While writing the post about my mother and mentioning her wedding gown that she had made, I started rummaging around my work space to see if I could find the pattern she had used and given to me. To no avail, it was in the other box somewhere lurking beyond reach. Then I remembered the year of my organization, that lone and unusual year, I had copied many of my vintage patterns and diligently organized them in a three-hole punch binder. It was in that collection. The year of this pattern was 1940. The gown is stored away in another safe place, but for now it cannot easily be retrieved. My mother actually wrote on the pattern “Lilah’s wedding dress”. I think she loved a little history and sentiment as well.
This was her era and if I read the date correctly, I believe it was 1932. My mother had this wonderful old Singer sewing machine that she sewed on until she died. Nothing new or fancy ever replaced it. I always marveled at the beauty of it…the black with the decorative embellishments, the sturdy way it handled. This was the machine that I learned to use for the first time. One of my daughters has this machine now.
This pattern was from the same time period, 1938. I have a nostalgia for these designs. There was a simplicity and elegance that seems to be lost in this fast-paced world of ours. I would love to recreate some of these designs, but I would have no place to wear them. Unless you are living in NYC or Paris, one tends to dress extremely casually. I live in a city that promotes the latest fashions from REI, so it would seem a little foolish to entertain this idea.
This is a contemporary pattern from Vogue. I think their marketing experts realized that vintage was in, and so they started selling some of these select patterns. This was my birth year, so I bought one.
Quite a few years ago I purchased this book because I found the whole idea very interesting. There is so much to learn about a time period in history if you study the clothes. I envy the author. I would have loved to research and write this book. It would mean having to entrench yourself in that time…the designs, the colors, the history in terms of politics and the culture and the social mores. The same can be applied to textiles, the unfolding stories and incredible designs will always continue to intrigue and fascinate. I think we can all live more vicariously by exploring some of these eras and what made them memorable and timeless.
Made me smile. I live in casual land too. It’s interesting to think about how the fashion of a community reflects the community’s interests, climate, culture….
i used to make all my clothes and i have a few old patterns that belonged to my mother, the only one i ever sewed was an apron. i need to get into that box….
I think you could do it, with todays fabrics, it would be more ‘modern’ anyway. [gee, even the word 'modern' is outdated.]
I loved your post. The history of your Mother and her sewing was so interesting. I like to hear how other women provided for themselves. My Grandmother did not saw her patterns but even if she had, I don’t know if I would have kept them secure. I do have a few of the early ones that I made. and to look at your Mother’s wedding dress was a glimpse of how modest women were at that time. I kind of like it. The appropriateness of the ceremony seems more like how it should be. Rather than Las Vegas show girls in white.
The wedding gown looked beautiful on the package. I loved the clothing back and enjoyed looking at all the old patterns too!