Living History Fashions

09/03/2025

03/27/2023

Sometimes I really get a kick out of looking at advertisements from other periods, particularly catalog pages. This page is from a 1940’s catalog and shows pants and shirts that are definitely pointed at a younger, more forward trending market.
During this period menswear waistlines were placed above the natural waist, which coupled with the ever present shoulder padding in jackets, seemed to broaden the shoulder and narrow the waist. Pant legs were generously cut, trouser fronts were pleated, and as we can see, cuffs were commonplace, though not universal.
In these designs I am especially taken with the diagonal button details at the waists. I’ve seen quite a lot of menswear from this period but have never encountered such a device in reality.
As a price comparison, $1.49 in 1945 is the equivalent of $24.90 in 2023.

10/28/2022

Featuring Al Saguto, Master Boot and Shoemaker at Colonial Williamsburg. Learn more at http://www.mountvernon.org/shoes

02/20/2022

10/02/2018

Hell yes!

The temptation is real, but protecting the art is the priority 😊