Carmen Dell’Orefice
June 3, 2016 § 5 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 via 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 via 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 via 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 via 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 via 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 via flickr.
Wearing the New Look dress and camisole Vogue S-4088:
Vogue Pattern Book, Summer 1950. Image via 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 via 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 via flickr.
This Holiday issue of Butterick Pattern Book features Patchett in Butterick 5941, a shirtdress with cuffed sleeves:
Butterick Pattern Book, Winter 1951. Image via 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 via jeanpatchett.com.
Lillian Bassman photographed Patchett in this striped summer dress from Simplicity:
Simplicity Pattern Book, Summer 1953. Photo: Lillian Bassman. Image via myvintagevogue.
Posing for the cover of Burda Moden magazine:
Burda Moden, October 1954. Image via flickr.
This strapless playsuit must be Simplicity 4715, shown in bias tartan with matching parasol:
Simplicity Pattern Book, Summer 1954. Photo: Paul Radkai. Image via 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
Vogue Patterns catalogue back, September/October 1999. Image via 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 could not be reached for comment.)
Simplicity 1777 on the cover of the Simplicity catalogue, Early Autumn 2012. Image via 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 via the 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 via the 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 via 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.
Lanvin at 125: Marie-Blanche de Polignac
March 13, 2015 § 4 Comments
Vogue 1120 by Lanvin, Vogue, October 1950. Photo: Richard Rutledge.
This week, the second post in my series on Lanvin sewing patterns. (See my post on Jeanne Lanvin’s interwar patterns here.)
Born Marguerite di Pietro, Marie-Blanche de Polignac (1897-1958) was the only child of Jeanne Lanvin and her first husband, Italian aristocrat Emilio di Pietro. Marie-Blanche (who is sometimes called the Comtesse Jean de Polignac) was director of Lanvin from her mother’s death in 1946 until the appointment of Antonio del Castillo in 1950.
1940s
From the earliest Vogue Paris Originals, Vogue 1052 is an elegant, short-sleeved dress with a waistcoat effect:
Vogue 1052 by Lanvin (1949) Image via eBay.
Clifford Coffin photographed the dress in Paris for Vogue magazine:
Lanvin pattern Vogue 1052 in Vogue, March 1949. Photo: Clifford Coffin.
According to Vogue, this strapless evening dress design was “sketched by David in Paris.” The caption reads, “Lanvin’s remarkable new evening line. Remarkable for the shape: a buttoned figureline from top of peaked décolletage to knee, then—outrush. Remarkable for the cutting, the angling of seams. Add the authority of ottoman or new satin piqué.” The rhinestone detail became a Marie-Blanche signature (see an earlier example in the collection of the Costume Institute):
Vogue 1073 by Lanvin (1949) Image via flickr.
Vogue 1078 is a dramatic dress with high roll collar and draped and pleated, asymmetrical overskirt. The surplice bodice belts on the left; it’s actually the slim underskirt that’s separate. The original was made in black faille:
Vogue 1078 by Lanvin (1949) Image via eBay.
Richard Rutledge photographed the dress for Vogue magazine (with Vogue 1077 by Jacques Fath):
Vogue Paris Originals 1078 and 1077 by Lanvin and Fath, Vogue, November 1949. Photo: Richard Rutledge.
Vogue 1064 is a bloused shirt dress with generous cuffs and stitched belt detail. Vogue called it a “four-season dress.” The cuffs could be made in contrast material:
Vogue 1064 by Lanvin (1949) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.
The original, in black taffeta with pink cuffs, was photographed by Cecil Beaton (with Vogue 1058 by Molyneux):
Vogue Paris Originals 1058 and 1064 by Molyneux and Lanvin, Vogue, June 1949. Photo: Cecil Beaton.
1950s
Vogue 1104 is a pattern for a suit and blouse ensemble. The boxy jacket has detachable cuffs, and the short-sleeved, tie-neck blouse has lovely pleat and seam details in the back:
Vogue 1104 by Lanvin (1950) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.
Here’s a closer look at Norman Parkinson’s photo of the late Bettina in Paris:
Vogue 1104 by Lanvin, Vogue, May 1950. Model: Bettina. Photo: Norman Parkinson.
Richard Rutledge also photographed Vogue 1107, a formal dress with asymmetrically draped cowl neck and overskirt. The magazine caption reads, “Lanvin’s afternoon and little-dinner dress with an overskirt. The underline, slim, simple; the attached overskirt, fuller, drawn high on one side. One sided too, the cowl neckline. Below it here, a curved spray of embroidery, such as you might add, if you like.” The original was black flat crêpe:
Vogue 1107 by Lanvin (1950) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.
The design shown in colour at the top of this post, Vogue 1120, is a button-front dress with draped bias sleeves and skirt with draped detail created by pleats and darts. Vogue called the design a “late-day coat-dress”:
Vogue 1120 by Lanvin (1950) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.
Vogue 1122 is a bias, wrap-front dress with raised neckline and sleeve variations. A zipper closure is concealed under the right front, and there’s a single, almond-shaped pocket on the right hip:
Vogue 1122 by Lanvin (1950) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.
Instead of the envelope’s location shot, Vogue published a studio photo of the dress:
Vogue 1122 by Lanvin, Vogue, January 1951. Photo: Richard Rutledge.
Marie-Blanche de Polignac ended her directorship of Lanvin with the Fall 1950 couture; Antonio del Castillo’s first collection for Lanvin was the Spring 1951 couture, and during his tenure the house became known as Lanvin-Castillo. But some 1951 patterns still say Lanvin and not Lanvin-Castillo—such as Vogue 1139, an ensemble consisting of a slim dress and cropped, bloused jacket. Henry Clarke photographed Anne Gunning in the shantung original for a May 1951 issue of Vogue magazine:
Vogue 1139 by Lanvin (1951) Image via eBay.
Vogue 1139 by Lanvin, Vogue, May 1951. Photo: Henry Clarke.
Next in the series: Antonio del Castillo’s Vogue Paris Originals.
Schiaparelli Patterns, Part 2
March 5, 2014 § 14 Comments
Paris Originals by Schiaparelli (left) and Jacques Heim (right). Vogue, November 15, 1949. Photo: Richard Rutledge.
This week, the second part of my series on commercial sewing patterns by Elsa Schiaparelli. (See Part 1 here.)
Schiaparelli was one of the eight couturiers who licensed designs for the first Vogue Paris Originals in 1949. Vogue’s first Schiaparelli pattern was a skirt suit with double pockets and one-sleeved blouse, Vogue 1051:
Vogue 1051 by Schiaparelli (1949) Image via the Blue Gardenia blog.
The suit was photographed in Paris by Clifford Coffin:
Vogue 1051 by Schiaparelli. Vogue, March 1, 1949. Photo: Clifford Coffin.
The photo that opens this post shows Vogue 1074, a Schiaparelli dress and shortcoat from Vogue’s fourth series of Paris Originals. The original coat was lined with astrakhan. (The suit on the right is Vogue 1076 by Jacques Heim.)
Vogue 1074 by Schiaparelli (1949) Image via Pinterest.
New Look curves characterize this Schiaparelli suit pattern from spring, 1950, which was photographed in Paris by Norman Parkinson. The short-sleeved jacket has rounded, stiffened hips, while the kimono-sleeved blouse buttons its curved fronts to one side. Vogue recommends making the blouse from the suit’s lining fabric:
Vogue 1098 by Schiaparelli (1950) Image via eBay. Photo: Norman Parkinson.
Vogue 1133 is a vampy, short-sleeved dress with hip-enhancing pocket flaps and convertible collar at both front and back:
Vogue 1133 by Schiaparelli (1951) Image via eBay.
Arik Nepo’s photograph plays up the dress’ severity:
Vogue 1133 by Schiaparelli. Vogue, February 15, 1951. Photo: Arik Nepo.
Vogue 1142 is a faux suit, an asymmetrical dress with a skirt front extension that creates the illusion of a jacket on one side. (Much like Galliano’s Givenchy jumpsuit, Vogue 1887.) The shaped projections of the big, rounded collar, skirt extension, and off-kilter double-breasted closure playfully destabilize the garment:
Vogue 1148 by Schiaparelli (1951) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.
This Schiaparelli evening dress pattern, Vogue 1144, includes a petticoat and diaphanous kerchief. Look closely, and you can see that the oversized, decorative pockets extend almost the length of the skirt:
Vogue 1144 by Schiaparelli (1951) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.
Here’s a closer look at Henry Clarke’s photo:
Vogue 1144 by Schiaparelli. Vogue, May 15, 1951. Photo: Henry Clarke.
In 1952 Schiaparelli showed inverted heart necklines for spring; with its pointed, stand-away neckline and narrow shawl collar, Vogue 1179 allowed the home dressmaker to be right up to date. The cocktail dress closes with not one but two side zippers:
Vogue 1179 by Schiaparelli (1952) Image via eBay.
Vogue magazine showed an alternate photo by Robert Randall:
Vogue 1179 by Schiaparelli. Vogue, May 15, 1952. Photo: Robert Randall.
Frances McLaughlin photographed Bettina in Vogue 1198, a short evening dress with what Vogue called “a big pleated bandage—like an outside order ribbon” wrapping over one shoulder and around the waist. The original was made in black silk brocade:
Vogue 1198 by Schiaparelli. Vogue, October 15, 1952. Model: Bettina. Photo: Frances McLaughlin.
Here’s a catalogue page for Vogue 1198, with illustration and alternate photo:
Vogue 1198 in a 1950s Vogue Patterns counter catalogue.
Vogue 1231 is a day dress with a single patch pocket and bloused bodice gathered to a dramatic convertible collar:
Vogue 1231 by Schiaparelli (1953) Image via Betsy Vintage.
The dress was photographed in Paris by Robert Randall:
Vogue 1231 by Schiaparelli. Vogue, August 15, 1953. Photo: Robert Randall.
Finally, Vogue 1245 is a long evening dress with an attached stole that passes through the bodice front:
Illustration for Vogue 1245 by Schiaparelli (1954)
The stunning gown was photographed by Roger Prigent:
Vogue 1245 by Schiaparelli. Vogue, January 1, 1954. Photo: Roger Prigent.
If you don’t have the budget for an original Schiaparelli pattern, a reproduction of the one-sleeved stole from Vogue 1068 is available from Decades of Style:
Vogue 1068 by Schiaparelli. Sketch by David, Vogue, August 1, 1949.
