Styles from "The Delineator" (September 1916)

The Delineator promoted Butterick patterns, so the styles depicted in its pages were up-to-date but safe enough to appeal to the average woman.  Here we have a couple of plates that illustrate the way in which fashion was becoming more modern in the mid-1910s. 

As you can see, the fit is much more relaxed than it was even a few years earlier, and the models no longer have figures that have been obviously squeezed in and padded out.  (Most women would still have been wearing some kind of corset under their outer garments, however.)  The most noticeable  innovation is the shortening skirt: the hemline has now risen to about calf-length, something that had not been seen in fashionable dress before.

Lastly, many a modern woman would be envious of the pockets in some of these dresses!

Left to Right:

"... a smart trotteur like 8614-8402 is just the thing.  The skirt is in two or three or four pieces with a slightly raised waistline and may be finished with a belt and pockets.  The blouse-waist has a jumper which can be slipped over the head and closes on the right shoulder... The braiding makes an inexpensive but up-to-date trimming."

"There is a distinction and grace about this dress (designs 8632 and 8644) which leave you in doubt as to whether to credit the soft cord or tuck shirring at the front and back of the skirt, or the clever merging of the vestee into an eminently becoming sailor collar."

"The full body of design 8637 might or might not be called a 'sheer waist of good material,' but combined with 8619 it certainly makes a ravishing gown. The broken line suggested in the bolero is repeated successfully in the two piece lower part of the skirt, the straight upper section of which can be made in the regulation or slightly higher waistline."

Left to Right:

"A hint of the jumper is present in the blouse which may be made over a blouse body lining.  If you prefer a high collar for Fall wear, a very pretty style is offered as an alternative to the low.  There are also shorter length sleeves if you prefer them."

"Carrying coals to Newcastle isn't half as absurd as laying any more tributes at the feet (or hem) of the highly sung Russian blouse (8650-8118); and of all Russian blouses the plaited ones falling from a yoke are the newest."

"Of one stripe are this charming waist (8622) and this equally charming skirt (8638).  The stripes run up and down in the straight upper part of the skirt from the slightly raised waistline to the two-piece circular flounce, but they run as they list on the body and oversleeve which are made in one over a French lining.  A choice of collars and undersleeves is left to you."

"Rings on your fingers and bells on your toes aren't any more thrilling than buckles on your waist and skirt (8620).  You can use buttons instead if you feel that way about it, and you can leave off the straps and pockets and and shorten the sleeves and put on a high collar and otherwise vary the design without in the least affecting its utter smartness."