With its super-sized shoulder pads, sprawling lapels and peg leg pants, the zoot suit grew out of the “drape” suits popular in Harlem dance halls in the mid-1930s. The flowing trousers were ...

Those who were found wearing zoot suits were beaten and often stripped of their clothing. Thousands of white civilians cheered them on and helped the sailors. As the riot progressed, Mexican ...

For ten straight nights, American sailors armed with make-shift weapons cruised Mexican American neighborhoods in search of "zoot-suiters" — hip, young Mexican teens dressed in baggy pants and ...