Fashion history through DIY culture
Iceland’s Vatnajökull National Park is one of the latest additions to UNESCO’s World Heritage List. In 1990’s “Polar Effects,” the Vatnajökull glacier and Jökulsárlón glacial lake co-star with supermodels Karen Mulder and Kirsten Owen, and two Vogue patterns.
Both patterns are Very Easy designs. In the opening image, Karen Mulder’s unitard is made from an unspecified “shiny” stretch knit from B&J Fabrics. Kirsten Owen’s double-width dirndl skirt is silk taffeta from Jerry Brown Fabrics.
Nick Knight once photographed Linda Evangelista at London’s Stansted Airport in a Vogue minidress.
The pattern is Vogue 1175, a 5 Easy Pieces pattern, cut from white leather from Mystic Leather, NYC.
White looks right against a steely sky or industrial machinery…
Farewell to Karl Lagerfeld. Prolific, influential, and above all, iconic, the designer — who had a lifetime contract with Chanel — was working to the last.
Read the couturier’s Vogue obituary. (Tim Blanks; German Vogue.)
Grunge is back. Marc Jacobs has reissued looks from his Spring 1993 “grunge” collection for Perry Ellis as Redux Grunge.
Juergen Teller’s ad campaign shows Jacobs’ iconic grunge pieces, resurrected from vintage and available exclusively from the designer’s website.
I wrote about Vogue’s two grunge Perry Ellis patterns back in 2013, as part of my series on early Marc Jacobs.
Now that Vogue has posted the entire collection online, we can ID the other dress. The button-front slip dress was originally worn layered, Seattle-style.
None of the three pattern looks is part of the reissue, but the short version of the maxi dress—worn by Carla Bruni in 1992—can be seen on Lili Sumner in Teller’s campaign. (There’s also a new, flower chain print version of the ’90s floral dress.) As the web store notes, the dress was inspired by 1930s nightgowns. Just shorten V1304 to sew the look.
Tonight at New York Fashion Week, Ralph Lauren celebrates his company’s 50th anniversary. Here’s a look at highlights of Ralph Lauren patterns from the ’70s to the ’90s.
Ralph Lauren started out in menswear, and Vogue Patterns’ first licensing with the brand was for men’s designs. The company released its first Polo by Ralph Lauren patterns in the summer of 1975.
That’s Polo Ralph Lauren on the right in Vogue Patterns’ American Bicentennial issue:
This Polo trench is classic for any gender:
Vogue’s licensing of Ralph Lauren women’s wear began in 1979. The earliest Ralph Lauren women’s patterns are for Annie Hall and Western looks like those shown in his Fall 1981 Santa Fe collection—prairie skirts, fringe, and serapes worn with cowboy boots and concho belts.
Ralph Lauren’s Spring 1984 Safari collection is said to have been inspired by Out of Africa, perhaps with a dash of Picnic at Hanging Rock.
Late ’80s Vogue Career designs by Ralph Lauren feature British model Saffron Aldridge, then the face of the brand.
Tartan was one of the main takeaways from Ralph Lauren’s Fall 1991 collection. (As L’Officiel observed, “For Ralph Lauren, tartan isn’t a fashion, it’s a lifestyle.”) Vogue released two patterns from this collection, a dress and trouser ensemble.
Although the envelope for the dress shows it in solid red, the tartan looks had pride of place on the holiday covers, both Vogue Patterns Magazine and the December catalogue.
The tartan pieces had already been promoted that same season in the Fall ’91 advertising campaign and a Grace Coddington / Linda Evangelista cover and editorial (“A Shot of Scotch”) in Vogue’s September issue.
Some later covers showing Ralph Lauren in a less WASP-y mode:
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.
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.
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”:
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.
Farewell to Hubert de Givenchy, truly one of the greats.
Read the couturier’s Vogue Paris obituary.
