But even the real cost of one was near-prohibitive for the young men who coveted them—Malcolm X, in his autobiography, recounts buying one on credit. Though policemen slashed some zoot suits to ...

Over the next few years Malcolm held odd jobs, wore flashy zoot suits, and increasingly turned ... adopting the name "Malcolm X" in recognition that his ancestors' original African name was ...

"You just watch," Malcolm X predicts in his autobiography ... He wore blue or shiny grey zoot suits, burned his long red hair straight by a process called "conking", peddled reefers and dope ...