Van Raalte of Canada

Since I live in Canada, I occasionally come across a Van Raalte piece that says Made in Canada on the label. Up until now every piece has been a relatively recent, 70s or 80s nightgown or peignoir set, but yesterday I found a 60s slip with a different Made in Canada tag.


I've actually been questioned by a customer as to whether this is the same Van Raalte company, so I did a trademark search on the Canada CIPO website:

VAN RAALTE COMPANY, INC.417 Fifth AvenueNew York, New York UNITED STATES OF AMERICA filed for the trademark "Van Raalte" in Canada on 1945-01-29 (claimed first use of trademark in Canada 1935). As of 1995 the trademark is registered to owner Warnaco U.S., Inc.and is still active (as far as I know it is no longer in use).

Van Raalte Labels & Tags

Van Raalte Label Archive

We are looking for tag and label samples from early Van Raalte pieces ( pre 1950's), so please contact us if you have any in your collection.

Tag from a late 40s or early 50s Van Raalte Myth nightgown.


Tag from a Stryps rayon nightgown. Originally declared as a 40s nightgown, but I'm thinking this tag looks newer and I can't see the VR font, so dating by tag is impossible. The Stryps line was advertised until the late 1960s.

Antron Suavette from a late 50s slip or very early 60s slip. Note: Dupont registered Antron in 1960, but declared first use in commerce as Nov 1959. Tag photo courtesy of Rosemary Productions

Tag from a 1950s FABULACE full slip

Tag from 1950s Opaquelon crystal pleat half slip

Tag from a 60s lace full slip. NOTE: the font changed sometime in the early 60s. In 1960 advertisements they are still using the old font and by 1962 all ads were using the new scrolled font. I can't find any 1961 ads, but we can assume they changed over sometime in 61 / 62.

Van Raalte of Canada tag taken from a 60s full slip

Tag from a late 70s early 80s nightgown, courtesy of Pinupdresses