#simplicitypatterns

Wrapped Versus Wrap: Simplicity 8876

A wrap or stole is both versatile and in need of some looking after. The Dress Doctors recommended it only for the sophisticated woman of thirty or more years, and not the overly energetic even older than that. A kind of draped dressing, a wrap can be hugged closely around the neck and shoulders for warmth or allowed to flow off the shoulders in a more romantic look. But it must be handled to work well.

Attached wraps, as you see here, and shaped wraps showed up especially in the 1950s, although they clearly started in the late 1940s when the romantic New Look of Christian Dior with nipped waist, soft shoulders, large hiplines, and long skirts triumphed in 1947. The attached wrap takes away some of the complications of handling a stole as its movement is controlled via the garment itself. Here the wrap is attached at the front, goes around the shoulder and is then tucked under itself. It creates a flexible draping, which is easier to make than a draped feature that must be fitted to the shoulders. You could leave it loose, for example.

On the other hand, like any strapless dress, the bodice must be fitted carefully as you are trying to defy gravity. The wrap-less version in the print fabric dress has the same structure. Both dress bodices are interfaced, then boned, and lined, with an inner ribbon waist stay; in short, a structure is built up from the waistline to the neckline.  While the asymmetrical balance from side to side signals that this is a party look, the big, shaped hip pockets seem to need the attached wrap to balance the dress from top to bottom, and since this one is not that hard to handle, why not add it?

They suggest everything from crisp taffeta to crepe, but realize the softer fabrics may need a bit more support--perhaps a crispy underlining?--in order to keep the bodice well-structured.

Ginormous Blue Button: What Was It For?

I found this button in an antique store and pondering its size. It came as a single button which probably meant it was supposed to be used as one. Although it had some gleam to it, it wasn’t particularly shiny and it came in navy blue which was one of the standard colors for women’s daytime clothing for much of the 20th Century. All this told me: coat button.

And indeed, when I took a look at my collection of patterns, I found this reissued 1950s pattern from Simplicity 8509. This style of swing coat or swing jacket was popular through the 1950s. It could be worn with the long, straight skirt which was as much part of the the New Look style by Christian Dior from 1947 as the better-known long, flared skirt. This version has both single button, or 3 buttons or none at all. Each time the buttonholes are bound which suits such a large button as it has more structure built into it.

Of course, single- and no-button coats are not the most practical, of course, as anyone who has worn one in a chilly breeze can tell you. They do give you the air of a woman with a private car waiting for her at the curb, so even the breeze has no time to mess with her. For those of us who need to hurry down the street without the private car, we can opt for as many buttons as we like.

The 1970s Jumpsuit Revived: Simplicity 9700

The 1970s saw a move towards unisex fashions which generally meant men’s fashions put on women’s bodies, with or without actual acknowledgement of how they actually tend to differ from men’s bodies. Which is how we got those t-shirts marked “medium” which swamp the women wearing them. Fortunately, eventually jeans and t-shirt were re-cut to fit women better.

Jumpsuits were one of those fashions which men had worn first. You could call them coveralls, but jumpsuits connected them to people jumping out of planes wearing parachutes which seemed far more impressive. The word first surfaced in 1948, but slowly the connections to planes and parachutes faded away.

These bring the wide, flared legs that became the fashion in the 1970s, but held on to some of their traditional utilitarian elements, such as multiple pockets for holding gear. The orange version here has all the pockets, while the cream version announces that it is not all that utilitarian with write bangles and a little clutch bag. Of course, the wedge sandals on both versions make it clear that nobody is jumping out of any plane soon.

Tiny Waist, Big Hips: Simplicity 9699

This re-issued separates pattern in modern sizes captures several of the key features of 1950s women’s fashions. It has the tiny waist and big hips that first debuted with Christian Dior in 1947 with the New Look and remained popular through the 1950s. It was a look that emphasized the hour-glass figure and used a generous amount of fabric, a sign of a longing for an end to war-time austerity and a move towards abundance.

Many dresses appeared with this silhouette, while these is separates with a sleeveless, fitted blouse to tuck into the wide, pleated skirt. Notice there is no obvious opening to get into the blouse; a side zipper gets you in. Then, it is darted and worn tucked into the skirt. Many skirts in the 1950s were literally rectangles with pleating or gathering used to reduce the circumference at the waistline. This means you can use striped fabrics turned sideways as you see here on the left. Then, we have the little jacket. This one is cut very, very short in order to show off the tiny waistline. It has cut-on sleeves, darts at shoulder and the waistline to fit it to the body, and a small shawl collar, as well as buttons.  

For fabric, they recommended practically everything: cotton, silk, wool, and velveteen for the jacket. Crisp fabrics will give you the wide flare to the silhouette although a stiff petticoat will probably be needed to create the flare of the illustration.

With a belt, it appears like a neat look, but in practice, it would need adjusting as you moved in order to keep blouse tucked and the belt in place. You would have an easier time without the belt.