Friday, July 23, 2010

Du Barry 5904 - Men's Undershirt and Shorts


1944.

Styles in men's underclothes change slowly.  See Economy 4617 for largely similar men's under garments dating about 40 years earlier.  DuBarry is Woolworth's house brand of patterns.  They were produced by Simplicity.

There seems to be a strong expectation by the designers that you'll make this up in stripes; the yardage chart very carefully states the yardage for lengthwise striped material.  Cutting the waistband crosswise means that you don't have to try to match the stripes in the shorts, but this option disappears in the layout for a large size, when to make the most efficient use of the goods the waistband is cut lengthwise.

The instructions state the seams should all be flat stitched (we would generally say flat felled now) but they don't give instructions on how to do this; you're expected to know how.

Illustrations on patterns for men's clothing frequently show the gentleman smoking a pipe (see the small line drawing); perhaps this manly activity is supposed to distract us from the fact that we're walking around Woolworth's carrying a picture of a somewhat scantily clad male not related to us.

4 comments:

Lara said...

That is kinda funny, isn't it. It looks like the cartoon is trying too hard to look dignified in his skivvies, in public. :)
Your background makes me wanna pull out a magnet and clean that mess up! lol (my own neatnik neurosis)
I enjoy your blog,

andrea.at.the.blue.door said...

Belle Ha! The pins are from my stash of brass pins - immune to the mysterious powers of your magnet! I manage to upset my pin box at least once a year, don't you?

Glad you like the blog.

Yvonne said...

I'm totally amused by the illustration on the mens underwear pattern. The tiny, almost looks corseted, waists; the fuller hips and those long never ending slim legs.

Lets just say they aren't the manliest looking men I've ever seen. Heck I'd almost kill to have those nice proportions...

Orlythe said...

Isn't that the Duke of Windsor on the right?? Seriously!