I have to thank my husband for finding this book for me - he found it on Ebay. It dates from 1940, and it gives great insight into the fashions of the time.
The only colour in the book is in the endpapers, which have this great design made up of pins, needles, hooks and eyes, press studs, a dress form, and a mystery object I can't work out.
This elegant young lady is wearing a charming dinner dress in heavy wool material. Houses were draughty and coal was rationed. I don't think I will be rushing to make myself one of these.
This ensemble looks rather nice, though. I could do with a couple of new skirts this summer.
The book has excellent illustrations to show how to fit garments and adjust patterns. It also gives a method for drawing your own patterns from measurements. The big snag is that the method they gave for drawing a pattern for a bodice didn't work - it came out a good two inches too small. I checked and re-checked my maths, made sure I hadn't left out any stages, and came to the conclusion that the book was wrong. Anyway, once I added the vital couple of inches, made it up in calico and adjusted the fitting, I was all set to make myself a couple of summer tops.
Hooray, I have something new to wear for my birthday tomorrow!
What a lovely find! Those endpapers are such a great detail!
ReplyDeleteThe unidentified object - A bolt of fabric perhaps?
Hello Renee, I think you are probably right - it just seems to have been shown the wrong way up with the shadows going in an odd direction.
DeleteI love the drape of the long dress...very Grace Kelly-ish. What a neat find...and a cool husband!
ReplyDeleteHe's a genius at finding books - usually about woodwork, but he spots them for me too.
DeleteThat dinner dress has such beautiful lines, though. Shorten it a bit and I think it fits right in with modern styles. Is your unidentified object the one in the middle? I think it might be a bolt or two of fabric--maybe.
ReplyDeleteYes Nancy, the more I look at it the more it looks like a bolt of fabric.
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