Infinite Possibility: The Multi Wrap Fashion Trend

By Robin of Pretty Pattern Shop

While fast and fabulous fashion flirted with the wrap dress in the 1950s and 1960s, the 1970s took wrap and go fashion to a whole new level! McCall’s released the Infinite Dress sewing pattern in 1976.

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 It consists of only one pattern piece, used to make a dress that can be tied on in an infinite number of ways. This dress spawned the multi-wrap craze that resulted in a variety of fashions designed to be creatively wrapped around the body to achieve different results. Butterick introduced the 7 Way Wonder Dress, and Simplicity the Multi Wrap Dress.

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Simplicity and Butterick both also released multi wrap jumpsuits. Simplicity’s Wonder Wrap:

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Butterick Change About Jumpsuit

Change About Sundress

And just for fun, Vogue’s multi wrap beachy summer ensemble:

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The Simplicity and Butterick dresses had slightly more construction to them and couldn’t quite claim infinite possibility. But the Simplicity wrap dress style endured and resurfaced in 2000 with the similarly constructed Debra Moises Wrap Dress:

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The multi wrap nowadays is part of the convertible clothing trend and remains as popular as when it was first introduced, with fashions like the convertible wedding and bridesmaid dresses taking center stage. 

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Easy, stylish and full of possibility, that’s the way we like it!

The Walk Away Dress and Its Descendents

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:

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The clever wraparound style would endure for decades, changing very little in basic construction,

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70s Wrap Around Style

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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This dress endures in popularity, inspiring sew-alongs, tutorials and reviews.

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Make it quick, make it easy, make it cute!