Virginia a then ex-HPD officer had always had a dream to have her own tailor shop. Eventually in 1978 that dream became a reality.

Around that time Joe, her husband, had a Tax Office located on 10771 Eastex Freeway which would soon turn into the storefront for Coleman’s Mens Wear: Tailor & Alterations. Joe and Virginia would begin running the business together with Virginia as the head Tailor and Joe as the spokesperson, part time tailor and clerk of the shop. In its early years they specialized in custom suits and alterations for weddings, business and other events. They would post their ads on Houston Forward Times Magazine.

Then in 1979 the son of the restaurant business next door, El Jalapeno Restaurant, came in with an issue of Lowrider magazine in hand and requested something that would change the trajectory of Coleman’s Men’s Wear to be an iconic hidden piece of Houston’s Mexican-American history. The young kid that walked into the store, Rene Del Bosque, would present Joe Coleman with a request he’d never had before, to make him a suit like the one in the lowrider magazine, a Zoot Suit.

Virginia & Joe grew up in Heflin, Louisiana, before settling in Houston, so seeing a Zoot Suit was not too unfamiliar to them, after all Zoot Suits are an iconic piece of African-American culture that made its way from New York down to Louisiana by way of jazz musicians who would tour along the gulf coast in the 1920s-30s. From Del Bosque’s request, the Coleman’s got to work, they began trying to recreate what they had seen in that lowrider magazine, a Zoot Suit, but with that Chicano flare.

After finally nailing Del Bosque’s request, the Zoot suit left the building. From then on it made its way around Houston or to wherever Del Bosque would take it. Word got around and next thing you know, Coleman’s Menswear becomes the spot when it comes to getting a custom zoot suit made. From this sudden increase in Chicano traffic, Joe Coleman becomes interested in the culture and begins getting involved through lowrider shows or other get downs. Through that involvement, Coleman’s becomes the spot for all the Chicano gear, from Stacy Adams to chains to belts to fedoras to zoot suits to Lowrider Magazine to Teen Angel to Chicano Art T-Shirts, Coleman’s is the SPOT!