What We Wore in '74: Polyester Double Knits (JCPenney, Spring and Summer 1974)

 Mostly it's the styles that define an era, but sometimes the material they're made of is just as important.  What muslin was to the Regency and "art silk" to the 1920s, polyester double-knit was to the 1970s.  It was stretchy and easy-care—hence it's popularity—but it was also sticky and smelly, unbreathable and uncomfortable.  It went out of fashion after a few years, but meanwhile the shops and mail-order catalogues were filled with a dazzling array of polyester garments.  Like, for example, this selection from JCPenney.

At left: Tailored shirt-style body suit (in polyester double-knit), long sleeveless vest (in polyester double knit), knitted check pants (in polyester double-knit).  Centre: Short sleeve tunic top in polyester double knit.  Kick-pleated pants in polyester double-knit.  Right: Tunic top in 2 sleeves length in polyester double-knit.  Knitted pattern pants, in polyester double-knit.

Groovy Styles in Simplicity Patterns (1960s-1970s)

 I had something completely different lined up for this week—then I stumbled across someone selling vintage patterns out of an old plastic bag at a market stall.  Clearly it was a Sign, and who am I to pass up blog material when it presents itself to me?  It looks like the original owner of the patterns was a fashion-forward young woman, eager to keep up with the latest trends.

First, from 1966:

1966

... Blouses, with a choice of cowl- or turtleneck, either long-sleeved or sleeveless.  The blouses were fastened by a zip up the back.

"Charming Bonnets" (The Ladies' Friend, January 1868)

 I've decided to let fashion go to my head again this week, with a look back to a time when respectable women (and not-so respectable women) felt obliged to wear some kind of head covering on nearly every occasion.

The magazine doesn't have a description of the bonnets (or the hats) illustrated, but it does have some general remarks on fashionable headgear:

The bonnet called in Paris the chapeau-capuchon is popular for the winter season.  It encases the hair at the back instead of leaving it uncovered.  The front of the bonnet is a fanchon¹ of colored velvet; the capuchon² is of tulle, and is tied below the chignon with a satin bow which matches the fanchon..

Charming bonnets are now made entirely of velvet flowers and velvet foliage.  A bonnet composed of small vine leaves, in either green or violet velvet, is very ladylike and distinguished.

Velvet bonnets of any color to correspond with the toilet, are trimmed with a gold or silver aigrette laid upon the edge of the border.

For dinner coiffures, lace lappets are added to the flowers and fruit, but these lappets do not form a cap; sometimes they fall over the chignon, sometimes they they are crossed and fastened there by a spray of flowers...

Young ladies almost uniformly wear the flat toquet.³  This somewhat singular headgear, placed on the top of a high chignon, comes sloping over the forehead, and to it is attached a masque voilette⁴ of black lace, coming down just to the lips, and tied in lappets at the back.

This last appears to be illustrated by the figure at the bottom left of the plate, and the dinner coiffure with its lace lappets, appears to be depicted at the top right.  These black and white drawings hardly seem to do the subject justice when you consider how rich and vibrant the bonnets must have been in real life!

(1. Kerchief

2. Hood

3.  The writer probably meant a "toque"

4. Literally "mask veil")

Lady's Coat, Lady's Frock... (Everylady's Journal, September 1926)

 ... Child's Frock (4 years)

These patterns demonstrate how women's clothes had been simplified by the middle of the 1920s.  The "lady's frock" (illustrated under the coat at left, and on its own at right) was made up of only three pattern pieces; the front and the back of the bodice and the skirt.

What We Wore in '74: Hats (David Jones, Spring and Summer 1974)

 Though hats had ceased being everyday wear by the 1970s, they were still available for those who wanted to wear them for a special occasion—at the races, perhaps, or at a wedding, or just adding a final touch to a trendy outfit.  

David Jones, Spring-Summer 1974

A: Be a shady lady in this lacy big brimmed beauty from the East.  Fun on any summer outing. 

B: Pack up your troubles with our packable floppy brim hat from Italy.  Comes up smooth and unruffled every time.

C: The snappy cap for sporty new summer looks.  With a gored crown and small visor.  In navy or red denim.

D: Import scarf hat for cool, collected casual wear.  Spun check cotton, with padded front, elastic back for perfect fit.

E: Romantic Italian natural straw, sporting a bunch of ripe red cherries.

F: A hot day special!  Medium brimmed cotton with gore crown.

Seventies nostalgia is very evident in some of these hats.  The deep crowns and shady brims of hats A, B and E recall the fashions of the late 1920s and early 1930s.