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heritage, history

Pendleton Blanket Coats – From the Archives

August 29, 2019

70 Years of Style

We’re looking forward to celebrating 70 Years of Style next week – a party that honors our womenswear line, providing classic American style to women for seven decades! We’ll be celebrating at the Pendleton store Portland, Oregon, on Friday, 9/6/19, with a party. And you’re invited. We’re breaking out some beautiful clothes from the Pendleton archives for the event, along with bites and sips, music, giveaways, prizes and more. Vintage clothes (especially Pendleton) are encouraged and will be rewarded!

The event details are here: Seven Decades of Style party

The Heritage Coat

Here’s one of the most exciting items in the line for Fall 2019 – the coat on the right.

two women wearing Pendleton blanket coats - to left, actress Anita Page, to right, brunette model wearing hat, jeans, Pendleton blanket coat

Yes, that’s right. The coat on the right is a modern revival of one of our most iconic pieces; the Harding blanket coat. Before there was an official women’s sportswear line, Pendleton produced coats sewn from wool fabric in several lengths and styles to meet the needs of snowshoers, skiiers, tobogganers, and movie stars like Anita Page, photographed in a similar coat in the 1930s.

Actress Anita Page in a Pendleton blanket coat circa 1920s

The photo is black and white, but it’s safe to say that this coat was sewn in the familiar Harding pattern coloration.

The Pendleton Archives

Our archives hold several blanket coats in the Harding pattern on our racks of vintage Pendleton garments, carefully cataloged and hung under white sheets to protect them from dust. Visitors wear white gloves when they handle these treasures, to protect fragile garments from the oils we all have on our hands.

The coat at the front of this “go-back” rack (waiting to be checked back in) is very similar to the coat worn by Anita Page. It’s a well-worn example, with mismatched buttons.archive-coat

Here’s another beautiful Harding pattern coat we call “the airplane coat.” 

The Pendleton "airplane" coat, a blanket coat in the Harding pattern in the Pendleton archives.

This label gave it its name–see the airplane in the lower left of the label?

This car coat was sewn for passengers to wear in open cockpit airplanes. This is also a Harding pattern. The strap-and-button details are charming.

Here’s the rack where both of these coats live in the archives. The “out” cards mark  the spots where other garments have been taken to our design area.

A group of vintage Pendleton blanket coats hanging together in the Pendleton archives. Yellow and pink pieces of paper calle d"out cards" are interspersed, showing where garments have been checked out of the archives for design inspiration.

See You At The Party!

We can’t wait to see what the designers come up with next–and we can’t wait to see you at the party! Come help us celebrate.

Reproduction of a postcard sent to invite people to the 70 Years of Style Celebration at Portland, Park Avenue West, on Firday, Spetember 6, 2019. Includes photos of Anita page in a Pendleton coat from the 1920s, and a modern shot of a model wearing the Heritage Coat from the 2019 Fall Pendleton line.