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.
Turtleneck by Lida Baday, Toronto Life FASHION, August/September 1996. Model: Kim Renneberg. Photo: George Whiteside. Image: FASHION.
In celebration of Canada Day, this post is devoted to Canadian fashion designer Lida Baday.
Lida Baday (b. 1957) was born to a dressmaker mother in Hamilton, Ontario. A graduate of Ryerson’s fashion design program, she worked for different companies in Toronto’s garment district before founding her own label in 1987. (Read bios here and here; see tear sheets here.) Baday soon won international success with her sophisticated, minimalist designs in luxurious fabrics such as wool jersey. Although her company closed its doors last year, The Fabric Room, which sells its surplus textiles, is still open to the public.
Lida Baday Fall 2011 ad campaign. Model: Kirsten Owen. Image: Melatan Riden.
In the 1990s, Lida Baday designs were available through McCall’s patterns, beginning with two patterns in the November 1992 catalogue. McCall’s 6255 and 6257 are patterns for a skirt suit and separates including a flared, hooded coat:
McCalls 6255 by Lida Baday (1992) Image: eBay.McCall’s 6257 by Lida Baday (1992) Image: PatternVault shop.
McCall’s 6855 is a pattern for a bolero and sleeveless sheath dress in two lengths. The longer version has a high slit with underlay:
McCall’s 6855 by Lida Baday (1993) Image: Etsy.
McCall’s 8256 includes a long, double-breasted jacket, a short, cap-sleeved top, and wide-legged pants:
McCall’s 8256 by Lida Baday (1996) Image: Etsy.
This 1997 design for an oversized shirt, pants, and cropped leggings for stretch knits could be new today:
McCall’s 8740 by Lida Baday (1997) Image: Etsy.
McCall’s 8823 is ’90s-minimalist perfection with its fitted tunic with narrow straps, slim pants, and low-backed, sleeveless dress with mock back wrap:
McCall’s 8823 by Lida Baday (1997) Image: Etsy.
McCall’s 9371 includes a sleek halter top for stretch knits and a short, wrap skort:
McCalls 9371 by Lida Baday (1998) Image: Etsy.
The long, stretch-knit dresses in McCall’s 9379 are both ’90s and classic:
McCall’s 9379 by Lida Baday (1998) Image: PatternVault shop.
Just for fun, here are some more Fashion magazine covers featuring designs by Lida Baday:
Lida Baday dress; John Fluevog boots. Fashion, September 1995. Model: Jenny Mac. Photo: George Whiteside. Image: FASHION.Jessica Paré wears a Lida Baday coat, FASHION, November 2004. Photo: Gabor Jurina. Image: FASHION.
Vogue Italia, February 1990. Photo: Steven Meisel. Image: Bellazon.
In celebration of Canada Day, this models post is devoted to Canadian supermodel Linda Evangelista.
Born in St. Catharines, Ontario to Italian-Canadian parents, Linda Evangelista (b. 1965) was discovered by a scout from Elite at the 1981 Miss Teen Niagara beauty contest. (She didn’t win.) At eighteen she signed with Elite and moved to New York and later, Paris. Evangelista became one of the world’s most successful and influential models, especially after Julien d’Ys cut her hair short in 1988. (More on Voguepedia.)
Harper’s Bazaar, March 1997. Photo: Patrick Demarchelier. Image: Top Models of the World.
Some of Evangelista’s early work can be seen in 1980s Vogue patterns and Burda magazine.
1980s
The young Evangelista made the cover of the Spring/Summer 1985 issue of Burda international:
Burda international, Spring/Summer 1985. Image: flickr.
She also starred in a jazz club-themed Burda editorial shot by Günter Feuerbacher (click the image for more):
Linda Evangelista in Burda international, Spring/Summer 1985. Photo: Günter Feuerbacher. Image: Magdorable!
Evangelista’s work with Vogue Patterns was for the Paris Originals line. Here she models a popular, pleated wrap dress by Emanuel Ungaro, Vogue 1799:
Vogue 1799 by Emanuel Ungaro (1986) Image: Vintage Patterns Wiki.
Evangelista can be seen on a number of Yves Saint Laurent patterns. Vogue 1720 is an elegant dress with blouson bodice and wide, bias roll collar. The pattern includes the contrast sash:
Vogue 1720 by Yves Saint Laurent (1986) Image: Paco Peralta.
Here Evangelista shows off advanced-class colour blocking in Vogue 1721, a Nina Ricci pattern for a dramatic hooded blouse, mock-wrap skirt, sleeveless top, and sash:
Vogue 1721 by Nina Ricci (1986) Image: Etsy.
This editorial photo from the Autumn 1986 issue of Vogue Patterns magazine best conveys the different colours:
Linda Evangelista wears Vogue 1721 by Nina Ricci, Vogue Patterns, Autumn 1986. Image: Magdorable!
Evangelista also appeared on the cover of the July/August 1987 issue of Vogue Patterns:
In the mid-1990s, Evangelista’s runway work for Yves Saint Laurent reached home sewers on Vogue pattern envelopes. From the YSL Rive Gauche Spring 1996 collection, Vogue 1862 is a pattern for cropped jacket, blouse, and high-waisted pants (see a detail shot on firstVIEW):
Vogue 1862 by Yves Saint Laurent (1996). Image: Etsy.
Evangelista brings out the drama of this Yves Saint Laurent Cossack-style coat, Vogue 1652:
Vogue 1652 by Yves Saint Laurent (1995) Image: Paco Peralta.
