What we wore in the last pandemic.
With the recent news that loungewear is to be added to the last of items on the retail price index for inflation measures it seems that the need for office wear and suits has been downgraded. This raises the question as to what were men wearing int he last similar pandemic that the world finds itself in at present. With a road map in place it will soon be that we can start to look at menswear Ireland based retailer EJ Menswear has to offer again as no doubt that some of us will want to go out and look good. A similar situation happened in the early half of the twentieth century with the rise of a strong strain of the flu. Unlike our rightly concerned Government now the authorities at the time were certainly not going to suggest lockdowns!
It occurred in the year 1918. Europe was just trying to recover from the worst conflict it had ever seen. This situation did not help. It was thought to have started in Spain and been brought back by the huge return of troops from France and around the world. The symptoms were similar to COVID in that there was a shortness of breath. However many recovered fully from it. The Government did nothing and even buried medical advice on lockdowns, stay at home suggestions and to avoid large gatherings. Basically they let it rip through the public. There was no sick pay then either.
The fashion of hats and coats with single breasted suits were the norm for middle to upper class men with hardy cotton for the working classes. A huge contrast indeed.
