Looking good, eh? Fashion museum showcases the best of Canadian style
Exhibit shows it all, from Mukluks to the 'Canadian tuxedo'
In our short 150 years, Canada has made some bold contributions to the world of fashion.
Consider the "Canadian tuxedo" – denim from the ankles up – or the classic lumberjack plaid jacket, paired with a matching cap.
- Who is Sophie Grégoire Trudeau wearing? New rules for PM's wife
- Fashion icon Jeanne Beker unpacks her family history
- Ken doll fashion part of new exhibit at Cambridge's Fashion History Museum
The Fashion History Museum in Cambridge is showcasing the best of Canadian couture all year with the exhibit Fashioning Canada Since 1867, part of the country's 150th anniversary celebrations.
"It's dealing with what people, no matter where you are in the world, would look at and say: 'I think that's Canadian,'" Jonathan Walford, the museum's curatorial director, told Craig Norris, host of The Morning Edition on CBC Radio.
From mukluks to hat tricks
It features some little known moments in Canada's fashion history as well, like the fabled roots of hockey's "hat trick," often credited to a business-savvy Toronto hatter named Sammy Taft; or the time the great crooner Bing Crosby was snubbed by a Canadian hotelier, who didn't recognize him in Canada's namesake double denim "tuxedo."
- 1900s top fashion designer Lady Duff Gordon gets hometown Guelph exhibit
- Winter Olympic uniforms, past and present
Fashioning Canada highlights some of the many contributions to Canadian fashion created by Indigenous people as well, including the mukluk and the Cowichan sweater.
Though the exhibit explores Canada's varied regional styles, Walford says, the rest of the world probably still knows us best for our winterwear.
"We do winter well," he said.
Fashioning Canada since 1867 is on display at the Fashion History Museum in Cambridge until December 17.