Focus On: Vogue Special Design: The 1940s

Vogue's "Special Design" line was introduced in the 1930s.  These patterns were supposed to be a bit more complicated than your average sewing pattern.  They often featured unusual fashion-forward details from the very hottest new trends of the time.  Special Design patterns included a classy sew-in label to make your couture work of art your very own!  "Homemade" didn't have to mean thrifty or average with a Vogue pattern.

These patterns are phenomenally popular with collectors and stitchers worldwide, and I thought I might share some of the lovely Special Design patterns available now from the Pattern Patter Team.

There are so many of them out there... how about we simply focus on the 1940s today? :)  No particular reason, I just like them!

Vogue S-4648

From Sue's Upcycled N Vintage comes Vogue S-4648, currently on sale!  Check out those interesting seams, neckline, and bows!  Also note the somewhat hefty price of $1.00 in 1948 dollars, quite a bit when a regular pattern cost around 35 cents!  This added expense is part of what makes these patterns so rare and collectible today.

Vogue S-4977

From Redcurlz's Patterns is another 1940s pattern, Vogue S-4977.  Curiously, it features similar side bow interest.  Who wouldn't look dramatic in this dress?

Vogue S-4671

More pretty bows!  This pattern from Fragolina has a beautiful neckline and a peplum.. very classy! The back is also very pretty, don't you think?

Vogue S-4454

Asymmetry is a key style point in all of these patterns.  The side-bows in the previous patterns, and the gathers that alternate sides in this amazing number from Selvedge Shop.  I love how the gathers are on the left on the top and on the right on the bottom.  Isn't that unique?  Where else are you going to find anything like that? 

Vogue S-4865

She'll Make You Flip has this great pattern in stock which features a really unusual pocket design.  Super cute for any time of the year... I'm thinking you would look great on a piazza in Italy wearing this one. :)

Vogue S-4841

Drop-dead gorgeous style in this peplum'd glamouriffic dress from Floradora Presents.  

Vogue S-4855

Another pretty peplum is featured in Vogue S-4855, available at Bluetree Sewing Studio.

Vogue S-4531

How about a classy cocktail dress with a jacket?  The contrasting bow and trim on the sleeves is really cute... I bet you could find some shoes with contrast trim, too!  Available at So Vintage On Etsy.

Vogue S-4911

Moving into evening gowns, how about this beautiful gown with deep Vs in both the front and back.. and fullness added into the back as well?  From Sew As It Was Patterns.

Vogue S-4333

I'm totally in love with this unusual evening gown!  The basque bodice, side fullness and back interest are really curious!  One-of-a-kind!  From What Not Gems.

Vogue S-4532

From Fragolina, comes this amazing and RARE wedding gown pattern.  Lots of options for the bride to be... she can have just the dreamy look she wants.

Speaking of weddings, here is another amazing gown from Sew As It Was Patterns.  It features a drop waist and very unusual tiered skirt.

============================================

That's about all for this time!   Which one do you like best?

I'll be back soon with a look at some other eras of Special Design patterns.

Focus On: Polynesian Patterns

by Sherri, SewBettyAndDot

Aloha! When you think about a midcentury vacation to Hawaii, what comes to mind? Being greeted at the airport with a lei; watching the Kodak hula show in Honolulu; sipping a mai tai as you watch the sun set; men in aloha shirts; and perhaps relaxing in a muumuu? This is, of course, a somewhat stereotypical picture of a Hawaiian interlude, but many many Kodachrome slides from the 1960s will bear out the fact that these things were indeed part of many people's experience. 

Vintage postcard for the Kodak Hula Show, Waikiki (via Pinterest).

This blog post is primarily about the Hawaiian companies that produced Polynesian patterns (or variations thereof), but no discussion of Hawaiian clothing can be had without a brief overview of the muumuu (or muu muu, or mu'uma'mu). However you spell it, it is the iconic garment many associate with Hawaii--or if not Hawaii, a 1960s pool party or backyard "luau" somewhere in America. 

When Christian missionaries arrived in the Hawaiian Islands around the 1820s, they found that the people who lived there dressed for comfort in the warm and humid climate, which meant that they were not very covered up. Men wore a malo (loincloth), while women wore a skirt (pa`u); these were usually made of kapa, a stiff barkcloth made from a number of different sorts of plant fibers. Women and men generally did not wear anything above the waist (sometimes they did wear a rectangular shawl (kihei), which was worn over one shoulder. Because nudity was not acceptable to the missionaries, women were given long and loose-fitting garments: these were called holoku and were often made of homespun or calico. 

The garment worn underneath this long dress, as a sort of shift or chemise, was the muumuu, typically knee length. Over time, the muumuu became the long garment we know today, and various other style elements have been added (trains, drapes, ruffles). Japanese immigrants brought fabric used to make kimono--often printed with flowers or other natural motifs in bright colors--and the holoku/muumuu evolved from a drab shapeless dress to a flowing relaxed garment in attractive colors. Today, the term holoku is still used for more formal evening garments, while muumuus are for daytime. Muumuus most often have a defined yoke from which the rest of the garment flows. 

Women wearing holuku, early 20^th century; Woman in holuku with ukulele, ca. 1900; a group of non-Hawaiian ladies in their muumuus. (photos 1 and 2 courtesy hawaiiantimemachine.blogspot.com; photo 3 via Pinterest)

After Hawaii gained statehood in 1959 and with the advent of transoceanic air travel in the early 1960s, people were able to fly to the islands and experience all of the islands' culture, cuisine, and traditions for themselves. Simultaneously, the American postwar leisure class developed a taste for the "exotic," and tiki culture exploded: bars such as Trader Vic's and the Tonga Room, "exotica" music by musicians such as Martin Denny and Les Baxter, and the cool and comfy muumuu could be found even in middle America. If you couldn't travel to Oahu and buy a muumuu there, you could go to the fabric shop and buy a pattern by Polynesian Patterns, Patterns Pacifica, Pauloa, or Kekahi to make your own. (While the other major pattern companies also produced muumuu patterns, these four companies were all based in Hawaii.)

Of course, these pattern companies had to expand their offerings beyond the traditional muumuu, so you can find also find shifts, cheongsams, lounging pajamas, jumpsuits, and bikinis. Polynesian Patterns, which were produced in the 1960s and 1970s, gave many of their garments Hawaiian names such as Alii, Kealoha, Waikiki, Kahiko, and Ihilani. The Vintage Pattern Wiki lists 50 separate Polynesian Pattern patterns; most of the garments are for women, but they did make a few for girls and I've found one to make men's swim trunks. Below are some lovely Polynesian offerings from the Pattern Patter team on Etsy.

Top row, left to right: Polynesian 121: VintageNeedleFinds

Polynesian 108: SoVintageOnEtsy

Polynesian 199: Fancywork

Polynesian 131: ThePatternShopp

Second row: Polynesian 183: FindCraftyPatterns

Polynesian 186: Fragolina

Polynesian 187: BluetreeSewingStudio

Polynesian 188: EleanorMeriwether

Third row: Polynesian 174: sewbettyanddot

Polynesian 206: historicallypatterns

Polynesian 211: CherryCorners

Polynesian 190: mbchills

Fourth row: Polynesian 124: SelvedgeShop

Polynesian 153: BessieAndMaive

Polynesian 147: Denisecraft

Polynesian 122: SweetSorotVeasman

Patterns Pacifica also produced patterns for leisurewear during the 1970s and 1980s--look for the distinctive pink-and-white packages! Their designs often deviated a bit from the more "traditional" Hawaiian designs. The Vintage Pattern Wiki lists 55 Patterns Pacifica designs.

Top row, left to right: Patterns Pacifica 3006: CloesCloset

Patterns Pacifica 3011: midvalecottage

Patterns Pacifica 3015: GreyDogVintage

Second row: Patterns Pacifica 3015: PrettyPatternShop

Patterns Pacifica 3025: Mrsdepew

Patterns Pacifica 3059: sandritocat

Third row: Patterns Pacifica 3000: GrandmaMadeWithLove

Patterns Pacifica 3031: omasbricabrac

Patterns Pacifica 8006: retroactivefuture

Pauloa and Kekahi are two other Hawaiian brands (I believe the same company, as their office share the same address). These are much more scarce. In addition, Alfred Shaheen (who was primarily a fabric designer) produced several "Hawaiian" patterns. 

Alfred Shaheen 101: HeyChica

Which of these patterns would you say "aloha" to? Tell us in the comments!

Focus On: McCall's New York Designers' Collection Plus: Arlette of Réal

By Sherri, SewBettyAndDot

We were treated to another fantastic "Sewing Through the Cinema" blog post by Amy from ViennasGrace a few weeks ago; she featured the 1968 film Petulia, starring gorgeous Julie Christie wearing fab mod clothes by the designer Arlette Nastat, also known as Arlette of Réal. In her post, Amy showed us four patterns by Arlette, which are part of McCall's New York Designers' Plus series. We'll get to Arlette in a moment.

McCall's launched its designer series in 1965 as a way to draw in young sewists and those seeking the newest fashions. Butterick had already begun to produce their line of Young Designer patterns in 1964 with Mary Quant as the first designer featured. (Please see this Focus On blog post for more info on Mary Quant.) 

Interestingly, the series was first called "New York Designers' [note the plural possessive here] Collection Plus 1": this was because the first designers were all American with the addition ("Plus 1") of Digby Morton, a London couturier. The first designers were Larry Aldrich, Geoffrey Beene, Bill Blass, Laird-Knox, Digby Morton, Originala, Mollie Parnis, and Pauline Trigère. 

Top row, left to right: McCall’s NYDCP 1032 (Larry Aldrich): patternshop

McCall’s NYDCP 1017 (Geoffrey Beene): LagunaLane

McCall’s NYDCP+1 8753 (Bill Blass): MaddieModPatterns

Second row: McCall’s NYDCP+1 8460 (Digby Morton): retrowithlana

McCall’s NYDCP 1008 (Laird-Knox): knightcloth

Third row: McCall’s NYDCP 1027 (Originala): AtomicRegeneration

McCall’s NYDCP 1073 (Mollie Parnis): DesignRewindFashions

McCall’s NYDCP 1040 (Pauline Trigère):CaliforniaSunset

It's interesting that they are all relatively simple A-line garments. Additional info on these designers (and more!) in future blog posts. 

Now, back to Arlette Nastat: born in France in 1937, she was a force in the fashion world from the late 1950s to the 1980s; as late as 1989, an L.A. Times article recommended visiting her Paris shop on Rue de Passy in the Sixth Arrondissement. Arlette was the favorite designer of Brigitte Bardot (and in fact dressed Bardot throughout the late 1960s). Her father was in the ready-to-wear business, and at the age of 19, along with her friend Hélène Varger (also her sister-in-law), she opened a boutique called Real on Rue St. Honoré. 

Image courtesy Pinterest
In a 1964 article about fashion trends in the Schnectady (N.Y.) Gazette, the writer describes Nastat as the "high priestess" of a new wave of style: 

"Simultaneously the new feeling of fun, novelty and creativity is erupting in cities and towns of Europe, the United States and even Japan. Jet airplane travel is setting the pace for a smaller, faster world. Pop art, new dances like the Frug and the LeKiss, fast cars, and the Ye-Ye look in clothes are spontaneous examples of a love for living that is becoming universal everywhere. High priestess of this new wave is Arlette Nastat, the young Parisienne who designs for a shop called "Real," on the Rue St. Honore, and for the Arkins in New York under the name of Mademoiselle Arlette. Such famous fashioned trendsetters as Brigitte Bardot and Jane Fonda sometime ago found in Arlette Nastat the empathy for creating clothes that projected their image of innocent seductiveness. Today, Catherine Deneuve, the rising young movie star, and Sylvie Vartan, the Ye-Ye singing rage of Paris, head the list of fashionable young women everywhere whose wardrobes consist solely of clothes designed by Arlette Nastat. The Mademoiselle Arlette spring collection is young, bubbly, and infinitely wearable. There is a well balanced wardrobe story, of coats, coat ensembles, suits, dresses and jackets and dresses for day and evening. ...The basic shape is a modified A with a neat spare shape. Pleating, narrow braid trim, military flap pockets, and Venice lace collars are some of the details contributing to the well bred school girl look so popular now.... Many coats have figure skimming dresses in contrasting or matching colors, underneath.... Skirts are gored, box pleated, kick pleated, bias or A line, but never, never straight.... Dresses—the basic shape is the Princess skimmer. Most dresses are sleeveless, the look that Arlette believes to be the most contemporary and flattering to young figures.... Easter egg colors plus a wonderful new shade called gentle magenta are used throughout."

What was "yé-yé"? Derived from the words "yeah-yeah," this European pop music style was made most famous by singer-songwriter Serge Gainsbourg. Most yé-yé singers were beautiful young women such as Françoise Hardy, France Gall, and the glamorous, ultra-cool, gorgeous Sylvie Vartan (if you're not familiar with her, do yourself a favor and Google her!) Arlette designed Sylvie's wedding gown (below--wow!) worn at her wedding to French heartthrob Johnny Hallyday.

Image courtesy weddingsecret.co.uk

In addition to being the costumer on Petulia, Nastat was also credited with costumes in the 1967 films À Coeur Joie, starring Bardot, and La Route de Corinth (dir. Claude Chabrol), which featured cool girl Jean Seberg.

Top row: Jean Seberg in La Route de Corinth; Brigitte Bardot in À Coeur Joie; Seberg
Bottom row: Still from À Coeur Joie.
Seberg images courtesy thelucidnightmare.blogspot.com; Bardot images courtesy luxhedera.wordpress.com

As Amy noted in her Petulia post, here are the four McCall's Arlette patterns--based on costumes from the movie and modelled by Julie Christie--that we can track down. The two on the top row are from Pattern Patter team shops and are currently available to buy--these are rarities, so snap them up while you can!

Top row, left to right: McCall’s NYDCP 1039(Arlette of Real for Joan Arkin): ViennasGrace

McCall’s NYDCP 1040(Arlette of Real for Joan Arkin): GreyDogVintage

Bottom row: McCall’s NYDCP 1041 (Arlette of Real for Joan Arkin) (courtesy VintagePatternsWikia.com) 

McCall’s NYDCP 1042 (Arlette of Real for Joan Arkin) (courtesy VintagePatternsWikia.com)

The "for Joan Arkin" notation under "Arlette of Real" refers to the designer Joan Arkin, whose husband Andrew Arkin marketed Arlette's clothing under the Mlle. Arlette (and the Real line for juniors) label in the United States. Despite a LOT of research, I've been unable to unearth why "for Joan Arkin" is on these patterns--she was a designer herself, but it was her husband whose company marketed adaptations of Arlette's clothes for the American audience. (If anyone knows anything about this relationship, please let us know!). Andrew Arkin was the son of Leonard Arkin whose New York fashion house produced clothing under various labels, including Leonard Arkin and Andrew Arkin. The Advance pattern company produced several patterns by Leonard Arkin. Whew! The fashion connections are intermingled and far reaching! 

Arlette designed for the cool French girl (and she was one herself): Brigitte Bardot, Catherine Deneuve, Silvie Vartan...whose style do you like the best? Tell us in the comments!

P.S. There is an accent on the "e" in "Real" but Blogger wouldn't let me put it in after the first few times. Argh!

Focus On: Butterick Young Designers: Mary Quant

By Sherri, sewbettyanddot

When we think of designer sewing patterns, many of us probably immediately think of Vogue: Vogue began to publish named designer patterns around 1949. Stay tuned for more blog posts about Vogue designers! The other pattern companies also created designer pattern lines, and in this post we'll start with Butterick.

Butterick began its Young Designer series of patterns in 1964 in an effort to appeal to a more youthful seamstress, and Mary Quant was a natural choice to begin the series. Quant was born in England in 1934 and graduated from Goldsmith's College, London, with a degree in Art Education. She began her career in fashion as an apprentice to a milliner whose shop was located next to the venerable Claridge's Hotel. In 1955--at the age of 21--she opened a shop called Bazaar on the King's Road in the bohemian Chelsea neighborhood in London; a second branch followed in 1957. Mary Quant was in the forefront in making London, for the very first time, a fashion capital.

Her youthfulness meant that she identified closely with her customers. With the success of several garments she designed and made, she decided to focus on her own clothing line. Quant's idea was that women and girls without a big budget should still be able to look hip and chic, and she also believed that clothes should be simple and easy to move in. Her shops were the place to be: she was friends with Vidal Sassoon (she sported his iconic five-point bob) and the Beatles (Pattie Boyd married George Harrison in a Quant mini). According to the London Guardian, "Quant was responsible for hot pants, the Lolita look, the slip dress, PVC raincoats, smoky eyes and sleek bob haircuts...."

Left to right: Vidal Sassoon cutting Mary Quant's hair (courtesy classicenglishstyle.com);
The second branch of Bazaar, on Brompton Road (courtesy queensofvintage.com); 
Pattie Boyd with the Rolling Stones (wearing a version of the dress in Butterick 3287!) (courtesy glamouragogo.blogspot.com); 
A 1960s Mary Quant ad (courtesy glamouragogo.blogspot.com).

She is, of course, one of the designers often credited with "inventing" the miniskirt (along with French designer André Courrèges) in the early 1960s. She claimed that it was her customers who were responsible for the garment: they kept insisting that she make their skirts shorter and shorter and shorter. She has said, too, that she was influenced by ballet costumes, both in terms of short skirts/dresses AND the tights that went under them. Whether or not she invented it, Quant definitely popularized the miniskirt--and some sources say that she named it the Mini after her favorite car (she designed a special edition Mini car in 1988, complete with her signature daisy motif). In the late 1960s Mary Quant made hot pants ubiquitous and popular, as well as colored tights and color-blocked a-line dresses, and her make-up line was wildly successful (spider lashes, smoky eyeshadow, and pale lips were all part of the Quant look). The two models who are most associated with Mary Quant are Jean Shrimpton and of course, Twiggy!

Top row: models wearing Mary Quant designs (courtesy u1010026.wordpress.com)
Twiggy wearing a Quant design (courtesy strawberrylemonade.blogspot.com)
Bottom row: A Mary Quant Daisy doll (courtesy Wikipedia)
Mary Quant with images of Royal Mail stamps featuring her and the Mini automobile, ca. 2009 (courtesy excoboard.com)

Quant sold/licensed her designs to J. C. Penney in the early 1960s, allowing her clothes to be mass produced and introduced to the American market. She designed tights, make-up, and accessories as well, and there was even a Mary Quant Daisy fashion doll. In 1966 she was made an Officer of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (OBE) and received the honor from Queen Elizabeth wearing a blue jersey miniskirt. Mary Quant is now 80 years old.

Top row: Mary Quant receiving her OBE award at Buckingham Palace in 1966
Quant fashions in J.C. Penney catalogue
Quant fashions in J.C. Penney catalogue
Middle row: J.C. Penney catalogue
Mary Quant makeup advertisement
Tights by Mary Quant
Bottom row: An ad for Quant dresses
Fashions for Mary Quant's Daisy doll
A toaster designed by Mary Quant
(all image courtesy tumblr.com)

Given all of the above, I'd say that Butterick definitely had their finger on the pulse of youthful fashion when they chose Mary Quant as their first Young Designer!

Now let's look at some Butterick Mary Quant patterns from members of the Pattern Patter team!

Top row: Butterick 3505: Fragolina

Butterick 3287: sewbettyanddot

Bottom row: Butterick 5475: Fancywork

Butterick 5008: JeaniesShop

Top row: Butterick 6243: retrowithlana

Butterick 5467: MaddieModPatterns

Bottom row: Butterick 5404: SoVintageOnEtsy

Butterick 4779: TabbysVintageShop

Large photo: Butterick 4938: HeyChica

Top row: Butterick 6881: ShellMakeYouFlip

Butterick 5912: PrettyPatternShop

Bottom row: Butterick 6932: SelvedgeShop

Butterick 5895: sandritocat

(Text sources: Wikipedia; vam.ac.uk.com; biography.com; dailymail.co.uk)

Which Mary Quant pattern makes gets your motor revving? Tell us in the comments!

Focus On: Coats

by Sherri, Sew Betty and Dot

Now that winter is truly upon us, I bet most of us have reached for a coat. What kind of coat are you wearing this year? Duffle, trench, or princess? Reefer, chesterfield, or polo? Loden? Redingote? Trimmer or cocoon? Swagger or clutch? (Or just a plain ol' coat?) These are all styles of outerwear that have been popular since the turn of the twentieth century. In this post, I have focused on long coats--those that come to the knee or below; shorter coats, or jackets, will be discussed in another post.

Coats, specifically "overcoats," are relatively new garments for women; due to the wide skirts that were the fashion up until the turn of the twentieth century, many women wore capes, cloaks, or shawls for warmth (there were exceptions, of course--the pelisse was a long-sleeved outer garment that echoed the lines of ladies' dresses before, during, and after the Regency period).

In the 1920s, coats became fashion statements as much as protective garments against the elements. The straight lines of twenties frocks were covered with cocoon coats, somewhat shapeless garments that swaddled the body; these often had fur cuffs and fur collars. In the thirties, more styles of coats emerged: double-breasted coats that buttoned, including the collegiate-style coat, Hollywood, and reefer coat; the polo coat, a double-breasted wrap coat ; princess coats had, well, princess seams that created a slim silhouette on top with a more flared "skirt" on the bottom half; swagger coats are very full coats, shaped like an inverted "V," usually with raglan sleeves. (By the way, a Chesterfield coat--originally an man's style--is a double-breasted coat with high peaked collars, somewhat flared, with a velvet collar.)

Top row, left: a cocoon coat (courtesy artdecoblog.tumblr.com)

Right: swagger coat (courtesy vintagedancer.com)

Bottom row, left: princess coat (courtesy adore-vintage.blogspot.com)

Right: wraparound, reefer, Hollywood (courtesy vintagedancer.com)

In 1942, as fabric became more scarce due to wartime restrictions, the United States War Production Board implemented L-85, which forbade things such as unnecessary pleating, turned-back cuffs, overly large collars, etc., and coats became much simpler and boxier for a time. After the war, the New Look (nipped-in waist, very full skirt) could also be seen in outerwear (princess coats again). Coats with very full silhouettes and bell sleeves, sometimes called swing coats, were popular (partially due to the postwar baby boom: a full coat was comfortable for a pregnant woman--no belts!). And clutch coats--that wildly impractical garment with no fasteners--were stylish throughout much of the 1950s. And of course, in the 1960s, anything went: women wore men's coats, short swingy coats were made to cover short minis, ethnic influences could be seen (East Asian embroidery, Russian steppe dwellers, poncho shapes)--and of course, there was the maxi coat. 

Left to right: 1940s wartime coats (courtesy uvm.edu; New Look coats (courtesy glamourdaze.com); a 1950s swing coat (unattributed, from Pinterest.com); 1960s coat styles (courtesy secondhandwithstyle.com); early 1970s coat (courtesy bessgeorgette.com)

In the 1970s, maxi coats and trench coats were often seen, with wrap coats becoming very popular (short jackets and longer coats). Duffle coats (wool coats fastened with toggles), pea coats--anyone else here buy those sorts of coats at the Salvation Army? I did!--loden coats...the seventies fashionista could take her pick. As always, fashion recycles itself...in the 1980s and 1990s, some version of almost all of these styles could be had. 

Now let's take a look at some lovely coat patterns from members of the Pattern Patter team. 

Top row, left to right: 1920s/1930s Pattern (PDF): Mrsdepew

Pattern No. 70 (Angeline) (PDF): EmbonpointVintage

Pictorial Pattern 6936: Fancywork

Simplicity 2540: BluetreeSewingStudio

Second row: DuBarry 1565: PinkPolkaDotButton

Simplicity 2202: DesignRewindFashions

Butterick 4317: kinseysue

Vogue 300: Redcurlzs

Third row: Hollywood 1316: FloradoraPresents

Vogue 3175: sydcam123

Simplicity 2331: mbchills

Butterick 3745: midvalecottage

Fourth row: Vogue 6330: Fragolina

McCall 7775: VirtualVintage

Vogue 5837: GreyDogVintage

McCall 4922: EleanorMeriweather

Top row, left to right: Vogue 1466: Anne8865

Vogue 9022: FriskyScissors

McCall’s 3365: PatternAndStitch

McCall’s 5290: JFerrariDesigns

Second row: Vogue 4563: sewbettyanddot

Vogue 7221: retromonkeys

McCall’s 4192: DejaVuPatterns

Simplicity 1928: knightcloth

Third row: Style 2574: VogueVixens

Vogue 1670: ShellMakeYouFlip

McCall’s 8006: BessieAndMaive

Vogue 2110: stitchingbynumbers

Fourth row: Advance 2854: SelvedgeShop

Simplicity 4847: CloesCloset

Simplicity 6169: EmSewCrazy

Butterick 4773: CaliforniaSunset

Top row, left to right: Simplicity 9019: PeoplePackages

Simplicity 5255: LagunaLane

Simplicity 9655: SoVintageOnEtsy

Simplicity 9183: MantuaMakerPatterns

Second row: Simplicity 5930: patternshop

Vogue 2252: retrowithlana

Butterick 5078: historicallypatterns

Style 1719: SheFindsVintage

Third row: Simplicity 7899: beththebooklady

McCall’s 7312: AtomicRegeneration

Style 4867: VintageNeedleFinds

Vogue 7342: RomasMaison

Fourth row: Vogue 8781: AdeleBeeAnnPatterns

Vogue 1476: PurplePlaidPenguin

Vogue 1487: omasbricabrac

Vogue 1458: allthepreciousthings

Which one of these coats would YOU like to wrap yourself in? Tell us in the comments!

Focus On: Jumpsuits

by Sherri, sewbettyanddot

The jumpsuit: every few years, the Paris runways are full of them; it's a style that has never really gone out of style since its appearance in the early twentieth century. Technically, a jumpsuit is:

1. a garment incorporating trousers and a sleeved top in one piece, worn as a fashion item, protective garment, or uniform.

But we all know differently! A jumpsuit can be an easy-breezy, cool, and fashionable garment (as a slew of entertainers--Elvis, David Bowie, Freddie Mercury--and fashionistas have known for decades!). 

The word itself explains this garment's origins: they were developed to keep aviators warm in freezing open-air cockpits during the early days of flight (Amelia Earhart can be seen wearing them)--and paratroopers wore them to "jump" out of planes. A similar garment, coveralls, well, they covered all (of the clothing worn beneath them). They are also called "boilersuits," and they were originally worn by workers maintaining steam-powered engines--as this work required one to sometimes climb into the boiler (or firebox on a locomotive), the one-piece suit prevented soot (or embers) from getting into, for example, the waistband of trousers; the sleek lines also helped to prevent the garment from snagging on something when one needed to enter tight spaces. And as skiing became more popular as a leisure-time activity in the 1920s, specially designed ski suits (often one piece for aerodynamics and to keep the snow out) were available, including chic suits by couturiers such as Lucien Lelong and Elsa Schiaparelli).

Women began to fill factories during World War II--Rosie the Riveter, we're looking at you!--and coveralls (and overalls, too) were worn, again, as a protective garment, both in terms of nothing getting caught in machinery (their hair was worn back or wrapped with the famous Rosie bandanna/scarf) AND as a way to keep clothing clean (fabric became more scarce during the war so new clothes became a luxury for most people). Reportedly the workers hated them as they had to practically undress just to use the bathroom--but the coverall has become an iconic image representing the "Yes We Can" spirit of women moving into the workplace and helping in the war effort.

Top left: Clad in a fur lined leather flying suit with oxygen facepiece, NACA test pilot Paul King prepares to take to the air in a Vought VE-7, 1925. Courtesy NASA Langley Center, courtesy Wikipedia.
Top right: Boiler suit [at right], from a 1920s Brown Bros. leaflet, courtesy oldclassiccar.co.uk
Bottom left: Lucien Lelong ski outfit, photo by Egidio Scaioni, 1927.
Bottom right: Factory workers in coveralls/boiler suits in England during World War II. Photo courtesy thephotodetective.co.uk

In terms of a non-work-related jumpsuit, in 1919 Italian designer Ernesto Michahelles--who was part of the Futurist art movement--designed the "TuTa," a T-shaped garment for men cut from one piece of cotton and constructed with one straight cut, several seams, seven buttons and a belt (pictured below, top row left). (He renamed himself Thayaht, a bifrontal palindrome, reflecting the symmetry of his design.) The pattern for the TuTa was published in an Italian newspaper to make it accessible to the greater public. There was also a version for women. Alexandr Rodchenko also designed a uniform-like jumpsuit in 1922 (interesting that artists first jumped on the bandwagon--pun intended!). And from that point forward, as some women (those in the upper economic classes, at least) had more time for sports and leisure, easy-to-wear jumpsuits (except for that pesky visit to the bathroom) became a popular garment. (There were also "beach pyjamas," sometimes one piece, sometimes two--but that's for another post. And rompers and playsuits: often simply an abbreviated jumpsuit!).

Top row: “TuTa,” designed by Thayaht (Ernesto Michahelles), 1919

Joan Crawford, looking amazing (and slightly spooky!) in a jumpsuit, ca. 1920s. Image from ilarge.listal.com, via Pinterest

Jean Harlow in a velvet jumpsuit designed by Vera West; photographed by Ray Jones. Courtesy Mothgirlwings.tumblr.com

Middle row: Elsa Schiaparelli “shelter suit,” 1940s. Courtesy costumedept.eu.com

A pre-blonde Ginger Rogers in a wide-legged jumpsuit, 1940s. Courtesy pickyourselfup.tumblr.com

Jumpsuit from Vogue, 1950s. Courtesy tammy17tummy.tumblr.com

Bottom row: Mid-1960s jumpsuit. Courtesy blog.wiseling.com

 Veruschka in a Norma Tullo jumpsuit, 1970s. Courtesy superseventies.tumbler.com

Thierry Mugler jumpsuit, 1980. Courtesy beauty-is-a-warm-gun.blogspot.com

The jumpsuit evolved from slinky (1930s) to more functional (1940s) to wide-legged palazzos for entertaining (also 1940s and then 1960s) to more streamlined (1950s) to anything goes (1970s) to avant-garde (1980s) to today: halter, wrap, sleeveless, wide legged or slim, there is a jumpsuit for everybody (and every body!). Remember, fit is important--no saggy bums, please (unless you're going for that M.C. Hammer effect). 

Now let's look at some lovely jumpsuit patterns from members of the Pattern Patter team on Etsy!

Top row, left to right: McCall 7277: retromonkeys

Hollywood 694: SoVintageOnEtsy

Simplicity 4101 (PATTERN IS SOLD but is great example of Rosie the Riveter): PengyPatterns

Vogue 6446: MaddieModPatterns

Second row: McCall’s 2002: sydcam123

Vogue 9447: PinkPolkaDotButton

Simplicity 7377: sandritocat

Butterick 5914: BessieAndMaive

Third row: Butterick 4779: PrettyPatternShop

Simplicity 8506: BluetreeSewingStudio

Simplicity 7647: CloesCloset

Simplicity 7133: ErikawithaK

Fourth row: Simplicity 8280: JeaniesShop

Butterick 4474: SelvedgeShop

McCall’s 8737: DesignRewindFashion

Simplicity 7023: GrandmaMadeWithLove

Top row, left to right: Simplicity 9370: RebeccasVintageSalon

Simplicity 5627: patternshop

Vogue 1389: California Sunset

McCall’s 5265: PurplePlaidPenguin

Second row: Butterick 5889: PeoplePackages

Butterick 4879: kinseysue

Simplicity 9113: Fancywork

Vogue 9517: DejaVuPatterns

Third row: Simplicity 9263: JerseyGirlPatterns

McCall’s 2657: GreyDogVintage

Vogue 9732: ShellMakeYouFlip

Butterick 3083: redcurlzs

Fourth row: McCall’s 9773: SloCrafty

Simplicity 6939: mbchills

McCall’s 5093: midvalecottage

Vogue 7697: anne8865

Top row, left to right: Spadea 70533: Denisecraft

Butterick 6754: PatternsFromThePast

McCall’s 7011: ViennasGrace

Second row: McCall’s 3068: RomasMaison

Simplicity 6276: VogueVixens

Butterick 3685: PattysPastTimes

Third row: Vogue 2182: Fragolina

Simplicity 8621: retrowithlana

McCall’s 573: JFerrariDesigns

For more on jumpsuits, refer to this informative post written by Amy from ViennasGrace, which was published on our blog last year.

Which jumpsuit would YOU like to jump into? Tell us in the comments!

Text sources: Wikipedia, Italian Vogue (vogue.it/en)