Vogue 8364 - Skirt

 1954

There isn't anything particularly unusual about this skirt pattern.  However, along with the released pleat at the center back to accommodate striding energetically across the greens, the designers have provided an attached "saddle" pocket for your tees, divot tool, and lipstick.

This is somewhat similar to the earlier Pictorial 7559, though in that case, the pocket is detachable.

This pattern doesn't appear to have been used.

Those of us who spent time in the Philadelphia area will probably feel a little nostalgia for the old John Wanamaker department store.  By the time I knew Wanamaker's in the 1970s, the sewing department was gone, though only 75 miles upstate, I patronized the yard goods department in little Hess's department store until the late 1980's.

Advance 1471 - (shirt, divided skirt, and sash)

Mid 1930's.

Note how similar this is to McCall 9094.

I recently ran across a very funny bit of dialog in Margery Sharp's Cluny Brown in which an older lady, Lady Carmel, observes one of her young house guests crawling around the tennis court on her hands and knees, and asks another house guest to "...make her get up, dear, I don't know what she's wearing." and is reassured that "It's a divided skirt, Lady Carmel."

McCall 9094 - Ladies' and Misses' Divided Skirt & Blouse

1937.  "...with or without Slide Fastener Closing"

McCall pattern illustrations of this period are incredibly lush.  The models' faces seem like pure Greta Garbo to me.  And indeed, Garbo was nominated for an Academy award in 1937 for Camille, which was released in 1936.  The total look however, brings to mind Kate Hepburn.

Slide fasteners (Zippers in the United States now) were new in the mid 1930's, and McCall is doing a nice job of marketing them here; they appear on both the blouse and the skirt.  They're appropriate for a casual outfit because at this time they tended to be rather heavy and stiff, so weren't yet suitable for fine clothing.

The suggested fabrics listed on the back of the envelope include linen, pique, knitted fabrics, percale, gabardine, flannel, and wash silks.

Included in the envelope is a collar cut from the May 28, 1937 evening edition of the Ogden (Utah) Standard-Examiner.  It's been cut about a half inch narrower than the original collar pattern piece.

Pictorial Review 7759 - Ladies Two Piece Gathered Skirt

About 1918.  This one is all about those amazing pockets.  I immediately thought how useful this would be when working in the garden.  You could even make a couple of sets of pockets and just keep stuff in them.

Yes, there is no doubt that this skirt will make your hips look big.