Source: The Magazine Antiques
A long-overlooked Indiana fashion tradition has seen a recent revival, drawing a younger generation into the richly woven world of antiques.
It all started at Indiana’s Purdue University around 1904 when a few creative students in their senior year walked past a tailor’s shop, the Taylor Steffen Company, and were captivated by some mustard-color corduroy fabric. Perhaps it was the same shade as the official Purdue school colors or the perfect texture with impeccable wales and ridges, but this serendipitous encounter started a tradition that became a significant part of fashion history known as the senior cord.
The first wave of senior cords took the form of trousers in the yellow corduroy, which were personally painted with one’s individual symbology—images that often included the school name, the graduation year, the school mascot, and any team or club the student was a member of. These pieces of clothing – first just pants, then skirts – became a part of the student identity, only allowed to those in their senior year, making them aspirational status symbols for younger students. The tradition was quickly adopted by other schools besides Purdue, older students policing who wore them in an effort to maintain exclusivity. The dawn of the senior cord coincided with the significant use of corduroy in the Ivy League style, spearheaded by the likes of J. Press (the Yale tailor of choice) and Brooks Brothers, providing the material an association with luxury and collegiate stature.
The trend began to peter out in the 1960s and 1970s with a new generation of students rebelling against the traditions of their parents. The artform is having a resurgence today. For example, at Noblesville High School, students are using a cream-colored denim as their blank slate instead of the mustard yellow corduroy.
