By PrettyPatternShop
America after World War II was the land of Peace and Prosperity. It was a time of optimism and celebration. The drudgery of rationing, the misery of the Great Depression, these things were all fading memories and we lived in a land of atomic energy where anything was possible. We no longer wanted to be stuck slaving at our tasks just to provide the basic necessities. And women didn’t want to spend hours over their sewing, not when there were so many other things to do!
And so began the new era of easy to make, easy to wear, easy on the eye fashion. One of the most memorable and notable styles to emerge from that time was the Walk Away Dress, released by Butterick in 1952. “Cut it out at 9:00, wear it out at noon,” was the slogan. In other words, a project you could walk away from three hours later with a seriously cute finished dress.
It was enormously popular and saw a second printing:
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And let’s not forget its cousins:
The clever wraparound style would endure for decades, changing very little in basic construction,
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| 60s Version source |
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| 70s Wrap Around Style |
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| Gertie's Post on the Modern Version |
And then the Walk Away was rereleased in 2006 as part of Butterick’s Retro line:
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| source |
Make it quick, make it easy, make it cute!
I have the walk away dress pattern but I really like the "whirl away dress" so cute!!
ReplyDeleteThose dresses look so easy to make. How many of you have actually made one of these dresses? All I'll I've even seen is wrap-around skirts. Very nice article Robin!
ReplyDeleteHi Jan tiki, I have made the Vogue pattern of the walkaway dress, I wore it once and then sent it to the charity shop. However, I. Ust admit I'm tempted to have a go at the Butterick pattern. Use admit I'm not a fan of the big armholes! Regards, Patricia x x x
DeleteI have had that vogue pattern. But that Butterick with the back button detail is so lovely! Wonderful post.
ReplyDeleteLove these...really cute!
ReplyDeleteWow! Lovely dresses and great blog post!
ReplyDeleteI've always loved these types of dresses and its great to see all the different patterns they've come up with over the years.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing this :+)
I've always wondered, do they actually look any good? Did anyone's mum/grandma have one? I'd love some real historical firsthand experiences.
ReplyDeleteI read the Edelweiss review of it a long time ago, and I recall she had to make a lot of adjustments to get it looking as good as the pattern illustration.
I do love the sheath version! One day I might get around to trying one...