The Evolution of the Santa Suit: From St. Nicholas to Today's Red Velvet
Every December we pack thousands of red suits into boxes, and every so often a customer asks the question we love: why is it red? Why the fur? Where did the belt and the boots come from? The Santa suit hanging in our Santa Suits collection is the end of a very long costume history, one that starts with a bishop in the fourth century and winds through Dutch steamboats, a New York poet and a Civil War cartoonist. Here's the short version.
A bishop named Nicholas
Long before there was a Santa suit, there was St. Nicholas, a fourth-century bishop from Myra in what is now Turkey. He was known for quiet generosity, and the stories about him, including one about secretly providing dowries for three sisters, made him the patron saint of children. Bishops of his era dressed in red robes, and early images of Nicholas show him that way: a slender, bearded man in a long red robe and a tall pointed hat called a mitre, often carrying a crozier. That red robe is the seed of everything that came later. His feast day, December 6, is still celebrated in parts of Europe with small gifts left in shoes. For more on the saint himself, the St. Tammany Parish Library has a good overview of the legend.
Sinterklaas crosses the Atlantic
In the Netherlands, St. Nicholas became Sinterklaas, who still arrives each year by steamboat, rides a white horse and wears the bishop's red and white. Dutch settlers brought him to New York, and the name softened into "Santa Claus." Washington Irving wrote about him in the early 1800s, and in 1823 the poem we know as "'Twas the Night Before Christmas" gave Santa his sleigh, his reindeer, his rooftop landings and a round, jolly figure who was clearly no longer a bishop. The clothing in that poem is fur "from his head to his foot," which is a big hint at where the suit was headed.
The Victorian Father Christmas
Across the Atlantic, England had its own figure, Father Christmas, a robed, hooded man who stood for feasting and good cheer more than gifts. Victorian illustrators drew him in long fur-trimmed robes, sometimes green, sometimes red, often with holly on his head. Charles Dickens's Ghost of Christmas Present in "A Christmas Carol" is cut from that same cloth. This robe silhouette never fully disappeared; it's why "Victorian Santa" or "Father Christmas" suits are still made today, and why they look so different from the jacket-and-pants suit most of us picture.
If that older look appeals to you, our Men's Victorian Santa Suit ($245.99 at time of writing) is the direct descendant: a satin-lined, hooded burgundy robe with an attached gold-trimmed capelet, an emerald green satin tunic and a gold rope belt, sized 42 to 50. The Men's Deluxe Father Christmas Suit ($217.99) is another take on the robe style.
Thomas Nast draws the modern Santa
The single biggest leap toward today's suit came from Thomas Nast, the political cartoonist best known for the Republican elephant and the Democratic donkey. Starting in the 1860s, he drew Santa for Harper's Weekly year after year: round, bearded, cheerful, in a fur-trimmed suit with a wide belt, living at the North Pole and keeping a list of good and bad children. Nast's early Santas were sometimes tan or brown, but as color printing improved, red won out. By the end of the 19th century, the red suit with white fur trim, black belt and boots was the standard American Santa. Art & Object has a nice visual timeline of that shift.
The twentieth century locks it in
By the 1920s and 1930s, magazine illustrators and advertisers were all drawing essentially the same man. The Coca-Cola ads that began in 1931 didn't invent the red suit, but they did make one warm, grandfatherly, life-size version of Santa famous around the world, and department stores hired men to dress just like him. That's the moment the Santa suit stopped being an illustration and became a costume people actually bought. The pieces settled into the set we still sell: jacket, pants, hat with a pom-pom, wide belt with a buckle, boot tops or boots, white gloves, and a wig and beard.
Today's Santa suit, by tier
The design hasn't changed much since then, but the materials have, and that's where today's choices live. At the entry level, the Men's Complete Velour Santa Suit ($48.99) is velour with white fur trim and includes the jacket, pants, hat with attached hair, belt, boot tops, gloves and beard, fitting jacket sizes 40 to 48. In the middle, the Adults Plush Rental Quality Santa Suit ($172.99 in XXL) adds a bound belt with gilt buckle and deluxe vinyl boot tops, in jacket sizes from Large (42-48) to XXXL (64-70). At the top, the Professional Santa Suit ($368.99) is fully satin lined with white long-hair plush trim and Naugahyde belt and boot tops, the closest thing to the suit Nast would have drawn if he'd had a sewing machine.
The beard has its own history, from the saint's natural white beard to the synthetic sets Santas wear today. Our Professional Santa Wig and Beard Set ($80.99) is fully washable, which fourth-century bishops would surely have appreciated. Browse Santa beards and wigs and Santa suit accessories for the rest of the kit, or all of our Christmas costumes for Mrs. Claus and the elves, who have their own long stories.
Frequently asked questions
Why is Santa's suit red?
Red came from St. Nicholas's traditional bishop's robes and stuck as artists like Thomas Nast drew Santa in the 1860s and later illustrators standardized the look. By the early 20th century, red with white fur trim was the default, and it has stayed that way ever since.
Did Coca-Cola invent the red Santa suit?
No. Red-suited Santas appeared in American illustrations decades before the 1930s Coca-Cola ads. Those ads did help fix one warm, grandfatherly version of Santa in the public imagination, but the suit itself was already red.
What is a Victorian or Father Christmas style Santa suit?
It's the long hooded robe look that predates the jacket-and-pants suit. Our Men's Victorian Santa Suit, for example, is a satin-lined hooded burgundy robe with a gold-trimmed capelet, emerald satin tunic and gold rope belt, sized 42 to 50.
What are modern Santa suits made of?
Most are polyester velour, pile plush or velvet with faux fur or long-hair plush trim. Entry suits like our Men's Complete Velour Santa Suit are unlined; professional suits like the Professional Santa Suit are satin lined with Naugahyde belts and boot tops.