Patrone-Modele - Sport Ensemble

First half of the 1950s.  Mes amis, it is time to get the Citroen out of the garage and take a tour into the wine country to see the grape harvest.  Monsieur will be correctly dressed for the country in this sport ensemble of plus fours and jacket in wool.

The waist length jacket (blouson) is interesting.  In the Unites States, we've seen this style in working clothing as early as the late 19th century, with Cosmopolitan 800, the working blouse, and then around World War I, with Excella 1111, the men's jumper.  In the 1920s, even with the somewhat loose definition of "waist length," the style, now called a "windbreaker" shows up in outerwear for boys, Butterick 7031, and women, Butterick 7068.  By the 1930s, when the waist had risen just past normal to being a little high, the style was still popular, as seen in Pictorial Review 9051.  From here, it's a short hop of a few years to World War II and the British Army's re-design of its battle dress which included the waist-length jacket (also referred to as a blouse.) Today we typically refer to this style as an Eisenhower or Ike jacket, but it turns out that he himself borrowed the style from the British.

This is a nice interpretation, with a zip front closing, substantial pockets with flaps, and the large, wing-like spread collar so popular at the time.

The plus-fours are referred to simply as "pantalon" on the front of the envelope.  The slightly more detailed description on the back of the envelope calls them "culotte de golf," which Google Translate tells me is "knickerbockers."  It seems a slightly old-fashioned look, yet it must have been popular enough for Le Petit Echo de la Mode to produce a home sewing pattern for culotte de golf, particularly as patterns for men's clothing represent just a tiny fraction of their pattern offerings.

Although not visible in the illustration, by looking at the layout one sees that the fullness of these culotte de golf is darted into bands.

Even though it's tempting to explain away these plus-fours as a style for older gentlemen who had worn them in the 1930s and saw no reason to change, some fairly stylish interpretations of plus fours show up in the men's fashion magazine L'Homme in  Summer 1954 for young men, and as late as Spring-Summer 1959 for older men.  (Despite multiple searches in two languages, I've not yet been able to come up with any documentary evidence that french gentlemen actually wore plus fours for golfing in the 1950s.)

Source

Source

This unprinted pattern is unused.

And we're off!

1950s Citroen Traction Avant Six 15

Patron-Modèle 100501 - Costume de travail

Guessing here at a date of the late 1940s to the early 1950s, based on studying envelopes with a similar layout for women's clothing, which is a little easier to date.

This is the sort of find that makes this collector want to stand up and yell "Bingo!"  A vintage French home-sewing pattern for men's workwear is a wonderful find.

The rather swank illustration of Monsieur having a smoke break tends to obscure the sensible utilitarian design of this double-breasted jacket and trousers.  It also completely hides the breast pockets.  Note that the sleeves end in buttoned cuffs, which would be safer around machinery than plain hemmed sleeves.

The instructions on the front of the envelope indicate that the seams are to be flat felled (rabattues piquees) and the edges top-stitched (piqure au bord,) standard techniques used in American ready-to-wear workwear, both of which strengthen the garment.

Some basic fabric recommendations are given:  toile, or canvas, and croisé, or twill.

One is reminded of Irving Penn's beautiful photographs from his "small trades" series of 1950-51, taken in Paris, London, and New York.  The Patron-Modèle working clothes made up in white would suit les patissiers (pastry makers):

From:  Irving Penn, Small Trades, page 13.  Getty Publications, 2009

This unprinted pattern is in good condition, although the envelope seems to have had a hard life.

Patron-Modèle 100055 - Costume Sport

1950s

Translates to "Anorak and ski pants."

The rather laconic description on the back of the envelope can be translated as:

Front-opening jacket with an applied plastron; gathered hood; ski pants.

The jacket is gathered at the waist and wrists.  The ski pants have pockets, and the legs are darted and fitted to bands.  Woolen or worsted fabrics would have been used for both the anorak and the pants.

I assume that your hankie and the French equivalent of a Chapstick go in the little front pockets of the anorak.

And in case anybody was wondering, we now appear to have documentary evidence that the French wore mittens.

Patron-Modèle 400934 - Anorak et Pantalon fuseau en gabardine pour homme

1950s

Translates to "Man's jacket and gabardine ski pants."

Patron-Modèle seems to have been the "house brand" for the women's magazine Lé Petit Echo de la Mode.

The description on the back of the envelope translates to:

The anorak has patch pockets and is fitted to the waist with elastic.  Turned down collar; set-in sleeves.  Removable hood.  Ski pants.

"Pantalon fuseau" can also be translated as "pegged pants," but the intent is clear; these trousers have a narrow leg to help keep the snow out and to tuck into the ski boots, which would have looked about like this (I suspect that these laces are much later replacements.)

From www.vintageskiworld.com

It's interesting that the description indicates a fabric choice of gabardine, which is a sturdy twill fabric made of worsted yarn.  The anorak would have been made out of a woolen or worsted fabric as well, and I might add a silk lining for a little extra warmth, although the pattern doesn't call for a lining.

As was true for the earlier Patron Modèle that we saw, there is no separate instruction sheet.  The maker is expected to use the illustrations on the front and the description of the pattern pieces on the back of the envelope.

Note the crotch gusset for the pants, necessary for sportswear in the years before stretch fabrics were introduced.

Although there was no instruction sheet, this pattern included a one-sheet that mostly contained advertising geared to home sewing, but had a few general instructions, and a helpful sizing chart.   This size 44 is equivalent to about a 38" chest.