History
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October 19, 2015
Delight In Disorder
by Robert Herrick (1591–1674) A sweet disorder in the dress Kindles in clothes a wantonness. A lawn about the shoulders thrown…
September 20, 2015
The Cultural History Of The Hoodie
Besides maybe the suit, is any single item of men’s clothing more freighted with potential meaning than the hoodie? Sportswear…
September 5, 2015
Backstory On The Birth Of Vintage
I really enjoy the public radio show Backstory, about American history. It’s hosted by three genial college professors from Virginia,…
September 4, 2015
On 1960s Surfer Style
“We saw surfers around town. They had sun-bleached hair, drove old station wagons, wore plaid Pendleton shirts, white jeans, huaraches—Mexican…
August 24, 2015
More Adidas Sneakers Than A Plumber’s Got Pliers: The History Of Shelltoes
Gary Warnett goes historical on one of the first (post-Chuck Taylor) basketball sneakers to transition to streetwear/subcultural status symbol: the…
August 12, 2015
The NYT’s Panel On Ivy, 1958
From a September 28, 1958 edition of the New York Times, a panel discusses what they think of the then-trending…
August 10, 2015
These Phones Are Horribly Dated; These Shirt/Tie Combinations Are Not
If we’re considering this 1987 GQ spread a cultural artifact, we have to assume that in the 1980s, business was…
August 6, 2015
Turning Western
In his book Civilization, Harvard professor Niall Ferguson has an interesting chapter on how Japan started adopting Western modes of…
August 5, 2015
Summer In Japan
Some great photos from W. David Marx, showing how some men dressed in Japan shortly before and during the war….
June 27, 2015
A Word Search, Originally Published As An Advertisement For J. Press In The Japanese Magazine Men’s Club
Via the always-interesting Heavy Tweed Jacket, a word search, originally published as an advertisement for J. Press in the Japanese…
May 21, 2015
Cool Scans Of Menswear Illustrations
Some very cool scans of menswear illustrations from Ethan Newton of Rugged Old Salt. More can be found on his…
March 19, 2015
Karl Marx’s Shoes
Here’s a surprise. Apparently Karl Marx bought his shoes from the famous bespoke shoemaking firm Peal & Co. He had…
March 15, 2015
A Tailor’s History Of Savile Row
Here’s something awesome. Fashion students from around London are working on a project to document the history of tailoring on…
March 7, 2015
Savile Row, 1957
My friend CrimsonSox found some wonderful images of H. Huntsman & Sons in 1957. Notice how all the tailors are…
March 6, 2015
How Army Jackets Became A Civilian Staple
The New York Times Magazine has a nice article today about how army jackets became civilian staples. An excerpt: But…