Men's clothes of the last quarter of the nineteenth century lack the elegance of those of the first half. They suggest the solid, dependable citizen. This trend began in the 1860s with the easy-fitting lounge suit with its straight jacket and loose-fitting trousers tapering to the ankle. Frock coats continued to be worn by professional men and the morning coat was gaining popularity as dressy daytime wear. Coats were skimpier and sleeves, collars, lapels and trousers were narrower than in the previous decade. Overcoats came to the knee. A bulkier look returned in the 1890s and coat lengths came to the mid-calf. There were two innovations in trousers: properly cuffed trousers were in by the mid-1890s, as were creases.
Several kinds of men's casual and country wear were designated in advertisements as being correct for different sports. Here is a page from Eaton's mail-order catalogue for spring and summer, 1899.
The suits, for both men and boys, with pants which buckled below the knee are listed as bicycling suits. The pants are described as "double seated". The fabrics listed as suitable are Canadian tweeds, either plain or checked, English worsted, homespun, serge or whipcord. The colours run to browns, greys, fawn and navy.
The man in the foreground (number 61) is wearing a lightweight flannel suit called a tennis suit. It came in shades of striped grey, slate-blue, and light brown. The man holding a tennis racquet is wearing a tennis or cricket suit. It is white flannel, the jacket striped with blue. This man is wearing the kind of straw hat copied by women for sportswear. The man with a brimmed hat (number 63) wears what is described as a "clerical coat". Two men (numbers 53 and 59) are wearing cuffed trousers. One (number 59) resembles the Prince of Wales, later Edward VII, who was a fashion leader.
