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 blackleotard 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.
A Scaasi design on the cover of Vogue, December 1955. Photo: Richard Rutledge. Model: Mary Jane Russell. Image: tumblr.
In celebration of Canada Day, this post is dedicated to the late Arnold Scaasi.
Scaasi earrings on the cover of Vogue, November 15, 1960. Photo: Bert Stern. Model: Deborah Dixon. Image: flickr.
Arnold Scaasi (1930-2015) was born in Montreal as Arnold Isaacs. (Scaasi is Isaacs backwards—depending who you ask, the designer changed his name either to sound more Italian or less Jewish.) His father was a furrier, his mother had studied opera, and his glamorous, Schiaparelli-loving Aunt Ida was an early inspiration. He studied in Montreal and Paris, at the Cotnoir-Capponi school and the Chambre Syndicale, then worked at Paquin and Charles James in New York before launching his own business in 1956.
Scaasi was best known for his opulent evening wear, custom-made for society and celebrity clients who appreciated the drama of his sculptural silhouettes, luxurious materials, and flamboyant use of colour. In 2002, the Museum at FIT mounted the retrospective Scaasi: Exuberant Fashion and, following his retirement in 2010, the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston hosted Scaasi: American Couturier, an exhibition structured around his couture clients.
Image: Metropolitan Museum of Art.
Scaasi lost no time in pursuing pattern licensing. These Scaasi Spadea patterns date to 1956:
Scaasi evening skirt available as a Spadea pattern, LIFE magazine, June 4, 1956. Photo: Sharland. Image: LIFE archive.Scaasi jacket available as a Spadea pattern, LIFE magazine, June 4, 1956. Photo: Sharland. Image: LIFE archive.Scaasi housecoat available as a Spadea pattern, LIFE magazine, June 4, 1956. Photo: Sharland. Image: LIFE archive.
A few decades later, Claire Shaeffer covered Scaasi’s couture techniques for Threads magazine:
A Scaasi gown on the cover of Threads 38 (December/January 1991-92) Photo: Yvonne Taylor. Image: eBay.
It was only in the early 1990s that Scaasi licensed his work with Vogue Patterns. The designer was introduced in the November/December 1993 issue of Vogue Patterns with three patterns. The first, Vogue 1285, is a low-backed cocktail or evening dress with sheer contrast:
Vogue 1285 by Scaasi (1993) Image: Etsy.
This formal ensemble includes two-layer palazzo pants for chiffon or georgette and a top for scalloped lace:
Vogue 1286 by Scaasi (1993) Image: Etsy.
Vogue 1287 is a collarless skirt suit with caftan-style side slits:
Vogue 1287 by Scaasi (1993) Image: Etsy.
From spring, 1994, this dress is shaped by long darts in front and back and trimmed with a flounce:
Vogue 1357 by Scaasi (1994) Image: Pinterest.
Finally, Vogue 1377’s dress has a boned bodice and slightly off-the-shoulder neckline. The original’s striped fabric was cut on a creative layout:
In 1991, Scaasi told The Canadian Press, “When I left Canada some 30 years ago, there was no room for creative talent in dress design. At that time, the only way to really make it was to go to the United States.” A New Yorker from 1951, he met his partner, Parker Ladd, on Central Park South in the early 1960s; they married in 2011.
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