#draped design

The 1980s: Things Got Really BIG: Vogue 1902

Big shoulders, big shoulder pads and big armholes. That about sums up this very simple blouse from the 1980s that Vogue Patterns has re-issued. The sizing is “Very Loose Fitting” which means over 5 inches of design ease--the difference between the body measurements and the garments measurements at the bustline. It slips over the head with a slit and a button at the back neck and then buttons at the sleeve edges. The 1980s saw the first generation of women aiming at higher level corporate jobs and designers applied a lot of polished looks for office workwear including silk blouses.

Now, you might think, oh good, not fitted, easy to wear. But I do remember wearing blouses with such low armholes and found them a pain. When I raised my arm, the bottom of the armhole had to come with. So it either pulled at my arm, hampering it, or I pulled the fabric up at the waistline and then had to tuck it back in. True, I have square shoulders, but I remember being surprised at the fitting problem and only later learned that trimmer set-in shoulders avoided it. Also, there is a fair amount of fabric at the waist to tuck-in. 

The key to making such a look is fabric with soft drape. The draping detail at the neckline is a nod to the importance of the fabric choice. Sand-washed silk, which you never see nowadays, was all the rage at the time. It was pre-washed, softened silk, usually a plain weave, and was found in ready-to-wear. They now recommend silk crepe de chine, silk charmeuse, and challis, all good choices, and lightweight knits. They also recommend handkerchief linen, but I would steer clear unless you have washed it enough to lose all its crispness.

I am not sure if I am ready to return to the style of the 1980s, but this is a simple effort if you want to try your hand.

Cleopatra, 1963: Some Many Outfits, So Many Wigs

I suspect this film is what gave us lots of blue and green eye shadow in the 1960s as well as the rage for wigs which even suburban women indulged in. But what this film really shows off are the elegant floor-length gowns. 

Irene Sharaff designed Elizabeth Taylor’s costumes and Renie did the women’s costumes as Cleopatra, the Queen of Egypt has lots of female servants running around in this move and they have to look chic too. The film won a Best Costume Design from the Academy Awards, and you can easily see why. Sharaff made the most of Taylor’s hourglass figure by drawing the gowns in at the waist, and both designers had many opportunities as no one seems to wear the same thing twice.

The film is overly long, somewhat fictional, and not always coherent, but I found myself admiring many of the gowns. For example, Jean Marsh (yes, that Jean Marsh from the 1970s Upstairs Downstairs) as Octavia has rotten luck as a widow who is married off to Marc Antony played by Richard Burton. Antony loves Cleopatra, not her, but she wears a white draped gown so beautiful that I stopped worrying about her marital problems and start thinking about how it was done. Similarly, Cleopatra is worried by fires, wars, affairs of the heart and of state, but I was waiting for the next outfit to appear. You will too.

Vittorio Nino Novarese did the men’s costumes which involves togas and uniforms for war, but also the draped gowns of the Roman senators. 

Putting Together and Taking Apart Dior: Christian Dior by Alexandra Palmer

If you have been reading fashion history for any length of time, you know a fair amount about Christian Dior and probably own a few books focusing on the New Look which he launched 1947. You are familiar with the soft shoulders, the tiny waists, the generous and long skirts and how the break from wartime austerity was greeted with enthusiasm across Europe and North America. You may feel there is not much more to learn. Ah, but there is. Especially it you are interested in the nitty gritty of cutting and construction.

This book focuses on the collection of haute couture by Dior held at the Royal Ontario Museum. Alexandra Palmer takes a close look at these 40 garments and how they were created by fusing “historical dressmaking styles, techniques, and cuts with modern innovations....” So while the New Look actually harked back to the hour-glass figures of the 1890s, and relied on the skill of “les petits mains” of Paris, Palmer wants to show us how these were put together in new ways. She also presents unparalleled sketches, close-ups, and details on pattern pieces and construction.  The information on each garments varies, but there is an impressive wealth of detail.

So you see here the beautifully draped “Rose France” evening gown from the fall/winter collection of 1947-1948, and details the alterations made to the original design, including the move from strapless to one-shoulder strap. Then the plaid “Batignolles” a late-day coat--yes, wealthy women had coats for afternoons. You see here single one of the many such sketches for a short evening dress called “Cachottiere” which came with a matching shaped stole. To give an idea of the fullness of skirts, photographs were taken from what I have dubbed the Busby Berkeley perspective--an overhead view which you sometimes see in dance numbers in 1930s movies.

Draping Today: Butterick 6713

I am a big fan of the draped dresses and blouses of the past. They made the most of a fine fabric and were reserved for the sophisticated woman over 30. There are far fewer draped design today in part because it takes more design creativity as well as better fabrics, but there are some. This new blouse from Butterick has nice neckline draping for fall and winter so long as you steer clear of the silly version with the slits which creates a set of garment lines at odds with the lines of collar bones it reveals. Choose C which has a closed shoulders and a cuff.

Notice this design is relatively loose through the body because the only opening  is at the neckline in the back. So it must be cut loosely, or you wouldn’t be able to get into it. You can cut it slimmer if you opt for the vintage feature of a snap placket at the side. These run from about 2 inches below the armhole to the bottom of the hem, or--and this makes for a neater finish--to within 2 inches of the bottom of the hem. I cut the fabric strips that make for a snap placket a tiny bit off grain in order to allow them to bend easily with the waistline. Think about their width based on the fabric: for a relatively thin fabric, you will want to make sure you have enough width to double the fabric at least; while for a thicker fabric, you may want to simple finish the edge and keep it a single piece Of course, if you start experimenting, you need to baste before you make any decisions about the cut. 

The Draped Dress From Burda, 01/2018 # 118

I am always intrigued by the ways in which fabric can be draped, and Burda managed to find a way to wear this draped dress for day time and then for night time. The draped bodice is invariable more erotic than most designs and with a deep asymmetrical neckline all the more so.

So what to do if you want to go to work and then out at night. How about slipping a thin turtleneck underneath? This pattern reminds me a similarly dramatic Donna Karan pattern that Vogue Patterns once put out, but this one has a more conventional skirt and is thus easier to wear for daytime. You definitely want a stretchy but firm fabric for this one. I say try a woven with lycra in it or even one of the firmer knits like ponte. The pattern also needs a stretch lining which makes sense as most draped bodices need something beneath to hold the pieces in place

You can find it online as a print-at-home pdf and take care as it comes without seam allowances which you must add. The idea behind no seam allowances is you can then add smaller seam allowances if you want them for curved pieces, and wider ones if you are working with a fabric that frays. 

Draping for Work Wear, Donna Karan, Vogue 1962

After the 1960s fashion revolution meant we forgot the beauties of women’s suits of earlier decades and settled on the men’s blazer as the standard cut for women’s suits, many women hankered for something that acknowledged the curves of womanhood. And along came Donna Karan, who was designing for Anne Klein’s company first, and then on her own, and who made the suit back into something distinctively feminine.

These separates from 1987 give you an idea of what she was making. I learned a lot of clever construction from her patterns. She put pockets in most skirts and pants, often concealing them cleverly within the folds of the skirts as in the large illustration here of skirt B. These pockets are deep and usable, yet they do not disrupt the line of the drape which is created by putting the SINGLE main pattern piece on the bias. The only other pattern pieces for that skirt are the waistband, the curved hem facing, and the lining and pocket lining. I jotted down “skirt B Magnifique on me” which explains why I went so far to try on her ready-to-wear, which I could never afford as a graduate student, in order to discover what other details I could copy.

Draped Dress McCalls 7429

I study draped dresses because there are so many ways to put them together. They all seem to rely on something beneath the surface. The woven draped dresses often have a structure beneath the draping to keep them in place, while the knit draped dresses are pieced and seamed discretely underneath various knots and loops. This is one of the knitted ones that requires a fabric with two-way stretch. The draping is centered at the middle of the bodice and skirt, but the neckline is utterly plain or a sporty mock neck which hardly seems in keeping with the draping.

I think it would look better with some kind of draped neckline that echoed the bodice knotting and brought the attention back up towards the face. If you are going to experiment with altering patterns like I do, buy some inexpensive fabric for a muslin test garment, but in a color you like. Some of my test garments experiments turned out so well that I ended up wearing them.

You can find it here: