Category Archives: Men’s fashion

How to Stay Spiffy

Posted on 2019-11-21 by Jonathan

I was stumped earlier this year when I was contacted by the Carleton Place and Beckwith Museum with a picture of a wire thingy in their collection and asked if I knew how it was used… I couldn’t help. However, … Continue reading →

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School Shooting Chic

Posted on 2019-09-19 by Jonathan

You have probably never heard of the label Bstroy, and hopefully you will never hear of them again after their extraordinarily offensive spring 2020 men’s collection of hoodies with holes, simulating bullet holes. What is profoundly obscene about this collection … Continue reading →

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Straw Hat Day and Felt Hat Day

Posted on 2019-09-18 by Jonathan

The stiff straw boater (aka skimmer) became a popular summer hat for men in the 1890s and remained popular until the 1920s. Typically worn for semi-formal occasions, they were usually donned with lightweight summer suits, or blazers with white flannels … Continue reading →

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Fashion in Song – Yankee Doodle Dandy c. 1760

Posted on 2019-04-14 by Jonathan

Yankee Doodle Dandy was originally sung by British soldiers during the French Indian wars (1754-1763) in mockery of unsophisticated colonials. There were many verses and different versions of lyrics over the next few decades, but the one that stuck was … Continue reading →

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Canadian Fashion Connection – Stanfield’s

Posted on 2019-04-03 by Jonathan

In 1882, Charles Stanfield established the Truro Woollen Mills in Nova Scotia. His sons took over the business in 1896 and developed a patented process for making unshrinkable wool union suits in 1915. Stanfield’s went on to diversify its product … Continue reading →

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Crime and Punishment and Sneakers

Posted on 2018-12-10 by Jonathan

22 year old Brit Isaiah Hanson-Frost, is about to have his 55 pairs of designer sneakers, valued at about $30,000 Canadian, sold by the police. Last April, Hanson-Frost was sentenced to six years in jail after admitting to firing a … Continue reading →

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Canadian Fashion Connection – Applegath Hats (1885 – 1964)

Posted on 2018-11-25 by Jonathan

Applegath Hats was, at one time, Toronto’s largest haberdasher. The business was begun by Llewellyn John Applegath as an adjunct business within the men’s clothier House of Hobberlin, at the corner of Richmond and Yonge streets, when Hobberlin was founded in … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian dress, Men's fashion | 2 Comments

Canadian Fashion Connection – Williams, Greene & Rome

Posted on 2018-10-16 by Jonathan

Samuel James Williams was born March 13, 1853 in Madison, Indiana. In 1874 he went to New York and became a travelling salesman. He married Sarah Freeman in 1880, and continued working as a salesman until October 1881. He then … Continue reading →

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Canadian Fashion Connection – America’s First Hunk

Posted on 2018-10-14 by Jonathan

Charles Beach was born in Ontario, Canada (exact town unknown), in 1886. At the age of 16 he left home to go to New York to become an actor, but soon discovered he had no talent. Relying upon his tall, … Continue reading →

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The First Paper Clothing Fad: 1889 – 1893

Posted on 2018-09-25 by Jonathan

The late 1960s fad for disposable paper clothing resulted in some mad, mod dresses in flower power prints, but this was the second time paper clothing was a fad. The first time was 80 years earlier, and it all began … Continue reading →

Posted in Fadshions, Men's fashion, Patent fashions, Textiles | 2 Comments