"Wool" (Australian Home Journal, April 1948)

As Australian recovered in the postwar years, the Australian Home Journal was there to offer free dress patterns and fashion advice.  If the magazine was to be believed, wool was the fabric to be wearing in April 1948.

Wool Sweaters
It is but a step from wool jersey to knitwear and, with a considerable increase in supplies recently, pure wool sweaters in all colours of the rainbow have pride of place in many shops.  However, first favourite is black, often heavily embroidered with wool, like one which had a yoke worked in a closely-packed floral design in mauve.

Wool in Paris Theatres
Wool takes the stage in Paris theatres, for leading actresses are wearing wool frocks created by famous designers at present, states a special message to the Australian Wool Board.  Maggy Rouff, who dresses many stars, has just designed a frock in lime-green wool for Simone Renaud to wear in "Liberte Provisoire", one of the successful stage hits of the moment.  Made with ruched-up elbow-length sleeves, it has a novel hipline belt which comes from a low line at the back to edge slanting hip pockts and finally buckle in front at the natural waistline.

From France
Revelling in the return of fine woollens, French milliners are using them lavishly for draping turbans and even to cover brimmed shapes, while wool jerseys are being stretched or draped into beret and muffin toque shapes to match winter suits and coats.

Jersey Frocks
Perfect styling in jersey frocks depends on simplicity, and Pierre Balmain shows many models with slim skirts, perhaps with a hint of back interest.

Of course the wool industry was the mainstay of the Australian economy at the time, so perhaps the Australian Home Journal had a patriotic interest in ensuring that women used as much wool as possible!

Australia's Lost Department Stores VIII: Boans (Spring-Summer 1958-59)

 Most of the department stores I've discussed so far have been clustered in the big cities of the east coast, but now I'm heading to the city of Perth in the far west of Australia.  Western Australia is separated from the rest of the country by immense stretches of desert and Perth lies over 2,131 kilometres from Adelaide, the nearest capital city.  However the story of Boans is fairly typical for an Australian department store.  It begins in 1895 when Harry Boans arrived in Perth and set up a "grand palace of drapery".

(The cover depicts Boans's new—in 1958—suburban store at Cannington:

Boans Waverley, with its 35,000 square feet of space containing 80 departments, will be open from 8.35 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. on weekdays, and from 8.35 a.m. to noon on Saturday.

Facilities included free parking, a playground, a hairdresser, a subscription library, dry cleaning, shoe repair and a chiropodist!)

What We Wore in '74: Denim Jeans (Winns, Autumn-Winter 1974)

When I wake up in the morning light
I pull on my jeans and I feel all right
I pull my blue jeans on
I pull my old blue jeans on (cha, cha)

David Dundas released this song in 1976, but it's just as appropriate for 1974 (or for that matter, 1978).  For the young, the 1970s was truly the Age of  (Blue) Denim. 

D. Wide denim jeans with banded top, loops, contrast stitching piping on side seams, back-yoke and slanted pockets.  Comes in navy.

B. A splash of embroidery on brushed denim jeans, give a whole new look.  Fly front, slotted waistline, finish the pants line.

In 1974, fashionably cut jeans were relatively high in the waist, fitting tightly from the buttocks to the knees, and from the knees down, flared.  Ideally they were somewhat faded.  Teens and twenty-somethings whose new jeans weren't tight or faded enough often took matters into their own hands and "customised" them by wearing them in the bath until they shrank to fit!

Australian Home Journal "Winter Fashions" (1960)

 

I was looking at my files the other day, and realised that if I wanted to I had enough materials from the 1960s to post about nothing else for the next ten years!  While I'm not going to go that far, I thought it was time I revisited the decade.  Here, then, are some illustrations from the Australian Home Journal's winter pattern catalogue from 1960.

The catalogue has a minimum of information about each pattern illustrated—you are given a one or two-word description of the garment, and the amount of material needed to to make up the pattern sized for a 36-inch bust.

Fortunately the patterns themselves would have contained more information, including an instruction sheet and some general hints on the back of the pattern envelope.  However, we can only guess at what kinds of materials would have been used to make up these patterns.  (Some of the dressmaking guides of the time suggest that some of the "new synthetics" were hard to sew, so it's possible that home dressmakers used a lot of natural fibres!)

There seems to be an equal mix of slim and bouffant skirts depicted here.  On the whole, fashions are more formal and more fitted than they would become later in the decade.

There are two evening "frocks" on this page (one very formal), but the others are accessorised in a way that hints they may have been worn to cocktail parties or to a restaurant.

... And some more smart "frocks" on the back page.  Though there are four models in the illustration, in fact only two patterns are depicted here.  Dressmakers had choices in how they adapted the patterns for their own use: different waistlines, different necklines and wide or slim skirts.

"The Ideal House Dress" (Girl's Own Paper and Woman's Magazine, October 1920)

 "... Sure to be Popular.  Notice the Absence of Openings, and Hooks, and Buttons"

By the 1920s The Girl's Own Paper had become The Girl's Own Paper and Woman's Magazine.  At this stage it was aimed at a readership of young women, whether married or single, and carried a mix of fiction and articles on homemaking, potential careers, cookery and crafts.  It also advertised its own dressmaking patterns in each monthly issue.  

One pattern would usually be singled out for description in detail.  The chosen pattern would not necessarily be for the most fashionable of garments, but for clothes the editors of The Girl's Own Paper thought its readers might find useful.  The picture and the description below is for a "house dress", or the working costume of an ordinary housewife.  

All home-dressmakers on the look-out for a really practical design for making a comfortable house dress will welcome with pleasure this pattern we are illustrating on this page.

Besides being easy to make and easy to put on, this little design combines all the essential qualities necessary to the comfort of the housewife when engaged in household tasks.

The dress slips on over the head, has no openings to get untidy, no gaps at the waistline, no tight belt, and no pinning or hooking to keep bodice and skirt decently joined.

The back is cut straight—hanging from the shoulders, and the front is made like a bodice and skirt joined with a belt at the waistline; the belt then extends free across the back—holding in the fulness to the figure—and fastens at the underarm.

By this means the bodice is able to be given the requisite fulness, without giving the bulky appearance below the waist-line, unavoidable in in the ordinary straight one-piece dress.  Another advantage this gives over the ordinary frock is, that when stooping, the belt adjustment prevents the skirt from dropping and getting under the feet—a great gain for a working garment.

The dress is also an economical one, as it only requires 3½ yards of material 36 inches wide.  Poplin, gingham, print or cotton crȇpe would all be good fabrics for the making.

The collar can be made of a contrasting material to the frock, if desired, and would look well in white if the dress itself is of dark fabric.  Saxe-blue with a white collar is a pleasing combination, or some of the pretty striped fabrics now so popular would be becoming for this design.

If the collar is white, it should be made detachable from the frock, so that it can be removed when the dress requires washing.  This can easily be done without much extra work, and as the neck of a dress is always the first part to get soiled and crushed, it is always an advantage to have the collar detachable and able to be laundered apart from the frock.  All that is needed is to bind the neck edges of the dress and collar in position instead of neatening the two edges together.  Half a yard of material will be sufficient for the collar.

Frock and Jacket from Paris (New Idea, March 11 1959)

 

Almost exactly 65 years ago, The New Idea published this pattern for a paired dress and jacket.  Home dressmakers who want to add a touch of fifties glamour to their wardrobe, should have no trouble in following the pattern today.

If you are a working woman or a housewife on a shopping spree, this is just the suit for you to wear to the city.  This outfit is simple in design and the instructions are easy to follow.

You will be perfectly at ease, without that negligent look, in this dress and jacket.  The outfit is quite suitable for this time of year, with its short-sleeved jacket and tuxedo lapels. 

MATERIALS:  2 2/3 yards of 56 inch flannel; 14 in. zip fastener.
CUTTING: Reproduce the pattern on paper marked with four-inch squares.

TO MAKE THE FROCK; Place the pattern on the unfolded material.  Make the bust and back darts.  Join the front and back by the side and shoulder seams.  Try on the frock and make any necessary alterations for the fit.  Join the neck facings by the seams AA and the armhole facings by BB and CC.  Place the facings right side against right side and sew.  Turn the facings inside and hold them in place by hidden stitches.  Make the hem at the bottom and place the zip on the left side from E to E.

TO MAKE THE JACKET: Fold the material in two lengthways and place the centre back on the fold.  Allow extra for seams and hems.  Make the bust darts and join the fronts to the back by the side seams from the armhole to A and by the shoulder seams.  Fold the facings of the side vents back to the inside and hold in place by hidden stitches.  Sew up the sleeve seams and place then with X to the front and B meeting the shoulder seam.  Make the hems at the bottom of the sleeves.  Join the facings by seams C.  Place them right side against right side of the coat.  Turn them inside and hold them in place by hidden stitches.

Just a few strands of pearls and long gloves will transform this dress into a cocktail frock that will be perfect for dinner and a show after a day in the rush and traffic of town.  

What We Wore in '74: Dresses (Simplicity Pattern Book, Spring 1974)

 Dresses are a staple in women's wardrobes in any era, but each era has its own fashion in dresses.  

The mid-seventies was very much an "in-between" era.  The best word I can use to describe the dresses of 1974 is "moderate": not as short and skimpy as the dresses of the late 1960s and early 1970s, and not as long and baggy as the styles of the late 1970s.  Judging by the pattern illustrations below, hems hovered around or just above the knees, skirts had a slight A-line flare to them, and collars were often used as decorative details.

Misses' Dress

Misses' and Women's Dress in Two Lengths

Misses' Short Dress and Two-Piece Short Dress

Misses' One-Piece Short Dress or Short Two-Piece Dress With Detachable Collar and Cuffs

Misses' Dress