Santa Suits

Christmas Eve is here, and with it that enduring image of Santa — red suit, white beard, a figure we recognise instantly, even if we’ve all met him in wildly different forms. Whether you’re celebrating quietly, gathering with family, working through the holidays, or simply enjoying a pause in the year, this season carries a shared visual language shaped by memory, imagination and myth.

In this archive feature from Issue 37, Dress Circle, written by Derek McCormack, we look beyond the familiar silhouette to trace how Santa’s look came to be — from sagging, makeshift department-store suits and fur-trimmed improvisations to the scarlet uniform that eventually became “orthodox”. Moving through illustrations, advertisements, homemade costumes and professional Santa schools, the article reveals Santa as a cultural construction: stitched together from commerce, craft, practicality and belief.

However you mark this moment, we invite you to settle in and enjoy this richly textured exploration of Santa’s evolving wardrobe, and the surprising histories hidden in its seams:

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Image Credits:

Lead: Advertising Archive, Santa's Grotto, 1930