"Bright, Good-Fitting Bathers" (Myer, Spring & Xmas, 1929

Though modest by today's standards, these colourful bathing suits from the Myer catalogue are streamlined and practical.  However, since the lady on the left is wearing a suit made of cashmere, I suspect she wasn't likely to dip it in the sea.

0991—Fine Cashmere.  All-wool BATHING SUIT with plain top and fancy striped skirt.  In assorted colours... Fancy Rubber BATHING CAP.

0992—Gilr's United Style.  All-wool BATHING GOWN: in black, navy and many bright colours.... CAP in smart designs and colours, to tone with gown... COOLIE COATS, in crepe, in floral designs, in bright tonings for maids and children...

Elite Styles, May 1925

 Elite Styles (1897-1929) was a pattern magazine for professional dressmakers, though home dressmakers could also buy their patterns if they thought they had the necessary skills to make them up. 

Not surprisingly, Elite patterns made no concessions to beginners or the less skilled, as shown by the evening dress pictured below.  However, the mixture of satin, lace, beading and flying panels which would have made it difficult to cut and sew, would also have made it a delight on the dance floor.  Imagine how it would have looked in motion, as the wearer stepped out doing one of the energetic dances of 1925!

Fashion lends an attentive ear to the call of exquisite laces.  A costume that lends an air of girlish grace and Parisian chic to the wearer combines sheer silk lace of delicate pattern with soft crȇpe satin ; the bodice has pointed outline at hip, the points being defined with ornamental braid or beading ; short, kimono sleeves ; other interesting details are the pointed collar and scarf, the latter being made of crȇpe satin and trimmed with lace.  The straight foundation skirt is made of crȇpe satin ; gathered lace panels with pointed hemline are posed at front and back, while panels of crȇpe satin appear at the sides.  Fastens at shoulder and under the arm.

Cutting Down the Laundry Bill.... (Girl's Own Paper and Woman's Magazine, November 1920)

 ... By Making One Garment take the place of Two

In the days before washing machines—let along tumble dryers and wash-and-wear fabrics—laundry was a hard and time-consuming chore.  You either had spend a full day each week slaving over washtubs, coppers and mangles, or you had to pay someone else to do it for you.

In the immediate aftermath of World War I the poor managed as they'd always done, but the middle class readers of The Girl's Own Paper and Woman's magazine had problems in the forms of higher prices and labour shortages.

One of the many problems the housekeeper has to face at the present time is the every-rising laundry bill.  Some people may solve the difficulty of high charges by having the "weekly wash" done at home, but unless you are already blessed with an efficient helper to undertake the work, it is not the easiest thing in the world at the moment to obtain outside help of any description.

The magazine stepped in with a suggestion: why not send fewer garments to the laundry?

Just take stock of your wardrobe, and see if there is not some way you could make one garment do the work of two you are now currently wearing.

Cami-knickers fastening on the shoulders.  No. 8905

An envelope chemise.  No. 8905

"The Charleston Slip-Ons" (Modern Weekly, October 23, 1926)

 Modern Weekly was, as it's name suggested, a magazine for aspiring flappers.  It contained fiction, beauty tips, guides to the latest dance steps, fashionable gossip, and of course, fashion.

How to be slim though petticoated!  That's quite a problem, with our new dancing frocks demanding a frilly skirt beneath them and a slim outline above them.  But here it is—a solution for you—a petticoat of four fluttering, picot-edged panels, joined with evening knicks to a long bodice, and made from our Free Pattern of the "Charleston Slip-ons."

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.

"To Freida..." (1927)

 This is literally a "found photograph"—I found it wedged between the pages of a secondhand book.  (The book was published in 1906, so for all I know it has been sitting there nearly 100 years!)

Best of all from my point of view, is the fact that the photo has an inscription on the back:

To Freida

With Love from

Rita & Eileen

1927

so I can date it exactly.

Though our two sitters, "Rita" and "Eileen", aren't particularly young or stylish, they are wearing fashionable evening dress from 1927.   They've had their hair bobbed, and adopted the dropped waistline of the twenties.  The sitter on the left is wearing a long string of beads (a very 1920s touch!)   The rosette-like ornaments worn on their left shoulders was an up-to-the-minute fad in 1927—as you can see from the pattern illustrations in this 1927 issue of McCall's.

"The Ideal House Dress" (Girl's Own Paper and Woman's Magazine, October 1920)

 "... Sure to be Popular.  Notice the Absence of Openings, and Hooks, and Buttons"

By the 1920s The Girl's Own Paper had become The Girl's Own Paper and Woman's Magazine.  At this stage it was aimed at a readership of young women, whether married or single, and carried a mix of fiction and articles on homemaking, potential careers, cookery and crafts.  It also advertised its own dressmaking patterns in each monthly issue.  

One pattern would usually be singled out for description in detail.  The chosen pattern would not necessarily be for the most fashionable of garments, but for clothes the editors of The Girl's Own Paper thought its readers might find useful.  The picture and the description below is for a "house dress", or the working costume of an ordinary housewife.  

All home-dressmakers on the look-out for a really practical design for making a comfortable house dress will welcome with pleasure this pattern we are illustrating on this page.

Besides being easy to make and easy to put on, this little design combines all the essential qualities necessary to the comfort of the housewife when engaged in household tasks.

The dress slips on over the head, has no openings to get untidy, no gaps at the waistline, no tight belt, and no pinning or hooking to keep bodice and skirt decently joined.

The back is cut straight—hanging from the shoulders, and the front is made like a bodice and skirt joined with a belt at the waistline; the belt then extends free across the back—holding in the fulness to the figure—and fastens at the underarm.

By this means the bodice is able to be given the requisite fulness, without giving the bulky appearance below the waist-line, unavoidable in in the ordinary straight one-piece dress.  Another advantage this gives over the ordinary frock is, that when stooping, the belt adjustment prevents the skirt from dropping and getting under the feet—a great gain for a working garment.

The dress is also an economical one, as it only requires 3½ yards of material 36 inches wide.  Poplin, gingham, print or cotton crȇpe would all be good fabrics for the making.

The collar can be made of a contrasting material to the frock, if desired, and would look well in white if the dress itself is of dark fabric.  Saxe-blue with a white collar is a pleasing combination, or some of the pretty striped fabrics now so popular would be becoming for this design.

If the collar is white, it should be made detachable from the frock, so that it can be removed when the dress requires washing.  This can easily be done without much extra work, and as the neck of a dress is always the first part to get soiled and crushed, it is always an advantage to have the collar detachable and able to be laundered apart from the frock.  All that is needed is to bind the neck edges of the dress and collar in position instead of neatening the two edges together.  Half a yard of material will be sufficient for the collar.

Capes and Sleeves (Miroir des Modes, July 1924)

 And speaking of posting pretty pictures... this plate, from Le Miroir des Modes shows how very simple and streamlined women's fashions had become by the mid-twenties.  You would have to go back to around 1800 to find dresses as comfortable and with as few fusses and frills.  

For some reason there were no descriptions of these garments in the issue of Le Miroir des Modes where I scanned this picture.  However, since it advertises Butterick patterns, I was able to take the descriptions from a contemporary issue of The Delineator—but only for the figures on the left and right-hand sides!  

5199—Hand-fagoting at the neck, sleeves and on the pockets of this one-piece plaited frock is very smart.  The dress has a straight lower edge, slips on over the head and has a casing and elastic across the sides of a low waistline.  It may have long sleeves sewed into a body lining. 

5197—The new cape styles are irresistible to the young girls who choose a circular cape to wear with the one-piece slip-over dress.  Use plaid or striped wool with plain cape; or use soft twills, kasha, fine worsteds, wool crȇpe, plaids, plaid, striped or plain flannel for the entire costume.

Christmas Countdown (Miroir des Modes, December 1923)

As the festive season kicks off and we all start celebrating, I thought it would be a good time to look at the party clothes we wore in years past.  First up, some dresses from Butterick in 1923:

4883—For Holiday dances this slip-over dress which drapes around the figure and is held in front by a hand-made chou, is lovely in moire, crȇpe satin, plain crȇpes, satin crȇpe, lace, etc.  The straight skirt is joined at a low waistline.

4851—A slip-over dress of chiffon velvet, crȇpe satin, satin crȇpe, plain or printed silk crȇpe, or crȇpe de Chine, printed silks or lace has a two-tiered straight skirt with drapery and joined at a low waistline.  It closes under the left arm and the long body lining has a camisole top.

4899—A full, straight skir with either five or three rows of trimming gives the tiered effect to this slip-over dress with a draped basque which has an armhole in two depths.  It closes under the left arm and the skirt joins a slightly long underbody with a camisole top.  There may be a straight drop skirt.  Use moire or taffeta with lace edging frills and a hand-made ribbon bow and flowers, etc.

Spring Hats (National Style Book, Spring and Summer 1924)

 Today is Melbourne Cup Day, a day when fashion goes—literally—to Australian women's heads.  While women wear their hats and fascinators at the race course today, I thought I'd take the opportunity to look back to an era when hats were for every day, not just special occasions.

Here we have a selection of hats from the National Cloak and Suit Company, which show the styles available in the mid-1920s.  All the hats pictured here have deep crowns and fit well down on the foreheads of their wearers.  However, they have a variety of brims: narrow (the classic cloche style), broader (described as a "Poke shape model"), turned back and rolled.  Trimmings range from simple ribbons to elaborate feather confections, with embroidery and applique being popular decorations.  The most common material for making the hats appears to be hemp braid, but wool felt and taffeta are also used. 

"The Correct Corset" (Australian Home Journal, October 1921)

 To corset or not to corset—that was the question in 1921.  The answer was yes... and no.

American Lady Corsets, 1921

The Corect Corset

Girls in general, says a writer, are divided to-day into two classes—those who wear corsets and those who don't!

Both, I think, are wrong, or rather, both are sometimes right and sometimes wrong, for corsets are like all other garments—there's a time to wear them and a time to take them off—even in the daytime.  Everyone should wear them in the daytime, and, this, for two reasons—if you don't you lose the support they give and therefore get twice as tired.  And also if you don't you will—whatever you like to say—get bigger, I mean, of course, bigger round the waist.

But—don't wear the terrible arrangements which some misguided people fasten themselves into.

Your corset should be short as possible, and above the waist be made of only a narrow band of elastic.  They should, when on, come barely above the waist.

And below it they should be very, very short.  As short as possible.

When evening comes and you get back from business, dress for dinner, go to the pictures, or do whatever you do of an evening, take them off.  Never wear corsets with an evening dress.

It's perfectly true that corsets, in reality, should be made of muscle—your own muscles—and not of whalebone, so, if your muscles are in proper working condition, you'll see no difference in your silhouette.  Which strikes me as a rather a nice way of putting it.

If you do see a difference—for the worse—it means that you haven't been doing those daily exercises you swore you would do—and so it serves you right.

National Style Book, Spring-Summer 1921

Also, upon reading this, it becomes very clear that the "corset" of 1921 was a very different beast from its Victorian predecessor.  It was well on its way to becoming the "girdle" of the mid-twentieth century.

Concerning Coats II (1920s)

The 1920s begin where the 1910s left off: with coats being worn loose and enveloping, with belts, large pockets and lots of trimmings.

Perry-Dame, Fall and Winter 1920

6C2350—There are few fabrics that are better fitted for a general utility coat than WOOL-MIXED VELOUR—the material used for making this smart top coat.  This coating is warm, moderately priced and durable.  The coat is made with a handsome collar of soft, silky, Kit Coney fur.  The back, below the all round belt, displays two deep side plaits trimmed with buttons.  Buttons also trim the novel shaped pockets as well as the cuff effects.

6CC3675—SILK SEAL PLUSH in all its loveliness fashions itself with grace and simplicity into this luxuriously warm winter Coat.  This fabric is manufactured by the world-famous Salt's Company, which guarantees matchless beauty and lasting service in a Silk Plush.  The coat is designed with a convertible collar and button-trimmed cuffs of self-material.  There are two slot pockets.  The belt can be worn half inside or all around outside as desired.

6C1865—That a coat does not always need to be expensive in order to be smart in style and durable is demonstrated by the practical model above.  It is made of one of the most practical and satisfactory coatings—ALL-WOOL VELOUR.  The coat is designed on smart new lines and made with a large, stitched, convertible collar.  The back has rows of pin-cording and button-trimming, as pictured.  The cuff-effects and large patch pockets are also button-trimmed.  A belt defines the waistline and fastens in front to the pockets.

Large, cape-like collars seem to have been in vogue in 1920, and still in evidence in 1921.

National Cloak & Suit Co., Spring-Summer 1921

The separate coat favors loose, straight lines with a preference for raglan or kimona sleeves.  Belts are used on the blouse backed models, but models fitted at the waistline show darts and no belt.

"Paragraphs from Paris", Dry Goods Review (Canada), January 1921

Montgomery Ward, Fall-Winter 1922

The prophecy that this winter would see more cloth coats than formerly has come true, judging from the variety and quality now ready. Many women want something a little different from the Hudson seal and cannot afford more expensive furs. They will welcome, without doubt, the cloth ones.

"In Step With New York and Paris", Dry Goods Review (Canada), June 1922

Miroir des Modes, December 1923

This coat was also depicted in the December 1923 issue of The Delineator, where it is described:

For wear about town, the motor or hacking this top-coat with its straight lines and becoming collar is very smart.  Plaid coatings are used a great deal this season, although one may use Teddy bear, camel's-hair, tweeds, basket-weaves, fleeces, mixtures or soft pile fabrics ... for this coat.

The Delineator, December 1923

This coat follows the fashionable silhouette for 1923, with straight lines and a dropped waist (indicated by a single fastening on the wearer's left hip).

Le Petit Echo de la Mode, Dec. 7, 1924

E 123103.  MANTEAU en serge mouflonne, forme nouvelle à manches montées, avec col et parements de renard.
[E 123103.  COAT in mouflon serge, new shape with mounted sleeves, with fox collar and facings.]

E 123104.  MANTEAU en velours de laine, orné de loutre au col droit, aux poignets larges et au bas du manteau.
[E 123104.  Wool velvet COAT, with otter decorating the straight collar, wide cuffs and bottom of the coat.]

The lines for 1924 and 1925 are still straight and unbelted, with one (or at most, two) fastenings around hip level.

Charles Williams Stores, Fall and Winter 1925

With many weeks of cold, bleak weather ahead, we shall be wearing warm coats and costumes, and the girl who does most of her own dressmaking will be sure of having plenty of opportunities for wearing it, if she makes one of the smart wrap-over, straight-up and down, velour or tweed coats, trimmed at neck, cuffs and hem with a band of fur or the popular teazle wool trimming...

To be quite smart and up-to-date, this coat must be as short as the dress worn underneath, which of course is about twelve inches off the ground, and must show only one button as a fastening.

"Modes of the Moment", Everylady's Journal, July 1925

Weldon's Ladies' Journal, March 1926

74431—A smartly cut Coat for fawn marocain, with roll collar and cuffs of leaf brown.

74428—Face cloth makes this stylish Coat, with flared godets and stand-up collar, trimmed with vermicelli braid.

74429—A new season's Coat and Skirt for reps, with flared godets and rolled collar.  

74430—Made on the newest lines is this Coat for black marocain, trimmed with soutache. 

Stylish coats in 1926 feature flared skirts.

Weldon's Ladies' Journal, August 1927

Any hint of a flare has gone by 1927.  These coats are straight and short, with hems just skimming the knee.  Hemlines would remain at knee-length for the rest of the decade.

77398.  This Coat of hopsack with collar and cuffs of calfskin is made on straight lines.  The belt is cut in one piece with the patch pockets.

77399.  For charmelaine, fancy silk or suiting is this Coat.  The welted pockets are on the sland and the stand-up collar is topped with fur.

77400.  A useful holiday Coat made of light-weight tweed, trimmed with buttons and has pockets at the top of the wide box pleats at each side.

Pictorial Review, November 1928

While some of the leading couturiers occasionally display coats with circular capes and lines flaring slightly from the waist, it is evident that the slim, simple type is most favored for general wear.  

Pictorial Review, November 1929

The November issue of the Pictorial Review illustrates two early versions of the clutch coat—that is, a coat that is held closed by the wearer.  They gained status by being obviously impractical for any woman who needed her hands free.  One can imagine the wearers of these coats climbing into a limousine, but not onto a bus or tram!  Both these patterns were designed by Paris couturiers, whose clientele wouldn't have to worry about the practicalities of getting around or carrying their own shopping.

Coming Fashions, March 1929

And so we come to the end of the 1920s with a carefully matched ensemble:

Frequently the top coat that is slightly princess in effect has a matching skirt or frock of a lighter weight fabric.  A cashmere frock will accompany a llama coat of the exact beige shade, there will not be a shade variation between the blues or the brick reds of the two weaves.  When we match our coats and frocks this season we do it very carefully.

"The Three-Quarter Coat and the Jacket", McCall's, August 1929

Coats (Montgomery Ward, Fall-Winter 1929-30)

 The weather has turned cold.  Happily for me, I have pages of toasty-warm coats from the Montgomery Ward catalog of Winter 1929-30 to feast my eyes on.  And my how very stereotypically 1920s they are!

They're also remarkably similar to each other in design.  Each coat is knee-length, fastens on one side at around hip-level, and has a fur (shawl) collar and cuffs.  (The exception to this is the coat worn by the model near the bottom right: she's dressed in sporty "American Wombat", i.e. sheared lamb!)

The main difference between these coats are the materials they are made of, with the main choices being between All Wool Broadcloth and All Wool Velour.  The furs include Manchurian wolf dog (probably neither wolf nor Manchurian) and dyed coney (i.e. rabbit).  Most of the furs on offer, however, are "Mandel furs"—in other words, sheep skins treated to look like more expensive pelts!

Australia's Lost Department Stores I (Craven's, Spring-Summer 1928-1929)

 Back in the twentieth century, each capital city in Australia had a city centre filled with locally owned and run department stores.  Shoppers were spoiled for choice, and a visit to "town" was not only a shopping expedition, but a day's entertainment as well.  However, all good things come to an end.  The growth of suburban shopping malls, the spread of credit cards (as opposed to store-based credit) and the beginning of online shopping meant that many department stores were no long economically viable.  One by one the stores closed down or were absorbed by more flourishing concerns.

Today, only a few department store chains remain in Australia.  Every city centre has the same selection of shops and stores, all selling the same goods at the same prices.  All that remains of the old department stores are a few photographs, advertising and articles in yellowing newspapers, and people's memories.  And, of course, the surviving store catalogues.

Over the years I've collected a few of these catalogues.  Though I don't have a full set (by a long shot!) I do have a fair sample.  I'd like to take a look at some of these stores—and the fashions they sold to their customers!

I'm going to start with Craven's of Adelaide.  This  is the oldest Australian store catalogue in my collection, and also one of the rarest.   Craven's was originally established in 1886 as Craven and Armstrong.  Upon the death of Armstrong in 1912, Craven turned the store into a limited liability company and expanded the premises on the corner of Pultney and Rundle streets.  Craven's developed a reputation for offering "value for money" as John Craven was a shrewd buyer of merchandise.    

Up to the early 1950s advertisements promoting Craven's appear in all the Adelaide newspapers.  Things fall oddly silent after that, though Craven's was still in business.  Possibly it was already past its best, but the store in Adelaide hung on until 1965, when it was burnt down during a burglary.  The burglars got away with around £3,000 in cash, while the fire did around £250,000 worth of damage!  Craven's was apparently of so little importance by 1965 that the fire and the burglary weren't even mentioned in the local papers.  Instead it was reported in the Canberra Times.

The image above is from the inside front cover of one of J. Craven & Co.'s catalogues (the cover itself being damaged).  It's from the store's heyday, and illustrates some delightfully "twenties" voile frocks on the left, and cotton dresses with matching bloomers for little girls on the right.

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.

Ho, Ho, Ho! (The Delineator, December 1922)

 And a Merry Christmas to all my readers!

In honour of the day, I'm posting a picture of "Saint Nick in Fresh Gay Suit and Jingling Bells" from the Delineator of December 1922.  It is, of course, illustrating the pattern for a Santa Claus costume.

Not only is father in demand at home, but the various church and Sunday-school committees ask him to play the rôle of Santa Claus for their entertainments.  It is especially exasperating to drag out a dingy red suit, moth-eaten and four sizes too small, and foolish to wear it when one can make this suit so easily.  A cap and leggings are included with the coat, breeches or knickerbockers.

This costume seems to owe a bit more to folklore or ethnic dress than the modern versions of Santa Claus, and the recommended material for making it is red flannel rather than synthetic fibres.  The material trimming it is probably not real fur, but you never know!  Otherwise, this version of Santa Claus is completely recognisable today.

100 Years Ago (The Delineator, December 1922)

 At last we reach December 1922, and the end of our look at the fashions of a hundred years ago.  To finish the year off, I'm going to look at some of the patterns for  "wearable gifts" advertised in the The Delineator.

At the left is "A gift which mother would appreciate—a becoming morning dress!"  On the right is a "gay apron of the slip-over type and in Russian effect."

On the left is another morning dress, "seasonable for any month; when one wears them on the street for marketing etc., a coat slipped over them is amply warm."  On the right, a "dainty gift" of a step-in combination.  "The chemise and drawers are embroidered in a delicate butterfly motif."

At the left, a "bright-colored fuzzy bathrobe" with a matching pair of soled slippers.  On the right, our model is holding "the newest kind of nightgown... with lattice trimming and which slips on over the head."

And lastly: embroidered boudoir caps!  Boudoir caps could be worn during the day to conceal undressed hair, or at night to protect one's hair while sleeping.  There was clearly room for them to be ornamental as well as useful!

100 Years Ago (The Delineator, November 1922)

 In its November issue The Delineator included a number of patterns for evening dresses.    This would give home dressmakers plenty of time to make their outfits for the upcoming round of Christmas and New Year's parties.

All these dresses seem strangely uniform, though they are in fact different designs.  The key features of these designs are:

• A straight, tubular silhouette
• Very low waists, dropped to hip level, and either draped to one side or emphasised with floating panels
• Skirts falling to the lower calf or just above the ankle, and
• Square or scooped necklines just below the collarbone (bosoms were not fashionable in the 1920s!)

The pattern designers attempted a couple of novel touches with Pattern 3990 (second left, top) being decorated by fabric roses and Pattern 4043 (bottom right) having an open hem-length sleeve.  I can't be sure, but I think these dresses were intended for young and older wearers respectively.

100 Years Ago (The Delineator, October 1922)

 Through this series I've been looking at the fashions of 1922 through the medium of Butterick patterns.  These fashions were everyday fashions, available to anyone with a bit of know-how and the money to buy the pattern and some material.  However, at this date the clothes worn by ordinary women ultimately derived from High Fashion, or Haute Couture, which was only worn by an elite few.  During the 1920s, and for some decades afterwards, fashion was set in Paris. Anyone who aspired to be in the least fashionable kept an eye on what was coming out of the great ateliers of France, which is why The Delineator dedicated a few pages each issue to fashion reportage.

Here are a few Paris designs as described in The Delineator in October 1922.

A narrow skirt of the new length wrapped around the figure, a bloused coat with a belt that rests upon the hip, a chin collar and a pair of excessively smart top boots of fine wrinkled leather and you have Drecoll's idea of a winter costume á la mode.  It is of beige poplatrefine, with a collar of mole.

Drecoll embroiders a primrose yellow velvet with arabesques of white porcelain and dull crystal beads.  A black chiffon scarf falls and flutters in a cascade held at the hip with great ornaments of black jet.  The body makes its own sleeve and the décolletage is the familiar Grecian line.

Patou's dresses are exceedingly simple, but they have an extraordinary cachet from their hand-work, often in the form of insertions of crochet silk that looks like fagotting, of braid or embroidery or of fabric trimming.  On a dress of velveteen he simulates bretelles on the blouse and a tablier on the skirt with insertions of narrow braid and hand embroidery.

With that nicety of design, Patou follows the lines of a plaited skirt with a tablier of narrow tucks in the lower part of the jacket of a Winter suit.  The coat blouses a little at the low waistline, the skirt is longer than last year, and the material is beige velours de laine trimmed with astrakan.

A coat that might be taken as the definition of the coat silhouette of the year is wide through the body, deep through the arm and narrow, but of the same width from its hip to the hem.  It is made of beige buracotta and is trimmed in cape effect at the back with bands of castorette.  From Béchoff.

Russian in line and color and a magnificence that stops just short of the barbaric is an evening cloak of red cloth lined with blue crêpe and embroidered with blue and silver tinsel thread.  The waistcoat and edging are of a brown fur called "mundel" or marmot and the coat is from Béchoff.

100 Years Ago (The Delineator, September 1922)

 I've no idea what the weather was like in the late summer of 1922, but in its September issue The Delineator was encouraging women to look ahead to colder weather with these patterns for coats.  You'll notice that they all have large collars, and all wrap around the wearer and fasten on her left hand side.

As usual, working from left to right:

Autumn styles see the initiation of the draped costume coat in the new silks and amply trimmed with fur or fur cloth collars.  The soft lines of this coat owe their origin to the drape at the front and the graceful sash does double duty in marking the draped tendency in the front and creating a slight blouse or drapery at the back of the coat.

The interlaced stuffed tubings are the latest French word in collars to trim a coat of this type.  It has the new silhouette—wide through the body from a straight shoulder to the hip, straight at the lower part.  The back is plain and the front has a raglan cut which contributes a voluminous, almost blouse-effect to the upper part.  The lower part is quite straight, narrow in effect but wide enough to be comfortable for walking.  The coat may have a plain collar and cuffs or they may be embroidered.  

One could indefinitely sing the praises of the wrap with a wide armhole which gives the new wide easy look to the body of a coat and which does not crush one's fragile frocks beneath.  The deep square armhole is new and gives the roomy loose effect to this coat; otherwise the lines are quite straight.  The snugly fit collar is warm and the half-cuffs are very smart.  An ornamental pair of buttons closes the coat.