Women's casual footwear styles from the summer of 1959

 

✯ Day 158 of Vintage 365 ✯

 

There is much to be said in favour of a stunning pair of heels, chicer than the day is long, exquisitely tailored and, as is so often the case with gorgeous footwear, lip-bitingly painful to wear after about thirty seconds.

Like many a vintage fashionista, I've paid my dues when it comes to logging scores of days in such shoes, however there's no rule (despite what shows like Sex in the City might have you believe) that says footwear needs to be painful to lovely or functional.

While it's jolly fun to imagine yesteryear women sashaying around town in Dior heels all the live long day, reality is that most women (perhaps even more so in the 40s and 50s then now) had a shoe wardrobe that included a good mix of practical styles, as well as shoe-stopping pairs.

In the former category, back during the summer of 1959, one could easily have found numerous pairs to love - and adorn their feet with - amongst the styles up for offer in this cheerful page from that season's Montgomery Ward catalog.

 

These styles - each of which could easily have been plucked from a modern day shoe store - are a testament to the fact that summertime footwear can definitely be both easy on the soles and wonderfully fashionable at the same time.

From a darling floral print kitten heel (if you don't already own a pair, I highly suggest investing in some kitten heels, they're often very easy to wear and walk in for hours on end) to chambray blue t-strap flats, fiery lipstick red slip-on deck style shoes to zigzag print wedges, all of the styles on this page would have been highly versatile choices for the fashionable woman of the late 1950s.

And nothing has changed in that regard over the last six decades. Each of these looks is still a smart buy, cheery style, and delightful way to get a lot of mileage out of your summertime shoes.

Turn to images like this great old school catalog page (which hails from Flickr user CapricornOneVintage) the next time you head out to do some vintage shoe shopping and you're bound to come home with the kind of winning styles that will look every bit as lovely today as they did in 1959.

Bright and cheerful summer dresses from 1948

✯ Day 141 of Vintage 365 ✯

 

Once long ago in a time before incessant text messaging, countless Real Housewives shows (you know, back in those days when more housewives actually lived up to their names and looked after their homes and families instead of starting cat fights for living), and Starbucks locations on every corner, a department store chain by the name of Eatons presided over Canada from coast to shining coast.

For a time Eaton's (the official name of which was the T. Eaton Co. Limited) was the largest department store chain in this country, with a history stretching all the way back to its humble Toronto roots in 1869.

During the many decades Eatons called Canada home, it was as commonplace and beloved as Sears (perhaps even more so in some parts of the country), and it produced many fine, wonderfully image rich catalogues over the years (before the chain went bankrupt around the start of the 21st century, that is).

It's from one such vintage catalogue, specifically the summer 1948 edition, that today's image originally hailed. On this bright, lively page we see three young women sporting dress styles that were popular that season.

Each one in markedly distinct from the other, and yet they all share in common similar traits, too, such as mid-calf length hems, short sleeves and vibrant colours.

 

The cotton candy pink and black dress on the left hand side telegraphs a charmingly peasant/ethnic vibe. The two piece skirt and matching blouse combo in the centre (worn by a young woman that I can't help but think resembles the modern day comedian Sarah Silverman a tad) is somewhat more formal (I could so easily imagine a young mom popping over to the weekly PTA meeting in it), yet still very summery and playful (thanks to that vivid daffodil yellow shade).

And last but not least, the third dress, with it's square shoulders and distinctive black bow at the collar, is a riot of pretty rainbow colours that instantly bring to mind a traveling carnival.

Each of these looks came it at under $6.00 and would have been relatively affordable options for Canadian women of 1948. I find something to like in all three dresses, yet I think that the chevron patterned "Gibson Girl" frock on the right, bursting with feel-good candy colours, that is my personal favourite.

While sadly Eatons department stores are no longer a part of the Canadian landscape, thanks to terrific vintage images like this catalogue page (which comes by way of Old Catalogs on Flickr) memories of this classic retailer, and a delightful dose of 1940s summertime wardrobe inspiration alike, can live on for vintage fashion lovers to draw oodles of sartorial inspiration from.

Vintage 365: Remembering the man who invented mail-order shopping

✯ Day 48 of Vintage 365 ✯

{Vintage page featuring three women in smartly styled rayon dresses and very eye-catching hats, from the 1939 Montgomery Ward catalog. Image via Wondertrading on Flickr.}

 

The name Aaron Ward might not be a household one any more these days, yet the world of shopping was forever changed by this chap in the later half of the nineteenth century when he pioneered the idea of mail ordering. A shrewd business man with an eye for what people wanted, Ward came up with the idea of offering customers the ability to buy products by mail when he was a sprightly young traveling salesman.

Bothered by the fact that he routinely saw many Americans (particularly, he felt, those in rural areas) being grossly overcharged and under-served by small town retailers (whom they had to turn to for all of their shopping needs), in 1872 Ward came up with the novel idea of offering customers the ability to buy products from a retailer located outside of their immediate area.

Though this idea now seems as commonplace as bread to us, at the time it was viewed by many to be strikingly innovative - and rather nuts, by others. Ward didn't let his critics and naysayers get to him though, as he ploughed on and formed the Montgomery Ward & Company shop that same year. Ward went onto publish what is often considered to be the world's first general merchandise mail-order catalogue in 1872, as well, which contained a modest 163 products.

Jump ahead to the twentieth century and Montgomery Ward had become one of America's most popular mail-order catalog services, beloved by many from coast to coast. Though it wasn't long before other merchants and companies saw the wisdom of Ward's terrific mail-order catalog and began producing versions as well (think companies like Sears, who debuted their first mail-order publication in 1896), for numerous decades the Montgomery Ward  catalog was a mail-order standard throughout the States, Canada and beyond.

Though Aaron Ward passed away in 1913, and his company (Montgomery Ward) has shifted over the years from bricks and mortar shops paired with mail-order catalogs to an online retailer, February 17th marks this innovative businessman's birthday, and as a lifelong catalog lover, I wanted to take a moment to remember – and celebrate the life of - the man who brought mail-order shopping to the masses.

Thank you very much, Mr. Ward, for helping to revolutionize - and forever improve - the society shops! Though I haven't bought from your company directly, I've long been a big a fan of your catalogs - particularly those from the mid-twentieth century (such as the one from 1939 which included the image in today's post) - and very much appreciate what you did for the world of buying and selling.