Peterson's Magazine, November 1878

 Peterson's Magazine for November 1878 shows a selection of dresses in the style of the late 1870s: close fitting (worn over long, boned corsets) to below the knees, with the bulk of the ornaments and the material pushed to the back in the form of trains.  The look is balanced by very high hair-dos and hats.  Even the "walking dress" has these features—reminding us that the outfit was intended for promenading rather than serious exercise.

FIG. I. WALKING DRESS OF OLIVE-GREEN CAMEL'S HAIR...

FIG. II. VISITING DRESS OF EMERALD GREEN VELVET...

FIG. III. VISITING DRESS OF GRAY SILK, TRIMMED WITH NARROW GARNET VELVET...

FIG. IV. RECEPTION DRESS OF YELLOW SILK, PRINCESS SHAPE; worn under a dress or black Spanish net which is woven to fit the figure.

FIG. V. CARRIAGE DRESS OF SLATE-GRAY SILK...

Number 4 strikes me as being the most interesting garment of the lot.  It's curve-hugging silhouette and plunging neckline could almost be from Hollywood circa 1950!

"April's Lady in Paris" (Woman's Journal, April 1939)

 Let's take another look at high fashion in the days leading up to the Second World War.

We shall be seeing many stripes this season —worked straight, slantwise or as you will.  Anny Blatt, who makes these fascinating knitted models, has caught the fever with charming results.  There is the neat tailormade in red and black stripes for the daring and debonair, and a delightfully youthful dress in stripes of grey, cornflower blue and wine red, simulating pleats at the hem.  The almond green rib knitted suit has a graceful hip-length cape which doubles its advantages.

Styles of '65: Stretch Pants (National Bellas Hess, Spring-Summer 1965)

 In the 1960s, the fashionable look was slim, sleek and figure hugging.  It was also active, so the problem became combining a tight fit with clothes that moved.  Enter stretch pants, made possible by postwar developments in man-made fibres.

H.  VERTICAL STRETCH tapered leg cotton-nylon pants; stirrups, side zip.

J. DACRON-COTTON stretch pants fit the way you want them with never a wrinkle showing!  Vertical stretch Dacron polyester-cotton knits—laminated to acetate , keeps shape.  Band waist, side zipper, foot straps.

K. STRETCH DOESKIN... creamy-soft matte knit of acetate-nylon bonded to acetate... gives such s-m-o-o-t-h fit!  Food straps, side zipper.  Hand washable.

L.  CHECK STRETCH.  Action ready cotton-nylon pants in swinging checks.  Stretch horizontally.  Tapered, side zip.

M. STRETCH DENIM.  Look, gals... something new's been added to pet pants... a fashiony button front!  Denim weave cotton and nylon, designed to stretch in width only.  Plenty of action-room... but they keep that tapered sleek fit you're looking for!

N. STRETCH JUMP-ALL for smoothest, curviest shaping!  Cotton-nylon jump-all stretches up, down.  Back zip, tapered, stirrups.

Most of these stretch pants are made of cotton blended with synthetics (the cotton presumably to let the garments breathe, while the synthetics provided the s-t-r-e-t-c-h.)  Nylon appears to be the most popular material, with polyester and acetate coming a distant second.

You'll also note that the designers have borrowed from ski and active sportswear: foot straps and stirrups to anchor the pants down.

Bayadere Cotton Dress (Myer, Spring-Summer 1954)

 Real life™ prevented me from posting last week.  This week I thought I'd post something cheerful, summery, and very, very 1950s.

Bayadere Cotton Dress

So casual . . . eye-catching . . .

Such value, too!  319HA: Cleverly fashioned to highlight a striking bayadere print.  Cool square neckline, cap sleeves and skirt of unpressed pleats.  Enchantment in royal blue, green, grey, carnation ruby.

"Bayadere" derived its name (though a number of steps) from Hindu temple dancers in southern India.  It has come to mean a fabric of brightly contrasting horizontal stripes.  This version is a printed cotton, though any material could be used.

Crimes in Crochet V (McCall's Needlework and Crafts, Spring-Summer 1972)

 I haven't done one of these in ages.  The pictures really speak for themselves, so let's just say that this is what happened when the "do it yourself" and the "do your own thing" crazes of the late sixties were combined.

Take this little number.  The summer dress in linen-orlon is OK, but the designer has paired it with a beanie.  Wouldn't a sunhat make more sense?

These two young ladies look as if they've cut up granny's table mats to convert into tabards.  Stylish, they are not.

... And these two ladies look as if they've been cutting up her bedding!  

These shorts are giving me a rash just looking at them!

Still more granny squares, outlining this—ahem!—interesting little evening creation.  I hope to God that anyone who made this little number also wore something underneath it.  Unless she was going to one of those swinging "key parties" we were told were the in thing in the 1970s!

(A number of other fashion disasters from this magazine—yes, this very issue—were featured in The Museum of Kitschy Stitches by Stitchy McYarnpants.)

Styles of '65: Spring dresses (Australian Home Journal, September 1965)

 Spring has sprung, and the Australian Home Journal of September 1965 celebrated by offering free patterns for these light-hearted dresses.

It's time to think of spring, and all the gaiety this season always brings.  We help you to greet it with our Free Patterns for a spring-into-summer wardrobe.  The theme is very feminine and just a little romantic, and we've chosen floral, completely drip-dry fabrics.

By 1965 Australian Home Journal had stopped offering fashion advice, so I'm going to The Australian Women's Weekly to look at their advice on dressing to please husbands (or at least so as not to offend them):

If a new fashion comes in and you intend to wear it, bide your time and break him in by a little wifely cunning.  Any major fashion change almost certainly give rise to cries of, "Isn't that awful!  Don't ever let me see you in one of those!"

Wait until the fashion has modified a little, and he's used to seeing it on girls in the office.  Then he'll be ready to admire it on his wife.

This brings up another point: the fact that your man may admire a dress on another woman that he'd hate on you, even if you'd look just as good in it.

Dresses with decollete necklines are at the top of the list.  It's said to be because he's afraid you'll go Attracting Other Men.  Take it as a compliment.

The Australian Women's Weekly, August 4 1965

Fashion changes came fast and furious in the 1960s, though possessive husbands might find themselves more worried about hemlines than necklines!

La Mode (26 Septembre 1915)

From World War II to World War I: let's take a look what was happening to fashion in the waning days of 1915.

And the most startling innovation is—skirts have now risen above the wearers' ankles!  Adult women's ankles had been hidden in ordinary wear for centuries.  (There were exceptions, of course, for certain kinds of working dress and costumes worn by entertainers.)  However, nice middle class ladies like the ones depicted below, would never have appeared in public wearing skirts as shockingly short as these.

What they probably didn't realise as yet was that the days when skirts for day wear would trail on the ground were over.  Skirts would have their ups and downs in the coming decades, but as far as length goes, this would be as low as it got.

1. Robe d'enfant — Cétte robe trés simple á attache par des boutons boules et se ferme avec une large ceinture.

[1.  Children's dress — This very simple dress fastens with ball buttons and closes with a wide belt.]

2. Robe habilitée en taffetas — Jupe froncée, blouson de mousseline gris recouverte de bretelles de taffetas.
[2. Taffeta dress — Gathered skirt, gray chiffon jacket covered with taffeta straps.]

3. Costume genre tailleur — Jupe découpée sur un panneau plissé, petit boléro blousé devant.
[3. Tailored-style costume — Skirt cut on a pleated panel, small bolero bloused in front.]

4. Robe de fillette — Jupe foncée à volants, corsage blousé garni d'une cravate de satin d'un col de dentelle.
[4. Girl's dress — Dark ruffled skirt, bloused bodice trimmed with a satin tie and a lace collar.]