What is Millinery?

Mrs. Milligan shows some winter and summer styles from the 1890s and 1910s

Simply put, Millinery is about women’s hats. It includes the making, the trimming, and the selling of them. Some will argue that the term requires a certain level of competence or professional commitment – making hats doth not a milliner make. By extension of the trimmings and sales aspect, Millinery may also encompass selling the various trims, “fripperies & furbelows” and small accessories that go with women’s hats, or with the outfits the hats complete.  Milliners have used this term for their profession since at least the early  1700’s, and have at times combined it with Haberdashery.

What is Haberdashery?

Words and their meaning evolve along with the societies and times they are in. Haberdashery’s meaning  varies, depending on “which side of the pond” you are on – British or North American, or on the degree to which you consider your country to be a part of the British Empire: Thus putting Canada on the UK side of things, despite it’s new world location. A Haberdashery is either (and/or) a shop with sewing supplies, notions, dry goods, and the like, or a shop with men’s accessories, such as hats, cravats and spats. Regardless of which definition you choose, we trust you’ll find it is an apt description of the masculine side of our offerings. And besides, it has such a wonderfully evocative feel, a sense of the world we, as Haberdashers, try to bring to you.