Blade Runner, Fashion, and Sewing Patterns
October 6, 2017 § 4 Comments
Eugenia Silva wears Prada on the cover of Vogue Italia, March 1998. Photo: Steven Meisel. Editor: Bill Mullen. Image: The Fashion Spot.
Blade Runner 2049, Denis Villeneuve’s much-anticipated sequel to Ridley Scott’s Blade Runner, opens today. Here’s a look at the fashion references and influence of the 1982 cult classic. (For Blade Runner’s influence on current fashion and an interview with costume designer Renée April, see Booth Moore, “‘Blade Runner 2049’ Already a Hit on the Fashion Runways.”)
Ryan Gosling in Blade Runner 2049 (2017) Image: Stephen Vaughan/Warner Bros.
Thierry Mugler “Angel” fragrance advertisement, 2003. Image: eBay.
Blade Runner’s BAFTA-winning costume designers, Charles Knode and Michael Kaplan, cite 1940s film noir, with its iconic characters like Humphrey Bogart’s Sam Spade and Rita Hayworth’s Gilda, as their main inspiration. For the replicant Rachael, they also looked to the 1930s and ’40s tailoring of Hollywood costume designer-turned-couturier Adrian. (Kaplan is still in the genre-film spotlight with the new Star Wars trilogy, while the Adrian label—the subject of a recent exhibit—is being revived as Adrian Original.)
Rachael costume sketches by Michael Kaplan for Blade Runner (1982). In Dressed: A Century of Hollywood Costume Design (Collins, 2007).
Kaplan used vintage fabrics for Rachael’s Adrian-inspired outfits: “I liked the idea of combining different shades of suiting fabrics to create patterns—something Adrian did. In this case I used amazing vintage suiting woollens in shades of grey and beige, with metallic threads that I was lucky enough to find, which created a subtle luminous quality.” (Source: AnOther mag.) This circa 1944 Butterick suit features Adrian-style piecing:
Butterick 6286 from 1944 (2015)
In the 1980s, Claude Montana was the go-to designer for the decade’s updated triangular silhouette. (Ridley Scott has acknowledged the decade’s ’40s revival as an important factor in the film’s aesthetic.) This Vogue Individualist design plays up the ’40s influence:
Vogue 1927 by Montana (1987)
In spring, 1997, Blade Runner: The Director’s Cut was one of the first movies to be released on DVD. The following spring, working with stylist Bill Mullen and set designer Jack Flanagan, Steven Meisel photographed a Blade Runner-homage cover and editorial for Vogue Italia’s March 1998 prêt-à-porter issue. Michael Kaplan recalls mistaking the cover for a film still. The editorial features text from Roy’s climactic monologue (“I’ve seen things you people wouldn’t believe…”) with clothes from Prada’s Spring 1998 collection, which paired natural materials with synthetics like latex and plexiglass.
Prada Spring ’98 in Vogue Italia, March 1998. Photo: Steven Meisel. Editor: Bill Mullen. Image: Vogue Italia Archive.
Meanwhile, in Paris, Alexander McQueen referenced Blade Runner in his Fall/Winter 1998 ready-to-wear collection for Givenchy. Visionaire’s Alexander McQueen memorial issue includes an image from Steven Meisel’s fall advertising campaign. (For more on this collection, see my McQueen series post.)
Two looks from Alexander McQueen’s Fall 1998 prêt-à-porter collection for Givenchy. Images: firstVIEW, Corbis.
V2228 and V2248 (under jacket) on the runway – Alexander McQueen for Givenchy, Fall 1998 prêt-à-porter. Images: Corbis.
Givenchy Fall 1998 by Alexander McQueen in Visionaire 58: Spirit (2010). Photo: Steven Meisel. Image: 1stdibs.
Sewists and Blade Runner devotees are fortunate to have two licensed patterns from this collection:
Vogue 2228 by Alexander McQueen for Givenchy (1998) Image: PatternVault on Etsy.
Vogue 2248 by Alexander McQueen for Givenchy (1999) Image: PatternVault on Etsy.
The sleeveless version of the dress seems to have been shown with a jacket on the runway. (Click the image to read about my version, which I wore to TIFF’s Cronenberg exhibit.)
In V2248 by Alexander McQueen for Givenchy at David Cronenberg: Evolution, 2014.
Rachael’s chevron-quilted synthetic fur coat gets the most screen time, but it’s her blue brocade coat with standing fur collar that appears to have been McQueen’s main reference for the fur-trimmed coats and jackets. As the pattern reveals, the collar stands with the help of boning.
Rachael (Sean Young) in her quilted faux-fur coat. Image: Vogue Italia.
Rachael’s blue brocade coat. Images: Pinterest, Christies/BladeZone.
Charles Knode fur-trimmed coat sketches for Blade Runner. Image: BladeZone.
Blue leather coat with standing fur collar, Alexander McQueen for Givenchy, Fall 1998 prêt-à-porter collection. Images: eBay.
(Wool version available here.)
The weathered tones and textures of Mayan Revival—prominently seen in Deckard’s apartment, as played by Frank Lloyd Wright’s Ennis House—form a thread linking the first film, Meisel’s Givenchy campaign, and Villeneuve’s sequel. It was Kaplan’s vision of a dirty retrofuture, rather than glossy futurism, that won him the Blade Runner gig. It will be interesting to see what role revivals play in the new film.
Rachael (Sean Young) in Blade Runner (1982) Image: Restless Things.
Givenchy Fall 1998 ad campaign featuring Alexander McQueen’s Blade Runner collection. Photos: Steven Meisel. Models: Erin O’Connor and Jade Parfitt.
K (Ryan Gosling) in Blade Runner 2049 (2017) Image: Vogue Italia.
For more production images for the new film, see the Vogue Italia gallery.
What to Wear in an Emergency
November 9, 2016 § 3 Comments
Detail, Weldons So-Easy 20 (ca. 1940).
From Weldons’ 1940s So-Easy line, this “Ten-Second” Siren Wrap features a cozy hood and chic contrast binding:
Weldons So-Easy 20 (ca. 1940) Siren wrap.
Other So-Easy air raid patterns included a women’s two-way siren suit (no. 19), child’s hooded siren suit (no. 17), and girl’s hooded siren suit (no. 18).
Back of Weldons So-Easy 20, showing other designs in the So-Easy pattern range.
The pattern tissue is printed with an advertisement for Dewhurst’s Sylko machine twist.
Weldons So-Easy 20 pattern tissue advertising Dewhurst’s Sylko machine twist.
For knitters, Weldons also had a special knitting book called Quick-Change Siren Woollies (click to view an Etsy download):
Quick-Change Siren Woollies – Weldon Knitting no. 29 (Nov. 1940) Image: Etsy.
For more on Weldons’ wartime So-Easy patterns, see There’s a War On.
Carmen Dell’Orefice
June 3, 2016 § 6 Comments
Carmen Dell’ Orefice in Ceil Chapman, Vogue, 1949. Photo: Norman Parkinson. Image via Norman Parkinson Archive.
Carmen Dell’Orefice turns eighty-five today.
Vogue, October 15, 1947. Photo: Erwin Blumenfeld. Image via Pinterest.
Often called the world’s oldest working model, Carmen Dell’Orefice (b. 1931) was discovered at thirteen on a New York City bus; at sixteen she had her first Vogue cover. In 2011, the London College of Fashion devoted an exhibition to her modelling work, Carmen: A Life In Fashion.
Vogue, May 1, 1951. Photo: Norman Parkinson. Via Pinterest
Vogue, May 1955. Photo: John Rawlings. Image via Pinterest.
Harper’s Bazaar, May 1958. Photo: Gleb Derujinsky. Image via Pinterest.
Dell’Orefice’s work with New York pattern companies may be seen in postwar publications from Vogue, McCall’s, and Simplicity, as well as more recent Vogue patterns.
A Richard Rutledge editorial for Vogue Pattern Book features the young Dell’Orefice in new patterns for spring, 1949 (jacket Vogue 6716 and blouses Vogue 6065 and Vogue 6707, all with skirt Vogue 6708):
Vogue 6716 and 6708 in Vogue Pattern Book, April/May 1949. Photo: Richard Rutledge.
Vogue 6065 and 6708 in Vogue Pattern Book, April/May 1949. Photo: Richard Rutledge.
Vogue 6707 and 6708 in Vogue Pattern Book, April/May 1949. Photo: Richard Rutledge.
On this McCall Pattern Book cover from Summer, 1957, she models McCall’s 4095 and 4097:
McCall’s Pattern Book, Summer 1957. Image: eBay.
Here, Dell’Orefice poses in an all-red ensemble for the cover of Simplicity magazine, Fall 1958:
Simplicity magazine, Fall-Winter 1958. Image: eBay.
Here she wears gown Vogue 9827 on the cover of Vogue Pattern Book’s holiday issue:
Vogue 9827 on the cover of Vogue Pattern Book, December/January 1959-1960. Image via Make Mine Vogue.
1980s
After a break, Dell’Orefice returned to modelling in the late 1970s. On these two patterns from the ’80s, she wears Vogue 8195, a caftan-style dress, and Arlene Dahl gown Vogue 8521 in gold lamé:
Vogue 8195 (ca. 1982) Image via the Vintage Pattern Wiki.
Vogue 8521 by Arlene Dahl (ca. 1980s) Image via Etsy.
1990s
In the later 1990s, Dell’Orefice posed for many patterns in The Vogue Woman line. Vogue 1972 is a seasonless wardrobe pattern, while Vogue 9821 is a dress and tunic suitable for petites:
Vogue 1972 (1997) Image via Etsy.
Vogue 9821 (1998) Image via eBay.
Happy birthday, Ms. Dell’Orefice!
Alberta Ferretti fashion show, Florence, 2011. Image: Getty / Vogue Italia.
Jean Patchett
February 16, 2016 § 4 Comments
Vogue, January 1950. Photo: Erwin Blumenfeld. Image: jeanpatchett.com.
Today is the 90th anniversary of Jean Patchett’s birth.
Jean Patchett (1926-2002) moved to New York City from her home in Preston, Maryland to pursue a career in modelling. She signed with Ford Models in the spring of 1948, and soon became one of the new agency’s top models. Patchett appears on some of Vogue’s most iconic covers. She retired in 1963. (See Cathy Horyn’s obituary for The New York Times, “Jean Patchett, 75, a Model Who Helped Define the 50’s.”)
Vogue, April 1, 1950. (Dress by Larry Aldrich; Lilly Daché hat.) Photo: Irving Penn. Image: jeanpatchett.com.
(Read more about this cover at the Art Institute of Chicago, or see the UK version here.)
British Vogue, July 1951. Photo: Clifford Coffin. Image: Vogue UK.
(Prints available from the Condé Nast shop.)
According to a short profile in Glamour, in her off hours, Patchett enjoyed making her own clothes (Glamour, Oct. 1948). She can be seen in pattern editorials for Vogue, Simplicity, McCall’s, and Butterick from the late 1940s on.
Soon after her first Vogue cover in September, 1948 (October for British Vogue), Serge Balkin photographed the young Patchett in tone-on-tone grey flannel for the cover of Vogue Pattern Book. The patterns are Vogue 6620 (dress) and Vogue 6629 (coat):
Vogue Pattern Book, December-January 1948-49. Photo: Serge Balkin. Image: eBay.
Irving Penn’s famous Vogue editorial, “Flying down to Lima,” showing Patchett on location in Lima, Peru, is in fact a pattern editorial. In this café scene, she chews her pearls wearing Vogue S-4967, a dress and jacket ensemble (click the image for a gallery note, or see Devorah MacDonald’s blog for the full editorial):
Jean Patchett in Vogue S-4967; John-Frederics hat. Vogue, February 1949. Photo: Irving Penn. Image: the Art Gallery of New South Wales.
Patchett poses in dress and jacket Vogue S-4008 on this fall 1949 cover of Vogue Pattern Book:
Vogue Pattern Book, August-September 1949. Image: flickr.
Wearing the New Look dress and camisole Vogue S-4088:
Vogue Pattern Book, Summer 1950. Image: eBay.
Richard Avedon’s travel-themed photo was used for both Simplicity’s counter catalogue and the company’s Fall-Winter magazine (where Patchett can be seen holding a copy of André Gide’s Les faux-monnayeurs). The patterns are Simplicity 3327 (topper), Simplicity 3298 (weskit), and Simplicity 3027 (skirt):
Simplicity catalogue, ca. autumn 1950. Photo: Richard Avedon. Image: Etsy.
Here she poses in a veiled hat and elegant silk shortcoat; the text contains a typo—the pattern is Vogue 7258:
Vogue 7258 in Vogue Pattern Book, Early Summer 1951. Image: flickr.
This Holiday issue of Butterick Pattern Book features Patchett in Butterick 5941, a shirtdress with cuffed sleeves:
Butterick Pattern Book, Winter 1951. Image: jeanpatchett.com.
For the fortieth anniversary issue of McCall’s Pattern Book, Patchett posed in McCall’s 9080 alongside illustrations from past decades:
McCall’s Pattern Book, Back-to-School and Fall 1952. Image: jeanpatchett.com.
Lillian Bassman photographed Patchett in this striped summer dress from Simplicity:
Simplicity 4291 in Simplicity Pattern Book, Summer 1953. Photo: Lillian Bassman. Image: myvintagevogue.
Posing for the cover of Burda Moden magazine:
Burda Moden, October 1954. Image: flickr.
This strapless playsuit must be Simplicity 4715, shown in bias tartan with matching parasol:
Simplicity Pattern Book, Summer 1954. Photo: Paul Radkai. Image: myvintagevogue.
Roger Prigent photographed Patchett in Vogue S-4550, made up in Onondaga acetate brocade:
Vogue S-4550 in Vogue Pattern Book, December-January 1954-55. Photo: Roger Prigent.
Finally, Patchett appears with her own double in this resort-themed McCall’s advertisement featuring McCall’s 3635 (see my earlier post on this campaign here):
“Make the clothes that make the woman” – advertisement for McCall’s Printed Patterns, 1956.
For more of Jean Patchett’s work, see jeanpatchett.com, myvintagevogue, or skorver on flickr.
New Year, Vintage You
January 11, 2016 § 5 Comments
Timeless Style… Vintage Vogue. Vogue Patterns catalogue back, September/October 1999. Image: eBay.
Happy New Year! Vintage reissues give a taste of the pleasures of sewing vintage, without the bidding wars and grading. Here is an overview—with rarely seen archival images—of the contemporary vintage pattern lines from Vogue, Butterick, and McCall’s. (Simplicity responded to requests for comment with promotional copy.)
Simplicity 1777 on the cover of the Simplicity catalogue, Early Autumn 2012. Image: eBay.
Vintage Vogue
Launched in time for Holiday 1998, Vogue Patterns’ Vintage Vogue line provides true reproductions of vintage patterns borrowed from private collectors. (See my earlier post and discussion, How Do You Take Your Vintage Vogue? or get the details on the Vintage Vogue Search.) Alas, the terms of the old licensing agreements mean that Vogue can’t reissue designer patterns.
Deco evening dress pattern Vogue 2241 remains a favourite; I recently came across a version at Toronto’s Spadina Museum. I found an illustration of the original, Vogue S-3543, in a Vogue Patterns news leaflet from December, 1931. The description reads, “Here is a frock that expresses the newest movement of the mode, its originality and charm. It has a slender moulded look from the décolletage to the circular panels that trail slightly on the ground”:
Vogue S-3543 and Vogue 5849 in Vogue Patterns, December 1, 1931.
Butterick donated the original to the Commercial Pattern Archive:
Vogue S-3543 (1931) Image: Commercial Pattern Archive, URI collection. For research purposes only.
Retro Butterick and McCall’s Archive Collection
Both Retro Butterick and McCall’s Archive Collection patterns are recreated and sometimes adapted from archival materials, not the original patterns. With archival images, sticklers for accuracy can restore these adaptations to the original vintage design.
Early Retro Butterick pattern B6408 is based on Butterick 4391, a “Quick and Easy” late 1940s design for an evening gown with hooded scarf:
Butterick 4391 (1948) Image: Vintage Pattern Wiki.
McCall’s introduced The Archive Collection for Early Fall, 2014. The recent 1920s coat pattern, M7259, is based on McCall 5057, a 1927 design by Agnès:
McCall 5057 (1927)
McCall 5057 by Agnès in McCall Quarterly, Winter 1927-28.
The Archive Collection’s Deco evening dress, M7154, is based on a design from spring, 1930: McCall 6057. An original copy sold on eBay in June, 2014 for over $800 US.
Catalogue illustration of McCall 6057, 1930. Image: PatternVault on Etsy.
The McCall 6057 gown is a couture adaptation: the design is after Patou. Here is the description from McCall’s magazine: “The Patou silhouette is beautifully exemplified in a formal evening gown which has curved bands at the neckline and hipline, a short bolero and inserted panels lengthening the skirt”:
No. 6057 after Patou, McCall’s, April 1930. Illustration: Lebrun.
For more on the McCall Pattern Company’s vintage lines, see We Sew Retro’s interview.
Paris, je t’aime
November 16, 2015 § 3 Comments
Vogue 1101 by Paquin, Vogue, May 1950. Model: Maxime de la Falaise. Photo: Norman Parkinson.
In honour of Paris, a selection of postwar fashion photography shot on location in the city.
Vogue’s earliest Paris Originals were photographed in Paris, by Vogue editorial photographers including Clifford Coffin and Norman Parkinson.
Vogue Pattern Book, April/May 1949. Photos: Clifford Coffin.
The eight colour photos were first seen in the March 1st, 1949 issue of Vogue magazine, to announce the new couturier patterns.
Vogue 1053 by Robert Piguet, Vogue, March 1949. Photo: Clifford Coffin.
Vogue 1055 by Jacques Fath, Vogue, March 1949. Photo: Clifford Coffin.
Vogue 1057 by Paquin, Vogue, March 1949. Photo: Clifford Coffin.
Vogue 1052 by Lanvin, Vogue, March 1949. Photo: Clifford Coffin.
Vogue 1051 by Schiaparelli, Vogue, March 1949. Photo: Clifford Coffin.
Vogue 1050 by Molyneux, Vogue, March 1949. Photo: Clifford Coffin.
Vogue 1056 by Jacques Heim, Vogue, March 1949. Photo: Clifford Coffin.
Vogue 1054 by Pierre Balmain, Vogue, March 1949. Photo: Clifford Coffin.
(Available as a print from Condé Nast.)
Vogue 1099 by Jacques Heim, Vogue, May 1950. Photo: Norman Parkinson.
Pan Am Games 2015 – Vintage Pattern Edition
July 20, 2015 § 6 Comments
This week the Pan Am Games continue in Toronto. In honour of the Games, here’s a look at vintage patterns and illustrations showing women’s sports.
First up: Pan Am sports that have already concluded for 2015.
Archery. From a 1933 issue of McCall’s magazine, this archery scene was illustrated by Jean des Vignes:
“Taking Aim,” McCall’s magazine, March 1933. Illustration: Jean des Vignes.
Golf. Ben-Hur Baz (later known for his pin-ups) illustrated this golf scene for McCall’s magazine, circa 1930:
McCall 6078 and 6074 in McCall’s magazine, April 1930. Illustration: Ben Hur Baz.
Donna Karan designed these mid-1970s golf separates, hat included, when she was at Anne Klein. You can buy it for your own golfing needs from the PatternVault shop.
Vogue 1415 by Donna Karan for Anne Klein x Penfold (ca. 1976) Image via PatternVault on Etsy.
Roller skating. Simplicity 3890, a World War 2-era skating pattern, includes this roller skating illustration:
Simplicity 3890 (ca. 1941) Image via Etsy.
Sailing. This 1930s sailor dress has a contrast collar and big buttons at the side-front closure:
New York 217 (ca. 1930s)
Swimming. This chic, cuffed swimsuit (previously featured in my Heat Wave! beachwear post) dates to the late 1940s:
Vogue 6709 (1949) Image via Oodles and oodles.
The swimsuit was photographed by Richard Rutledge for Vogue Pattern Book:
Vogue 6709 in Vogue Pattern Book, April/May 1949. Photo: Richard Rutledge.
Tennis. The cover of the McCall Quarterly for Spring 1932 has this tennis-themed illustration featuring two dresses by Bruyère:
Bruyère patterns McCall 6804 and 6819 on the cover of McCall Quarterly, Spring 1932. Illustration: Blanche Rothschild.
(For more tennis patterns see my Tennis, Anyone? post.)
Stay tuned for more vintage sports wear… I’ll be looking at a different Pan Am sport and related vintage pattern every day this week.
