#voguepatterns

Not Going Anywhere Fast in 1950, Vogue 1964

This 1950 ensemble with sleeveless dress and matched caplet captures the other skirt silhouette introduced by Christian Dior in 1947: the long and narrow. We tend to think of the long, wide skirt as the New Look of the post-war era, but Dior also offered long, narrow skirts that year as well. Both had the small waistlines and soft shoulders you see here in a Vogue Pattern re-issued in modern sizes.

I was intrigued by the shape of this dress  The bodice has a deep horizontal tuck whose purpose seems two-fold: decoratively, it both echoes the deep stitching that holds the capelet’s self-lining in place and makes the waistline seem even narrower as the eye notes the pleat is wider than the bodice where it hits the skirt (that portion is gathered).

Then, the skirt of the dress has deep pleats at the waistline which create more space for the body and seems easier to wear. But look at the sketch of the pattern piece, and you see that the pleats are not meant to add walking easy. Instead, the skirt narrows from those pleats at the waistline down to the low hemline.

Looking at the fashion illustrations, we can see that walking was never the point. This ensemble was a dressy afternoon outfit, or an evening out ensemble. Think concert, cocktail party, dinner out. See the large, black hat and long, black gloves, the corsage, and pearls around the neck to the right, and the long white gloves worn with a veiled hat and again pearls on the right. Standing, chatting, flirting, and sitting were the main activities, not walking, which is why this is not a practical day ensemble with walking ease, but one where the waist pleats help show off the small waist and the roundness of the hips. A quiet, but effective means of drawing attention to the figure.

The Tent Dress Goes Glamorous: Vogue 1947

The term tent dress is usually used as a kind of insult for a dress that has no fit at all. True, this has a “tent-shape” being narrower at the shoulders and flaring from there hitting well over 2 yards of width at the hemline in the short version. Despite this lack of shape in line, it was supposed to be glamorous as you can see from the illustrations.

The only shape added to the dress is the belt to be tied at the waist, but the huge sweeping collar, a borrowing from more restrained 1930s Bertha collars and cape collars, gives it glamour. As do the fabric suggested for it which include matte jersey and I thought immediately of Quiana, a Dupont product made of nylon that was pricey at the time it was introduced in the late 1960s and was oh-so-slinky. They also recommend crepe and challis which also have a lot of drape. All of these fabrics would allow the cape and the skirt to swing easily as you moved. The touch of pockets in the two front seams are so Seventies too, implying a nonchalant attitude despite the glamour.

Of course, the lines of this dress would look especially good on the tall and thin models that dominated the 1970s runways when fashion shows had turned into public spectacles, and were no longer the intimate showings to wealthy women and the fashion press gathered in salons to take a look. On a more petite woman, the cape would overwhelm her unless it was cut down to smaller proportions.