Free Pattern: Incroyables Tailcoat
July 14, 2018 § 3 Comments
Incroyables ensemble, ca. 1790-95. Image: LACMA.
Happy quatorze juillet! For Bastille Day, here’s a pattern for an Incroyables tailcoat.
The tailcoat, which dates to Revolutionary France, was part of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s 2016 Reigning Men exhibit, currently on view at Sydney’s Powerhouse Museum.
Incroyables and Merveilleuses were the dandies and fashionistas of the revolutionary period. Today, Directoire style evokes glam rock, Marat/Sade, and John Galliano. The style famously inspired Galliano’s 1984 graduation collection, entitled Les Incroyables, as well as his work for Givenchy.
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Adam and the Ants, Prince Charming (1981) Image: Discogs.
David Bowie at his 50th birthday concert, 1997. Image: Pushing Ahead of the Dame.
John Steiner and Glenda Jackson in Peter Brook’s Marat/Sade © 1967 United Artists.
Linda Evangelista in Givenchy Haute Couture by John Galliano, Vogue, December 1996. Photo: Steven Meisel. Fashion Editor: Grace Coddington.
Here are the museum notes:
Detail, 1790s Incroyables ensemble. Image: LACMA.
1790s Incroyables tailcoat, back view. Image: LACMA.
Back detail sketch by Thomas John Bernard. Image: LACMA.
Download the pattern here.
Note: gridded pattern.
Length at centre back: 49″ (124.5 cm)
Notions: 14 1 1/8″ (2.9 cm) buttons for front and coattails; 6 3/4″ (1.9 cm) buttons for cuffs.
McCall’s x Canada Dry, 1971
July 1, 2018 § Leave a comment
McCall’s 2761 (1971) Canada Dry “Pounds-Thinner” pattern.
Happy Canada Day! In celebration, here’s a Canada Dry pattern from McCall’s.
Established in Toronto in 1904, by the ’70s Canada Dry was owned by Norton Simon, which was also McCall’s parent company. Canada Dry’s new low-calorie, sugar-free sodas showed a woman in a black leotard to match the branding for McCall’s Pounds-Thinner pattern line. New in 1971, the line is problematic today for its body-negativity.
This Canada Dry pattern envelope is a special alternate. (Compare the more often seen catalogue version.) Instead of the usual Pounds-Thinner branding, there’s a charming Biba-style illustration in colours to match the soda packaging.
Carolyn Murphy
June 28, 2018 § 1 Comment
Carolyn Murphy in Armani, Vogue Italia, September 1998. Photo: Steven Meisel. Image: Pleasure Photo.
Supermodel Carolyn Murphy can be seen on some ’90s Vogue patterns.
Born in Florida, Carolyn Murphy (b. 1973) studied art history and literature at the University of Virginia before her modelling career took off in the mid-1990s. For more, see her IMG Models page.
Carolyn Murphy in Givenchy Couture by Alexander McQueen, Vogue Paris, March 1998. Photo: Mario Testino. Image: Vogue Paris.
Before she cut her hair, Murphy did some work for Vogue Patterns. Chuck Baker photographed her for the summer 1994 issue of Vogue Patterns magazine.
Vogue 1443 in Vogue Patterns, July/August 1994. Photo: Chuck Baker.
Vogue 1443 (1994) Image: Etsy.
Here’s the original caption: Work-out wear goes high fashion as athletic-inspired clothes come out of the gym and onto the streets. Vogue Sport presents a one-pattern wardrobe of high-function pieces that look great whatever your game. Reflective stripes stylishly accent as well as provide high visibility protection. 1443 includes a black nylon jacket with inside drawstring, pull on sweatpants, boxy fleece shorts, and a V-neck sweatshirt that elongates into a sweatdress for lounging or going out.
As well as the Vogue Sport pattern, Murphy also models 5 Easy Pieces separates “in chocolate and emerald”:
Vogue 1471 in Vogue Patterns, July/August 1994. Photo: Chuck Baker.
Vogue 1471 (1994) Image: Etsy.
Bonus: Murphy was also featured in this Marc Jacobs pattern hack, shot by Herb Ritts for Vogue. The Marc Jacobs slip dress (Vogue 1965) was shown in icy green velvet from Elegant Fabrics, NYC.
Carolyn Murphy in Vogue 1965 by Marc Jacobs. Vogue, October, 1997. Photo: Herb Ritts. Editor: Brana Wolf.
Vogue 1965 by Marc Jacobs – Vogue, October 1997.
Sewing and Smoking
May 31, 2018 § 3 Comments
Detail, Virginia Slims advertisement, 1975.
Today is World No Tobacco Day. Here’s a look at a Virginia Slims ad that ran in Vogue Patterns magazine.
The mid-’70s ad—with the famous You’ve come a long way, baby slogan—contrasts the fashionable, contemporary Cheryl Tiegs with the Edwardian “Mrs. Florine Knauff,” caught smoking during a fox hunt. Along the lower left-hand side, the caption reads, Fashions: Vogue Patterns.
Virginia Slims advertisement in Vogue Patterns, January/February 1975.
Doesn’t Tiegs’ green dress look a lot like Emanuel Ungaro’s goddess gown?
Vogue 1135 by Emanuel Ungaro (1974)
The popular design was reissued in 2001 (as V7521).
A handful of ’70s Virginia Slims ads credit Vogue Patterns, most notably this Yves Saint Laurent couture pyjama, as worn by Beverly Johnson:
Virginia Slims advertisement, 1973. Image: Stanford Research into the Impact of Tobacco Advertising (SRITA).
Vogue 2912 by Yves Saint Laurent (1973) Image: Paco Peralta.
There were even promotional Virginia Slims sewing kits. This one contains FDR-made upholstery needles:
Virginia Slims needle pack cover. Image: Etsy.
Virginia Slims needle pack. Image: Etsy.
Click the Beverly Johnson ad to learn more about SRITA, Stanford’s tobacco advertising project.
Gnyuki Torimaru (Yuki): Style Patterns
May 19, 2018 § Leave a comment
Diana, Princess of Wales, wears Yuki to a banquet hosted by Emperor Hirohito in May, 1986. Image: Pinterest.
Gnyuki Torimaru, or Yuki, is most famous for dressing Princess Diana on her 1986 state visit to Japan. But his licensed sewing patterns date to the year before.
Born in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan, Gnyuki Torimaru (b. 1937) studied architecture in Chicago before settling in London, where he attended the London College of Fashion. He launched his own label, Yuki, in 1972, after stints at Norman Hartnell in London and Pierre Cardin in Paris. (For more, see Suzanne Kampner, “Out Goes Majolica, In Goes Nothing.”)
Image: Vintage Fashion Guild.
Visitors to the Boston Museum of Fine Art can see his blue, pleated gown and other designs in the museum’s extensive Yuki collection.
Gown by Gnyuki Torimaru. Image: Boston Museum of Fine Art.
Torimaru made his name in the 1970s with his draped jersey gowns. Jerry Hall’s cream Yuki gown, seen on the cover of British Vogue and in Barry Lategan’s editorial, “Dare the Ritz,” has a hem that doubles back as a hood. The Boston Museum of Fine Art has a silk version; model-turned-actor Gayle Hunnicutt donated her carnation version to the V&A.
Jerry Hall wears Yuki on the cover of British Vogue, July 1976. Photo: Barry Lategan. Image: Pinterest.
Hunnicutt wore two Yuki pieces in her 1973 British Vogue editorial. The second, low-backed gown is carnation jersey, cut in one piece. She later wore it to a ball at Windsor Castle.
Gayle Hunnicutt in Yuki, British Vogue, October 1973. Photo: Henry Clarke. Image: Pinterest.
Gayle Hunnicutt in Yuki, British Vogue, October 1973. Photo: Henry Clarke. Image: Youthquakers.
Yuki also designed the costumes for Frank D. Gilroy’s romantic comedy Once in Paris… (1978), which starred his client, Hunnicutt.
Embed from Getty ImagesStyle Patterns’ earliest designer series includes two Yuki designs. Both dresses, one a voluminous one size fits all, showcase his trademark draping.
Style 4489 by Yuki (1985)
Misses’ Dress in Two Lengths: Dress is gathered from yoke. Draped sleeves are raglan. Opening is button loops. All edges are topstitched. Suggested fabrics—Fine silk or synthetic jersey, lightweight silk types, lightweight crepe types, crepe de chine, georgette. One size.
Style 4490 by Yuki (1985)
Misses’ Dress in Two Lengths: Dress has fitted under-bodice with draped front and back, which is gathered on padded shoulder and forms fluted sleeve. Skirt is slim with centre back split on full length version. Suggested fabrics—Fine silk or synthetic jersey, lightweight silk types, crepe types, crepe de chine.
Click the Style Patterns tag for more British designer patterns.
Yuki gown featured in Ballgowns: British Glamour Since 1950 (V&A, 2012) Photo: David Hughes. Image: The Cut.
Pertegaz 1918-2018
May 18, 2018 § 3 Comments
Pertegaz (Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, 2004) Model: Laura Ponte. Photo: Antoni Bernad. Image: The Cary Collection.
Manuel Pertegaz was born on this day in 1918. Paco Peralta asked me to contribute to his post for the designer’s centenary; see it here.
Suzy Parker wearing a coat by Pertegaz, Vogue, March 15, 1954. Photo: Henry Clarke. Image: Condé Nast.
Rosa Real, made-to-measure Iberia flight uniform by Manuel Pertegaz, 1968. Image: Iberia.
Moyra Swan wears a Pertegaz caftan gown in the Alhambra, Vogue, October, 1968. Photo: Henry Clarke. Image: Condé Nast.
Patterns in Vogue: Where There’s Sun There’s Silk
May 13, 2018 § Leave a comment
Detail, British Vogue, May 1966. Photo: Helmut Newton. Image: Youthquakers.
A mid-1960s Helmut Newton editorial features a leopard and a Vogue pattern.
The model on the right wears Vogue 6468’s beach coverup in white guipure from Ilo Lace. (Left: blue mini dress by John Bates at Jean Varon; Paco Rabanne earrings.)
British Vogue, May 1966. Photo: Helmut Newton. Image: Youthquakers.
For the full editorial see Youthquakers.
Vogue 6468 (1965) Image: Etsy.
