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Schuss! Vintage Skiwear Patterns
Vogue Paris, December 1951-January 1952. Image via Etsy. Winter carnival festivities are underway at Winterlude and the Carnaval de Québec. Here’s a look at vintage skiwear patterns—perfect for hitting...
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Rock the Caftan
“Arab déshabillé from Grès.” Vogue, September 1963. Photo: Irving Penn. Caftans, long, loose-fitting tunics with origins in ancient Persia, have been gaining momentum as an alternative to more...
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Patterns in Vogue: Marisa Berenson by Guy Bourdin
Detail, Vogue, August 15, 1966. Photo: Guy Bourdin. If you’re in London, you still have a week to see Guy Bourdin: Image Maker at Somerset House before it closes next Sunday. Bourdin shot only one...
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Lanvin at 125: Marie-Blanche de Polignac
Vogue 1120 by Lanvin, Vogue, October 1950. Photo: Richard Rutledge. This week, the second post in my series on Lanvin sewing patterns. (See my post on Jeanne Lanvin’s interwar patterns here.) Born...
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Mr. John Millinery Patterns
China blue velvet beret designed by Mr. John of New York; interpreted by R.M. Hats for Marshall and Snelgrove. British Vogue, April 1951. Photo: Edwin Blumenfeld. Image via Vogue UK. Born in Munich,...
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Yves Saint Laurent + Halston: Fashioning the 70s
The Museum at FIT’s exhibit, Yves Saint Laurent + Halston: Fashioning the 70s, closes this Saturday. (See Bridget Foley, “That Real Seventies Show.”) If you can’t make it to New York to see it, a...
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The Smartest Move You Can Make
Now that wedding season is upon us, I wanted to share this bridal-themed ad for Vogue Patterns from spring, 1957. The pattern is a Vogue Special Design, Vogue S-4765 (click to enlarge): The smartest...
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Yves Saint Laurent 1971: la collection du scandale
Yves Saint Laurent 1971: la collection du scandale. Model: Willy Van Rooy. Photo: Hans Feurer. Yves Saint Laurent’s Spring 1971 haute couture collection, Libération, is currently the focus of a major...
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Patricia Underwood: Vogue Patterns
Reese Witherspoon wears a hat by Patricia Underwood, W magazine, February 2015. Photo: Tim Walker. Image via the Fashion Spot. In celebration of Royal Ascot, which begins today, this post is devoted to...
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A History of the Paper Pattern Industry
Joy Spanabel Emery, A History of the Paper Pattern Industry: The Home Dressmaking Fashion Revolution. Image via Bloomsbury. The new book by the curator of the Commercial Pattern Archive is the first...
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Pan Am Games 2015 – Vintage Pattern Edition
This week the Pan Am Games continue in Toronto. In honour of the Games, here’s a look at vintage patterns and illustrations showing women’s sports. First up: Pan Am sports that have already concluded...
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Pan Am Games 2015, Vintage Pattern Edition: Cycling
This week I’m looking at vintage patterns showing sports of the Pan Am Games. (See the first post here.) Today: a pattern for cycling. Cycling. This cycling illustration graced the cover of the summer...
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Iman
Iman on the cover of Vogue Italia, March 1976. Photo: Norman Parkinson. Image via eBay. Iman (b. 1955) turns sixty today. Born Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid in Mogadishu, Somalia, she and her family fled to...
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Patterns in Vogue: It’s a Long Story…
Detail, Vogue, November 1996. Photo: Mario Testino. Editor: Paul Cavaco. “It’s a Long Story…” is a 1996 editorial by Mario Testino featuring Nadja Auermann, Kylie Bax, and Chandra North in the season’s...
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Early Sixties Chinoiserie
Maggie Cheung in Wong Kar-wai’s In the Mood for Love (2000) Image via WWD. This year’s big Costume Institute exhibit, China: Through the Looking Glass, broke the attendance record previously set by...
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Another Guy Laroche Pattern by Alber Elbaz?
Last week the fashion world was shocked by the news that Alber Elbaz had been dismissed as creative director of Lanvin. (See British Vogue or Bridget Foley for WWD.) Before his positions at Lanvin and...
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Fur Cloth for Fall
Anne St. Marie wears Vogue 1019 by Jacques Griffe, Vogue Pattern Book, August/September 1961. Photo: Kazan. Whether you call it fake or faux, this season’s fur trend is only fashion’s latest take on...
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Paris, je t’aime
Vogue 1101 by Paquin, Vogue, May 1950. Model: Maxime de la Falaise. Photo: Norman Parkinson. In honour of Paris, a selection of postwar fashion photography shot on location in the city. Vogue’s...
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Evelyn Tripp
British Vogue, January 1955. Photo: Erwin Blumenfeld. Image via Vogue UK. Evelyn Tripp (1927-1995) was one of the most prolific models of the 1950s. Born on a farm in Missouri, she was discovered at 20...
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Patterns in Vogue: Pyjama Game
Detail, Vogue, November 1, 1963. Photo: Gene Laurents. Whether you’re going out or staying in, palazzo pyjamas are perfect for New Year’s Eve. “Pyjama Game—the palazzo persuasion,” a 1963 Vogue...
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