#spring fashions

A GOODBYE TO SPRING FASHIONS... HERE COMES THE SUMMER.

PIC(S) INFO: Spotlight on the "VOGUE" magazine cover of March 15, 1945, featuring a blurred model behind a frosted glass panel emblazoned with a red cross, photographed by Erwin Blumenfeld and art-directed by Alexander Liberman. 📸: Erwin Blumenfeld, via Condé Nast.

Resolution at 1200x1607 & 740x936.

"It is “scary and sad to think that no mainstream fashion title would now publish a cover this bold,” our critic says."

-- THE NEW YORK TIMES, "The Vanished Glamour of Midcentury Print Media," by Jason Farago, published April 29, 2021

Spring fashions in Washington DC

“Patou’s three blurs are featured in the new sweater at the left. Note the irregular basque effect which makes it look almost like a dress top. This is worn with coat and skirt in the darker shade of blue leather. At right, a sweater blouse created by Patou is worn with a blue flannel skirt. The blue, red, and white wool design follows the lines of the skirt yoke and forms part of the ensemble. A coat of blue flannel completes the costume.”

Burda Style, February 2022

The cover of this issue offers up a sunny yellow “two-piece suit.” While the color cheers me as the snow piles up around here, the idea of a two-piece suit with one piece a top is not all that practical. If the fabric is substantial enough for the pleated loose Trousers 118 B, is it too heavy for the Top 119? And if you wear them at the same time, you will definitely get the top dirtier and it will need cleaning more often which may mean it ends up a slightly different shade than the pants and your suit idea will be defeated. So, why not make a short jacket instead to wear with an easily washed blouse? Yes, it’s an old formula but it has stood the test of time because it works.

More successful is Shaped Dress which has 2 pleats crossing from the left hip to center and 3 pleats on the bodice at center. The wonderful print of sketched faces gives you some idea of what kind of print will work with the pleating. This closes with a zipper in the back and back darts keep it fitted while a kick pleat allows you to walk.  

The other dress with interesting lines is offered in plus sizes only Dress 123 made for heavier knits. The raised waistline may work for you, but not for everyone. I am not sure the neckline treatment falls well. You cut it from a strip of fabric and as you can see in the close-up, it won’t necessarily hug the neckline. I am thinking that drafting a facing or a collar based on the curve of the bodice pieces might work better? 

Very cute and done up in soft velour knit are the pair of elephants.

As you can see from the pattern sketches, there are several other dresses and tops in a range of sizes, including 126 A, B which is a nice wrapped top offered in plus sizes. There are straight, wrapped, and full, gored skirts, plus a coat and 2 jackets. And some children’s fashion too. About 25 in total by my count, not counting minor alterations of sleeve or length, nor all the sizes offered.

These patterns come printed over one another with each size and pattern in a different type and color of line, so that you must trace them out in order to use them. You can also buy the pdf of individual patterns online too, at a much higher total cost. It’s the weighing of time v. money.  

Can there ever be too many ruffles? Spring fashions—and our collection—prove there are many ways to interpret this perennial favorite.

“Woman’s Evening Dress,” 1985, designed by Roberto Capucci

“Woman’s Dress: Evening Bodice, Day Bodice, and Skirt,” c. 1866–68, by designed Charles Frederick Worth

“Woman’s Ensemble: Skirt and Two Pairs of Shoes,” Spring/Summer 1988, designed by Patrick Kelly

“Woman’s Dress,” 1927, designed by Meeley, Philadelphia

“Woman’s Ensemble: Blouse and Skirt,” c. 2000, designed by Christian Lacroix

“Woman’s Cocktail Dress,” Fall 1959, designed by James Galanos

"...BLUMENFELD REINTERPRETS THESE HUMANITARIAN SIGNS JUST AS HE BLURS THOSE OF FASHION."

PIC(S) INFO: Erwin Blumenfeld (American-German, 1897-1969). Spotlight on a photo art piece titled "Do your part for the Red Cross" ["Soutenez la Croix-Rouge"], c. 1945. Variant of a cover photograph of Vogue, “Do your part for the Red Cross”, New York, March 15th, 1945. Collection Henry Blumenfeld. © The Estate of Erwin Blumenfeld.

PICS #2 & 3: The chosen image to be published for the cover of "VOGUE," and the cover page itself (March 1945).

OVERVIEW: "A model, a red cross: fashion and current affairs superimposed. The background to this humanitarian appeal is the liberation of the concentration camps and the aid brought to prisoners of war. Blumenfeld reinterprets these humanitarian signs just as he blurs those of fashion."

-- ART BLART (Art & Cultural Memory Archive)

Resolution from largest to smallest: 1772x2215, 1200x1607, & 960x1200.