Butterick Pattern Book, Fall 1952

 In Fall 1952, Butterick Pattern Book showed readers how one pattern would look made up in two different fabrics.

on the Front Cover

One pattern equals two dresses... or as many dresses as you wish!  All you do is make the same design in a variety of fabrics.  We show you an example on the Front Cover of this issue... Butterick design 6292 is made in a dark grey crepe for daytime wear and in subtle pink silk taffeta for late day and evening occasions.  You could make the same designs in various other fabrics such as; wool crepe, wool jersey, flannel, rayon jersey, faille, cotton jersey, gold or silver printed cottons, Shantung in silk, rayon or cotton, Jacquards, brocades, surah and many blends.. wool and rayon, wool and nylon, orlon and nylon.

(Capitalisation and ellipses as they appeared in the original.)

The design is classic 1950s.  I've been trying to imagine how it would look made up in the different fabrics listed above!

David Jones catalogue (Autumn and Winter 1951)

 These pictures came from David Jones's Autumn and Winter catalogue of 1951.  David Jones was (and is!) an upmarket department store, and its catalogues were aimed at its country customers.  The clothes advertised inside would have been good quality, but fairly conservative in style.

Apart from that I don't have much to say about the fashions below.  Let the pictures speak for themselves.

JAEGER coats box or belted style, all fully-lined

These beautifully tailored coats are made in camel-coloured wool and fully lined with good quality lining.  In cosy "Jaeger" with easy-fitting raglan sleeves, you'll be ready for the coldest winter.  Each has vent back.

"Bridal Fashions" (Australian Women's Weekly, June 17 1950)

 After the distressed 1930s and the turbulent 1940s came the placid and conservative 1950s.  The parents of the baby boomers were getting married and settling down in the suburbs, so I think that a bridal gown is the perfect way to kick off this decade.

This is a classically simple dress, made in what appears to be satin.  You'll notice that though it is quite décolleté it has sleeves and covers the model's shoulders.  This is because bare shoulders were not acceptable at a church wedding in the 1950s (and brides wearing this kind of dress would have almost certainly have been married in a church).

For some reason I couldn't find a description of the dress on the cover of this issue of The Australian Women's Weekly. (There were, however, plenty of other bridal designs inside the magazine, which you can browse here.)  And of course there were plenty of ideas in the issue's advice column:

As a constant follower of your dress column I am seeking your advice about my wedding frock.  Clothes are so expensive to buy, I wondered if it would be possible to have a frock I could convert after the wedding into a dress for dances.  Would a removable train be suitable and possible?  I am having white silk organdie for the frock, and as I am rather a girlish type I thought a frilly trim would be nice.

White silk organdie with self-pleated ruffles for the trim would be charming for a spring wedding.  The train could be made detatchable (yes, I think it an excellent idea) at the waistline.  Have the bodice top form-fitting with long sleeves plus a ruffle to form a yoke effect.  Later, sleeves and yoke can be revised.  Have the ruffle again to finish the hemline and outlining a long, oval-shaped train.

"Dress sense" by Betty Keep, Australian Women's Weekly, June 17 1950

June is in winter in Australia, so the fashions depicted here would probably been used in planning a spring wedding in September or October.

Vogue Pattern Book (British edition, Autumn 1949)

Since I began the decade with a Vogue pattern for a suit which could be worn as separates, I thought I'd end it with a Vogue pattern for a dress and jacket that looks like a suit.

ON THE COVER.  Matched colour—contrasted texture: an oatmeal jersey dress buttoning from neck to hem at back; oatmeal tweed jacket.

 Fitted and buttoned down the back—the very reverse of wartime practicality!

1949 saw the end of clothes rationing in Britain (it ended a year earlier in Australia).  The British edition of Vogue Pattern Book, which had been subsumed into Vogue magazine was once again being published separately.  Britain was still a long way from being a consumer society, but it was on the road to recovery.

"Those Extra Inches" (Needlework Illustrated no. 192, 1948)

 1948 and in the teeth of much opposition the verdict was in: women wanted to wear "New Look" (longer, fuller) style skirts.  Perhaps they were longing for some femininity and a dash of luxury after years of wartime austerity.  The problem was that, three years after World War II ended, there were still shortages of, well, nearly everything.  This was especially so in Britain where rationing and regulations still dictated fashions.  This is where Needlework Illustrated stepped in, offering its readers ideas for turning their dowdy "old look" skirts into exciting "New Look" styles.

Wakes, Winter 1947

 In the annals of high fashion, 1947 was the year in which Christian Dior unleashed his "New Look" upon the world.  It made a big splash in the news internationally.  The makers of everyday fashion, however, decided to play things safe. How could they tell whether they were looking at a genuine shift or just a passing fad?  This was especially pertinent when you consider that many countries still had rationing and/or shortages of materials.

The fashions from Wakes catalogue below illustrate this approach.  Waists are slightly emphasised, but shoulders remain broad.  Skirts are fuller, but still only come down a little way below the knee.

THREE PIECE ENSEMBLE

CYCLAMEN-RED AND JET BLACK team together in an all-wool ensemble incorporating all the new season's newest features.  The collarless jacket comes in the gorgeous new Cyclamen-Red illustrated.  Cut in 7 figure-hugging gores, with divinely figure fitted back, darted front panels and simulated hip pockets.  Appliqued Jet-Black motif on the front, smoothly tailored shoulders, narrow tie in front half belt.  The pencil slim skirt has a graceful long inverted pleat both front and back, dart-fitted back, firm waistband—zip placket.  The prophetic three-quarter length coat picks up the cyclamen-red in its appliqued shoulder motif, features full-cut sleeves, twin pockets, poker straight shoulders, boxy cut.  The three pieces team together, or form the basis of a wardrobe worn individually. 

 

Australian Home Journal, July 1946

 What were postwar fashions like?  As you can see from the picture below, in the short term very little changed for the average woman.  Perhaps they were  allowed an embellishment or two (like the peplum worn by the figure on the left) but rationing was still in force in most countries, and economy was still the order of the day.

So what were the emerging fashion trends of 1946?  Oddly, for this date, there was very little information in the July issue of the Australian Home Journal as the magazine's fashion correspondent appears to have gone missing in action.  Fortunately for us, there were lots of interesting snippits of information in other publications.