Categories
- Accessories (23)
- Announcements (13)
- As Seen In (43)
- Beauty & Cosmetics (55)
- Books (39)
- Canadian dress (255)
- Celebrity brands (4)
- Classics (4)
- Clothing customs (33)
- Costuming (11)
- Deja Views (2)
- Designers/Couturiers (105)
- Ethnographic (8)
- Fadshions (23)
- fancy dress (22)
- Fashion (93)
- Fashion History Museum (102)
- Fashion in song (101)
- fashion industry (45)
- fashionistas (2)
- Faux Pas (14)
- film costuming (97)
- gender (20)
- Glossary (31)
- history (34)
- Humour (24)
- Men's fashion (57)
- millinery (51)
- Miscellaneous (33)
- Museum Exhibitions (68)
- Myth Information (30)
- Obscurier Couturiers (62)
- Off the Rack (8)
- Other collections/museums (22)
- Patent fashions (31)
- Photos (51)
- Retailing (56)
- Ritual – Hatch/Match/Dispatch (11)
- Shoes (130)
- Shop Windows (22)
- sportswear (53)
- Style shakers (14)
- Textiles (47)
- underwear (34)
- Vintage Cleaning tips (4)
- Vintage clothing (39)
Meta
Category Archives: Off the Rack
123 Year old Levis
These modern-looking jeans in a modern size (44 waist and 36 inseam) were purchased in 1893 by Solomon Warner, a dry goods store owner in Tucson, Arizona Territory. They are in near mint condition, having been worn only a few … Continue reading
Quick, tell me who is the current designer for Balmain… anyone? anyone?
Its Olivier Rousteing, but I bet nobody in this crowd knows that. Rousteing’s off-the-rack collection for H&M looks like the love child of Yves St. Laurent and Gianni Versace… It’s nice, wearable clothing but there is nothing new or original about … Continue reading
Zero is the new 8, or is it…
Anyone who collects or wears vintage clothes knows that commercial sizes have dramatically changed over the years. There was never a need to arbitrarily assign sizes to clothing until the ready-to-wear industry took off in the early 20th century. The earliest ready-to-wear … Continue reading
Fast Fashion Footwear – Jeffrey Campbell
I try not to blog about contemporary brands because there are plenty of other blogs that already do that, but Jeffrey Campbell is a bit of a mystery and it took a while to piece together the backstory. Little information is divulged about … Continue reading
Off the Rack – Donnybrook
Shortly after Rihanna was photographed wearing this coat a few weeks back, all similar Donnybrook coats that were being offered for sale online disappeared – presumably bought up by admirers of Rihanna’s style. The last time I recall seeing such an instant rage for … Continue reading
Off The Rack – F.O.G.A. – Fashion Originator’s Guild of America 1932-1941
In 1932, a coalition of garment and textile designers created the Fashion Originator’s Guild of America (F.O.G.A.). The point was to create a legal entity that could protect the members from design theft (a.k.a. knock-offs) – a problem rife in the … Continue reading
Off-the-rack Calvin Curtis
In an article that appeared in the July 25, 1938 issue of Life magazine, 60% of men were reported as preferring belts over braces. The article also points out a trend, popularized by president Roosevelt, for fancy suspenders that began … Continue reading
Posted in Men's fashion, Off the Rack
Tagged braces, Calvin Curtis, suspenders, Trafalgar
4 Comments
Off the Rack – Adelaar Blouse Company
I have been building research notes for years about companies that produced off-the-rack clothes but aren’t well known or have little written about them, so I am starting a new category today to transcribe some of the information I have gathered. Off-the-rack’s … Continue reading