Model Beverly Johnson wearing a white striped caftan, Vogue Pattern #8587, sitting in front of window in artist Peter Lobello’s New York loft. Vogue, May 1973. Photo: Kourken Pakchanian. Image via Wmagazine.com.

It’s almost forty years since Beverly Johnson (b. 1952) became the first black woman to appear on the cover of American Vogue, in 1974. (Donyale Luna had appeared on the cover of British Vogue in 1966.) One of the decade’s most successful models, Johnson had moved to New York City to pursue modelling after losing her summer job; she had been a pre-law student at Northeastern University.

Beverly Johnson on the cover of Vogue, August 1974. Photo: Francesco Scavullo. Image via vogue.com.

To be accurate, Beverly Johnson was the first model of mixed black/Native American background to make the Vogue cover, as her father’s ancestry is part Blackfoot (see story and slideshow at Vogue Italia). Whereas her first agent told her she would never make the cover of Vogue, Johnson also faced obstacles with “the leading black magazines, Ebony and Essence, [who] wouldn’t put me on their covers at first, because I wasn’t ethnic-looking enough” (read her recollection at Vogue online).

As far as I know, Johnson was also the first black model to be photographed for Vogue’s designer patterns. Johnson’s relationship with the pattern company seems to have begun the year before her first Vogue cover. This Sybil Connolly pattern, from October/November 1973, is the earliest pattern I’ve seen featuring her:

Vogue 2919 by Sybil Connolly (1973) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

These three designs featuring Johnson, by Ungaro and Bill Blass, were released in May 1974. Instead of their usual sandy-haired male model, Vogue 1011 pairs her with another black model:

Vogue 1010 by Emanuel Ungaro (1974) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

Vogue 1011 by Emanuel Ungaro (1974) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

Vogue 1016 by Bill Blass (1974) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

Here she models for a McCall’s pattern by Halston:

McCall’s 4952 by Halston (1976) Image via Etsy.

Johnson appears on several early Calvin Klein patterns, including this set of casual separates (in series with the pantsuit modelled by Angeleen Gagliano):

Vogue 1368 by Calvin Klein (1976) Image via eBay.

You may recognize these two patterns, from Dior and Balmain, which seem to have been quite popular:

Vogue 1567 by Christian Dior (1976) Image via Etsy.

Vogue 1570 by Pierre Balmain (1976) Image via Ruby Lane.

In terms of high-profile, evening dress patterns, the only ones I could find featuring Johnson were these two, by Teal Traina and Belinda Bellville:

Vogue 1074 by Teal Traina (1974) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

Vogue 1568 by Belinda Bellville (1976) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

Beverly Johnson also modelled for Simplicity, as well as Vogue magazine’s features on Vogue patterns. (Although Vogue Patterns was by then owned by Butterick, Vogue magazine continued to run editorials featuring Vogue patterns—see my Gia Carangi post for more.) Here Johnson appears in a 1972 advertisement for the Simplicity Catalog:

Simplicity advertisement, 1972. Image via Vintage Black Glamour on tumblr.

In this 1976 patterns feature, Johnson models linen tops with Karen Bjornson (the patterns, left to right, are Vogue 9544, Vogue 9635, and Vogue 9559):

Beverly Johnson and Karen Bjornson in Vogue, November 1976. Photos: Bob Richardson. Images via the Fashion Spot.

In this Vogue shoot, Johnson’s cardigan is Vogue 2924 by Fabiani:

Vogue, July 1973. Photo: Bob Stone. Image via Youthquaker.

The caftan shot at the top of this post is from a four-page patterns editorial photographed by Kourken Pakchanian. Here is the full editorial:

Vogue, May 1973. Photos: Kourken Pakchanian. Image via Youthquaker.

Vogue, May 1973. Photos: Kourken Pakchanian. Image via Youthquaker.

The patterns are: top left, Vogue 8585; top right, Vogue 8573; bottom left, Vogue 2881; bottom right, Vogue 8587. (The halter top, sarong, and bikini are all from V2881; the envelope photo shows deeply tanned, Caucasian models.) Corbis had the full image of Johnson in the V2881 bikini:

Model Beverly Johnson wearing a white bikini with wrap-around bandeau top, Vogue Pattern #2881, stretched out in artist Peter Lobello’s New York loft. Photo: Kourken Pakchanian. Image via Corbis.

For a look inside Vogue’s historic August 1974 issue with Beverly Johnson’s cover, see Youthquaker’s post here. There also some scans showing Johnson wearing 1974 Vogue designs here.

Hot off the presses: the new Vogue 8875

The results of the Vintage Vogue 8875 giveaway are in! Thank you so much to everyone who entered and commented. The B5 size range goes to:

sewexhausted

The F5 size range goes to:

MollyH

Congratulations to the winners! I’ll be in touch by e-mail to get your mailing addresses.

Thanks again to Vogue Patterns for providing the patterns. If you’re new to my blog, you might be interested in my earlier post, How Do You Take Your Vintage Vogue?, for discussion of the Vintage Vogue pattern line since 1998 and changing approaches to vintage.

As it turns out, this is actually the second time Vogue S-4595 has been reissued. After I added my pattern to the Vintage Patterns Wiki, admin Petite Main noted that it was reissued in 1957 as Vogue S-4771:

Vogue S-4771 (1957) Image via Etsy.

If you have patterns you’re interested in sharing with Vogue Patterns, I’ve put together a special post with the details on the Vintage Vogue Search.

Vogue Patterns doesn’t have an archive of their old patterns, so the company is calling on the sewing public to lend patterns from their collections for reissue in the Vintage Vogue line.

Reissued Forties and Fifties patterns have done best with customers, but they’re interested in patterns from all periods. The only exception is designer patterns credited to a named designer—these can’t be reissued due to licensing issues. This means that Vogue Couturier patterns are fair game unless they have a designer credit.

(The illustrations show a selection of Vintage Vogue reissues from 1928 to 1960. Hover for pattern numbers and dates, or click to enlarge.)

If you have vintage Vogue patterns that you’d be willing to lend, you can send images of your patterns by e-mail (Subject: Vintage Vogue Search) to mailbox@voguepatterns.com or by post to Vintage Vogue Search, Vogue Patterns, 120 Broadway, 34th floor, New York, NY 10271, USA.

If your pattern is chosen, you will be asked to lend your original for about 9 months. When the reissue is ready, your original is returned to you, and you receive a copy of the new Vintage Vogue release, a credit on the pattern envelope, and 5 free patterns.

Even if you aren’t contacted right away, one of your patterns could still be chosen to become a new Vintage Vogue pattern. Staff keep the pattern images on file and choose two each season, tailoring their choices to current trends. I sent in my scans about 16 months before I was contacted about lending my Fifties pattern. Happy scanning!

Oscar season is upon us, and that means goddess gowns. Goddess gowns usually share elements of classical drapery and the simple construction of the toga and chiton. Here’s a selection of patterns for Greco-Roman-inspired evening wear.

This 1920s evening dress from the House of Worth features elegant back drapery, with a beaded appliqué holding more drapery at the left hip:

McCall 4854 by Worth (1927) Evening dress.

The illustration for this 1930s Lanvin ‘scarf frock’ plays up the classical mood with a fluted pedestal and ferns:

McCall 8591 by Lanvin (1936) McCall Style News, January 1936. Image via eBay.

This late 1940s one-shouldered evening dress has a long panel that can be worn belted in the back or wrapped around the bared shoulder:

McCall 7862 (1949) Evening dress.

Toga-like drapery distinguishes these short, Sixties evening dresses by Pauline Trigère and Jacques Heim:

McCall’s 6599 by Pauline Trigère (1962)

Vogue 1333 by Jacques Heim (1964) Image via the Blue Gardenia.

This late ’60s Yves Saint Laurent evening dress has a classical simplicity, with the bodice gathered into a boned collar:

Vogue 2093 by Yves Saint Laurent (1969) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

This Pucci loungewear has culottes on the bottom, but still has that ‘goddess’ flavour (modelled by Birgitta Af Klercker):

Vogue 2249 by Pucci (1969) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

Angeleen Gagliano models this mid-Seventies Lanvin evening dress and toga:

Vogue 1147 by Lanvin (1975) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

This Pierre Balmain evening ensemble, modelled by Jerry Hall, shows a more literal interpretation of classical dress:

Vogue 2015 by Pierre Balmain (1979) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

Finally, this jersey gown with beaded waistband, from Guy Laroche by Damian Yee, is an example of the recent trend for goddess gowns:

Vogue V1047 by Guy Laroche (2008) Evening dress.

(From the Spring 2007 Laroche collection, the pattern is still in print.)

“Goddess” was the theme of the 2003 Costume Institute exhibit; the catalogue, Goddess: The Classical Mode (Yale UP, 2003) is still available.

I’m a little late to the party, but—as part of Anne of Pretty Grievances’ Jungle January event, I thought it would be fun to use a reptile print to make the strapless dress from Vogue 2086, the first of Vogue Patterns’ Givenchy patterns by Alexander McQueen.

Vogue 2086 by Alexander McQueen for Givenchy (1998) Strapless dress and jacket. Model: Jacki Adams.

The dress and jacket are from the Fall 1997 prêt-à-porter, McQueen’s first ready-to-wear collection for Givenchy. (See my earlier post here.) As you can see from this Richard Avedon campaign photo, animal prints were a feature of the collection:

Givenchy Fall 1997 advertising campaign. Model: Honor Fraser. Photo: Richard Avedon.

The runway collection included not only leopard lace but also leopard dresses, skirts, and coats. (Fashion TV even has a highlights video of the leopard looks on the Givenchy runway; full runway video starting here.) Leopard lace was also used in this strapless catsuit, modelled by Shalom Harlow:

McQueen showed versions of the Vogue 2086 sheath in both leopard and emerald green python (models: Michele Hicks and Naomi Campbell; photos via L’Officiel 1000 modèles):

Coming soon: a post on my reptile print PVC version of the Vogue 2086 strapless dress.

After 28 years together, Mark Badgley and James Mischka of Badgley Mischka were married in New York last weekend. To celebrate, here’s a look back at two decades of Badgley Mischka sewing patterns.

Badgley and Mischka met at the Parsons School of Design. They founded Badgley Mischka in 1988, making 2013 the label’s 25th anniversary. Badgley Mischka’s relationship with Vogue Patterns began in the 1990s, when they were introduced to the Vogue Attitudes line.

These two early Badgley Mischka patterns show the pair’s knack for polished dress-and-jacket ensembles:

Vogue 1049 by Badgley Mischka (1993) Image via Etsy.

Vogue 1639 by Badgley Mischka (1995) Image via Etsy.

Of course, Badgley Mischka is best known for bridal and evening wear. A bridal line was introduced in the mid-1990s and, often, Badgley Mischka evening wear patterns will be shown made up in bridal ivories and whites. Vogue 1903 has a bias skirt and options for a contrast, Empire bodice with rhinestone straps or beaded contrast back. My mother has made view A for opera-going:

Vogue 1903 by Badgley Mischka (1996) Image via eBay.

Vogue 2237, a strapless evening dress and bolero pattern, has been in print for over a decade:

Vogue 2237 by Badgley Mischka (c. 1999) Image via Main Street Mall.

This sleek evening dress has a contrast bodice yoke and elbow-length sleeves:

Vogue 2716 by Badgley Mischka (2002) Image via Etsy.

In recent years the label’s new lines, Mark + James and Badgley Mischka Platinum, have also been licensed to Vogue Patterns. From Badgley Mischka Platinum, this bias evening dress with gathered bodice, front drape, and matching stole is shown in a liquid lamé:

Vogue 1079 by Badgley Mischka (2008) Image via Etsy.

This Mark + James ruffled, strapless jumpsuit is in Vogue’s current offerings:

Vogue 1249 by Mark + James (2011) Image via Etsy.

Also current, this Badgley Mischka Platinum cocktail dress has details including cowl sleeves, open shoulders, and jewelled appliqué, that nod to Badgley Mischka’s favourite inspiration, the glamour of Old Hollywood:

Vogue 1256 by Badgley Mischka Platinum (2011) Image via Etsy.

Michaela Bercu wears Perry Ellis by Marc Jacobs, Vogue, November 1989. Image via the Fashion Model Directory.

Can you believe the early-nineties revival in fashion right now? We remember Marc Jacobs’ ‘grunge’ collection for Perry Ellis as a turning point in ’90s fashion. It’s easy to forget that Jacobs had been designing for Perry Ellis since the late 1980s. It was Perry Ellis who persuaded Jacobs to enrol at Parsons and, before his death, Ellis had said he wanted Jacobs and his business partner, Robert Duffy, to join his company. Jacobs and Duffy were hired in 1988, and Jacobs presented his first collection for Perry Ellis, for Fall 1989, at the Puck Building in Soho.

Vogue Patterns’ licensing agreement with Perry Ellis lasted into the 1990s: the company’s Perry Ellis patterns from the 1990s represent some of Marc Jacobs’ earlier work. Here’s a selection of Perry Ellis patterns by Marc Jacobs from the early ’90s.

A dress from Marc Jacobs’ 1989 Resort collection for Perry Ellis made the cover of Vogue magazine (see above). Vogue 2475 has the same yellow and white stripes (is that Carla Bruni?):

Vogue 2475 Marc Jacobs for Perry Ellis (1990) Image via eBay.

The March/April 1990 issue of Vogue Patterns magazine included an interview introducing Marc Jacobs, accompanied by an editorial shoot showing two Perry Ellis patterns, Vogue 2474 and 2475:

Marc Jacobs in Vogue Patterns magazine, March/April 1990. Image via eBay.

Vogue 2475 and 2474 in Vogue Patterns magazine, March/April 1990. Image via eBay.

(eBay link)

These two patterns from 1991 also have a ‘resort’ feel:

Vogue 2665 by Marc Jacobs for Perry Ellis (1991) Image via patronescostura on Etsy.

Vogue 2666 by Marc Jacobs for Perry Ellis (1991) Image via patronescostura on Etsy.

Vogue 2475′s yellow stripes were also seen in the Spring 1991 collection, and stripes made a reappearance the following spring. Here are collection images for Marc Jacobs’ Spring 1991 and 1992 collections for Perry Ellis (presented in 1990 and 1991):

Marc Jacobs for Perry Ellis, Spring/Summer 1991. Image via jalougallery.com.

Marc Jacobs for Perry Ellis, Spring/Summer 1992. Image via jalougallery.com.

This pattern for daywear separates with colour blocking looks more like a Fall/Winter design (the companion pattern was Vogue 2759):

Vogue 2760 by Marc Jacobs for Perry Ellis (1991) Image via Amazon.

Here’s the collection image for Marc Jacobs’ Fall 1990 collection for Perry Ellis:

Marc Jacobs for Perry Ellis, Fall/Winter 1990. Image via jalougallery.com.

(A free knitting pattern is available for the New York skyline sweater at VogueKnitting.com.)

In retrospect, the headline for Vogue Patterns’ 1990 interview—”Marc Jacobs: Doing it his way”—is ironic considering the circumstances of the designer’s firing after his Spring 1993 collection for Perry Ellis. You can see more early Marc Jacobs designs for Perry Ellis in L’Officiel 1000 modèles’ 2012 hors-série issue devoted to Marc Jacobs.

Next: Marc Jacobs’ ‘grunge’ collection for Perry Ellis.

Marc Jacobs’ Spring/Summer 1993 ‘grunge’ collection for Perry Ellis was a succès de scandale, a landmark collection that got him fired and continues to provoke debate. (See my earlier Marc Jacobs for Perry Ellis post here.) Shown in November 1992, the collection was inspired by the music of Seattle bands like Nirvana and the layered, mismatched, thrift-store vintage look associated with the grunge scene in the Pacific Northwest.

Kurt Cobain performs in a vintage floral print, Amherst, 1990. Image via Malibu PR Gal.

At the time, Jacobs described his interpretation of grunge as “a hippied romantic version of punk.” The collection referenced grunge style with mixed floral and tartan prints and thermal layers, but translated them for the runway through play with luxurious materials: the flannels and thermals were sand-washed Italian silk and cashmere, worn with Doc Martens and specially-made duchesse satin Converse and Birkenstocks.

Model: Christie Turlington. Image via Corbis.

Models: Kristen McMenamy and Kate Moss. Image via Couture Culture.

In December 1992, Vogue magazine published “Grunge & Glory,” a Steven Meisel editorial styled by Grace Coddington and accompanied by an essay by Jonathan Poneman, cofounder of Sub Pop (the label that released Nirvana’s first album). The shoot included pieces by Anna Sui, Ralph Lauren, and several from Marc Jacobs’ grunge collection for Perry Ellis:

“Grunge & Glory.” Vogue, December 1992. On right: Kristen McMenamy in Perry Ellis by Marc Jacobs. Photo: Steven Meisel. Fashion editor: Grace Coddington. Image via Rag Pony.

And in case you thought the flow of influence between fashion and alternative culture was unidirectional, Sonic Youth’s video for “Sugar Kane” (dir. Nick Egan) was shot in the Perry Ellis showroom during the making of the grunge collection:

In early 1994, Vogue Patterns released two patterns for designs from Marc Jacobs’ grunge collection for Perry Ellis. Vogue 1335 is a pattern for bell bottoms and a jacket and cropped vest with butterfly appliqués:

Vogue 1335 by Marc Jacobs for Perry Ellis (1994) Jacket, vest, and pants.

Technical drawing for Vogue 1335

Here’s the envelope description: Misses’ jacket, vest & pants. Semi-fitted, lined, below hip jacket has notched collar, shoulder pads, flaps, upper and lower welt pockets, side back seams and long, two-piece sleeves with mock vent and button trim. Semi-fitted, lined, above waist vest has side panels, no side seams and welts. Both have purchased appliques. Bell-bottom pants have contour waistband and back zipper.

The Vogue 1335 ensemble was photographed for this 1993 press photo:

Jacket, vest, and pants by Marc Jacobs for Perry Ellis; DKNY high-tops. Detroit Free Press, March 1993. Photo: George Waldman.

The second pattern, Vogue 1304, is for a pair of long, lightweight dresses—a princess-seamed slip dress and an ankle-length, retro style with flounces and flutter sleeves:

Vogue 1304 by Marc Jacobs for Perry Ellis (1994) Image via PatternVault on Etsy.

Technical drawing for Vogue 1304

The envelope description reads: Misses’ dress. Loose fitting, flared, pullover dress A, ankle length has front button trim, side front and back seams, sleeve and hem flounces and above elbow sleeves. Fitted and flared dress B, above ankle, has shoulder straps, princess seams, side pockets and front button/loop closing. (Recommended fabrics include chiffon, georgette, and crepe de chine.)

The Vogue 1304 floral print dress was photographed with another dress in the same print by Patrick Demarchelier for Harper’s Bazaar. The models are Shalom Harlow and Susan Holmes:

“Garden Party.” Harper’s Bazaar, February 1993. Photo: Patrick Demarchelier. Image via noirfacade.

(Click the image for the full editorial. For Vogue Patterns magazine, the Vogue 1304 Perry Ellis grunge dresses were photographed with the similarly on-trend Vogue 1293 by DKNY.)

Shalom Harlow was also photographed by Bruce Weber in a similar, vintage-style Perry Ellis dress, in a cherry-and-butterfly print chiffon—this time with Flea, the bassist for the Red Hot Chili Peppers. Vogue called the dress “this season’s signature”:

“Traveling Light.” Vogue, April 1993. Photo: Bruce Weber. Image via Herringbone and Houndstooth.

The same black floral print was also used for a silk bikini top and shorts, as seen in a Vogue summer editorial photographed by Ellen von Unwerth:

“Beauty and the Beach,” Vogue, July 1993. Photo: Ellen von Unwerth. Fashion editor: Grace Coddington. Image via Herringbone and Houndstooth.

Years later, Jacobs spoke of being inspired by the energy of grunge after hearing Nirvana on the radio in Berlin, saying:

“I liked the idea of making some visual noise through clothing. I found a two-dollar flannel shirt on St. Mark’s Place and I sent it off to Italy and had it made into a $300-a-yard plaid silk. It was like the Elsa Perretti crystal tumbler at Tiffany that was inspired by a paper Dixie Cup. I love to take things that are everyday and comforting and make them into the most luxurious things in the world.”

(Source: Mary Clarke’s interview for Index magazine.)

It’s this effect of visual noise, of dissonance, achieved by Jacob’s high fashion take on street style that makes the Perry Ellis grunge collection so influential. There’s also something very ’90s-postmodern about reverse-faux—luxury materials mimicking their more affordable counterparts. Yet, according to Voguepedia, the grunge collection was never produced, making Vogue’s Perry Ellis patterns all the more interesting to lovers of ’90s fashion.

Vera Wang with Ralph Lauren at the CFDA Awards, June 3, 2013.

Last night Vera Wang was honoured with the CFDA’s Geoffrey Beene Lifetime Achievement Award. (Read style.com’s article here; Voguepedia bio here. Watch the awards ceremony here.) Wang, 63, has built a retail empire that began with the bridal boutique she founded in New York in 1990.

Thanks to Vogue Patterns, you don’t have to be Blair Waldorf to wear a custom Vera Wang dress. Vogue Patterns licensed Vera Wang dress patterns from the mid-1990s into the 21st century. The company introduced Vera Wang in the May/June 1995 issue of Vogue Patterns magazine. The cover shows Vogue 1584, a Vera Wang design:

Vogue Patterns magazine, May/June 1995. Image via eBay.

Another Vera Wang design, Vogue 1583, made the cover of the June counter catalogue:

Vogue Patterns catalogue, June 1995. Image via eBay.

The first series of Vera Wang patterns consisted of three patterns, only one of which was officially a bridal design. (By 1993 Wang had branched out into formal wear.) The bridal pattern consists of a long-sleeved dress and overskirt in two lengths; the two-way stretch “illusion” fabric used for upper bodice and sleeves makes the dress an alternative to strapless bridal designs:

Vogue 1583 by Vera Wang (1995) Image via Etsy.

The other two patterns are sleeveless, high-collared cocktail or evening dresses with mesh details. The first has a contrast back and collar, while the second has contrast yokes and armhole binding:

Vogue 1584 by Vera Wang (1995) Image via Etsy.

Vogue 1585 by Vera Wang (1995) Image via eBay.

Back interest is a theme running through Vogue’s Vera Wang patterns. This formal dress has a mesh back criss-crossed by broad straps:

Vogue 1767 by Vera Wang (1996) Image via Etsy.

The elegant Vogue 1944 features a bias back drape:

Vogue 1944 by Vera Wang (1997) Image via Etsy.

This bridal gown may be made with a back pleat or an attached, ruffled petticoat that spills out through the skirt’s back:

Vogue 2118 by Vera Wang (1998) Image via Etsy.

These two dresses, one with a stretch knit contrast bodice, the other with spaghetti straps and peekaboo back, are classic minimalist ’90s formal wear:

Vogue 2251 by Vera Wang (1999) Image via Etsy.

Vogue 2257 by Vera Wang (1999) Image via Etsy.

McCall 9284 illustration by Blanche Rothschild, ca. June 1937. Image via PatternVault on Etsy.

Vintage bridal patterns offer a unique alternative to modern bridal designs. Even if you’re already married, they provide a glimpse into past bridal fashions’ sometimes exotic vintage details—making them tempting even for those not in need of a wedding dress. (Can we expect Debi Fry to make her 1940 bridal pattern, McCall 4004?)

Now that wedding season is in full swing, here’s a selection of vintage bridal patterns, from the Twenties to the Eighties.

1920s

In the Twenties and Thirties, bridal patterns usually did double duty as patterns for formal dresses. This 1920s Peerless Patterns sign features a wedding illustration promoting a number of patterns:

1920s Peerless Patterns advertising poster. Image via PatternVault on Etsy.

This fantastic bridal or evening dress is short, in keeping with the current fashion, and may have one or two extended side panels that give the effect of a train:

McCall 4985 (1927) Image via the Commercial Pattern Archive, Kevin L. Seligman collection. For research purposes only.

1930s

Thirties bridal patterns have the same glamour we associate with the decade’s evening wear. This pattern for a bridal gown or dinner dress dates to circa June 1934:

McCall 7852 (1934) Image via Etsy.

A reproduction version of this pattern for a bridal gown or afternoon dress is available from the Vintage Pattern Lending Library:

McCall 8331 (1935) Bridal gown or afternoon dress.

A copy of McCall 8331 recently seen on eBay was accompanied by this wedding portrait, which shows the dress made up:

1930s wedding portrait from a San Francisco estate. Image via eBay.

1940s

In the Forties the bride begins to take centre stage on pattern envelopes, although evening and bridesmaid versions are still included. This bridal or evening dress was reissued in the Vintage Vogue line as Vogue 2384:

Vogue S-4532 (1944) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

This strong-shouldered, postwar design has a sweetheart neckline and waist piping detail. The pattern also includes a bridesmaid’s dress with short, shirred sleeves (click image for the technical drawings):

McCall 6353 (1946) Image via Etsy.

1950s

By the 1950s the bride, in her full-skirted glory, dominates the pattern envelope. This Jacques Fath design for a bride’s or bridesmaid’s dress has a bustled back and tiny shawl collar. The bridesmaid’s version simply lacks a train:

Vogue 1331 by Jacques Fath (1956) Image via carbonated on flickr.

John Cavanagh was known for his connection to the English court. He licensed several bridal patterns with Vogue, and designed the Duchess of Kent’s wedding dress in 1961. (See my earlier post here.) This short-sleeved Cavanagh design has a simulated train; the smaller figures show bridesmaid’s and evening versions:

Vogue 148 by John Cavanagh (1958) Image via VADS.

1960s

Also by John Cavanagh, this 1960s bridal design with a cathedral-length Watteau train was modelled by Jean Shrimpton:

Vogue 1347 by John Cavanagh (1964) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

No bridal pattern survey could be complete without this Halston pattern for bridal headpieces:

Vogue 7082 by Halston of Bergdorf Goodman (c. 1965) Image via eBay.

1970s

From the early 1970s, this Pierre Cardin bridal gown, shown in a silk knit, has an optional overskirt with handkerchief train:

Vogue 2520 by Pierre Cardin (1971) Image via eBay.

Illustration and technical drawing for Vogue 2520. Image via eBay.

Although it isn’t for everyone, Yves Saint Laurent’s couture bridal design for a gathered, bias dress, filmy coat, and five-yard veil distinguishes itself by showing the bride as wayward Vestal virgin (see Paco Peralta’s post here):

Vogue 1590 by Yves Saint Laurent (c. 1976) Image via Patrones Costura on Etsy.

1980s

Released in 1980, this opulent Dior design for a bell-skirted bridal gown, complete with bias necktie, cummerbund, and bow-embellished headpiece, is drawn from the Christian Dior Haute Couture collection for Fall 1979 (read Dustin’s post here):

Vogue 2545 by Christian Dior (1980) Image via PatternVault on Etsy.

Perfect for steampunk weddings, Vogue 2180 by Bellville Sassoon has an elaborate bustle that gives it a neo-Victorian flair:

Vogue 2180 by Bellville Sassoon (1989) Image via eBay.

For more on the history of bridal fashion, see the V&A Weddings page and Edwina Ehrman’s The Wedding Dress: 300 Years of Bridal Fashions (V&A, 2011).

Thanks to Paco Peralta,* I received a review copy of the new book from Museu Tèxtil i d’Indumentària de Barcelona, Pedro Rodríguez: Catalogue of Maria Brillas’s Dresses. The museum’s collection of Pedro Rodríguez’ work was recently expanded when it acquired the wardrobe of Maria Brillas (1905-1992), a Barcelona society lady who dressed exclusively in Rodríguez for much of her life.

Image via Paco Peralta.

Brillas’ extensive wardrobe—over 300 pieces, from the 1920s to the 1970s—covers most of Rodríguez’ career, and in 2011 the collection was the subject of a major exhibition, ¿Qué me pongo? El guardarropa de Maria Brillas por Pedro Rodríguez (What to Wear? Maria Brillas’ wardrobe by Pedro Rodríguez). The book concludes the museum’s project of cataloguing the new collection.

As I found when preparing a brief discussion of Rodríguez for a Mad Men series post, it isn’t easy to find English-language studies of the designer and his work. Vintage sewing enthusiasts will be aware of Rodríguez through his licensed sewing patterns, which were available from Advance, Spadea, and especially Vogue Patterns in the 1950s and 1960s (click to enlarge):

Vogue patterns by Rodríguez. Images via VADS and the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

Three short essays accompany the catalogue. Fashion historian Sílvia Rosés’ contribution, “Pedro Rodríguez: the Birth of a Fashion House and the Evolution of a Style,” gives readers an overview of Rodríguez’ 60-year career, with special attention to collections presented during the golden age of couture. Museum preservationist Sílvia Ventosa’s essay, “From the Wardrobe to the Museum: The Dresses of Maria Brillas in the Museu Tèxtil i d’Indumentària de Barcelona,” recounts the story of Brillas’ donation to the museum and its efforts in transferring her private wardrobe to a public, institutional context.

In “The Role of the Client in the Creation and Popularizing of New Trends,” Miren Arzalluz, who curated the 2011 exhibition, offers an intriguing perspective on the couturier-client relationship. Noting the long friendship between Maria Brillas and Pedro Rodríguez and the designer’s published observations on his clients’ role in the design process, she argues that “the relationship between designer and client was far richer, more complex and more fruitful than many people were willing to recognize” (67).

The book’s introductory material includes photographs of Pedro Rodríguez and models wearing his designs, but none of the client whose wardrobe the catalogue documents. Although an image gallery may be seen on the museum’s website, Brillas’ absence from the book feels like an oversight. In this photo taken in the 1950s, Maria Brillas dances with her husband at a formal event:

Maria Brillas and Joachim Ensesa, 1950s. Image via Museu del Disseny Barcelona.

The catalogue proper is divided into eight sections organized by type; a brief summary introduces each section. There are five sections devoted to Rodríguez’ couture garments for Brillas: day dresses; suits and tailored ensembles; coats; cocktail or ceremonial dresses; and evening gowns. Here are some highlights:

Rodríguez day dresses. Left: cotton tulle with cotton embroidery, 1935; centre: printed silk taffeta, 1959; right: double wool knit, 1965.

Rodríguez coats; left: double-faced wool with dyed fox fur collar, 1972; right: silk satin, 1957.

Rodríguez coats. Left: raincoat in waxed acetate cloqué, 1965. Right: coat in double-faced wool with monkey-hair trim, 1974.

Rodríguez evening gowns. Left: silk crêpe georgette with silk lace appliqués, 1940-50; centre: silk gauze embroidered with glass and jet bugle beads, 1972-73; right: silk muslin embroidered with jet, 1973.

Rodríguez mermaid dress in tulle and pleated cotton lace, ca. 1950.

Two sections are devoted to accessories, one for hats and the other for shoes, gloves, and bags. The hats are the earliest pieces in the catalogue, with many from the 1920s and 1930s. Some hats were produced at Rodríguez’ studio, while others were commissioned by him from prominent milliners. Brillas’ shoes were made to match her dresses.

Rodríguez cocktail dress with accessories. Dress: printed silk satin with rayon tufts; silk satin handbag and gloves; Bonet court shoes; all 1955-56.

The final section documents the collection’s miscellaneous other pieces: blouses, skirts, boleros, a bathrobe dress, a marabou-trimmed cape, and a fancy dress costume with mask headpiece:

Rodríguez fancy dress hat and mask. Hat: nylon tulle with fil coupe brocade; mask: rayon satin with rhinestones, 1968-70.

It’s a beautifully produced volume, with high-quality photos presented in a reader-friendly smaller format. (You can see more photos at the website of Folch Studio, the design firm behind the book.) My only quibble is with the English text (I don’t read Spanish or Catalan), which contains infelicities that seem to be an effect of translation.

This book is a valuable addition to English-language resources on Rodríguez, and will assist in further study of the designer and his place in the history of haute couture.

* Paco was a member of the collection’s monitoring committee; you can read his post on the exhibition here.

Publication details:

Rossend Casanova (ed.), Pedro Rodríguez: Catàleg dels vestits de Maria Brillas / Catálogo de los vestidos de Maria Brillas / Catalogue of Maria Brillas’s Dresses, Barcelona: Museu Tèxtil i d’Indumentària de Barcelona, 2012.

Text in Catalan, Spanish, and English.

ISBN 978 84 9850 402 6

Available online from Laie, Barcelona.

Image via the Fashion and Textile Museum.

The current exhibition at London’s Fashion and Textile Museum, The Glamour of Bellville Sassoon, celebrates the museum’s 10th anniversary with a retrospective of the British fashion house. If you’re in the London area this week you can bring in your Bellville pieces, including versions sewn from Vogue Patterns, for evaluation by David Sassoon at the event “Bring out your Bellville.” (The exhibition runs until January 11th, 2014.)

Bellville Sassoon sketch. Image via Vogue Italia.

Belinda Bellville founded her eponymous couture house in 1953, and recruited David Sassoon in 1958; the Bellville Sassoon name dates to 1970. Following Bellville’s retirement in the 1980s, Sassoon was joined by Lorcan Mullany as designer of the house’s ready-to-wear line. Vogue Patterns has been producing Bellville patterns since the late 1960s.

Bellville Sassoon sketches, 2003-4. Image via Vogue Italia.

Bellville Sassoon is unusual for having no licensing apart from its long-running sewing patterns with Vogue. (See Libby Banks, “Loosening a Fashion Stiff Upper Lip.”) This has the effect of giving the patterns a special prominence. As Suzy Menkes observes, although Bellville Sassoon is perhaps best known for its society wedding gowns and association with the British royal family, the sewing patterns show the house’s “more democratic side.” (See Sinty Stemp, The Glamour of Bellville Sassoon [Antique Collectors' Club, 2009], which devotes a chapter to Vogue Patterns.) Even the couture-focused exhibition Glamour and Gowns: Couture by Belinda Bellville and Bellville Sassoon, which ran through October, 2013 at Holkham Hall (the ancestral seat of Bellville’s son-in-law), included Bellville sewing patterns.

Here is a selection of Belinda Bellville and Bellville Sassoon sewing patterns from the Sixties to now.

1960s

From early 1967, this Bellville evening ensemble includes an elegant, bow-trimmed jacket and A-line gown with optional beaded trim:

Vogue 1677 by Belinda Bellville (1967) Image via Etsy.

The bodice of this popular design for a short or long evening dress extends into a large bow in the slit back:

Vogue 2112 by Belinda Bellville (1969) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

1970s

This high-waisted evening dress with waistcoat bodice could be made short, or above the ankle:

Vogue 2421 by Belinda Bellville (1970) Image via eBay.

The back wrap on this bias dress creates a cowl neckline that becomes a V in the back. The model is Rosie Vela:

Vogue 1584 by Belinda Bellville (ca. 1977) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

1980s

This dramatic, one-shouldered cocktail or evening dress has a draped, asymmetrical bodice with big bows at the hip and shoulder:

Vogue 1635 by Bellville Sassoon (1985) Image via Etsy.

The volume in this strapless, ruffled formal dress is amplified by an attached ruffled petticoat:

Vogue 1936 by Bellville Sassoon (1987) Image via PatternVault on Etsy.

1990s

A petticoat is also essential to this full-skirted, strapless party dress from the early 1990s. The bow detail at the bodice can be made in contrast fabric:

Vogue 2468 by Bellville Sassoon (1990) Image via Sew Exciting Needleworks.

This evening dress with bias-banded bodice was photographed at Los Angeles’ Biltmore Hotel for the May/June 1997 issue of Vogue Patterns magazine, which also included an article by Claire Shaeffer on couture techniques for constructing the design:

Vogue 1966 by Bellville Sassoon (1997) Image via Etsy.

2000s

Strong shoulders are achieved through extravagant sleeve rosettes on this recent Bellville Sassoon cocktail dress, which also features a piped and ruffle-trimmed neckline:

Vogue 1162 by Bellville Sassoon (2010) Image via Etsy.

Current Vogue patterns, like this dress with draped and pleated bodice, show the designer as Lorcan Mullany for Bellville Sassoon:

Vogue 1362 by Lorcan Mullany for Bellville Sassoon (2013) Image via Etsy.

As a teenager in the ’90s, one of the first things I made was a Bellville Sassoon corset top (from Vogue 1605). Have you sewn any Bellville patterns?

Alberta Tiburzi in Balenciaga. Harper’s Bazaar, 1967. Photo: Hiro (Yasuhiro Wakabayashi). Image via modeSPIRIT.

Born in Rome, Alberta Tiburzi began her modelling career in Italy in the 1960s. She later moved to New York after signing a contract with American Vogue. In the 1970s Tiburzi became a professional fashion photographer, known as signora della luce for her work with light. (Read a bio here, from the 2005 exhibition Italian Eyes: Italian Fashion Photographs from 1951 to Today.)

In the mid-1960s Tiburzi did some modelling for Vogue Patterns in Rome, for Couturier patterns by Italian designers. My mother made this Galitzine ensemble in fuchsia bouclé:

Vogue 1564 by Galitzine (1966) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

In this design by Federico Forquet, the shaped hem of the cutaway jacket matches the waistline seam on the dress:

Vogue 1575 by Federico Forquet (1966) Image via Etsy.

Tiburzi brings out the drama of this double-breasted tent coat by Fabiani:

Vogue 1577 by Fabiani (1966) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

Tiburzi was also photographed in the dress from the same pattern:

Vogue 1577 by Fabiani (1966) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

Here she models a red Simonetta dress with tucks radiating from the collar:

Vogue 1587 by Simonetta (1966) Image via Etsy.

Once in New York, Tiburzi did some work for McCall’s. Here she models a purple dress with heavily embellished collar by Pauline Trigère:

McCall’s 1048 by Pauline Trigère (1968)

You can see a Hiro editorial featuring Tiburzi at Couture Allure, or click the models tag to see more posts in my models series.

Kate Moss in “Courrèges Edge.” Photo: Nick Knight, 1995.

Today we’re used to a firm division between fashion magazines and sewing magazines. But for several decades after Condé Nast sold Vogue Patterns, editorials featuring sewing patterns could still be seen in Vogue magazine—editorials with the same models, photographers, and fashion editors as Vogue’s high fashion shoots. This post is the first in an occasional series on these editorials.

Launching the series is “Courrèges Edge,” a 1995 editorial photographed by Nick Knight and showing Kate Moss in clothes made using patterns from Vogue and Butterick. The shoot covers the Sixties trend with all-white, Courrèges-style looks while playing with the theme of surveillance.

Here, Kate Moss’ leather jacket is Vogue 9076; the nylon dress on the right is Butterick 4048:

Vogue, August 1995. Photos: Nick Knight. Fashion Editor: Camilla Nickerson.

Below, Vogue 9170, a coat dress pattern, is shown made up in white leather, and Butterick 3999, sold as a top, is made in silk and worn as a mini dress:

Vogue, August 1995. Photos: Nick Knight. Fashion Editor: Camilla Nickerson.

In the back of the magazine, readers could find technical drawings and further details on the patterns used, all “edited by Vogue”:

In This Issue, Vogue, August 1995.

Linda Evangelista in Anna Sui, Harper’s Bazaar, August 1995. Photo: Patrick Demarchelier.

Anna Sui (b. 1955) is beloved for her playfully postmodern designs. Sui collections are typically full of eclectic, retro references—fun and accessible, but always with an alternative edge. (For a comprehensive discussion of Sui’s work see Andrew Bolton, Anna Sui [Chronicle Books, 2010].)

Anna Sui’s licensing agreement with Vogue Patterns lasted from the mid-1990s until quite recently. There were also Anna Sui knitting patterns, like this paillette-trimmed mohair sweater shown on the cover of Vogue Knitting magazine:

Anna Sui sweater on the cover of Vogue Knitting, Winter 1998-99. Image via Vintageknits.net.

This two-part series will present some highlights from Anna Sui’s earlier Vogue patterns, ordered by collection.

1. Anna Sui, Spring/Summer 1995 collection

Anna Sui was introduced to readers of Vogue Patterns in the July/August 1995 issue with a design from her Spring 1995, vintage ’30s and ’40s collection. Inspirations for this collection included pulp magazines, waitress uniforms, and Minnie Mouse. The collection was notable for its use of textiles, which ranged from nylon pinstripes and rubberized chiffon to prints both rockabilly and haute: some of the dresses and skirts used 1940s prints that were designed by Christian Bérard for Ascher Ltd and specially recoloured for the collection.

Vogue 1619 is a pattern for four dresses with vintage details like cut-in shoulders and puffed or tucked sleeves. The red, bouquet print in the large photo is by Christian Bérard. Vogue later proclaimed the “1940s floral look” the look of the season*:

Vogue 1619 by Anna Sui (1995) Image via PatternVault on Etsy.

Here’s the Bérard print dress on the runway, complete with red shoes worn with pink socks:

Image via New York Daily News.

Vogue 1619 made the cover of Vogue Patterns’ September 1995 catalogue:

Vogue Patterns catalogue, September 1995. Image via eBay.

Just for fun, here’s a photo of Nicole Kidman in one of the spring collection’s pinstripe suits:

Nicole Kidman in Anna Sui, Vogue, February 1995. Photo: Steven Meisel. Fashion editor: Grace Coddington.

2. Anna Sui, Fall/Winter 1995 collection

For Fall 1995 Sui presented a Mod collection. The show opened with Linda Evangelista on the back of a Lambretta scooter and continued with skinny mod suits and pieces in black leather and sequinned camo, referencing Andy Warhol’s camouflage screenprints.

Vogue 1702’s mod suit includes a front-pleated skirt and sleeveless top—best worn with a matching headscarf (as shown with Vogue 1789):

Vogue 1702 by Anna Sui (1995) Image via Etsy.

Linda Evangelista was photographed in the Vogue 1702 suit by Patrick Demarchelier (see top of post). A tweed version was modelled by Stella Tennant:

Stella Tennant in Anna Sui, Vogue, October 1995. Photo: Arthur Elgort. Fashion editor: Grace Coddington.

3. Anna Sui, Fall/Winter 1997 collection

Sui’s ‘goth’ collection was presented at the Church of Divine Paternity, a neo-Gothic church on New York’s Upper West Side. Siouxie Sioux was a major inspiration for the show, which had post-punk makeup by François Nars and a wealth of textiles characteristic of old-school goth style, such as velvet, lace, lace-printed chiffon, and fishnet. As Bolton notes, the collection referenced the goth love of historicism in Vivienne Westwood-style bustles and ‘mini-crinis.’

Vogue 2072 is a pattern for two mini-crini dresses trimmed with ribbon and lace. It even includes the mesh top and fingerless gloves (see my earlier post here):

Vogue 2072 by Anna Sui (1997)

Karen Elson and Tasha Tilberg modelled the Vogue 2072 dresses on the runway, accessorized with matching fingerless gloves, sheer leggings, and beaded devil horns:

Models: Karen Elson, Tasha Tilberg. Images: Bolton, Anna Sui and firstVIEW.

The red, view B version of the Vogue 2072 dress, complete with Sui devil horns, was photographed on a young Sofia Coppola:

Sofia Coppola, Spur, October 1997. Photo: Satoshi Saikusa. Image: Bolton, Anna Sui.

4. Anna Sui, Spring/Summer 1998 collection

For spring 1998 Sui presented a surfer-inspired collection. Bold prints, bright colours, and bucket hats conveyed the laid-back spirit of surfer subculture, with Hawaiian, Indian, and Balinese prints and accessories evoking days spent on tropical beaches.

Vogue 2152’s three summery little dresses are like a mini vacation wardrobe:

Vogue 2152 by Anna Sui (1998) Image via Etsy.

Here are two of the Vogue 2152 dresses on the runway. The slip dress in view B was worn with a long-sleeved mesh top:

Models: Kylie Bax and Christina Kruse. Images via firstVIEW.

Kate Moss wears another dress from the collection in this editorial photo by Terry Richardson:

Kate Moss in Anna Sui, Harper’s Bazaar, January 1998. Photo: Terry Richardson. Image via Bolton, Anna Sui.

The gold-appliquéd pink sari silk was inspired by a dress belonging to the Duchess of Windsor, again bringing home the wide-ranging eclecticism of Sui’s references.

Next: Anna Sui’s Vogue patterns into the 2000s.

* Katherine Betts, “The best & worst looks of the ’90s,” Vogue, January 1996, p. 130.

Anna Sui cosmetics and fragrance campaign, spring 1999.

This week, the second part of my series on Vogue patterns by Anna Sui. (See Part 1 here.)

5. Anna Sui, Spring/Summer 1999 collection

Sui’s Spring 1999 collection was inspired by American sportswear designer Claire McCardell. Nylon dresses invoked McCardell’s functionalism, while denim pieces developed the Americana theme. Further New World references ranged from Mexican clothing, Día de los Muertos handicrafts, and Haitian voodoo, to glam rock and Cecil B. DeMille’s Samson and Delilah (1949). (Browse the full collection at firstVIEW.)

Vogue 2305 is a pattern for two dresses with gathering details. View A is sleeveless, with a raised, drawstring waist and scarf collar; view B has a mock-wrap bodice, off-the-shoulder puffed sleeves, and a midriff cutout above the flared skirt:

Vogue 2305 by Anna Sui (1999) Image via eBay.

Kirsten Owen and Giselle Bündchen modelled the dresses on the runway:

Models: Kirsten Owen and Giselle Bündchen. Photos via firstVIEW.

6. Anna Sui, Spring/Summer 2001 collection

One of the main inspirations for the Spring 2001 collection was the Mudd Club, a locus for New York’s cultural underground in the late 1970s and early 1980s. An Edo Bertoglio polaroid of Mudd Club co-founder Anya Phillips in her blue, lace-up dress was a reference for some of the pieces. (As well as being an independent fashion designer, Phillips was art director at Fiorucci; see Tim Blanks, “Mudd Quake.”) As Andrew Bolton notes, even the collection’s less overtly ’80s designs reflected Sui’s “Mudd Club thrift-shop punk aesthetic.” (See the full collection at style.com.)

Vogue 2551 is a pattern for two LBDs for stretch knits. The one-shouldered view A is cut on the bias, with the right skirt front extending into a twisted hip drape; view B has pleats at the right shoulder and a left side slit:

Vogue 2551 by Anna Sui (2001)

Here are the two dresses on the runway. The one-shouldered jersey dress was modelled by Hannelore Knuts:

Models: Hannelore Knuts and Anouck Lepère. Images: Bolton, Anna Sui and style.com.

These two Edo Bertoglio portraits from the Mudd Club era show Anya Phillips, in her blue dress, and Anna Sui (photos via New York Magazine; the Sui portrait was first published in Vogue Italia):

Anya Phillips, 1979, and Anna Sui, 1981. Photos: Edo Bertoglio. Images via NYMag.com.

(More Mudd Club-era photos may be found in Maripolarama [powerHouse Books, 2005], which contains a recollection by Anna Sui.)

7. Anna Sui, Fall/Winter 2001 collection

Sui’s inspiration for her Fall 2001 collection was another legendary New York venue: the Factory, Andy Warhol’s studio. In reference to Warhol’s Factory parties and ideas about celebrity, the runway presentation incorporated a screening of a black-and-white, short film, commissioned from Zoe Cassavetes, of Sui’s famous friends attending a cocktail party. Other ’60s inspirations included “Baby” Jane Holzer’s eclectic wardrobe, the work of Rudi Gernreich, and William Klein’s film Who Are You, Polly Maggoo? (1966). (Full collection at style.com.)

Vogue 2640 is a pattern for a jacket and dress with contrast binding, plus a matching scarf:

Vogue 2640 by Anna Sui (2002) Image via Etsy.

Vogue 2640’s striped jacket and dress ensemble was the spring collection’s opening look:

Model: Laura Delicata. Image via firstVIEW.

The collection’s stripes are a reference to a particularly Op-art scene in Klein’s Who Are You, Polly Maggoo?:

Still from Who Are You, Polly Maggoo? (1966) Image via the Guardian.

8. Anna Sui, Fall/Winter 2003 collection

The concept of art deco skiwear inspired the Fall 2003 collection, which Sui designed during another cold winter (2002-3) when urban skiwear was dominating New York street fashion. In the colours, motifs, and especially the geometric patterns of art deco, as well as the distinctive, tubular 1920s silhouette, the collection chanelled the flapper’s modernity, but with a dose of fun fur. (Full collection on style.com.)

Vogue 7950 or 639 is a pattern for five different faux fur pieces: a jacket, vest, hat, mittens, and legwarmers. The jacket is cropped, with elbow-length sleeves, while the vest has an exposed zipper. The hat has a contrast scarf that could be made to match the mittens’ contrast palms and cuffs, and the legwarmers have elasticized leg bands:

Vogue 7950 by Anna Sui (2004) Image via Etsy.

Here are some detail shots of the hat and legwarmers on the runway:

Model (on left): Missy Rayder. Images via style.com.

L’Officiel’s collection image shows the ’20s ski theme, complete with Anna Sui-branded snowboard (click to enlarge):

Anna Sui FW 2003-4. Image via jalougallery.com

Anna Sui’s work wears its postmodernity lightly. The designer’s myriad references, fantastical narratives, and hybrid concepts mean her collections keep evolving while staying true to a bohemian, thrift-store aesthetic. I’m already planning to make several of these (one of the hazards of research). Which are your favourites?

Vogue Patterns, September/October 1976. Image via Musings from Marilyn.

Diane von Fürstenberg’s wrap dress celebrates its 40th anniversary this month. The famous dress, which officially made its debut in January, 1974, is being fêted with Journey of a Dress, an exhibition of 200 wrap dresses at the Wilshire May Company building in Los Angeles:

Image via DVF.com.

Photo: Getty Images via style.com.

Von Fürstenberg relaunched her label in 1997 after realizing that her vintage wrap dresses were enjoying a new popularity among young women. The advertising campaign for the relaunch shows Danielle Z. in different wrap dresses, including this leopard print version (click the image for a style.com article with slideshow):

Diane Von Furstenberg advertising campaign, 1998. Model: Danielle Zinaich. Image via style.com.

Vogue Patterns introduced Diane Von Furstenberg patterns with great fanfare in the fall of 1976. The designer herself modelled a wrap dress on the magazine cover, and there was even a special sew-in label and tie-in with Cohama fabrics. (More on the fabrics at The Vintage Traveler.)

Diane Von Furstenberg for Vogue Patterns printed label. Image via Etsy.

The punning headline of the 1976 magazine feature, “The Princess and Her Prints,” refers to her first marriage to Egon von Fürstenberg, of the Prussian princes of Fürstenberg (she capitalized the ‘von’ for her label):

“The Princess and Her Prints…” Vogue Patterns, September/October 1976. Image via myvintagevogue.

Vogue’s Diane Von Furstenberg patterns included several wrap dresses. The 1970s patterns were all in the Very Easy Vogue line, and most were for stretchable knits.

The long-sleeved Vogue 1548 may be worn in two ways, forward or backward. The young Renee Russo is the model:

Vogue 1548 by Diane Von Furstenberg (1976) Image via Etsy.

Karen Bjornson models Vogue 1549, a wrap dress with buttoned cuffs and optional collar. This design also works for woven fabrics:

Vogue 1549 by Diane Von Furstenberg (1976) Image via eBay.

The following year Vogue Patterns released a half-size version for petites, Vogue 1679. The first set of patterns was photographed by Chris von Wangenheim:

Vogue 1548, Vogue Patterns, September/October 1976. Photos: Chris von Wangenheim. Image via myvintagevogue.

Vogue 1549 and 1550, Vogue Patterns, September/October 1976. Photos: Chris von Wangenheim. Image via myvintagevogue.

Vogue 1610 may be made sleeveless or short-sleeved with faux cuffs. I’ve made this for Naomi, and it’s incredibly versatile:

Vogue 1610 by Diane Von Furstenberg (c. 1977)

Vogue 1853 has full, cuffed sleeves in a choice of long or elbow length. Christie Brinkley modelled the long-sleeved version:

Vogue 1853 by Diane Von Furstenberg (c. 1978) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

Vogue 2517, a colour-blocked, front-wrapped dress designed for two colour contrasts, was photographed by Patrick Demarchelier. (This one is technically a mock-wrap dress.) The model is Gunilla Lindblad:

Vogue 2517 by Diane Von Furstenberg (1980) Image via Rusty Zipper.

Tara Shannon models Vogue 1486, an ’80s wrap dress with pleated skirt, shaped hemline, and dolman sleeves:

Vogue 1486 by Diane Von Furstenberg (1984) Image via Etsy.

Discussions of the DVF wrap dress always seem to centre on questions of contemporary femininity. Even the promotional bio on the envelope flap promises dressmakers they’ll “feel like a woman”:

This Vogue Patterns editorial photo of the Vogue 1610 wrap dress similarly promotes the idea of femininity in the workplace. With the caption “Soft Dressing for Hard Schedules,” it shows Karen Bjornson, glasses in hand, being delivered flowers at the office:

“Soft Dressing for Hard Schedules,” Vogue Patterns, 1977.

I was tickled to learn that Amy Adams wears three Diane Von Furstenberg dresses in American Hustle—two vintage and one contemporary. Apparently David O. Russell was obsessed with the green print version worn by von Fürstenberg on the cover of Newsweek, and costume designer Michael Wilkinson was able to source the vintage original for the film (see Financial Times story with slideshow here, or click the image for a Variety costumes story with video):

Sydney Prosser (Amy Adams) in American Hustle (2013) Image via Variety.

Have you sewn from a Diane Von Furstenberg pattern?

I made the first of my patterns by Alexander McQueen for Givenchy: the cowl-neck sheath dress, Vogue 2248. (See my earlier post here.)

Vogue 2248 by Alexander McQueen for Givenchy (1999)

I had planned to make the dress in my default black, and had even bought some mesh for the contrast cowl neck. But when I started looking back over runway photos from Givenchy’s neo-noir Fall 1998 ready-to-wear collection, I was struck by the palette of neutrals, electric blue, and especially the combination of oxblood with red.

Models: Frankie Rayder and Sunniva Stordahl. Images via firstVIEW via the Fashion Spot.

Photos: Thierry Orban. Images via Corbis.

(There’s a blue version of the original sleeveless dress on eBay. The dress fabric is a nylon/acetate/elastane blend, with acetate lining, and the back zipper reaches all the way up through the cowl.)

I made View B, the sleeveless, mid-calf version, in oxblood with a red cowl neck. I hit Designer Fabrics and found some oxblood wool, red mesh for the contrast cowl, and Bemberg for the lining. The pattern recommends chiffon for the contrast, but I wanted to stick with the mesh used for the runway version. I was a little stumped as to interfacing for the contrast, and even bought some tomato red tricot to use before learning that the best interfacing for mesh is more mesh.

I wanted a close fit, so I ignored the sizing and went by the finished garment measurements printed on the pattern, including 1″ ease at bust and waist and a little more in the hips. I also lengthened the skirt by 1.5″ to achieve the correct length.

Technical drawing for Vogue 2248

This was my first dart-fitted dress, and I had fun sewing my very first contour darts—eventually realizing the virtues of even a makeshift tailor’s ham. The cowl neck is cut on the bias, but this didn’t pose any problems, since the mesh handles much better than chiffon.

With the full lining and absolutely no stretch, the dress feels very old-fashioned to wear. One thing I misjudged was the bodice/cowl part of the bodice—I cut the right size in the bust, but didn’t distribute the extra waist length I was adding between the above-waist and shoulder areas, so it’s a bit on the high side and the cowl neck has a closer fit than in the runway photo. It would have been simpler to cut a size up and take the bodice in at the sides. The “interfaced” mesh is also a little bulky; the extra layer was probably unnecessary.

Since the Fall 1998 collection was inspired by Blade Runner, it seemed appropriate to take photos of the dress at the David Cronenberg: Evolution exhibition at TIFF Bell Lightbox. In the Interzone area, devoted to Naked Lunch (1991), visitors could have their photo taken with a Mugwump:

Naomi took some photos of me upstairs at an extension of the Cronenberg show called Body/Mind/Change (BMC). Visitors to the biotech facility BMC Labs can observe the production of personalized POD (Personal On-Demand) implants, which are held awaiting pickup by their hosts. The BMC Labs facility is still open if you’d like to create your own POD implant:

Image via BMC Labs.

Here I am in the POD holding area:

A closer view of the mesh cowl neck:

The cowl fastens in the back with hooks and thread eyes:

The lab staff let me hold a brand-new red POD (rara avis—most are colourless):

We were delighted to find BMC Labs at the end of our visit: it was the perfect backdrop for the dress given McQueen’s futuristic, sci-fi inspiration for his collection for Givenchy. I’m crossing my fingers for a red POD of my own…

Busvine sidesaddle ensemble in Vogue, 1927. Illustration: Guillermo Bolin. Image: Man and the Horse.

Happy Chinese new year! In honour of the Year of the Horse, here’s a selection of equestrian sewing patterns from the 1920s to the 1990s.

Like tennis wear, modern equestrian wear begins in the 1920s. Before the First World War, women generally rode sidesaddle; equestriennes wore fashionably voluminous riding skirts designed to fall flatteringly on horseback, with breeches underneath. In addition to 19th-century Harper’s Bazaar patterns for riding habits, the Commercial Pattern Archive’s “Riding” category reveals a 1909 pattern for ladies’ riding breeches (Butterick 3313), and two divided equestrian skirts from the early teens (Butterick 5792 and Pictorial Review 5003).

By 1920 the major American pattern companies were producing commercial patterns for women’s jodhpurs—often called riding breeches. As the illustration at the top of this post shows, some women continued to ride sidesaddle, even into the 1930s, but I haven’t found any modern patterns for sidesaddle riding habits.

Illustration from a Saks Fifth Avenue advertisement, spring 1925.

1920s

Butterick 2255, circa 1920, is a pattern for a riding coat and breeches worthy of Lady Mary. The envelope specifies that the design is for cross saddle riding:

Butterick 2255 (1920) Image via the Commercial Pattern Archive, Kevin L. Seligman collection. For research purposes only.

This 1920 McCall pattern for riding breeches shows the pattern diagram and instructions on the envelope (click to enlarge):

McCall 9536 (1920) Ladies’ riding breeches. Image via eBay.

I have this 1923 jodhpurs pattern in my collection—for when I learn to ride, of course:

McCall 3214 (1923) Ladies’ riding breeches.

This McCall’s illustration of a riding coat and breeches is from the same year, but it shows a different breeches pattern, as well as a more streamlined riding coat than a few years previous:

McCall Quarterly, Fall 1923. Image via eBay.

For more on 1920s equestrian wear see Unsung Sewing Patterns‘ posts on Butterick 4147, a pair of riding knickers, and Pictorial Review 1435 and 1438, a riding jacket and breeches.

1930s

Jodhpurs were not just for equestrian sports: they were the “trousers of adventure,” worn for activities like driving, hiking and camping, safaris, and aviation. This early ’30s illustration from Pictorial Review shows the latest sports styles, including beach pajamas and clothes for tennis and golf. The riding habit includes a sleeveless jacket or waistcoat (click to enlarge):

Sports fashions in Pictorial Review Fashion Book, Summer 1931. Image via eBay.

Butterick 5647 is a pattern for cuffed, fall-front jodhpurs with notched back waist and side and back pockets. Nabby at This Old Life made these for her vintage aviatrix costume (click image for post):

Butterick 5647 (c. 1934) Image via This Old Life.

McCall 9412, from September 1937, looks to be a rare early pattern for western-style riding pants, with reinforced seat and inner leg. I’d love to see a better-quality image; this one was found in a lot on eBay:

McCall 9412 (1937) Image via eBay.

Also from the late 1930s, Pictorial Review 9337 is a pattern for a tailored shirt and sleek pair of riding trousers:

Pictorial Review 9337 (c. 1938) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

1970s

Apart from children’s equestrian patterns, I couldn’t find any patterns from the major pattern companies that were specifically for riding until the 1970s, when western-style riding wear was in fashion. McCall’s 4870 includes riding pants and a shirt-jacket with contrast, embroidered yoke and cuffs. The model is Angeleen Gagliano, who was a horsewoman in real life:

McCall’s 4870 (1975) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

This Butterick pattern by Jane Tise shows the vogue for western shirts:

Butterick 5629 by Jane Tise (1970s) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

Vogue even had a his-and-hers western shirt pattern, Vogue 8973/8976 (the ’70s-averse are advised not to click the links).

The influence of the western shirt is evident in this Halston dress with scalloped yoke:

McCall 6841 by Halston (1979) Image via Betsy Vintage.

1980s

Many of you will remember the 1980s jodhpurs trend, when you could dress for English-style riding far from any stable. Exhibit A is New Look 6013:

New Look 6013 (1980s) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

There were also faux jodhpurs—pleated, tapered pants like those in Burda 5332 or McCall’s 2077.

Gianni Versace and Claude Montana both showed jodhpurs in the ’80s, but unfortunately Vogue Patterns doesn’t seem to have released any patterns for them. Just for fun, here’s a Lord Snowdon photo of aristocrat Angela Rawlinson in a jacket and tweed jodhpurs by John McIntyre:

John McIntyre jacket and jodhpurs, Vogue, July 1985. Photo: Lord Snowdon. Model: Angela Rawlinson.

1990s

Little Vogue 7876, with its young model leaning on a stone balustrade, is interesting for showing the social ambition associated with horseback riding. The jodhpurs are a little loose for actual riding (the similarly styled Vogue 7842 also has a looser fit):

Little Vogue 7876 (1990) Image via Etsy.

With the advent of stretch fabrics, riding pants no longer needed lots of room in the upper leg. These jodhpurs by Calvin Klein have a sleeker fit that’s more in line with late 20th-century equestrian wear. They come with detachable stirrups, and may be made in synthetic suede:

Vogue 2513 by Calvin Klein (1990) Image via Etsy.

McCall’s 6737′s riding pants are for stretch fabrics, reinforced with leather or ultrasuede in the seat and inner leg. The pattern also marks a return to the waistcoat:

McCall’s 6737 by NY/NY (1993) Image via Etsy.

Vogue 1655 by DKNY brings us full circle: the riding-style jacket was photographed in traditional scarlet at a country estate:

Vogue 1655 by DKNY (1995) Image via Etsy.

For more on the history of women’s equestrian wear see Mackay-Smith, Druesedow, and Ryder’s Man and the Horse: An Illustrated History of Equestrian Apparel (Simon and Schuster, 1984), which was published to accompany the Polo/Ralph Lauren-sponsored Costume Institute exhibit held from December, 1984 to September, 1985.

If you’d like to sew your own sidesaddle riding habit, reproductions of early French magazine patterns for costumes d’amazone (women’s riding habits) are available from eBay shop Au fil du temps. For a modern equestrian look, Folkwear’s Equestriennes pattern, Folkwear 506, includes a riding jacket, waistcoat, and jodhpurs based on garments in the collection of the Costume Institute.

Special thanks to Naomi for acting as my in-house equestrianism consultant.

Billie Blair on the cover of Interview magazine, August 1974. Image via Lipstick Alley.

Born in Flint, Michigan, Billie Blair (b. 1946) worked as a model at the Detroit Auto Show before becoming one of the highest-paid fashion models of the 1970s. Moving to New York City, she got a job at Halston and soon found success as an editorial and runway model. Blair was among the African-American models at the historic 1973 fundraising event, Le Grand Divertissement à Versailles, known today as the Battle of Versailles. (The event was the subject of a recent documentary by Deborah Riley Draper, Versailles ’73: American Runway Revolution [2012)].)

Billie Blair in Halston, 1979. Image via Pinterest.

Billie Blair may be seen on a number of Vogue designer patterns from the mid-1970s. Here she wears a tweed skirt suit and pussy-bow blouse by Oscar de la Renta; this design was marked as ‘suitable for knits’:

Vogue 1163 by Oscar de la Renta (1975) Image via PatternVault on Etsy.

Stan Herman designed this casual hooded top, skirt, and pants. The illustration shows some American Hustle-worthy aviator shades:

Vogue 1169 by Stan Herman (1975) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

Here Blair wears a girlish, vintage-style ensemble by Nina Ricci, a cream-coloured dress with matching cape:

Vogue 1175 by Nina Ricci (1975) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

From Jean Patou, this maxi dress may date to the period when the young Jean Paul Gaultier was assistant designer. Blair brings out the glamour of this haute couture loungewear:

Vogue 1344 by Jean Patou (1975) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

In Vogue Patterns‘ 1975 holiday issue, Jerry Hall wears the Patou dress while Blair models an off-the-shoulder party dress in an editorial devoted to evening sparkle (the headline reads, “Be a Star the Vogue Way”):

Vogue Patterns, November/December 1975. Image via eBay.

Here she models a fabulous, evening-length Dior caftan with piped neckline:

Vogue 1346 by Christian Dior (1975) Image via Etsy.

This Nina Ricci separates pattern includes a poncho with shirttail hem, convertible collar, and big patch pockets:

Vogue 1376 by Nina Ricci (1976) Image via Betsy Vintage.

Blair is the model on this rare pattern by Sonia Rykiel, Vogue 1378—check out the matching coral sandals:

Vogue 1378 by Sonia Rykiel (1976) Image via Etsy.

Billie Blair’s commanding presence and approach to modelling as performance don’t seem too unusual today. But she was unconventional for the time, and even felt the need to under-report her age when she first became famous. A 1974 profile of Blair in People magazine says she is 22 years old and remarks on her size 9 feet. (In a letter to the editor, a high school classmate wondered how Blair had stayed 22 when her peers were 28.) She continued modelling into her thirties—here she appears in a dynamic 1978 Vogue shoot by Andrea Blanch:

Billie Blair, Renée King, Toukie Smith, Iman, Alva Chinn, and Dana Dixon in Vogue, December 1978. Photo: Andrea Blanch.