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A couple of months ago we were approached by a Hong Kong firm about creating an exhibition of shoes for a shopping plaza in Sha Tin (the new territories next to what used to be the border with mainland China.)  I wasn’t sure if it would come together but as of Saturday May 1 you can see that it did!

On display until May 31 at the New Town Plaza in Sha Tin are fifty historic shoes that include examples from designers: Joe Famolare, Christian Louboutin, Maude Frizon, Roger Vivier, Salvatore Ferragamo, Andre Perugia, Andrea Pfister, Charles Jourdan, David Evins, Herman Delman, Beth Levine, H&R Rayne, Jerry Edouard, Rene Mancini, and many more.

Interview with Kenn at opening

There used to be a Canadian television program in the 1970s called This is the Law. The show was a series of skits and each skit would end when one of the characters was arrested for breaking the law; the panelists then had to guess what law had been broken. Invariably, the law in question was some obscure regional edict that was almost impossible to detect - such as shorts not being allowed on Sunday in some Podunk town.

Sagging trousers, 2007

Laws governing how one dresses date back to ancient Egyptian times when certain styles and colours were privileges of social position. During the Middle Ages and Renaissance, sumptuary laws were enacted that limited types of decoration and materials as well as how much you could spend on your clothes according to your social class and annual income. Since the 19^th century, clothing laws have been enacted to preserve what is perceived as public decency but many of the laws have had the purpose of keeping women out of trousers, men out of skirts, and everyone dressed like God-fearing Christians. Laws that dictate clothing styles are still being enacted (yes there is such a thing as the fashion police.)

In 2007, some Louisiana towns banned the hip-hop fashion for sagging trousers, a style that originated with rap stars in the early 1990s. Inspired by the oversized outfits issued in prison without belts to prevent suicides, trousers were worn at the top of the buttocks exposing brightly patterned boxer shorts. The Louisiana laws fine wearers as much as $500 for failing to wear a belt. Already on the decline, the style was reinvigorated when it became illegal.

Hajib

Then there is hajib - an outfit that usually consists of a scarf that is drawn around the neck and worn with a long loose dress or modest contemporary clothing such as long sleeved blouses and trousers. This common version of Islamic dress is worn as an expression of modesty, required of women of the Islamic faith and is about as eye catching as a Mennonite girl in a gauze cap or Hasidic rabbi with curls. The scarf and clothing does not inhibit movement or create a safety problem and most women who wear hajib say they are approached with more respect, although they often receive comments from those that see the style as oppressive. Perhaps it is seen as oppressive because hajib was slowly falling from use throughout the 20^th century but was revived at the same time Islamic fundamentalism was growing in the 1980s. In France, which has a large Islamic population due to its historical ties to North Africa, the head scarf, worn as part of hajib, has been outlawed for wear in schools and government offices since 2004 under the excuse that France is a secular country. I thought the point of separating church and state was to protect the church, regardless of the faith, from government influence, and visa versa… apparently I was wrong.

Niqab

Although I don’t understand why there is a law banning hajib, I wonder why any woman would wear the the most extreme version - niqab. This is a veil that covers the entire body but for the eyes and hands. A couple of weeks ago I was having my taxes done when I noticed one of the accountants was a woman in a niqab. The full veil is a strong statement that says the wearer is inaccessible, even antisocial. I didn’t know what the protocol of interaction would be if I got her as my accountant; I would have to talk to her about my taxes but I doubt the offer of a handshake, a standard protocol for business, would have been accepted. Fortunately, we were shown to the accountant at the neighbouring cubicle. The premise for wearing a niqab for modesty doesn’t make sense here in the West because the outfits look so peculiar that they bring undue attention to the wearer.

Ironically the reason for banning sagging trousers was immodesty, the same reason Western dress is banned throughout much of the Middle East, or fully covered by ground sweeping robes in public. Western fashion may not be at its most modest right now but don’t forget that only a 100 years ago a woman didn’t show her ankle in public, and only forty-five years ago there were outcries of public indecency regarding the adoption of mini skirts. Less than twenty years ago I was asked to leave the non-air-conditioned Old Mill restaurant on a hot and humid August night in Toronto because I removed my tie after dancing the Jive. I didn’t break a law, just a house rule, but considering the circumstances I thought their rule was pretty stupid…

Update: In Britain there is also a law that bans sagging trousers as well as hoodies worn up! However a recent judge overturned the rule in his court as a violation of human rights - read about it HERE

Colour advertisement for Mary Maxim sweaters, mid 1950s. Curiously, the patterns and catalogues were never dated.

Unlike most Canadian cities that share their name with a foreign capital, Paris Ontario is not named after the City of Lights but rather the lime gypsum found in the area that was used to make plaster (as in plaster of Paris.) Despite the namesake’s lack of prestige, there is at least one important fashion based in Paris Ontario – the Mary Maxim sweater.

It all began when Willard and Olive McPhedrain of Sifton Manitoba opened a small woollen mill in 1937 to make blankets and work socks. In 1947 Willard felt that Sifton Products didn’t portray the right identity for his goods so he advertised his goods under the name of Mary Maximchuk, an employee of the McPhedrains (the name was later shortened to Mary Maxim.) At the time, using women’s names was thought to give a product a more homey, comforting feel; the most famous woman’s name brand was probably the fictitious Betty Crocker who first appeared in 1936.

Catalogue showing some of the earliest designs for men including beaver, curling rocks and brooms, totem poles, and bulls

By 1950, everyday knitting was falling in popularity – it had become associated with the Depression and World War II when the craft was more of an economic necessity. In the post war world of the 1950s, store-bought socks were more desirable but there still remained an appreciation for hand crafted fashion items. In 1951, Alma Warren from Woodward’s department store in Edmonton Alberta suggested to McPhedrain that his company make bulky yarn sweaters. She suggested he look at sweaters made on Vancouver Island by the Cowichan band of the Coast Salish Natives; Cowichan sweaters were made with Native spun goat hair in a circular knitting method using European Fair Isle style patterns with some totemic motifs worked into the designs.

Later that year, McPhedrain hired Barry Gibson as his manager/designer and the two then laid the groundwork for the Mary Maxim 4-ply wool sweater style and its distribution through department stores across Canada. The company created and copyrighted designs based on outdoor activities and Canadian emblems and hired Stella Sawchyn to design a sweater with a Reindeer motif. Sawchyn and Gibson created a graph style pattern for Mary Maxim sweaters and soon reindeers, prancing horses, curling brooms, beavers, and totem poles were appearing on men’s women’s and children’s sweaters.

Graph pattern for Three Little Pigs sweater

The graph style patterns were a hit and created a new international standard for knitters who preferred to work from graphs than words. The company quickly found success and in 1954 Mary Maxim was officially incorporated. The new headquarters were in Dauphin, Manitoba with a branch office opened in Paris, Ontario, managed by Earl Shaw, the McPhedrain’s son-in-law. In 1956 an American office was opened in Port Huron, Michigan, managed by Willard McPhedrain’s son Larry. By 1958, Barry Gibson had left the company but Mary Maxim continued to expand when Earl Shaw opened an office in Leicester, England. That same year the McPhedrains moved the company’s headquarters to Paris, Ontario to be near its largest fibre supplier, Spinrite Yarns in Listowel, Ontario.

Antique cars pattern, one of the later patterns, c. 1960

The Mary Maxim sweater era was coming to an end when Earl Shaw left the company to buy a woollen mill in St. Thomas, Ontario in 1964. By the time Willard McPhedrain died at the age of 68 in 1971 the sweaters were considered kitschy and were no longer popular. However, Cowichan sweaters increased in popularity throughout the 1970s, spurring on copycat styles in earthy-coloured wool using a combination of totemic and Fair Isle motifs. The classic Mary Maxim style sweaters depicting everything from antique cars to oil rigs never found the same popularity they had from the early 1950s to the early 1960s. There was a small revival in popularity for Mary Maxim sweaters in vintage clothing stores in the 1980s when collectors and museums began to appreciate their designs and they have remained a collectable vintage clothing style ever since.

The company continues to operate, selling a variety of yarns and their graph style patterns. Rusty McPhedrain, the grandson of the founders, currently runs the company after his father Larry McPhedrain passed away in 2002.

Over the years I have seen some great period costume films and its a shame not to review them just because they aren’t recent productions. I just re-watched 200 Cigarettes, a 1999 comedy set on New Year’s Eve 1981. I remember the era well, in fact I remember exactly what I did that particular New Year’s Eve, so I can say with some authority that the costuming is excellent.

The costumer, Susan Lyall, doesn’t normally do period films but she has been in the costuming business since the late 1980s and I suspect she also remembers this era well. I might have balked at the fashions being a little too ‘nth’ degree trendy had the film been set on any other night of the year, but people do dress their best on New Year’s Eve and the spikey Mohawks, brothel creepers, and vintage 50s party dresses were all spot on for the artsy-edgy types of lower Manhattan.

Lyall’s costumes are accurately detailed and perfect for the characters of this post-studio 54 era in New York — a time just before Trump and his yuppie band of developers spearheaded the economic resurrection of the city that turned the lofts and derelict squats into chic eateries and condos.

If you want to see 1980s fashions, there are plenty of original films from the decade that depict teenage trends, office power suits and high glamour, but bohemian street fashion is rarely depicted outside of brief bar scenes or specific characters (such as in Desperately Seeking Susan.) 200 Cigarettes is a fun film with great fashions from thirty years ago and gets a 9/10 for accurate costuming.  And if you want to read more about film costuming check out Frocktalk - a costumer’s industry ezine.