THE HUDSONS' BAY BLANKET COAT

A STRIPE RUNS THROUGH IT...

 
Standing on the Toronto subway platform during the winter,
a sea of dark coats.
What if they were in colours and/or striped, to lighten these dark days of winter?
 
An article from VOGUE was my leaping off point...
 
 "THE AMERICAN WAY"
American Vogue January  2013
 
"Denim-which runs like a blue thread through our fashion history- returns on a sweeping scale..."
 
 
This rang bells, the pant invented for the miners of the 1800's gold rush, the coat from the 1700's fur boom...
 
Follow my path:
 
denim - de nim - de nime - of nime - nime, france - cloth made in the city of Nime, France
 
jean - gen - genoa - a pant from Genoa, Italy
 
Put them together under the auspices of one Mr Levi Strauss,  add a handful of copper rivets, get your patent in before your competitor, and 100+ years later, a pant designed for function, worn by miners. Now recognized in American Vogue, the jean and its fabric, thought of as  American originals, and worn the world over as fashion!
 
So, following a similar path:
a striped blanket given in trade for beaver skins
a blanket of British origin,
the seals trapped and their skins tanned by the Aboriginal,
who wrapped the blanket for warmth (as they did with animal skins).
And in combination with the British and the French settlers,
cut the blanket for easier wearablity and made it into a wrapped version of the European cloth coat, "THE CAPOTE".


Indian_Wigwam_in_Lower_Canada_(1848_)_Cornelius_Krieghoff.jpg
 
And today known  "THE HUDSON'S BAY COMPANY BLANKET COAT"
Like Mr Strauss' "jean" it has stood the test of time.
It's green, red, yellow and black stripes running through our  "CANADIAN FASHION HISTORY".
Historians and fashion writers have pointed it out.
The Hudson's Bay Company has worked with Canadian designers in many years to update it, and they still sell, although primarily to tourists I am thinking, as they are quite absent on the subway platform.

 
Designers from other countries have borrowed it's cut and fabric and put them on the catwalk.

John Bartlett NY Winter 2012

 
So don't let another winter go by in the dark...
See them and recognize them not only as "OUR OWN: HERITAGE GARMENTS" but fashion, and use the cloth and the stripes and make a myriad of practical products into fashion, and wear them here in Canada  as well as abroad!

 
OPEN THOSE EYES FOLKS, STAND UP PROUDLY, AND SAY IT'S "CANADIAN"!
 

For a more detailed history, let me point you in the direction of:
 
Jonathon Walford's Blog
http://kickshawproductions.com/blog/?p=479
 
and to see just what else those stripes can colour,

Wendy Morris on "Pinterest"
http://pinterest.com/oakhilz/hudson-bay-iconic/
 
and for a complete overview of all the above, the company responsible for the blanket...

The Hudson's Bay Company
http://www.hbcheritage.ca/hbcheritage/history/blanket/outerwear/
 
Coming in the next blog, more "Canadian" coats to light up the subway platform...

INDIVIDUALS / INTRODUCTIONS

"...including the garments, the companies and the individuals who are, or have been, a part of our great Canadian clothing and fashion heritage and future..."

And by "individuals" just who am I talking about?

The "Canadian Fashion Designers" are the most visible people in the Canadian fashion world and their names are the ones you may already recognise. They are the "individuals" in my reportage most frequently and their always increasing number will populate  the "labels" list here at "clothingcanadafashion" most rapidly.

The "Canadian Fashion Media", the publishers, the writers, the bloggers and tweeters, are those that, although on the masthead with the "Canadian Fashion Designers" are not as often noted. Here at "clothingcanadafashion" these "individuals" will not only be in the headlines but in my coverage, so that you can know them better and they will further populate the "labels" list.

The "Canadian Fashion Support System", are the manufacturers, the retailers, the organisations and the associations, the educators and the curators in museums and schools, and others, who's names rarely appear anywhere, if at all. I will use "clothingcanadafashion" to bring their names forward, and introduce you to these "individuals" as they too become inhabitants of the blog and  join the "labels" list.

With that said, let me get on with the the "INTRODUCTIONS" part of todays blog...

It's always amazing to make a succesful introduction!

Yesterday, in between teaching classes at the "ACADEMY OF DESIGN"  I had the pleasure of introducing "Canadian Fashion Media" member, "DORIS MONTANERA",  to the work of "KENN NORMAN and JONATHON WALFORD",  members of the "Canadian Fashion Support System".

Doris, in case you have not previously noticed her name amongst her words, is a  "Lifestyle writer and editor by day. Aspiring book author by night."*, a past editor of the late "STYLE" print magazine, (the lamented journal to those inside the Canadian fashion industry), a fellow educator and an amazing source of inspiration and answers, to her followers, her students and to me! You can follow Doris' insights on twitter https://twitter.com/DorisMontanera and the many places her printed words are published.

"Jonathan and Kenn, who's work you may have seen but who's names you most likely did not, among their many individual and combined contributions to fashion, (check the "about" tab on Jonathon's blog for details), and whom I met at the "COSTUME SOCIETY OF ONTARIO"  in the 1990's , (Jonathon was then President and Kenn, the Treasurer), are the founders of the "FASHION HISTORY MUSUEM (FHM).
Kenn is Chair and CEO, and Jonathan is the Curatorial Director, of the "FHM". Jonathan blogs about the fashion world on "JONATHON WALFORD'S BLOG" (the Kickshaw Productions website) http://kickshawproductions.com/blog/.

Included amongst Doris' tweets that day "I feel like I found buried treasure. For lovers of fashion & beauty history, check out http://kickshawproductions.com/blog/"*

Success!

Consider this my, hopefully as succesful, introduction to the many above, to you!! They will appear again here on "clothingcanadafashion"!

  *https://twitter.com/DorisMontanera
**http://kickshawproductions.com/blog/

ACADEMY OF DESIGN  http://www.aodt.ca/
DORIS MONTANERA https://twitter.com/DorisMontanera
KENN NORMAN http://kickshawproductions.com/blog/
JONATHON WALFORD http://kickshawproductions.com/blog/
STYLE MAGAZINE (no web presence that I can find, but I will keep checking...)
FASHION HISTORY MUSUEM (FHM) http://www.fashionhistorymuseum.com/index.html