Category Archives: sportswear

Raccoon Coats – The First Vintage Clothing Hit?

Posted on 2017-12-21 by Jonathan

The raccoon coat originally grew in popularity in the 1920s, alongside college football. Late fall games were not comfortable for fans sitting in open stadiums, and raccoon coats (a more affordable choice than expensive farm-bred mink or fox) became a … Continue reading →

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Battle of the Sexes and Tennis Fashion

Posted on 2017-10-07 by Jonathan

We saw Battle of the Sexes last night – the film about Bobby Riggs and Billie Jean King’s 1973 tennis match – an event I remember well the first time around. The film is very entertaining and remains pretty true … Continue reading →

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James Bond – the fashion model

Posted on 2017-05-30 by Jonathan

Both Sean Connery and Roger Moore had more in common than being James Bond – they were also models, but very different kinds of models. Roger Moore donned cardigans and sweater-vests in the late 1940s and early 1950s while Sean Connery often … Continue reading →

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Glossary – Budgie Smuggler

Posted on 2017-05-25 by Jonathan

Originally an Australian slang term for a pair of tightly-fitted briefly-cut Speedo-style men’s swimwear that highlight the male bulge – likening it to what a smuggled budgie might look like. The term appeared shortly after the turn of the millennium – the … Continue reading →

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Anne Cole, 1927 – 2017

Posted on 2017-04-22 by Jonathan

I missed this in January: Anne Cole, the California swimwear maker died Jan. 10, 2017 in Beverly Hills at the age of 90. Her father, Fred Cole, founded Cole of California in 1925 – a swimwear division of the family-owned knitted underwear … Continue reading →

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Canadian Fashion Connection – The Hockey Mask

Posted on 2017-02-27 by Jonathan

I know, the hockey mask isn’t strictly ‘fashion’, but it is worn and the styles change for both technical and aesthetic reasons, so in the broadest sense, they are fashion. The first recorded use of a hockey player wearing a mask … Continue reading →

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Canadian Fashion Connection – The Cowichan Sweater

Posted on 2017-02-19 by Jonathan

Bulky knit sweaters are unquestionably a Canadian fashion. Their creation has been the result of a fusion of European and Native techniques and designs that developed over the last century. There is some confusion over what to call these bulky yarn sweaters … Continue reading →

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Canadian Fashion Connection – Galt Knitting Company

Posted on 2017-02-07 by Jonathan

Founded in 1881 by Adam Warnock, the Galt Knitting Co. manufactured knitted cotton undergarments as well as knitted shoe and boot linings. The company was renamed Tiger Brand Knitting Company in 1954 after a line of men’s underwear they had … Continue reading →

Posted in Canadian dress, sportswear, underwear | Tagged | 1 Comment

Patent fashions – Puckered swimwear 1938

Posted on 2016-11-16 by Jonathan

British patent GB486475 (Publiation Date: 1938-06-03) for elastic fabric. SYMINGTON & CO., Ltd., R. & W. H., and BILLING, G. W. March 30, 1937, No. 9090. The invention relates to garments, particularly but not exclusively intended for bathers or swimmers, … Continue reading →

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You’ve Come a Long Way Baby…

Posted on 2016-10-04 by Jonathan

Found these interesting plates that had been removed from a book that shows how much had changed for women in the 19th century from the early years to the 1880s.

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