Madame Weigel's Journal of Fashion (February 1930)

 I bought this copy of Madame Weigel's Journal of Fashion at the same time I acquired the copy of Cassell's Family Magazine I wrote about last week.  Madame Weigel's Journal was published to promote Weigel's patterns, and this issue celebrated its 50th anniversary under the proprietorship of Johanna Weigel (yes, there really was a Madame Weigel!)

Inside the magazine are pictures and descriptions of fashionable clothing as worn by middle-class Australian women.  At this stage, only a couple of months into the 1930s, styles looked very much as they belonged in the 1920s.  But change was on the horizon, as noted by Madame Weigel's London correspondent: 

It is really extraordinary to see the way in which fashions have changed since last season.  It is very seldom that such a definite change is made in such a short time, and it is very bad for our purses, although most advantageous for the designers.  But last summer's frocks really can't  be persuaded to do duty again this winter; their whole line is wrong.  All the new frocks fit the figure very closely to the hips, and the waist-line and the hip-line are tightly defined, while below the hip-line the skirt flares out into draperies and panels and flounces.  You have to be thin to wear these dresses successfully, and yet you mustn't be too thin, for there must be a suggestion of curves.

But there's a caveat:

Of course I am only talking about evening frocks and very special afternoon dresses.  For morning and street wear and for sports there is not much change to report; skirts are still short and, for the most part, straight hanging.

"Letter From London by an Australian

Now onto the patterns!

First, the free pattern for a "Lady's Coat" (size medium).

"Chit-Chat On Dress" (Cassell's Family Magazine, February 1895)

I managed to pick up another bound volume of Cassell's Family Magazine the other week.  This one is from 1895, but people who have been following this blog for a while might recall I own a similar volume from 1888.  In 1888 the magazine published a monthly "Chit-chat on Dress" column describing the latest fashions from London and Paris for its female readers.  By 1895 its emphasis had changed: it was still interested in fashionable dress, but it also offered dressmaking patterns so its readers could attempt to make their own versions of the garments described.  (Given the complexity of some of the garments, I suspect many readers enlisted the help of a local dressmaker.)

The February 1895 column begins with the following pronouncement:

SELDOM has Fashion so favoured the contour of a figure that has lost its youthful slimness as at the present moment. 

But let's take a look at a couple of the featured patterns. 

Lounge-Gown for Invalid
Our design... is made in old-rose pink velveteen and Irish point lace, with over-dress of cashmere in either light maize or grey.  The whole of the upper portion, that is, the yoke and sleeves, is made separate and mounted on a short-waisted lining reaching just below the armholes, and the over-dress, cut square back and front, is slipped over the head and fastened on each shoulder beneath the ribbons.

"These Patterns..." (Australian Home Journal, February 1949)

 Fashion can sometimes offer a window onto social and technological change.  For example, the February 1949 issue of the Australian Home Journal advises readers on what to pack for one of those exciting new aeroplane flights. 

Don't Overload
If you are flying—and this is a popular form of travel to-day—you have to whittle your luggage down to essentials because you are only allowed 44 lbs. of luggage—and excess luggage becomes an expensive proposition.
If you plan interchangeable clothes, you'll have less luggage to carry and the right things for the time and the place.

The perennial problem of keeping within one's luggage allowance has arrived!  There are still a few years before our intrepid travellers have to worry about flying "cattle class" or airport security scans, however.  

Styles of 65: "Carefree in Arnel" (Spiegel, Spring-Summer 1965)

 The outfits below are at once relaxed and stylish—and this is why the 1960s is one of my favourite fashion eras!  The coordinating skirts and tops were available in different colours, shown as thumbnails on the same catalogue page as the main photograph.

The garments are all made of "triacetate", a "semi-synthetic" material made of chemically treated wood pulp.  Like fully synthetic materials, triacetate was easy to care for, and like natural fibres it was breathable.  In other words, "carefree"!