1950s Cocktail Dresses

Most agree cocktail dresses reached their height in the 1950s. After the end of World War II, a surge in the popularity of "at-home" cocktail parties created the need for women to have a short dress suitable for more formal occasions - in essence, a short version of an evening gown. Dior is said to have first coined the phrase "cocktail dress" in the late 1940s. 

French designers released cocktail-specific dresses. Less expensive ready-to-wear dresses were eagerly embraced by American women. A great many sewing patterns for cocktail dresses were also produced in the 1950s. High fashion was now available to everyone.

Cocktail parties helped define women's roles as wives and hostesses. They were also a means to promote or further their husband's career.

The beauty of most 1950s cocktail dresses is the design of pleating, ruching, folds and gathers. 

There are two main cocktail dress styles: the bouffant skirt dress and the sheath dress. The full skirted dresses were always worn with a petticoat or two. The sheath dresses were slim around the body. The hourglass silhouette of both styles required the wearing of bullet bras, waist-cinchers, corselets and girdles.

By the mid-1960s, formal dress for cocktail parties began to give way to more casual attire. By the late 60s - 1970s, hostesses wore a "hostess dress" - a full length dress with a simpler design than those of the 1950s. Hostess dresses are sometimes called patio dresses as cocktail parties moved outdoors.

The Pattern Patter Team on etsy offers a large variety of cocktail dress patterns. 

Row One: 

McCall's 4357 @ BluetreeSewingStudio

Vogue 199 @ ViennasGrace

McCall's 3781 @ Redcurlzs

McCall's 6044 @ CloesCloset

Row Two

Vogue 4218 @ VintagePatternStore

Vogue 1881 @ VogueVixens

Butterick 7648 @ TheTinThimble

McCall's 3827 @ ThePatternSource

Row Three

Butterick 6095 @ FindCraftyPatterns

Butterick 5557 @ PurplePlaidPenguin

Modes Royale 1883 @ kinseysue

McCall's 4417 @ honeymoonbus

Row Four

Vogue 4963 @ sewbettyanddot

Butterick 5557 @ retroactivefuture

Modes Royale 1749 @ stitchingbynumbers

Advance 110 @ SewAsItWasPatterns

Featured Shop - She'll Make You Flip! Owner Deb Glosek

Meet Deb from She'll Make You Flip!   

She'll Make You Flip! 

Where do you live?  Central  Pennsylvania

How did you start selling patterns? 

I've always been interested in patterns for the illustrations as much as sewing and kept collecting and collecting.  I finally ran out of storage space and began to sell.  Unfortunately I keep buying and never did free up any space :).  Oh, I also have trouble passing up beautiful fabric when I see it too, but that's another story.

Simplicity 1022 

How long have you been selling? 

Vogue 9732

 On and off since 2010 as time would permit.  I'm now retired and hope to devote more time to selling (and buying, of course). I learned to sew small, basic items like potholders and pillows in the late 60's and eventually graduated to making clothing for myself and made a lot of my clothing through my college and early work years.  As a young mother of three children in the 1980's, I didn't want to work outside the home, so I built a home-based mail order business selling  historically accurate garment patterns, which I ran for 16 years.  In 1999, since my children were older and didn't need me to be at home 24/7, I sold the home-based business and resumed my career as a government financial analyst.  I'm happy to say that I

retired recently and am loving life with my husband , our two shelties and a new grandson!  While I have so many plans for travel, gardening and sewing (teaching our granddaughters), I plan to continue selling patterns in my Etsy shop.  I really enjoy the Pattern Patter Team - it's a wonderful community of like-minded people!  I feels good to keep these wonderful patterns with their lovely illustrations out there for people to enjoy rather than seeing them be tossed and forgotten.  It's especially heart-warming to come across a pattern that I actually sewed and wore as a teenager in the late 60's and early 70's!

Deb with her adorable grandson! 

A new helper!

Deb is offering all Pattern Patter Blog

 readers a 20% discount through August 31st 2014

Enter PATTERNPATTER20 when Checking out! 

Fabulous Finds: The Frivolous Dress

It's freezing here, like everywhere else, :) and I'm dreaming of bygone days when elegant parties were thrown and beautiful dresses were made.

My personal favorite is the turquoise one. How about you?
Or you could just pass me a bolt of either fabric...

Treasury full of goodies! Go take a closer look! Some of these shops had several wonderful pieces that made it hard
to choose which to feature.

While I find myself wanting one of each, of all these; the reality of life, then and now was, an individual would probably only wear one of these dresses in her entire life. So think carefully... which would you choose?

FANCYWORK SELLER OF THE MONTH

Featured Seller: Fancywork

Hello, I'm Marjie. The snow is fluttering down here in Minnesota.  Last year we still had snow in May!  Living up here is a good excuse to have an extensive collection of vintage winter hats.  Hat patterns are my favorite kind of pattern to collect and sell right now.  They're hard to find and sought out.  I opened my Etsy store, Fancywork, in May of 2009. It’s evolution into a vintage pattern store happened gradually.  I started by selling vintage clothes and a few sewing patterns which sold quickly.  I found more patterns at a garage sale and my store began to take shape. 

I've always been a gleaner and have had hours of fun with friends rummaging through thrift stores. One year we gathered so many vintage 60's evening gowns that on New Year's Eve we had costume changes for each party we attended that night!  We brought suitcases and changed in the bathroom before we left for the next party.  We also had our hair done up circa 1966 by stylists who were old enough to remember how to do it right.  As time goes by it's getting harder and harder to find a fantastic vintage dress at a thrift store.  That's a good reason to learn to sew!

Vogue 5669 1940's

I'm in graduate school now as well as working as an art teacher.  Like most people, my life is much too busy.  Sewing is a way of slowing down and getting centered.  I find it can be meditative like making art.  I'm a    beginner seamstress and am gradually gaining courage to try more challenging sewing projects.  I often think of my sister when I sew.  I remember my older sister Rita sewing constantly when I was a little kid.  She had the foxiest teen wardrobe on the block.  She sewed passionately all of her life, making intricate quilts as well as clothes.  Rita passed away a few years ago.  For me being around sewing patterns is, in a small way, being with my sister.  

My mother showed me an old photo of her and my sister pointing out Rita's toddler bonnet and coat.  My Mom sewed the outfit out of my Dad's old Navy uniform.  That's such a sweet fact.  I'm glad she mentioned it to me.  It's cool to think that because sewing is becoming popular again, people might be sharing sweet sewing memories like this with their kids in the future.

All Fancywork patterns are 10 percent off this month with the coupon code: 10Fancywork