Ladies Home Journal S-33 "ITALY"

After 1905, probably before 1920.

Ladies' Home Journal apparently produced a series of these country-themed fancy dress patterns.  We've also seen the pattern representing  England.  Here is how Italy is described:

ITALY In representing Italy a composite Dress taken from the peasantry garb has been designed in the colors of the Italian national emblem. A pleasing satisfaction can be derived from the attractiveness of this Costume, for it is typical of brilliant colors, regardless of harmony, and an abundant display of jewelry.

The illustration is obviously in black and white, so I assume that references to colors (and the designers' opinion that the Italian national colors lack harmony) refer to a color illustration that appeared either in a Ladies' Home Journal Magazine or pattern catalog.  The designers get honesty brownie points for admitting that they've designed a composite of peasant dress.  I like the instruction for "an abundant display of jewelry."

And earlier maker made some pencil notations on the pattern envelope for the colors of the blouse, bodice, apron, skirt and bodice facing including red, green, and dark blue.  The bodice was also cut a bit lower, with the cut-off piece carefully folded into the envelope.

I believe that the young lady in our illustration may be reading her dance card, a clue that this type of costume could be worn to fancy dress balls.

Here is my grandmother in another interpretation of "traditional" Italian folk garb from about the same time that this pattern was published.

While we "read" the red, green, and white in my grandmother's costume as typically representing Italy, the Italian tri-color flag with which we're now familiar wasn't formally adopted until 1948, though there were many variants of these colors in earlier Italian flags.

Standard Designer - Ladies' and Misses' Apron Bathing-Suit

Mid 1920s.

Here's a nice photo from Shorpy from 1920 showing what was probably a purchased bathing suit made of knitted fabrics.  By now we've definitely abandoned the earlier dress-and-bloomers style that we saw in May Manton 7853 but some sort of skirt is still thought necessary.

For this pattern the designers recommends Jersey for the "tights," as they're are calling the undergarment.  At this time Jersey would have been a fairly sturdy knitted fabric of wool.  Recommendations for the "apron" include taffeta, shantung, satin, printed crepe and crepe de chine.

The print on view A looks very much like Egyptian hieroglyphics to me.

As it happens, King Tut's tomb had been discovered by Howard Carter in 1922, and worldwide Egyptomania promptly ensued.

McCall 2243 - Misses' Casual Tunic or Cobbler Apron

1958

By the 1950s cobbler aprons were very popular.  With its bust darts, curved sides, and pocket detailing, Cardin's interpretation for McCall's is a little tonier than the completely unstructured tabard-style aprons offered by most pattern companies at this time.

Pierre Cardin was trained as a tailor and worked at Paquin, Schiaparelli, and Dior before setting out on his own and showing his first couture collection in 1953.  He would release his first ready-to-wear collection in 1959, but in 1958 he enters American popular culture with a series of patterns for McCall.  The elegant little suits and cocktail dresses one understands, but the thinking behind the apron and "casual tunic" is a bit mysterious; can you imagine a Calvin Klein apron pattern, for example - or better yet - Karl Lagerfeld?

But compare the tunic to Cardin's "Cosmos" dress from 1967.  The evolution is very clear.

Victoria and Albert Museum

The perky little bows provide a rather strange counterpoint to Cardin's generally very clean design aesthetic.

Butterick 3120 - Women's and Misses' Hospital Gown

1940s.

Patterns for hospital wear still up now and again in the backs of the big pattern catalogs, but they don't stay in print very long and can be hard to find.  Really, this is just a nightgown pattern cut off short and modified to tie in the back, but wouldn't it be comforting to go into the hospital supplied with gowns that somebody who cared about you had made?  And wouldn't it also provide some measure of comfort and purpose to the maker to have done something so useful?

McCall 1332 - Men's Western Shirt

1947.

This is the earliest western shirt pattern I've found thus far.  Unlike some of the later western shirt patterns, this is purely a fancy dress shirt - no workaday checks or stripes are illustrated here.  Note the spectacular embroidered cuffs on Mr. A's shirt.

McCall was based in New York City, and I suspect their illustrators were mostly local talent, so their knowledge of cowboys may be based almost entirely on the oaters they took in at the Saturday matinees.  Any Saturday would do; between 1943 and 1947, almost 500 westerns were released in the United States, starring the likes of John Wayne, Randolph Scott, Joel McCrae, Roy Rogers; even Errol Flynn and Robert Mitchum did their time in a Stetson during these years.  (Mr. B. would appear to be related to both Randolph Scott and John Wayne.)

A few of Roy Rogers's costume changes, courtesy of LIFE magazine

But why did McCall think this pattern was necessary to their product line?  Who was buying such flamboyant western shirt patterns?  Did ranch wives make these shirts up for their menfolk for rodeo days and Saturday night dances?  Did wealthy dudes wear these while carefully rusticating at ranches catering to their dreams of a simpler, more direct life?  Did anybody east of the Mississippi wear these splendid shirts?

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.

Simplicity 1459 - Women's One-Piece Dress

Mid to late 1940's.  Because this one doesn't explicitly call itself a housedress, the illustrator felt the need to show us the activities for which this casual, summery dress was suitable, such as mopping the floor.  The version on the right, made up in chambray and trimmed with eyelet ruffling, will see you nicely dressed for a quick trip to the corner market.

This being the 1940's, shoulder pads are called for.  Note that the back illustration and the fabric requirements list an option 3 for a version with contrasting yoke and sleeves. This type of color blocking is popular at this time.