PatternVault 15th Anniversary: Part 3

This week, the last of my three-part retrospective look at highlights from fifteen years of PatternVault, covering 2021 to 2026. (You can find part 1 here | part 2 here.)

Spotlight on couture patterns

During the past five years, I’ve shared more of my interwar couture pattern research, about Jean-Charles Worth and the forgotten couture house of Mata Kiato — one of whose evening designs is preserved by EvaDress.

“Hermione,” a Worth evening dress design by Jean-Charles Worth, Winter 1926–27 haute couture. Image © Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

*Paris Presents…* Georges Lepape illustration for *McCall’s* magazine, July 1932.

Festivities and celebrations

PatternVault followed the corporate festivities for the DVF wrap dress 50th, and celebrated the 60th anniversary of the Mondrian collection. Happy birthday to Yves Saint Laurent, who would have been 90 this weekend.

Yves Saint Laurent with Yvonne de Peyerimhoff, who wears his Mondrian dress during an American tour stop in October, 1965. Photo: Guy Delort. Image: WWD / Fairchild Archive.

I also marked the Art Deco centenary, 150 years of Liberty London, and the 125th anniversary of the birth of the artist Rico Lebrun.

Exhibition catalogue for *1925-2025. Cent ans d’Art déco* (2025) Image: MAD Paris.

Rico Lebrun’s illustration of fall outerwear in *McCall’s*, September 1930. Image: Internet Archive.

Even more Patterns in Vogue

I continued my Patterns in Vogue series with photography by Franco Rubartelli, Helmut Newton, and Arthur Elgort (with Grace Coddington) to mark the Milan-Cortina Olympics.

Françoise Rubartelli in *Vogue*, January 1965. Photo: Franco Rubartelli. Image: Vogue Archive.

Editha Dussler in *Vogue*, June 1965. (Shoes: Roger Vivier. Hat: Jean-Charles Brosseau.) Photo: Helmut Newton. Image: Vogue Archive.

I also featured two Clifford Coffin editorials that documented contemporary cultural institutions, incorporating work by Costantino Nivola in New York, and by filmmaker Georges Méliès at the early Musée de la Cinémathèque in Paris.

A Costantino Nivola mural and Vogue Couturier dress pattern in *Vogue*, April 1949. Photo: Clifford Coffin. Image: Vogue Archive.

Detail, Lanvin dress in *Vogue*, March 1, 1949. Photo: Clifford Coffin. Image: Vogue Archive.

Through the Patterns in Vogue series, I also celebrated Katarina Witt’s 60th, and Cher’s 80th. During this time, I worked to provide some balance for the ’60s and ’90s material by adding more pattern editorials from the 1970s and 1980s — including work by Chris von Wangenheim, Bob Richardson, Eddy Kohli, and Denis Piel. (Isn’t Piel’s creamsicle-hued, beachfront shoot wonderful?)

“A Welcome Change,” *Vogue*, April 1986. Models: Steevie van der Veen and Laetitia Firmin-Didot. Photo: Denis Piel. Image: Vogue Archive.

“Raincoats: At the Finish Line,” *Vogue*, February 1984. Model: Kim Williams. Photo: Eddy Kohli. Image: Vogue Archive.

From Tolkien to World Goth Day

On the costuming front, over the past five years I curated a very popular Tolkien post, and added more Game of Thrones costuming with designs inspired by HBO’s House of the Dragon. For Halloween 2025, I looked at Buffy Summers and her influence on fashion in “Prophecy Girl.” And I started marking World Goth Day, with posts about the gothic nightdress and Arkivestry.

Simplicity 0591 / 1582 (2001) Galadriel and wizard costumes. Image: Simplicity.

Ellen Hutter (Lily-Rose Depp) in *Nosferatu* (2024) Costume designer: Linda Muir. Image: Linda Muir.

Arkivestry’s Jack Skellington pattern (Simplicity 1039) and Gothic Lolita dress (Simplicity 1300 by KRescent Costumes), *Cosplay Culture* magazine, Halloween 2015. Models: Zombie Boy and Riddle. Photo: Dan Howell. Image: Arkivestry.

DRESS article and Vogue Patterns 125

There’s something incredibly optimistic about Pucci’s work. In 2022, I published a peer-reviewed article about Pucci’s licensed couture patterns for McCall’s and Vogue Patterns, “Pucci (Paper) Patterns, 1956–73,” in DRESS: The Journal of the Costume Society of America. It was a joy to work with so many images of Pucci’s colourful designs.

A dress by Emilio of Capri in *McCall’s Pattern Book*, Spring 1957. Photo: Howell Conant.

Time flies: in early 2024, PatternVault celebrated 25 years of Vintage Vogue. It seems like just yesterday that Vogue Patterns launched this line.

*Vintage Vogue!* Vogue 2268 (1951 reissue) on the cover of the Vogue Patterns retail catalogue, May 1999. Illustration: Lamont O’Neal. Image: Instagram.

Speaking of anniversaries: Vogue Patterns is a true heritage brand. The Vogue Pattern Service started in 1899, making 2024 Vogue Patterns’ 125th anniversary. To mark this major milestone, I curated and hosted an online exhibit to celebrate Vogue Patterns 125. In a followup post the next year, I featured a Horst portrait of Elsa Schiaparelli in a Vogue Couturier ensemble.

Elsa Schiaparelli wearing a Vogue Couturier ensemble in *Vogue*, 1941. Photo: Horst. Image: Vogue Archive.

Vogue sewing books published by Condé Nast, 1920s–1950s.

Vogue Couturier 200 on the cover of *Vogue* magazine, September 15, 1944. Photo: Irving Penn.

Milestones and a new museum

In winter 1924–25, Naomi helped me launch a fresh redesign of the PatternVault blog. (Thanks, Naomi!) In March 2025, I covered WWD’s coverage of the Couture Pattern Museum, “Preserving Fashion Piece by Piece.” Also in 2025, the PatternVault blog hit two million views.

Couture garments made using commercial sewing patterns on display at the Couture Pattern Museum in Santa Barbara, California. Photo: Sara Prince. Image: WWD.

Returning to a popular feature from the early days of PatternVault, in Summer 2025 I reintroduced the occasional collection ID, starting with “Rule, Titania.”

Badgley Mischka gown photographed in New York for the Spring 2024 lookbook. Photo: Ronald Ji. Image: Badgley Mischka.

The business unit that included Vogue Patterns changed hands again in 2025, and is now the newly independent company Simplicity Patterns Inc. After a suspenseful hiatus, Rachel Comey returned to Vogue Patterns. (Great to have you back, Rachel!) And for those of us who prefer paper patterns, word is the company will be resuming international shipping soon…

Detail, Rachel Comey Valencia jumpsuit in Dark Juniper. Image: Rachel Comey.

A free couture pattern and more

During the past 5 years, I added the first haute couture pattern in my free designer patterns series, a jacket by Rahul Mishra. Other designers whose free patterns I featured during this time included Rick Owens, Y-3 by Yohji Yamamoto, and an archived pattern from Vivienne Westwood. For Pride Month 2026, I shared two SHOWstudio patterns from Mugler and Atsuko Kudo.

Detail, Rahul Mishra Fall 2025 Couture at Paris Fashion Week. Photo: Valerio Mezzanotti. Image: Rahul Mishra / WWD.

Rick Owens TEC bolero. Image: Rick Owens.

What’s next for year sixteen? Some long-overdue designer posts, and the Mata Kiato mystery, solved — thanks to some intel from a fashion historian.

Stay tuned for more!