Nov 11, 2004)

manton said:


> As the inventor of the term "California Tux", I get to define what it is: Blazer & khakis. BD shirt, knit or repp tie, and boat or saddle shoes complete the look.


Glad I wasnt the one who ran afoul of the master


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## howdyaz43 (Mar 15, 2011)

Here is the truth about Palm Beach cloth and suits. Palm Beach was invented in Sanford, Maine in the early 1900s at the Goodall Worsted Mills by William Nutter. From the mid 1910s to early 1950s Palm Beach was cloth was produced only in Sanford, Maine. In the teens and 1920s Palm Beach cloth was sold to clothing manufacturers to make men's suits. Beginning in the late 20s and up to the early 1950s The Goodall Mills in Sanford produced all the Palm Beach men's suits for the entire world. They did farm out some Palm Beach products such as neck ties to a plant in Cincinnati. Palm Beach cloth was never made in Ohio or any other place until the Goodall Mills left Sanford, Maine in the early 1950s and moved to their mills in the North Carolina.
It is not certain where the name "Palm Beach" came from. It did not come from England however. It relates to the summer season nature of the cloth itself. It is uncertain whether the cloth was named after the city in Florida because so much of the cloth and suits eventually made their way to that area as part of the growing interest in men's fashion, or whether the name was given to the cloth simply because the name Palm Beach seemed to represent sunshine and summer. Whatever the origin,it came directly from the Goodall Mills in Sanford.
For many years one of the most popular sales point for Palm Beach suits was Thayer-Diggery Clothiers in Sanford, Maine. They sold tailored suits to men across the country.

How do I know all this you ask? I was born and raised in Sanford. My Great-grandfather was a pattern maker for Goodall Mills. My family all worked in the mills until they closed in the 1950s. I spent many hours in the spinning rooms and weaving rooms as a kid. I delivered morning newspapers to Thayer-Diggery Clothiers on the square in Sanford. I also delivered to Thomas Goodall the Grandson of the founder of the mills in 1867.
Hope this helps.


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## Anthony Jordan (Apr 29, 2005)

Very interesting, thanks! I had always wondered about these, so it is good to know. I have a few Esquire advertisements featuring Palm Beach suits, will try to post them this evening.


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