I'm going way back in time today, to the summer of 1908 - this catalogue has seen better days, the outside covers are quite fragile. This book belonged to a relative - just to think that people from my family shopped from this book - it's hard to even fathom. The catalogue is 318 pages - of course, there are the regular sections, clothing for ladies, men and children, home goods - then there are the categories which could only be from a catalogue way back then - horse and cattle medicines, notions and small wares, there's just so much that we don't even see any more.
In this post I'll be showing you the fashions that the lady of the house would have been wearing in the summer of 1908.
I'm just looking at the sizing chart for these suits - bust sizes are 32 - 42 but waist sizes are 23-29. If you needed a special or extra size, it was $3.50 extra and would take 10 days to make the special order.
Can you just picture the ladies wearing these at a picnic? Just look at all the embroidery and lace...
Look at that cape on the upper left - it was made of black brocaded silk, bottom frill of lace, silk ribbons and lined with sateen - for $6.00
This would be a shirt or blouse to us - back then it was called a "waist" - lots of embroidery once again and lots of buttons - the cheapest one is 75 cents!!
There are quite a few pages of footwear including shoes and boots. Carla and I often comment when we see these old shoes in antique shops, they're just so narrow - I see that sizes were from 2 1/2 to 7 - I couldn't even get my foot in one of these!!!
Of course, this was the time of hankies - I've never heard of lawn handkerchiefs before, have you?
The millinery department was just as extensive as the footwear - there are many pages. The colors were about the same for every one - black, navy, brown, pearl, champagne or white. They're so pretty!!
There's also quite a selection of corsets - the description for the gal in the picture reads - straight front, fine sateen, filled with steel wire, long hip, hose supporters attached, drab and white available - 85 cents!!!
An enamelled maple leaf brooch, gold plated for 10 cents!!! The other jewellery pages include hat pins, bracelets, lockets, chains and watches, but the watches weren't wrist watches, they were pocket watches.
This is the back page and not in good shape at all - I thought the scents for the perfumes were very interesting - new mown hay, crab apple, wall flower, sweet clover - those are just a few of the different ones, of course, there are lots of flowery scents - all selling for 40 cents an ounce.
It was really hard to pick out a few pages for this post - click on any picture for a better look. I'd love to share more with you another day....
Carla has entered an online contest -" Blog What You Love" and sure would like to win the big prize of a $1,000 shopping spree at her local mall. Because she is my daughter, I'm going to help her with this post and I hope you will too - if you're on Facebook all you have to do is "Like" her blog post and you can do that right here - let's get her some more votes!!! It's that easy!! Thanks so much!!
My post from earlier in the week on household items from the Eaton's catalogue was quite popular, just like any of my other catalogue posts I've done, just in case you want to catch up, here it is. Today I'm going to share some ladies' fashions with you - I'll say it again, this is the best catalogue I've found yet - there is just so much retro goodness in it and every model is just so happy and smiling, they don't often seem to look like that now....
These pictures were at the very front of the catalogue - to set the winter theme, I guess.
It says this picture was shot on the ski slopes at Sunshine Village, Banff. The most expensive item on this page is the $25 red jacket - pure wool, of course. I like those red boots - made of glove leather, shearling inside and foam crepe rubber soles.
This one was photographed "on the curling rink at Rossmere Golf and Country Club, Winnipeg" - no one is wearing clothes like this anymore while curling. Aren't they a fashionable trio?
"Slim or bouffant, bare armed or demurely covered up - this is your After-five Sophistication" - look at the waists on these gals!!
I just love every dress - don't you??
These were available in Juniors sizes - gloves were also available as well as the jewellery. The dresses are just so cheap - that little plaid number was only $8.96.
The purple mohair type slim skirt took my eye because Mom had a green one like that and Carla has it now! Once again, look at the waists on those girls!! The jeans don't look so different from today's fashions.
My Barbie had a coat very similiar to the one on the top left - it was home made and the same colour with a fur collar too. But, it wasn't mink like these!!!
Furs were also available to order - Persian Lamb, Canadian Mink, China Mink or Japanese Coney(dyed and blended rabbit) - my grandmother had a fur coat, I think that's the only person I ever knew with one.
I'm including this pic because even though I was a little girl in 1961 I remember having those brown boots with the silver buckle - they sure weren't pretty but everybody had them!
Purses and matching footwear - notice that every pair is sanitized!
Just like some of my other catalogues, there are a lot of hat pages, this one has seven pages - love the hats!
I remember seeing slips like this in Mom's drawer - and look at that crinoline!
You'd be pretty toasty in that red robe on the left - it was made of all wool Scottish flannel - and it could only be dry cleaned!! It's the most expensive one - $18.99
Join the Pajama Party! Even the pajamas look fashionable!
This would have been my favourite page in the whole book, I loved brides. I used to cut all the brides out of the newspaper and kept them in a shoe box. My friends and I would go to any wedding, stand outside and collect the confetti that was thrown. One time I threw all my collected confetti on Dad's car and it rained, he was not happy with me!!!
Maternity wear was loose and comfortable - not form fitting like it is now! Call me old fashioned, I guess - I like this look!
Practical uniforms - of course, the nurses' uniforms were only available in white!
It was really hard to narrow it down, there are just so many great pages - stay tuned - mens' and childrens' fashions are coming and also some more household pages.
