Portlandia

Is there anything more Portland than an artisanal confectioner's-smoking lounge fusion, where you can get a shave, and try on the latest thing in hats? 

A Hat Style Creed

In 1921, The American Hatter published "A Hat Style Creed," outlining five fundamental beliefs of the conscientious hatter. The creed was created in celebration of the fall hat style weeks, which ran from September 1st to 15th, 1921. 

Men deserve to have all the fun there is in hat wearing!     

The piece is attractively framed in a boarder of wild roses, and offers a message to hat sellers, and hat lovers everywhere, touching gently on themes of service, gender equality, aesthetic harmony, and embracing individual style. The instructions say to read the creed and then pass it on. To assist in reading the small text, I've re-typed A Hat Style Creed below the original. 

A Hat Style Creed

• We believe that hat wearing is more a matter of pleasure and pride than of strict necessity; that the hat is more an article of ornament than of protection; and that the men we sell to deserve to have all the fun there is in hat wearing. 
• We believe that a harmoniously hatted man can create a stir of admiration in the human mind as well as a cleverly millinered woman. 
• We believe that no man is well hatted unless his hat properly harmonizes with the shirt, collar, cravat, suit and shoes he is wearing at the time. 
• We believe that every gentleman should have enough hats always to be well-hatted, according to the above definition.
• We believe that it is the duty of the hat seller to assist and advise his patrons so that the hat is always the one most suitable to the face and costume under it. 

Adventures in Haberdashery

During the early 1920s, The Haberdasher ran a nifty little contest called "The Funniest Sight" where shopkeepers and sales clerks could share stories of their most amusing or bizarre experiences in the the haberdashery business. The top two or three entries would be printed and illustrated each month, and the winner received $5.00.

Below are two hilarious anecdotes from The Haberdasher's "Funniest Sight" contest of April 1922. Click the text to zoom.

Fashion Disaster

Behold, a tale of fortunes reversed, of trust betrayed, and the revelation of concealed truths! 

This priceless bit was printed in a 1921 issue of The Haberdasher

Merry's Windows

The Haberdasher and The Clothier and Furnisher would regularly run contests for the best window displays in the country, and I noticed, after scanning through several issues, that a certain window dresser from the midwest kept appearing in the winners' circle. He stood out, because while all the other winners usually had their hair slicked back, or to one side, the talented Mr. Merry, was always pictured with his locks piled into a wonderful pyramidal structure, daringly perched on the top of his head.

There he is, on the right, above some of the other winners of The Haberdasher's Display Championship. In 1921, he would win the championship for a second time. 

Here he is some years earlier, winning 2nd place in The Clothier and Furnisher's 1912 window dressing contest. 

And Here he is again, winning a Clothier and Furnisher competition in 1913, giving a little credit to his school. This bit was printed in Merchants Record and Show Window.

Below are some more examples of Mr. Merry's prize-winning work from The Haberdasher's 1920 Contest:

So, after seeing this shining star of window dressing pop up in periodical after periodical, you can imagine my excitement, when I saw the headline: "The King of Display Men Speaks!"In the following article, Mr. Merry sets down his guidelines for success: 

Story Time

I truly felt as if I'd stumbled across buried treasure, when I discovered an entire twelve-page picture book, printed in the July 1910 issue of Men's Wear. It is a beautifully illustrated allegorical tale about a rowing match between two different marketing approaches. The whole thing is a delightful treat from start to finish, so I've gone ahead, and posted the entire piece below. Enjoy! 

Plotting a Comeback

For the last couple of centuries, western menswear has been largely shaped by what a select number of taste-makers declare to be correct, tasteful, and manly. It doesn't matter if they endorse fur collars, leather pumps, blue and gray suits, or lavender pajamas, when the demigods of fashion have spoken, the menswear industry, as a whole, puts its shoulder to the wheel, and makes a valiant effort to win some small sign of their icy approval    

Of course, what do you do, when the demigods of fashion decide to turn up their discerning noses at your branch of the industry? What if you no longer fit in with the aesthetics of the moment, or worse still, what if they dismiss your products as gauche? What were the experts in sequin embroidery to do, when Beau Brummell denounced the wholesale bedazzling of the tailor's craft?

Below is a letter to the editor of The Jeweler's Circular from August 1st 1922, addressing an article exploring the issue. As the public fascination with sports began to inform the laws of menswear, the trend-setters and taste-makers of the day decided that little glittering accessories should, for the time being, be kept to a minimum. Jewelers needed a plan to re-establish the market for men's jewelry, when the average Joe on the street had, out of respect for his favorite trend setters, firmly decided that most jewelry was no longer "correct." 

Diamond Dragnet

I've found that most fashion industry journals from the 1920s are quiet affairs. They publish the latest trends in lapel notches, and the best ways to arrange silk neckties in windows. The height of drama, on their well ordered pages, might be a little coy feuding between fashion scholars and adventurous trendsetters, or perhaps a hint of a copyright infringement scandal. 

Not so, with The Jeweler's Circular! That robust periodical is glittering with more drama than a rack of dime novels! Jewel heists, automat holdups, car chases, cavalier criminals who give their victims sporting chances at escape, bugged hotel rooms, and detectives in disguise, The Jeweler's Circular has it all in spades. 

Here's one example that is the stuff of Hollywood classics!

Virtual Tour

Here is a wonderful virtual tour of a made-to-measure factory in Chicago. It was printed in a 1910 issue of The Clothier and Furnisher. 

Behold the Bohemian Youth

This article from a 1919 issue of The Haberdasher provides a wonderful sketch of a perennial type: The glassy-eyed youth with poetic sensibilities, who drifts through life in a state of rapt abstraction, passively gaining the admiration of all aspiring bohemians he encounters, and thoroughly confounding everyone else.  

Corsets for Men

"Don't laugh. I bet plenty of you men wear one of these!"- Elmer Fudd from The Wacky Wabbit, 1942. 

According to the following excerpt from an article printed in a 1921 issue of The Haberdasher, men's corsetry experienced a surge in popularity during the early 20s. (The days when men of Elmer Fudd's generation were eager young professionals, wanting to fit in, perhaps?). "The Baron" gives an enthusiastic, if a trifle haphazard, report of the latest trends, and events, in London menswear, and writes about a new and booming corset industry: "...the male corsetieres are doing a roaring trade..." he says, "...corsets for men are, in fact, openly advocated and boasted of, for the first time in my memory."

It might seem a little odd for men to re-adopt such a restrictive garment at a time when interest in sportswear and personal comfort were growing rapidly. However, the appeal of corsets begins to make more sense when one examines the popular silhouette at the time. The barrel chested suits of the 1890s and 1900s had become decidedly outmoded. Figure-hugging tailoring over subtle hourglass curves (which had been coming into fashion during the 1910s) was now in vogue, and going nowhere. The new silhouette was perfect for slightly curvy gentlemen, with naturally trim figures. However, it presented a challenge for fashion conscious gentlemen who didn't quite fit the new mold. For many, corsets may have seemed like a straightforward answer to a troubling style problem. 

Right: A men's coat form from 1922, advertised in The Clothier and Furnisher. This form represented the ideal silhouette of a gentleman already clothed in his long underwear, shirt, and waistcoat.