Life is a constant quest for more leisure time. But once such time is acquired, what to wear? Sure, jeans and a tee shirt will do around the house but there needed to be another set of garments, say something that was a cross between a formal suit and casualwear to handle those times when one finds themselves at the local disco or perhaps some professional setting where a little comfort is acceptable. Well, for folks who lived in the illustrious 70s, there was only one solution – the leisure suit, of course!

It was the folks at Lee Jeans, who decided to bridge the gap between comfort and style in men’s fashion when they introduced the LEEsure suit in the 70s. Pairing a lightweight double knit polyester shirt jacket with matching slacks, these suits offered a casual look that every self-acclaimed stylish dude had to have in their clothing arsenal. And, the best part was that they were virtually indestructible. In fact, it was touted that one could wear polyester for an astounding 67 days without the need of ironing, or even washing.

By replacing the stuffy neckties and restrictively uncomfortable texture of wool with something far more durable and comfortable, the leisure suit soon became enormously popular. Other manufacturers quickly caught on and copied the Lee design and soon discos and offices everywhere were overflowing with polyester leisure suits. Moms soon realized that something so durable might be just the ticket when dressing their little tykes and soon kids were jumping on the leisurely bandwagon, complete with hip-length vests to round out the look.

Leisure suits never completely replaced the more formal look of a fine-tailored suit by any means. They did, however, become the garments of choice for the trendy stud on the go. Today, they are most often found on used car salesmen and in retro clothing stores, eagerly awaiting a disco fanatic’s loving affection, and the opportunity to perform one more hustle on the dance floor of yesteryear.