On the Beach in Orlon (1966)

 If you browse through any fashion magazine from the 1960s and 1970s, you will find full-page advertisements from the manufacturers of synthetic fabrics.  Unless you look closely, however, you won't notice the fashion labels that are printed in a smaller font down the bottom of the page.  It would appear that the big corporations and the smaller dress manufacturers had struck a deal: the big corporations would use their big advertising budgets on full-page glossy ads, and for a share of the publicity the small dressmakers would provide the clothes that would turn the pictures into exciting fashion shoots.

This particular campaign—which ran full eight pages in Vanity Fair—was shot on the beaches of Guadeloupe.  Clearly money wasn't much of an object when DuPont could send models and photographers to the Caribbean so they could advertise Orlon!

Here we have a beach cover-up (in the form of a "banner-striped vestee") by Ashpool and Twiddy

 A "shirtwaister" from Brilkie—in Orlon, of course!

"BairnsWear" provides this dress in "queen-sized check".

Tootal provided the shift dress above.

A dress by Charles Creed.  Creed, originally a London couturier, closed his fashion house in 1966 to concentrate on running a wholesale business specialising in knitwear.

Another sleeveless shift dress, this time by Lavinia.

A dress in "Raschel knit".  Style D.525/Q by Dobett.

And lastly, a casual dress from Shar-Cleod, another firm specialising in knitwear.

A Touch of the 80s (Handmade, January-February 1987)

 I've just learned that some members of Gen Z are reviving the styles and pop culture of the 1980s!  Now I don't know if anyone from Gen Z visits my blog, but just in case I've decided to roll out some of the 1980s images from my collection.  Can you get more 1980s than the photograph below?

The model wears a stone-washed denim miniskirt, with shirt dyed to match, along with a big, boldly-patterned knitted jacket with broad shoulders.  The jacket is the focus of the photograph as the pattern for it appeared in Handmade.

Four from 1924 (Miroir des Modes, August 1924)

 Miroir des Modes was published in France by Butterick Publishing Company to promote (what else!) Butterick patterns.  This illustration also appeared in the Summer 1924 edition of Butterick Quarterly.  I've taken the description of the patterns from The Delineator.

No. 4930 (left): The tiered front of this dress makes in an especially graceful style for crȇpe satin, heavy silk crȇpes or heavy crȇpe de Chine.  It slips on over the head, closes under the left arm and the straight skirt with tiered front is joined to a long underbody.

No. 5027 (second from left): Straight accordion or side plaited trimming gives a Russian effect to a dress with a draped one-piece upper part which is lengthened by the plaiting.  Make the dress of satin crȇpe, plain or printed silk crȇpe, plain or printed novelty crȇpe de Chine, all in one material, printed with plain material, or in two shades of one colour.

No. 5175 (second from right): Many lovely effects are possible with hand-faggoting.  On a one-piece slip-over dress it gives the effect of a yoke.  The dress has a straight lower edge, a casing and elastic across the sides of a low waistline.  Use satin crȇpe, plain or printed silk crȇpe, plain, printed or novelty crȇpe de Chine, plain or printed cotton voile or fine cotton crȇpe, all one material, printed with plain etc.,

No. 5207 (right): A Russian closing marked with buttons and ending in a smart pocket is a new way to vary unbroken lines.  For this one-piece dress use heavy silk crȇpe, silk alpaca, plain flannel, kasha, cashmere, wool crȇpe, soft twills, linen or linen-finished cottons.

200 Years Ago (Ackermann's Repository, January 1823)

 ... Or to give its title in full: Repository of Arts, Literature, Commerce, Manufactures, Fashions and Politics.  The "fashions" part of the journal consisted of a pair of fashion plates in each issue, along with descriptions of the plates and articles reporting on the latest fashion news from London and Paris.

To start off 1823 on a suitably festive note, we have a ball dress.

White crèpe lisse dress, worn over a bright pink satin slip; the corsage of white satin, cut bias, and fits the shape: it is ornamented with simple elegance, being separated into narrow straps, nearly two inches deep, and edged with two small folds of pink crèpe lisse set in a narrow band of folded white satin, finished with a tucker of the finest blond lace. The sleeve is short, of very full white crèpe lisse, partly concealed by two rows of white satin diamonds, edged with pink crèpe lisse, and united by half a dozen minute folds of white satin: at the botton of the dress is one row of large full puffs or bouffantes, of white crèpe lisse; between each are eight white satin loops, attached to the bouffantes, and surrounding a cluster of half-blown China roses.  The hair, without ornament, à la Grecque.  Ear-rings, necklace, armlets, and bracelets, of dead gold, with pink topazes and emeralds, interspersed, and fastened by padlock-snaps studded with emeralds. Long white kid gloves.  Pink satin shoes.

From all this verbiage I come away with a two key points.  Firstly, that the "bright pink slip" was meant to be seen under the transparent overskirt (unlike the twentieth century garments of the same name).  Secondly, that the bias cut was not invented by Vionnet in the early twentieth century, though here it is only used to make the bodice.  The engraving informs me that waists were still fairly high and skirts narrow in the early 1820s, though the use of decorations at the hem is a first step in making skirts fuller.

The Repository doesn't name a dressmaker, so I've no idea if this was an actual garment or an artist's  fantasy.   Readers of this detailed description, however, would probably have been able to use it to create a facsimile with the aid of their dressmaker—though they might have used less expensive materials!  

(The Philadelphia Museum of Art has put scans of the complete run of Ackermann's Repository up on the Internet Archive.)

"A Dress To Make By Guy Laroche of Paris" (Woman's Journal, January 1958)

 Couture was not for everyone: even in the 1950s only the super-rich could afford one-off, custom-made designer garments.  However, less wealthy women also wanted to wear the latest styles from the salons of London and Paris.  How did they do it without breaking their budgets?  Well, they might have bought mass-produced copies of couture fashions.  The couture houses made a large part of their income by licensing copies, and further down the line there were people selling pirated copies of the copies.  The materials and the workmanship were poorer, but the general style remained.

Alternatively, the would-be fashionista could have made her own version of a couture garment, using an authorised pattern.  In January 1958 Woman's Journal offered its readers the chance to buy one such pattern (Model Pattern 3556) based on a design by Guy Laroche.  The interesting thing is that the magazine printed a photograph of the original dress as well as a photograph of a version made from their pattern.

Below is the original model we bought and photographed in Paris.  A romantic short evening dress—young as a dream—full-skirted and low-backed.  To get the effect of this warp-printed satin, an excellent material to use would be Jacqmar's warp-printed satin-cotton.

 And ... we show our copy of this charming dress made in beautifully plain duchesse satin... The bodice front of the dress continues round the back to form a strap and ties with a large bow at the back of the neck , while the full skirt forms pintucks down the panels , and the seams are double stitched to give a gored effect to the skirt.

POINTS TO NOTE

1. The full skirt is gathered into waist, and pin tucks are stitched on the wrong side to give a gored effect.
2. The bodice front has a round neck line, and is cut with extensions which are joined to the wide tie-ends to make the large bow on the nape of the neck.  The small, cap sleeves are cut in one with the front and completed with two-piece underarm gussets.
3. The back of the bodice is cut into a low V which is partly filled by the bow.  It is fitted with darts and the waist edge of the bodice extends ¾-inch below normal waist line.