Family Photograph (circa 1896 or 1897)

 I found this in a secondhand ("disposals") shop in Adelaide.  It looks like a family gathering, but there is nothing to say who these people were or on what occasion the photograph was taken.

I assigned it a date of 1896 or 1897, mostly because of the size of the women's sleeves.  As you can see, they are still puffed at the top, but they are not the exaggerated "balloon" size popular in 1894 and 1895.  By 1898 sleeves were much smaller, and by 1899 the only reminder of the big sleeves was a some material gathered at the sleeve head.  Here, the width of the women's shoulders are emphasised by the use of revers, epaulettes and frills.

The woman in the centre of the photograph is wearing a broad ribbon tied in a bow at the back of her neck—a fashionable touch in the mid-1890s.

The babies in the photograph are wearing elaborate long, white gowns, while the little girl sitting at the far right is wearing a loose, smock-like dressed falling from a high yoke.  For everyday wear, children's dresses were usually protected by pinafores, but it is absent here—possibly suggesting that this photograph was taken for some kind of special event?

Both the men have nearly identical moustaches and are wearing wing collars and tie.  The man at the back is wearing a suit with a "lounge" jacket (clearly the ancestor of modern suits) while the man at the front is wearing a jacket and trousers in different materials.

Interestingly enough, no-one in this photograph is wearing a hat!

House Dresses (Peterson's Magazine, October 1862)

 By the beginning of the 20th century a 'house dress' was a simple dress in washable fabrics, designed to be worn while doing housework.  These dresses, made in silk and trimmed with velvet, are obviously very different.

Fig. 1—HOUSE DRESS OF AZULINE-BLUE SILK—Around the bottom is a fluting of black ribbon.  The body and sleeves are trimmed to correspond with the skirt.  Head-dress of black velvet and lace.

Fig. 2—HOUSE-DRESS OF GRAY SILK, SPOTTED WITH BLACK—A heavy black cording passes down the two breadths on each side, as well as around the bottom.  The sleeves are also corded with black velvet, and, like the body, are trimmed with narrow black velvet bows, with a steel buckle in the center of each bow.

On the other hand, these dresses look comparatively simple (by Victorian standards).  It's entirely possible that the readers of Peterson's Magazine could have adapted the designs in cheaper and sturdier fabrics for everyday wear.

Australian Home Journal, August 1958

Are the two dresss illustrated on the right hand mother-daughter fashions—or older sister-younger sister outfits?  Either way, the artist has emphasised the similarity of the designs by drawing them as if they were made up in the same material.

The Australian Home Journal still offered fashion advice to its readers in 1958, though its suggestions were far less detailed than they had been earlier in its history.

Now that Spring is "just around the corner", you'll find a frock in fine wool, crepe or silk indispensible.  Give it "top interest with a crossover fill-in, diagonal bands, an eye catching bow, or three or four small buttons placed one above the other on each side of a V neckline.  You'll be in the mode, too, if you cover up with a jacket-cardigan when the air turns chilly, for the dressy character of much of todays knitwear puts it into the fashion class...

Among current styles, the dress which looks like a suit with a scalloped jacket is one of the best investments a teenager can make.  For a "fashion extra," make a little handbag of the same fabric as your hat; or—if you like to go hatless, and prefer skirts and blouses to frocks—add matching touches to your separates to give them that smooth, ensembled look which spells smartness.

Styles of '65: Chanel-Style Suits (Simplicity Pattern Book, Autumn-Winter 1965)

 If there was one garment that persisted throughout the 1960s, it was the "Chanel-style" suit.  Consisting of a collarless, cardigan jacket and a straight skirt reaching a little below the knee, it was an almost  timeless style.  

To quote Chanel herself, "Fashion changes, but style endures".

The suit pictured above is not a Chanel original, but an imitation produced by Simplicity patterns made up in a natty houndstooth check.  An original Chanel suit was meticulously tailored, taking around 150 hours of manual labour to complete.  A chain was stitched into the hem of the jacket so it hung properly, and a ribbon around the waistband so it sat flat and the blouse could not become untucked.  Best of all, the pockets in a Chanel suit were real pockets, large enough to carry, keys, a handkerchief, a purse.

Hilda, Rosina and Almira (Weldon's Ladies' Journal, July 1897)

 To end the month, I thought I'd take a look at some Victorian fashions as pictured in the July 1897 issue of Weldon's Ladies' Journal.  In the 1890s, Weldon's named all of its designs.  Here we have Hilda, Rosina and Almira and their costumes.

Because Weldon's Ladies' Journal sold dressmaking patterns, the descriptions accompanying these illustrations were heavy on technical details.  Suffice it to say that a lot of interlining was involved (often in horsehair cloth) to achieve the shapes of those skirts and those sleeves.

As with all good fashion magazines, Weldon's had a lot to say about current trends. 

Australian Home Journal, July 1962

 In 1962 the Australian Home Journal was on its last legs as an independent pattern magazine.  In a few years it would start promoting McCall's patterns, and a few years after that it would switch its focus to interior decorating.  Meanwhile in July 1962 the magazine offered three free patterns: a blouse (in two views, both with ruffles), a simple shirtwaister with a slim skirt, and a skirt and jerkin sized for a 10-year old girl.

Unfortunately, by the early sixties Australian Home Journal was no longer offering fashion news and advice to its readers.  Fortunately there were plenty of other magazines taking up the slack.

"Checks, Please!" (McCall Fashion Book, Autumn 1941)

 If McCall Fashion Book can be believed, the "must-have" fabrics for coats in 1941 were plaids.  Every coat listed in its Autumn issue was illustrated in a plaid version, often with a caption pointing out how suitable plaids would be for making it up.

To modern eyes, these coats appear decidedly formal.  The writers of 1941 spent a lot of ink telling us how casual they were.  This, more than anything, tells us how standards have changed since then.

Shoulders were inevitably "well-padded", though "rounded"!

CLOTH OR FUR CLOTH
The casual coats all have an excessively casual appearance this season.  The nth degree of casualness.  They are bulky-looking, with wide sleeves, deep armholes, huge pockets.  Like all of them, this coat has the look of slipping easily over anything—dress, jacket or suit.  It has the new smooth shoulder, well padded even though rounded.