Easy Being Green (1948)

 Presenting another one of my colour-coded posts.  As I looked through my collection of images recently, I noticed that there were a lot of green clothes scattered through the postwar 1940s.  That made the choice of a colour easy, but the trick was to choose a date.  Finally I decided on 1948, the year when the "New Look" became generally accepted.

Fashion, June 1948

From June 1948 comes a dress for dancing in green and gold.  Created by Curzon's in Sydney, and modelled by Patty Lou Haas.

Modes de Paris, July 1948

Modes de Paris has an illustration (in green, of course) of a tent coat with large patch pockets on its July 1948 cover.   A pattern for making it was available from the magazine.

National Bellas Hess, Fall and Winter 1948

The National Bellas Hess catalog of Fall and Winter 1948 showcased another green coat on its cover.  In "Fine All Wool" and "Richly Trimmed" in fur-effect fabric, it was double breasted and featured a detachable, reversible hood.

McCall Style News, October 1948

McCall Style News depicts a full skirt (pattern 7193) in green plaid.  The pattern was in two parts, measured three yards around, and was cut on the bias.

Stitchcraft, December 1948

To end the year, Stitchcraft featured this pattern for a knitted jacket.  It included its own cozy hood, and zipped up the front.  Stitchcraft was published in Britain where clothes rationing was still in force in 1948.  I'm beginning to suspect that at least some of these green garments were made out of army surplus!

Sixties Spy Silliness ("Rondelle" Jersey, 1965)

 Spies were everywhere in pop culture in the 1960s.  They were in books, they were in movies, they were movies adapted from books, they were in movies parodying the movies adapted from books, and they were on TV.   Even comic books and advertisers got into the act.

From the height of the spy craze comes this advertising layout, promoting the wonders of "Rondelle" jersey, and some of the ready-to-wear fashions that were made with it.  Rondelle was a fabric combining Dicel (acetate) with nylon, manufactured by Courtaulds Limited.

 

 

A reasonable amount of flair and imagination went into creating this spread, so it's worth taking a closer look at these pictures and the advertising copy that accompanied them!

Training to be a spy meant that I had to learn to defend myself.  I learn quickly.  Now I can throw a sixteen stone man without ruffling my hair or my Rembrandt two-piece, style 386.  It's available in black with either gold or silver stripes, sizes 12-16 and costs 9 gns. approx.

The fastest gun west of the Iron Curtain.  I have to do three hours target practice every day.  And I have to learn to carry a gun without spoiling the line of my dress—a Rembrandt, style 390.  It comes in either black and gold or black ad silver.  Sizes 12-18 and costs 9 gns. approx.

The art of shaking a tail is being able to alter your appearance—fast.  Business-like glasses, different hair, another dress—my own mother wouldn't recognise me in my ice blue Susan Small knitted dress, style W388X.  Made in Rondelle jersey it is also available in emerald or fawn in sizes 10-16.  Costs 6½ gns.

Part of the art of persuading P.M.'s to part with state secrets is this dress.  A Charles Creed creation, style D738, patterned in bronze (it comes in peacock or midnight, too).  In sizes 12-16 and costs about 6 gns.  The rest is technique—and natural talent!

I've just climbed a ten-foot wall, then up a creeper and in through this third-storey window.  I look as if I came by lift—a spy can't allow her clothes to tell tales!  Ideal for assassinations is this 'Mandarin' dress by Charles Creed.  It comes in bronze, peacock or midnight.  Sizes 10-16 and costs about 6 gns.

Opening a safe without a key is childs play, if you're quiet and careful.  And I've always wanted to take up photography!  Perfectly suited to slipping away with the blue-prints is my Bairnswear, style 2012, two-piece in black flecked with turquoise—though I could have bought it in tan or green as well.  Sizes 38", 40" and 42" and costs ￡8.19.6.  Size 44" costs a little more—￡9.9.0.

The said it was important to get on really well with your opposite number.  This lesson was fun, though the rendezvous was strictly business.  On assignment: a dress in peacock and emerald by Walker Reid (it comes in bronze and red, too), made in Rondelle jersey, style D984.  Price about ￡6.15.0.  Available in hip sizes 36"-40".

So there you go—lessons in how to be a (well-dressed) spy!  Of course it went without saying that the creators of this advertisement hoped people might buy some of the clothes they mentioned as well!

Scarlet Women (Vanity Fair, 1955)

 Is there any colour more eye-catching than red?  Vanity Fair didn't seem to think so in 1955.

January 1955

In January, Vanity Fair featured this blazer in "Guardsman red" in its "Best Buys" section. 

February 1955

February's cover girl looks warm in "the new narrow shouldered look, the high-set sleeve... and the new shorter-than-long length" featured in the latest Paris collections.

March 1955

The March issue features a model wearing a spring suit in coral tweed—manufactured by Handmacher.

April 1955

The April issue features this dress "vibrating with colour"among a selection of "New Season's" dresses "to Dance in".  It's in organdy and built over its own petticoat, with a stole to match.

June 1955

Our cover girl for June heads off on her boating holiday wearing a "fleecy wool resort coat" by Rensor.

October 1955

To finish with: "A Blaze of Colour... a delight to dance in, made in crackle-crisp taffeta from an original Dior design".

In Glorious Black & White (1972)

 What colours do you imagine when you think of the 1970s?  I see brown and orange, with a dash of olive or avocado green and a bit of murky yellow to liven things up.  In reality, of course, people weren't strictly confined to earth tones during the 1970s.  In that spirit, and in keeping with my recent "colours" theme, I present these images of clothes in classic black and white from 1972.

Lana Lobell, Spring 1972

From Lana Lobell's spring catalogue we have daisy-printed skimmers in black and white.  The dress on the right is in polyester crepe, the one on the left is made of cotton!

Crimplene "Young Originals", 1972

An advertisement for "Crimplene" in the last days before the material moved from the category "fashionable" to the pigeonhole of "dowdy".  The dress is from the Australian label "Lemona" and it is accessorised with very 1970s bright green platform shoes and a matching floppy sunhat.

Style Pattern Book, Summer 1972

Style Pattern 3628 is made up in a white fabric with black polka dots—a fairly simply pattern for a fairly simple look. 

Vogue Patterns, Summer 1972

 

Vogue Patterns also goes for black dots on a white background for Pattern 8355.  "Take the excitement of dots..." the caption begins, 

"Deck that feeling with the season's most significant comback: ruffles.  Trail them all around a wrapped evening dress and stand them at the neck.  At last you can look exactly the way you feel... very romantic, very feminine."

Dots must have been "in" in 1973.  Other photographs in the same section of the magazine shows a black evening dress with white polka dots, and white dress with red!

Pretty In Pink (1964)

 Confession time: I've got so many fashion pictures that sometimes I have trouble deciding which ones to share!  This post I thought I'd choose a colour theme.  The colour is pink, and the year is 1964.

Lana Lobell, Spring 1964

This is the image that decided me on "pink".  From left to right we have "the Ascot suit" in three pieces, a white suit in cotton double knit with a hot pink ascot, and a dress with matching jacket in a mohair, cotton and nylon mix.  Each outfit is worn with a hat and wrist-length white gloves.  Everyone looks very ladylike.

Skylark, Summer 1964

Four views of the same shift dress in rayon crepe.  It's topped by a matching coat in mohair.  The effect is rather more sophisticated than our trio from Lana Lobell.  

Advertisement for Wool, 1964

Next, an advertisement to promote the virtues of wool—as showcased in coats designed by PRL of New York.  The look somehow manages to be at once formal and "with it".

 

Anthony Horderns, Spring-Summer 1964

And lastly, a catalogue from Australia.  From left to right we have an "A Line" frock in viscose, a fairly conservative "shirtmaker" in checked polyester and cotton, and a (very modern) sleeveless blouson in polyester-cotton.  Hatless and gloveless, I'm getting a very informal vibe from these models!

100 Years Ago (The Delineator, April 1922)

 From the April 1922 issue of The Delineator: wedding dresses for spring brides!  As far as designs and skirt lengths go, these garments closely resemble contemporary formal wear.  There are typical 1922 touches: the (newly lowered) dropped waistline, the use of side panels and asymmetrical drapery, and beaded girdles.  The main things to mark these dresses out as bridal were are the trailing veils worn by the models, and the fact that they are made up in white materials.

Working our way clockwise: At the left (pattern 3584) we have a dress with fabric trimming on the loose panels and sleeves.  Recommended materials are silk crȇpes, crȇpe de Chine, crȇpe meteor or crȇpe satin.

Top centre (pattern 3526) is a dress embroidered in a sunburst design with crystal beads.  The dress itself was a fairly straightforward design which slipped over the head and fastened under the left arm.  Once again various crȇpes were recommended for making it up.

Top right (pattern 3467) has a lace underbodice, and an optional train for the most formal weddings.  Various kinds of heavy crȇpe are suggested for making the dress.

Bottom right (pattern 3622).  The Delineator suggests making this one up in moire, chiffon and charmeuse as well as different kinds of crȇpe.  It can be made all of one material or with contrasting sleeves. Tulle lace is recommended for the "diaphanous veil".

 

(Images from the Internet Archive.)