Category Archives: history

Fashion in Song – Bustle Fluffah (2012)

Posted on 2018-03-31 by Jonathan

A fun video by the cast of Roundabout Theatre Company’s The Mystery of Edwin Drood, 2012

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Fashion in Song – The Hat My Father Wore on St. Patrick’s Day (1909)

Posted on 2018-03-17 by Jonathan

First recorded by Billy Murray, 1909, the song was revived 40 years later by Gene Kelly in the 1949 film Take Me Out to the Ballgame. “Where did you get that hat?” folks ask me every day “Isn’t it a … Continue reading →

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Fashion in Song – You Dyed Your Hair Chartreuse (1951)

Posted on 2018-02-28 by Jonathan

Recorded by Louis Jordan and the Tympany Five on August 15, 1950, Chartreuse was released early the next year. You’re a freckled gal You’re a pug-nosed cutey, sweet as Charlotte Russe You’ve got big blue eyes So I ask you … Continue reading →

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Fashion in Song – A Zoot Suit for my Sunday Gal (1942)

Posted on 2018-01-30 by Jonathan

Recorded several times by different artists in 1942 including the Andrew Sisters, here is the Kay Kyser version: I want a zoot suit with a reet pleat And a drape shape, and a stuff cuff To look sharp enough to … Continue reading →

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Patent Fashions – Dress Sheilds

Posted on 2018-01-18 by Jonathan

The earliest examples of dress shields I have found in garments date from the early 1890s. However, Elizabeth Emerson on a chat group I follow (Fashion Historians United) found a reference to them being a new idea in 1863 when … Continue reading →

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Fashion as song – Union label (1978)

Posted on 2018-01-13 by Jonathan

Written by Paula Green and Malcolm Dodds, 1975: Look for the union label when you are buying that coat, dress or blouse. Remember somewhere our union’s sewing, our wages going to feed the kids, and run the house. We work … Continue reading →

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Fashion in Song – Raspberry Beret (1985)

Posted on 2018-01-12 by Jonathan

I tried posting this fashion song when Prince died, but I couldn’t find it online anywhere…  Raspberry Beret was the first single released from Prince’s 1985 album ‘Around the World in a Day’. BTW – this song really isn’t about … Continue reading →

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100 Years Ago – The World and Fashion in 1918

Posted on 2017-12-27 by Jonathan

In March, 1918 the Russian Bolshevik government ceded Poland, the Ukraine, Lithuania, Estonia, Latvia, and Finland to Germany in exchange for peace. Later that year, the Russian capital was moved from Petrograd to Moscow, and the former Tsar and his … Continue reading →

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Fashion in Song – Doin’ the Raccoon (1928)

Posted on 2017-12-20 by Jonathan

Raymond Klages and J. Fred Coots (best known for their 1934 hit Santa Claus is Comin’ to Town) wrote Doin’ the Raccoon in 1928. The song is about the craze for raccoon coats – a style popular with the collegiate … Continue reading →

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Fashion in Song – Lipstick on Your Collar (1959)

Posted on 2017-12-10 by Jonathan

This 1959 hit for Connie Francis was written by George Goehring and Edna Lewis: When you left me all alone at the record hop Told me you were going out for a soda pop You were gone for quite a … Continue reading →

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