Vogue 1468 - Bicentennial Dresses

1976

There is a little bit to unpack here, starting with how I did, then didn't, then finally did acquire my copy of this pattern.

I'd been watching for this pattern for several years before a copy finally came up for auction on eBay at a price I felt was reasonable.  I placed my bid and won.  And then I waited.  After about a week, the seller contacted me and apologized.  She'd gotten her wires crossed and sent my pattern to the winning bidder of a different pattern.  This person was so enchanted with this pattern that she hadn't bid on that she refused to return it.  So, the seller returned my money and I was back to watching, watching, watching.

The irony is that in my personal opinion this is by far the ugliest of the Bicentennial costume patterns out there.  Even the patterns sold in the newspapers tried a little harder than the Vogue design team responsible for this one.

Back in 1976, the pattern companies really didn't have historical patterns of the caliber of the best patterns that are available today.  They offered costume patterns with varying levels of historical accuracy.  Typically designed for use in local pageants, parades, or theater productions, the designers had to meet the needs of people with limited time and budget, and possibly only basic sewing skills. 

In a sort of perfect storm of awfulness, 1976 was period when 100% cotton or linen fabrics were hard to find, with local fabric stores selling mostly polyester blends.  If you think this was deadly for the ladies' costumes, talk to gentlemen who marched in the stifling heat of July 4th parades in bright red 100% polyester broadcloth coats.  (A few years earlier, in 1961, some of these same gentlemen probably sweated through dark blue or grey polyester broadcloth as they commemorated the Civil War.  It's my belief that these experiences helped spur the research into greater historical accuracy that continues to this day.)

But in 1976, every town was going to celebrate the Bicentennial and by gum, we were going to dress the part, whatever vaguely historical part that was.

The Vogue design team seems to have checked boxes for "mob cap" and "fichu" and "square neck" and then gone out for a long lunch.   On the way back to the office they must have seen a Laura Ashley dress and decided that was that.  Even one of the interior illustrations evokes the Edwardian sensibility so central to Ashley's designs.

This printed pattern is unused.

Butterick 4258 - Ladies', Misses' and Girls' Martha Washington Costume

Probably the first half of the 1920s.

My town is too small to have a July 4th parade, but if we had one, it might feature a suitably costumed George and Martha Washington waving to the crowd from the back of an elderly pick-up truck.

This costume, which could also have been used for fancy dress balls, is a wonderfully inaccurate pastiche of eighteenth century styles.

And as an Independence Day bonus, if you're a fan of substantial fruit cakes, you might like to make Martha Washington's Great Cake.  This recipe comes from the web site for the Mt. Vernon historical site.

Take 40 eggs and divide the whites from the yolks and beat them to a froth. Then work 4 pounds of butter to a cream and put the whites of eggs to it a Spoon full at a time till it is well work'd. Then put 4 pounds of sugar finely powdered to it in the same manner then put in the Yolks of eggs and 5 pounds of flour and 5 pounds of fruit. 2 hours will bake it. Add to it half an ounce of mace and nutmeg half a pint of wine and some fresh brandy.

Forty eggs!  Lordy!

Butterick 4262 - Continental Suit for Men and Boys

About 1926, because that is when the Unites States celebrated its 150th birthday.  Continental in this case refers to the Continental Congress, which governed the United States during the revolutionary war.

However, I've collected a fair number of these eighteenth century costume patterns (and will eventually profile some of them here), and not all of them revolved around significant anniversaries.  There is a wonderful photograph reproduced in What Clothes Reveal of "'costumed participants in Colonial Pageant...July 4 1921'" showing dozens of residents of Williamsburg Virginia dressed in pseudo eighteenth century clothing, with some of the men's suits looking very much like the illustration for this pattern.  It would be interesting to study the numbers of July 4th parades over time.  Even little towns can scare up George and Martha Washington on a float built around a hay wagon or a pick up truck.

This pattern is unprinted.  The instruction sheet, the Deltor, states that "If suit is to be worn once, seams need not be finished.  If desired, it may be well made, so it may be worn on more occasions."  Detailed instructions are given for sewing on braid and lace.

Here's the back of the envelope.  Note that one may even make the tricorn hat: