We've come along way... interesting tidbits

themerchantsofvintage

themerchantsofvintage

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We\'ve come along way... interesting tidbits

A while back I picked up a box of garment trade books, mags etc. English and American dating from 1922 to 1952 and I've been flipping thru them.

My eyes nearly popped out when I saw a colourful 1952 button ad with the infamous "n" word as one of its top selling colours. It's just not something I really ever thought about, but I guess it was commonly used and considered descriptive back then. Certainly, in 1959/60 I was given a talking to for repeating a ditty I had heard "eenie, meenie, minie..." and tiger quickly replaced the offensive word.

In a 1942 spring edition of Men's Modes an affiliate of American-Mitchell there was a small piece on the silk trimmings slowly disappearing as the government had taken over all stocks of raw silk. And a bit on the news coverage overseas about Churchill wearing his coverall "Siren Suit" and alert tailors will profit by stocking this type of "wearing apparel". A pic of a few A Sulka Irish linen suits too:



The must haves for a mens wardrobe was listed because "we're going to win the war!" :headbang:and a big two page spread of Hollywood's elite including Astaire, Fonda, Ford... sharply dressed to drive home the point.

I wonder if there are now female tailors for menswear - not a woman in site in the pic of the New York Merchant Tailors Annual dinner. Hope so!
 
Deb, I LOVE looking at these old magazines and seeing how things have changed over the years - not
just in fashion, but manners, language, way of life. It can be such an interesting learning experience
(and at times unintentionally hilarious).

Thanks for sharing.

Sue
 
I was wondering that about women tailors the other day. But I think it's still pretty much a man's field. Lots of women do menswear alterations, but I don't know about tailoring from scratch.

Hollis
 
Old ads are hilarious. There's one in an old Life mag I have saying something about this gal using Ponds, "she's beautiful, she's blah blah, she's engaged!" as if skin has everything to do with choosing a life-mate.
 
There is a hilarious and poignant movie that Spike Lee did called The Confederate States of America. We rented it about a month ago and the whole movie is done like a BBC documentary about America's history with one big change -- the South won the Civil War. There are commercials in the movie for Nigger brand tobacco and other goods and the payoff at the end of the movie is worth watching because these were all real brands that were available. Canada ended up with a huge black population after the Civil War because of the South winning so Canada was the crux of popular music from Jazz to Motown! Its actually a very good movie even though it comes across as ridiculous in some aspects it makes you think.
 
Originally posted by pastperfect2
I was wondering that about women tailors the other day. But I think it's still pretty much a man's field. Lots of women do menswear alterations, but I don't know about tailoring from scratch.

Hollis
Click to expand...

In department stores the men were called tailors and the women seamstresses. The men got paid quite a bit more. When I was working in the field it went like this... the tailors would do the fittings on mens suits BUT the seamstresses did a lot of the actual work.

With made to order suits. If it was a one man operation the tailor might do his own cutting, measuring and finishing but hire help for finish work etc. that could be a man or a woman.

When women had suits made to order it was most often by a dressmaker or a couturier. Dressmakers were almost always women couturiers could be either. In these situations understaff would be women as a rule.

Dressmakers with pattern making skills were just as skilled and could easily have done mens tailoring, it just was not accepted. Most who had gone to school had learned mens tailoring along with womens tailoring. I think there had to be a way to justifying men being paid more than women.

This is entirely anecdotal mind you, my own experience but it did seem to be the same wherever I looked.

In the 1980s I tried to get a job at an exclusive department store in Boston. I told them I wanted to work in tailoring because it paid better. They told me it would be impossible, the men would be uncomfortable with me fitting them. I was welcome to work as a seamstress though. I passed and started my own business.

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Melody
 
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