Document generated on 10/01/2021 9:53 a.m. Imaginations Journal of Cross-Cultural Image Studies Revue d’études interculturelles de l’image A Clean Sharp Image Don Cherry’s Suits as Sartorial Statements Julia Petrov Fashion Cultures and Media – Canadian Perspectives Article abstract Cultures et médias de la mode – Perspectives canadiennes Canadian sports commentator Don Cherry is notorious for his outspoken Volume 9, Number 2, 2018 opinions and flamboyant style, both attracting popular attention. This article examines his attention-grabbing on-air style as an extension of both his values URI: https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/1059165ar for the game of hockey and his view of himself as a working-class boy made DOI: https://doi.org/10.17742/IMAGE.FCM.9.2.5 good. I argue that Cherry deliberately uses his suits to embody his social and personal values. Drawing on fashion studies approaches, I show that while not exactly fashionable in terms of trendiness, Cherry’s suits are examples of the See table of contents ability of clothing to be indexical of working-class personality transformed. Publisher(s) York University ISSN 1918-8439 (digital) Explore this journal Cite this article Petrov, J. (2018). A Clean Sharp Image: Don Cherry’s Suits as Sartorial Statements. Imaginations, 9(2), 41–54. https://doi.org/10.17742/IMAGE.FCM.9.2.5 All Rights Reserved ©, 2018 Julia Petrov This document is protected by copyright law. Use of the services of Érudit (including reproduction) is subject to its terms and conditions, which can be viewed online. https://apropos.erudit.org/en/users/policy-on-use/ This article is disseminated and preserved by Érudit. Érudit is a non-profit inter-university consortium of the Université de Montréal, Université Laval, and the Université du Québec à Montréal. Its mission is to promote and disseminate research. https://www.erudit.org/en/ “A CLEAN SHARP IMAGE”: DON CHERRY’S SUITS AS SARTORIAL STATEMENTS JULIA PETROV Abstract | Canadian sports commentator Don Cherry is no- he Canadian sports broadcaster Don torious for his outspoken opinions and flamboyant style, both “Grapes” Cherry is a fixture of nation- attracting popular attention. This article examines his atten- al broadcasting and cultural life. He is tion-grabbing on-air style as an extension of both his values Tbest known for his segment “Coach’s Corner,” for the game of hockey and his view of himself as a work- broadcast during intermissions in NHL games ing-class boy made good. I argue that Cherry deliberately uses on CBC, CityTV, and Sportsnet channels. His his suits to embody his social and personal values. Drawing weekly game commentary has earned the atten- on fashion studies approaches, I show that while not exactly tion of a nation, and he was even voted the 7th fashionable in terms of trendiness, Cherry’s suits are examples Greatest Canadian in a national televised con- of the ability of clothing to be indexical of working-class per- test (Jubas). His legendary status seems to be as sonality transformed. much due to his knowledge of the game as his garb: “loud as the jackets he wears” (Rush), as Résumé | Le commentateur sportif canadien Don Cherry est the New York Times put it. Indeed, he has be- célèbre pour ses opinions fracassantes et son style haut en cou- come not only iconic because of his longevity as leur qui captent tous les deux l’attention du public. Cet article a media personality, but also iconic because his examine son style accrocheur devant la caméra comme une outfits have become conventionalised references extension de ses valeurs pour le sport du hockey et de l’image to themselves. qu’il a de lui-même comme celle d’un enfant de la classe ou- vrière qui a réussi. J’avance l’idée que Cherry utilise délibéré- To a casual observer, Don Cherry’s champion- ment ses tenues pour symboliser ses valeurs sociales et person- ing of an aggressive, working-class masculini- nelles. Utilisant les approches des études sur la mode, je cher- ty in his “Coach’s Corner” segments on CBC’s che à montrer que bien qu’elles ne soient pas véritablement du Hockey Night in Canada may seem to be at odds dernier cri en termes de mode, les tenues de Cherry sont des with his custom-tailored, flamboyant style. exemples de la capacité du vêtement à représenter la transfor- Cherry’s sartorial choices have been the amus- mation de personnalité de la classe ouvrière. ing subject of countless interviews, YouTube compilation videos, Reddit threads, and even Buzzfeed quizzes, but, unlike his contributions to discourses around sports, Canadian nation- al identity (Knowles; Dallaire and Dennis), vio- lence (Gillet White and Young; Allain, “Real Fast and Tough”), and masculinity (Jubas; Allain, “A Good Canadian Boy”), the statements made by his suits, though widely acknowledged as be- ing part of his popular appeal, have not been the sustained and singular subjects of academic A CLEAN SHARP IMAGE study. This article, then, will build on this earli- a suit and tie, and his clothing choices are deep- er work and provide a fashion studies descrip- ly conservative: blacks, blues, greys, and khaki tion of his style, drawing on Cherry’s own words colours predominate, with subdued patterns in to get at the meanings of his outrageous on-air stripes, dots, or checks only periodically intro- outfits. duced. He prefers single-breasted jackets, and generally eschews decorative details like pock- Inspired by Julie Rak’s analysis of Cherry’s con- et squares and tie clips. Overall, MacLean seems struction of himself in the context of Canadian generally uninterested in promoting his person- celebrity, this article examines his suits from a ality visually; indeed, his style might be consid- cultural studies perspective, analysing Cherry’s ered retiring even for a news reader or a politi- construction of his public image through the de- cian. When studying video of the two hosts to- tails of his iconic look. Far from just a strategy gether over time, through clips made available to draw visual attention to himself as a televi- online, a deliberate pattern of rhetorical oppo- sion personality (often at the cost of his conser- sition seems to emerge, with MacLean’s drab- vatively dressed co-anchor, Ron MacLean), it is ness serving to further illuminate Cherry’s flam- clear that Cherry is proudly savvy about the se- boyance. Sometimes, the two men’s outfits even miotics of his suits, and knowingly rejects main- seem coordinated, as though they had commu- stream menswear. His assertive provisioning of nicated beforehand which colours or patterns his own fabrics, the hyper-masculine cut of his Cherry would wear, so that MacLean could wear jackets, the old-fashioned details of his collars something (usually a tie) to match or contrast and cuffs, and the brash prints that match his with his costar. bold tone are all symbolic extensions of his ex- pressed values for the game of hockey. While his In the early days of “Coach’s Corner,” Cherry stiff high collars and triple-breasted jackets can- would stand out less due to the patterns of his not be called fashionable in the sense of follow- jackets (the early 1980s being a period of bold ing or setting trends, I argue that Cherry’s style fabrics in fashion) and more for their cut (not belongs to a tradition of working-class male sar- the loose and unstructured sports jackets as torial self-definition, from 19th-century dudes, were then popular), as well as his eccentrical- mashers, and swells, to 1950s teddy boys and the ly old-fashioned shirts with their tall starched fashionable rappers of today, updated for a me- white collars and often contrasting patterned diated modern visual culture that thrives on the body. His ties, too, would frequently be the sub- projection of personality. ject of comment on- and off-air. Yet as time went on, Cherry began to revel in increasingly more Cherry’s Look outrageous prints, which have, with the advent of the social network, been the fodder of blogs, A former hockey player and coach, Don Cherry YouTube compilations, and other internet com- has been a fixture of sports commentary on Ca- mentary (Fig. 1). His jackets in particular are so nadian television for nearly 40 years. Since 1986, closely watched that he brings them to the stu- he has been partnered with veteran sportscaster dio in a garment bag, putting them on only just and referee Ron MacLean, who provides a gen- before filming his segment (Popplewell). Part tle foil to Cherry’s brash appearance and opin- of this is so that he looks as neat as possible ions. MacLean dresses professionally on air, in REVUE D’ÉTUDES INTERCULTURELLES DE L’IMAGE JOURNAL OF CROSS-CULTURAL IMAGE STUDIES ISSUE 9-2, 2018 · 42 JULIA PETROV (Cherry, Hockey Stories 82) but there is also a Unlike some celebrities who assemble their theatrical element to the anticipated reveal. outfits from available ready-to-wear garments, Cherry’s suits are not off-the-rack. Starting in The classic Don Cherry look is readily classifi- 1985, Cherry’s suits were custom-made by Frank able. He wears two- or three-piece suits, often in Cosco, an experienced Toronto tailor to pro- a bright solid or extremely large-scale pattern. fessional athletes, until shortly before Frank’s His jackets always have very wide shoulders, ag- death in 2007. Since 2010, Cherry’s main tai- gressively angled notched lapels, and can be sin- lor has been John Corallo at the North Toron- gle-, double-, triple-, or even quadruple-breast- to boutique The Coop (Deacon).