This week I’m looking at vintage patterns showing sports of the Pan Am Games. (See the first post here.) Today: a 1930s equestrian pattern.
Equestrian. This Depression-era pattern for fall-front jodhpurs has jaunty cuffed trousers, the requisite reinforced inner leg, and three pocket pieces, including one for a watch pocket:
Butterick 5647 (ca. 1934) Image via Etsy.
(Click the image to see sold listing with back of envelope.)
Interestingly, this copy of Butterick 5647 is stamped Pattern Made in Canada. Although the pattern was produced in women’s, misses’ and girls’ sizes, the early equestrian patterns that survive are usually in smaller sizes—intended for riding lessons, perhaps?
This week I’m looking at vintage patterns showing sports of the Pan Am Games. (See the first post here.) Today: a mid-century bowling pattern.
Bowling. This early 1960s pattern from Simplicity includes an “action back” shirt and skirt in two lengths. The skirt has inverted pleats in front and back; the shirt, which may be monogrammed, has pleats at the back shoulder seams:
This week I’m looking at vintage patterns showing sports of the Pan Am Games. (See the first post here.) Today: a pattern for gymnastics.
Rhythmic gymnastics. This early 1930s gym and dance costume was available in misses’ and juniors’ sizes. The costume includes a long-sleeved or sleeveless blouse with elasticized lower edge and two styles of tap pant:
McCall 6498 (1932) Gym & Dance Costume.
Like other sportswear patterns, McCall 6498 stayed in print for several years: Allison Marchant/carbonated’s copy is copyright 1934.
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.
I recently discovered The Polyglot, writer Alex Aubry’s blog about fashion and the Middle East. One post, “When Afghanistan was in Vogue,” gives a fascinating perspective on Vogue Patterns in pre-revolutionary Afghanistan.
Aubry describes how, in the late 1950s, Jeanne Beecher, an American woman living in Afghanistan, established a dressmaking school in Kabul where women could learn to sew the latest Western fashions. Beecher, the wife of an airline executive, conceived the idea in response to demand for Western fashions among Afghan women. She approached Pan American Airways’ Technical Assistance Program for help obtaining sewing patterns and supplies for her school, and the Vogue Pattern Service donated two hundred sewing patterns to Beecher’s school in response to Pan Am’s call.
Young Afghan women standing outside Kabul’s International Airport in the latest Western fashions, 1967. Image via The Polyglot.
After a few months, many of the school’s students were ready to model their new clothes in a fashion show. Aubry credits Beecher’s school both with kick-starting Kabul’s fashion industry and spurring the adoption of Western dress there. One of the things I find interesting about this phenomenon is how the Afghan women who learned to sew using Vogue patterns were after the same thing as Vogue’s Western customers: up-to-date fashion.
