Figure 1.--This is a French Canadian family that looks to be having a picnic in the 1920s. I'm not sure how their clothing would have differed, if any, with a comparable English-Canadian family. Note the size of the family. Note the boy at theright with his wide waistband. It is a sure indicator that he comes from a French Canadian family. Click on the image for information.

We are just beginning to explore the impact of these cultural differences on clothing trends. One would think that the French Canadians would have been more influenced by France than English-Canadians. We note, however, relatively little reflection of French clothing styles among the admittedly limited number of French Canadian images archived by HBC. We have noted some clearly English influences in the clothes worn by Canadian boys. Here there seems to a class factor. The more affluent the family, the more prominent the English influence. HBC has noted a very significant American influence in Canada. Here climate and mass market retailers like Sears and Montgomery Ward may have been influential, especially in western Canada and even rural areas of eastern Canada. We note quite a number of late 19th and early 19th century images in which the boys, both French and English Canadians, seemed to be wearing American rather than English styled fashions. The French Canadians boys photographed about 1910 are a good example of this. A Candain reader writes, "I would agree with what you are saying. British influence was more with the wealthier Canadians. American fashions have been dominant simply because of the close proximity of the United States. I noted an increasing influence of American here fashions after the 1950s."

Cultural Communities

There are two large language-based communities in Canada, English and French speaking Candians. French Canadians are mostly located in Quebec and discendenys of the origuanal Frebch settlers of Canada when England seized the oprivince in the 18th century. English speakers are more diverse. Many of the most affluent Candadians are discendents of English settlers. Scotts are important in the Maritimes. The English speaking population also includes large numbers of Irish catholics who bdegan arriving in large numbers with the outbreak of the Potaton Famine (1845-50). Europeans from the Continent began arriving in substantial umbers in the late 19th century. They spoke a wide variety of languages, but virtaull all decided to learn English rather than France for thdeir new life in Canada.

English Speaking Canadians

We have noted some clearly English influences in the clothes worn by Canadian boys. Some English spaking readers report they know of no real differences. HBC has, however noted some differences. Here there seems to a class factor. The more affluent the family, the more prominent the English influence. A Candain reader writes, "I would agree with what you are saying. British influence was more with the wealthier Canadians." Working class English speakers were probably more influenced by American fashions than English fashions, but this is just HBC's initial assessment and needs futher work to fully assess.

French Speaking Canadians

One would think that the French Canadians would have been more influenced by France than English-Canadians. We note, however, relatively little reflection of French clothing styles among the admittedly limited number of French Canadian images archived by HBC. A French Canadian reader reports more important in influencing French Canadian fashions than fashion fron Continental France was the Catholic Church. The Church promoted very conservative clothing styles, especially for girls. One impact here was that French Canadian children, for example, tended to wear long stockings rather than kneesocks even during the Summer. A French Candian reader writes about the clothing differences between English and French speaking Canadians, "You quote English speaking Canadians who say that they never saw a difference in clothing. I hope my English speaking countrymen will not be offeneded, but it is a good example of how we were rarely noticed by them. In many affluent English speaking families you might see boys wearing English looking short pants with store-bought kneesocks along with a nice tie on a white shirt bought in a fine store. With us such nice tailored clothes were much less common. Girls and boys wore clothes that were retailored from adult pants, vests or dresses worn by their pafrents or older siblings. Mothers in any French speaking families were proud to make everything with a foot-peddle Singer sewing machine. English speaking Canadians might have nurses and French-speaking servanys to work in their homes. In a word, our mothers looked at Eaton's catalogs and copied the styles for our clothes. Even stockings were knitted at home by girls. It was a matter of cost. Many of our families were quite large. I knew families with 15. Thus it was almost a necessity to do everything at home from making soap to sewing clothes. There is an economical aspect related to short pants and long stockings. They are not expensive to make. It was not just an economic matter. The Catholic Church exerted a powerful conservative influence on fashion clothes. Our clothes always seemed to be old-fashioned in comparison to English-speaking Canadians. Some of us wore clothes that were 10-20 years oit of date. This all began to change very rapidly in 1960--about the time John Kennedy was elected president in America. From the early 60s, the fashion differences that had separated French and English speaking Canadians began to very quickly disappear."

Attitude toward Clothes

There are today many similarities between middle-class English and French speaking Canadians. A French Canadian reader, however, tells us, "Wealthy French Canadians (those who ave college and university educations) go to Holt Renfrew or French clothing shops (botiques) to outit their children . Montreal was and still is the biggest city in Canada for clothing manufactures. And it is THE place for children dress designers. A lot of them sell at Toronto. But a large part of the lower middle class outfit their children from big stores like Wal Mart, Zeller or Sears catalog. To be clear, French Canadians are North Americans--a continent dominated by English speaking Americans. But when they have money, they live like the French. They like to be be well-dressed and they are the biggest wine consumers in North America."

America

When discussing French fashion, one can not just consider English and French fashions. Canada's large neighbor to the south exerted an impact on Canada well before after World War II American fashion began to spread around the world. HBC has noted a very significant American influence in Canada. Here climate and mass market retailers like Sears and Montgomery Ward may have been influential, especially in western Canada and even rural areas of eastern Canada. In addition, the major Canadian depart store catalog T. Eaton handled clothes that looked much like American fashions. We note quite a number of late 19th and early 19th century images in which the boys, both French and English Canadians, seemed to be wearing American rather than English styled fashions. The French Canadians boys photographed about 1910 are a good example of this. A Canadian reader writes, "American fashions have been dominant in Canada simply because of the close proximity of the United States--a much larger economy. This was true at the turn of the 20th century. I noted, however, an increasing influence of American fashions here after the 1950s. At this time American and Canadian boys' fashions were practically indistinguishable."

Created: July 9, 2003
Last updated: July 25, 2003