7-piece mini-wardrobe from 1948

Today I have a 7-piece, late-40's mini wardrobe, designed by fashion editor Mary Hordern (1911-1961) The basic items below combine well for autumn and winter. These looks represent the New Look-style with clinched-in waist, fullness around the hips and rounded shoulders.

"Although clever ideas sponsored by Paris designers are featured, there is nothing too complex for the average home dressmaker to handle." 

the 7 pieces:

• overcoat 
• suit with two different skirts 
• two-piece day frock 
• two-piece evening frock

overcoat:
"Complies with voluminous lines decreed by all overseas designers. It is made with a stiffened detachable collar, worn flat with cape effect, as a hood, or high as a storm collar (as shown above). If you prefer it, make the collar of fur, plaid or tweed, backed with a lighter or darker toned material than the pine-green of the coat.
Other good color for this coat would be mustard yellow, lilac, crimson, tortoiseshell or verdegris-green. Be sure the color chosen goes both with your frock and suit."


suit:
"Select whatever color will tone with your overcoat. Coat of the suit is made with magyar sleeves, nipped waist, simple rolled collar. One skirt has a peg-top made with small tucks and one back pleat.
The second skirt is made with panelled flares overpleated. It can be worn with a sweater and flat shoes for the country or with a tailored coat for town."

did you know...
...that 'pegging' is creating width in the hips and closeness at the hem, fashionable in the beginning of the 20th century. It came into fashion again in the 50's, when a tiny waist was accentuated by wide hips for the New Look.

two-piece day frock:
"Top, with scooped basque, can be worn outside or tucked into the skirt. It is made with a small collar and magyar sleeves. Trim it with either a crisp, white, starched collar or a black velvet bow. The peg-top skirt, made with seamed tucks can also be worn with sweaters for casual occasions."

did you know...
...that a 'magyar' sleeve an early 50's sleeve type is? It is halfway between a dolman and batwing sleeve, tapering towards the wrist. There is often an underarm gusset added.

two-piece evening frock:
"The fitted bodice of back velvet has a halter-neck strap pulled wide under the arms. If you like, trim it with roses of velvet bows. The skirt can be of any color and is made on a drawstring, giving fullness."

did you know...
...that the foundation garment of those years was the guepiere, a  corselette which pulled only at one place, the actual waist?

1934 cruise wardrobe - article

This week back to the 1930's again. Today an article from 1934, which gives a detailed description of a cruise wardrobe when you decide to escape the cold weather. Later this week: in the baby bootie series the cutest 30's booties ever!!! Plus, the finishing touches on my Valerie jumper.
Suddenly, the weather has got warm here, in Western Europe. We are experiencing a quite warm winter this year. No sign of snow at all! When the temperatures are rising it is nice to think about planning the holidays. This week we finally sold our old house (yay!) so there will be more money left to get away for a few days. In the 30's cruises were the ultimate holiday get-aways for the rich. Entertainment, socializing and sunbathing on the ship and sightseeing ashore. With these items you are safe for colder weather on the way and ready for a summer holiday ashore!

"The experienced, well-dressed traveller, you will find, takes a few well-made clothes, the minimum amount of hats and shoes, and looks infinitely smarter than the amateur who is always changing her frocks and is encumbered by many trunks and suitcases."

tweed or flannel suit

• Flannel in beige, grey, dark blue or brown; tweeds in checks and plaids. 
• The  coat should be either hip length (nipped-in-at-the-waist) or full length (either fitted or swagger style) 
• A skirt of the same fabric, with a big pleat back, and in front stitched down to knee-height to complete the suit. 
• Complete with blouses, several wool sweaters a wool cardigan

long coat

• A long coat with a high collar and deep pockets in natural colored tweed (flecked with brown and yellow) lined with yellow jersey to wear over sweater and skirt or frocks. 
• The blouse is of the same jersey and the skirt is the same tweed tweed or flannel with matching long coat (to wear sweater or cardigan underneath) 
• Grey flannel instead of tweed combines well with everything. 
• White flannel and chinchilla cloth coat can be an option, but then you need another coat for colder weather.

lightweight wool frock

• To wear on board. 
• It should be very tailored looking, in a lighter shade fine wool jersey.
• machine knitted or handknitted material, short sleeves, trimmed with buttons and pockets.
• Color suggestion: pastel blue, grey, pink or yellow, beige, grey, white

wool frock 

• To wear ashore. 
• Sleeveless or short sleeved, with an accompanying brief jacket, which is made in the same fabric with short or 3/4 sleeves in plainly tailored crepe-de-chine or linen. 
• Thin frocks should be of crepe-de-chine, pique, tweed, linen or any of the non-transparant cottons, tailored with a severe neckline, short sleeves and pleats in the skirt. 
• Printed crepe with a flower, dotted or striped pattern in red and white, blue and white, yellow or green or brown and white can be an option.

evening dress with a cape or jacket

• The simpler the better. 
• Made out of printed crepe, lace or chiffon.
• Add long coat of velveteen, velvet or sheer wool in a bright color for cooler nights on deck.

sports outfit

• An outfit consisting of shorts, shirt and detachable skirt for deck sports, in linen, pique, jersey, sponge cloth or flannel. 
• The shirt is made like a men's buttoned shirt with two patch pockets. the shorts can be tight fitting if you are slim. 
• For the 'stouter' girls pleats over the stomach and full legs that hang linke knee-length skirts. 
• A skirt with buttons at centre front (the bottom buttons are left undone and there is no need to wear stockings!)

bathing costume or beach dress 

• To wear on deck.

shoes

• Evening shoes which can be paired with several gowns and topcoat.
• Two pair of day shoes: 
• one pair of white or brown, and white low-heeled, rubber soled lace-ups for deck wear 
• and a pair of white or brown and white court shoes with a high Cuban heel for ports. 
• Add a dark pair of shoes if one of the ports is cold.

hats

• Made of the same material as the tweed or flannel ensemble.
• A medium brimmed thin white felt or panama for the thin frocks 
• and a big white straw for the ports.

other:

• a white or colored mackintosh (=trench coat) for rainy ports
• scarves in dark or bright colors to wear with the thin frocks and sweaters.

source newspaper article and images: Australian Women's Weekly through Trove.

Schiaparelli's 1936 wardrobe plan

"If you own a fairly large variety of cheap clothes and change them a dozen times a day, you will never appear chic; cheapness is always apparent."

I hate when this happens but last year I accidentally deleted a complete post with text and a bunch of pictures I've prepared!!! It took hours to find and edit the best pictures and to write the text, but with one mistake it was all gone. Finally I had the time to prepare a new version, hope you like it!

As I wrote here fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli was often asked to contribute to fashion articles in the 30's. In a 1936 magazine interview she advised on building a basic wardrobe from scratch: "how to dress inexpensively and yet look smart as a star" (link to full text: click here) The article only describes the main clothing items, basic things like underwear, stockings and blouses are not listed. Her most important message is that good,  simply made clothes never date. You can better invest in quality than quantity. So true!

did you know...
...that Schiaparelli had her own signature shade: shocking pink? The color is said to be inspired by a pink diamond by Cartier. Schiaparelli used it often in her collections and for the packaging for her 1937 fragrance, named Shocking. She asked Surrealist designer Leonor Fini to create a perfume bottle imitating the curves of movie star Mae West. She once called the shade "life-giving, like all the light and the birds and the fish in the world put together, a color of China and Peru but not of the West – a shocking colour, pure and undiluted."

If you want to start building your own (vintage) wardrobe, these are the key items she suggests to start with:

• a good suit
• a good coat
• two plain dresses for afternoon and dinner
• a smart evening dress and an evening wrap
• sweater
• shoes
• hats, bags, jewelry

So, how to be chic on a small income? To give you an idea how such a mini-wardrobe would look like, first an impression from an 1936 AWW issue:


Sounds easy, right? Now let's see the comments of Ms. Schiaparelli on every item, plus more inspiration from the late 1930's!

suit:
"Buy a good suit and live in it, rather than a lot of cheap clothes.Let it be a good, tailored suit, carefully made, with beautiful material and don't be afraid to be seen in it too often."


coat:
Preferably a black coat with a fur collar. "For winter you should have a 3/4 fur coat, if you can not afford fur, a heavy tweed." Add for a cool summer climate a 3/4 cloth coat.




dresses:
"For the first dress I would suggest a good crepe, with two different scarfs to be worn with."



evening dress:
"Add a little jacket for informal parties and leave it off for the formals."


sweater:
"A good sweater for weekends in the country and general sports."


shoes:

- 1 pair of Oxfords

- 1 pair of pumps with Cuban heels

- 1 pair of evening sandals (in either silver of gold, they last a long time)
"Shoes should never be conspicous. a shoe to be really smart should be as pain as possible, with a heel that suits the girl who wears it."


shoes, hats, bags:
- a minimum of 2 hats, one felt and one dressy hat
"Shoes, hats, bag and gloves ar frightfully important and should be considered together. All should match in color."

newspaper images: AWW through Trove
jewelry:
"Cheap jewelry should never be worn, unless it happens to be something that you positively know suits your type. Pearls, including cheap imitations are always in good taste. Plain gold jewelry in a modern design is always good."

"Buy good clothes only and never be afraid to wear them too often, or of not being in style."

above: Ms. Schiaparelli herself

Schiaparelli-chic 1937

"Originality, plus simplicity of line is the secret of chic."

Schiaparelli wearing her own design: a shoe-hat (black wool, winter 1937/38)

Elsa Schiaparelli (1890–1973) was an Italian fashion designer. She ruled the fashion world of the 1920's and 30's along with Coco Chanel. Like Chanel she retired soon after WW2. One of her most famous deaigns is Wallis Simpson's lobster dress which she created in collaboration with Salvador dali. She contributed to fashion articles from time to time, in several magazines/newspapers during the 30's. In 1937 she gave her 7 rules on how to dress chic.

Wallis Simpson wearing Schiaparelli's famous Lobster dress

schiaparelli's seven rules 
On how to dress chic:
1. simple, beautiful lines and good (quality) materials
2. spotlessly clean clothes
3. be tidy, take good care of every garment
4. in color matching garments
5. dress to suit the occasion
6. keep a small stock of matching clothes
7. spend to buy the very best quality of accessories (shoes, hats, bags) you can afford

1934 spring inspiration: the third and fourth models from Schiaparelli: blue wool suit and white cotton blouse with linen lace ending on the jabot, black wool coat with silver fox scarf

The key is to invest in small stock, but matching clothes, made of quality materials. Nowadays it is easy to forget the importance of quality, when we can buy new, cheap clothing for every season. Looking at myself I prefer to invest in just one or two better pieces (on sale) than filling my wardrobe with tons of cheap and 'fashionable' clothes each season. On the downside, I must say, I looooove colors, and little details so often forget to buy clothes that I can wear in different combinations.
I don't follow the newest fashion trends, and prefer to wear my own, authentic mix of vintage inspired and modern day garments, and I certainly invest in good quality accessories. How about you?


Schiaparelli blouses from 1938: pink Vyella fabric with brown leather buttons, crochet hat, Vyella jacket blouse with chinese collar and leather buttons.

did you know that...
...Vyella fabric was a twill weave blend of 55% merino's wool and 45% cotton in the early 20th century? Later they modified the fabric mix in 80% cotton and 20% wool. In the early years, the fabric’s unique selling point was its combination of lightness and fashion, whilst providing warmth and durability.

1939 beautiful felt hats, left a cocoa-brown forward jutting beret from Schiaparelli


Source newspaper image: AWW through trove

Sewing plans - coordinates

   
Simplicity 3688 and 4044

Love or hate coordinates?
First of all the most beautiful, shooting music to wake up with... at least to whom who love classic music. Others might find this rather irritating because of the repeating theme of the Canto Ostinato from Simenon ten Holt. (the title means 'stubborn song')

Anyway, there is a new Sewaholic pattern!
I wasn't testing this time as I did with the Cambie dress, Tasia asked specially for pear-shaped ladies for pattern testing and I'm not one. Though, my weakest point (hello body image!) are my thighs. Trousers often stuck halfway up, even if they would fit in the waist. and how about the gaping backs? Pffff..... Now, the new pattern, the Thurlow trousers look like have enough room in the leg-area: "It’s the first trouser pattern designed for curvy hips, fuller thighs and a narrow waist." There is also a built-in extension in the back which you could adjust. Once we are settled in our new home I'm planning to make a suit, skirt and trousers to have a complete coordinated set, like the Vogue Wardrobe series.

To make my wardrobe-variation, I need to a fitted jacket. The jackets of the patterns above are not fittd enough for my taste. They are early 40's patterns, a bit boxy and long, while towards the end of the 40's the jackets got more fitted and a little shorter too. For the skirt and the suit I'm going to use the out of print Vintage Vogue pattern 2885 which I've recently ordered. The jacket is really nicely fitted and the skirt is an A-line, even if it looks on the pattern envelop like a fitted, straight one. For the trousers I'm planning to use the Sewaholic Thurlow pattern, which has wide legs, a slightly lower waist than the traditional 40's pants. I think it would go nicely with the 40's Vogue jacket:





Played with Photoshop a little to show how the fitted suit would look on my not-so-elongated torso. Just to show how different the proportions are. Still looks good...

Style Macaron dress for winter

Even if it has short sleeves, the Macaron dress is versatile for the autumn/winter months. I've made mine with a corduroy fabric which has more body. Here is my 'winterized' version:

Boots (Airstep), shrug (Esprit - this is basically a tube with an opening in the middle) and a shawl:


 

I'm taking a few days off from blogging - London is waiting!