It all starts with the foundation.

I posted this on my blog today I thought some of you over here at Sew Vintage might find it useful. 

We all make these lovely vintage dresses with glorious fabrics and details. We sweat into our dresses, work for hours on that one sleeve, cry a little when that seam just isn't going our way, and sometimes after all that the garment just doesn't look right. And it sucks. A lot. But here's a solution that you may not have thought of. Does your garment experience any of these problems? 

-Does your vintage dress look a little rumpled and puffs out where it's not supposed to (particularly on the torso)? 
-Having trouble getting that boxy 1920s look? 
-Does the fabric pucker or droop around the bust?
-Getting some rolls and muffin tops where you don't want them? 

If you're not wearing the proper foundation, that just might be your problem! As I've said before and I'll say it again, the first step to a great (not to mention authentic) vintage look is the foundation.

So here's a very very brief (haha... brief) introduction to undergarments and more specifically shape. I borrowed almost all the undergarment images from Lara Corsets. You have got to check her out. She does some amazing work and has a fabulous collection of vintage corsets dating back to the 1700s. It's very cool. 

Let's start with the 1910s. I know not many vintage fashionistas have vintage styled garments going back this far in time, but it's always nice to see the progression of style. I've tried to place a relevant pattern under each image of unmentionables so you can see how the undergarment determines the shape of the dress and not the other way around. 

This shape is achieved with corseting. Steel bones were most common until the beginning of world war I.. You can see that the corset is used to shape the body into a very unnatural shape. The hips are flattened, making the silhouette quite top heavy. The butt is also reduced giving the whole shape an off-balance forward leaning look. I would guess it was not easy to sit down in this type of undergarment. I've never worn one myself, but from wearing other long line corsets I'll just go ahead and say sitting was probably close to impossible and if you did manage to sit you weren't doing so comfortably.  

One WWI begins many women turn in their corsets to be used for metal for the war effort. The general shape of dresses and undergarments become much more natural (aka, less ridiculously smooshed). Corsets begin to shorten, hips are given a fuller shape. There's a short period where more emphasis is given to the waist than earlier in the decade. 

The 1920s arrive and dresses start to take on a much boxier shape. Boned corsets are thrown aside, hems are shortened, busts are bound! There's a real emphasis on a boxy look that de-emphasizes the overly cinched waist of the past century. Unboned shapers and girdles begin to be used to flatten out the whole body and give a nice smooth straight line under the garment. This is also the time of the mainstream appearance of the brassiere (not shown here) though it was little more than a camisole and offered no support. The 1920s brassieres worked the same as shapers, mainly serving to de-emphasize the breast and flatten the chest.

The 1930s are the dawn of the breast my friends. Woman are no longer flattening their chests and we see the introduction of cup sizes for brassieres. Breasts become more natural and curved. Brassieres are still very primitive and not very supportive. They do nothing to "push up" but rather they are used to "fill out" a woman's chest. The shape is a bit pointy compared to our modern standards.  Hips are still constricted with shapers, but the idea is to smooth rather than to reshape. Dresses still mostly have straight lines. The stomach down is still boxy. Undergarments keep this line flat.  From what I've seen one piece shapers and brassiere/waist down girdle combos seem to be equally popular, but the one piece shaper definitely gives you a cleaner line.

The 1940s give us better fitted bras and cups. The shape of breast becomes a little more pointy, but nothing near the bullet bra of the 1950s. In all honesty undergarments don't change much in this period. With a war on and fabric rationing in full effect I guess there wasn't as much room to experiment. Bra technology continues to improve, but at a slower pace than the decade before and after. Waist shapers are still used, but again mostly to smooth lines. By now the look for is natural feminine curves and a far cry from the forced shape look of 30 years prior. We really start to see more and more of the A line skirt and the idea of slimming the waist. 

The 1950s gives birth to a rise top the idea of lifting the "girls" up as high as possible. The bullet bra was born. Circular stitching around the cups formed the pointed shape. Not all bras were padded bullet bras. There were many styles with more rounded cups, but almost all still had the pointed 50s shape. Women are still wearing girdles and shapers. This is in a continued effort to smooth lines. However the overall shape of the 50s is all about curves. Curvy hips, well lifted bust, and a tiny waist. Va-va-voom. The bigger the better.

 

And the 1960s. Undergarments start going under some massive changes with the addition of Lycra and flexible underwire. Some bras at the time were actually coated with a layer of foam latex rubber. They held their shape well and could stand up on their own. They make for a very unique look let me tell you. As the 60s progress cups begin to soften out. The shape becomes rounder. The extremely pointed bullet bra falls out of fashion and the Girdles of the last twenty years start to disappear. They are replaced by power elastic foundation garments. Some of this is a result of the times. Bra burning comes through during the 60s and though not many women participate, the idea causes some big changes. By the end of the 1960s and early 1970s our modern undergarment shape has been mostly formed. The concept that clothing should fit the woman and not that the woman should fit in the clothing seems to be the general idea. Viva la liberte!

So if you have that dress that you made a few years back that's been hanging in your closet because it doesn't look quite right, try fashioning yourself some vintage unmentionables. I bet that dress is going to have a whole new look and I think you'll be pleasantly surprised. 

crossposted to $25 Vintage

I love old patterns and their mysteries!

It's no secret that I love vintage patterns. And not pattern reprints, specifically originals. I love the connection to another human being that you get through their sewing patterns. The notes, markings, alterations, seeing how someone you never knew looked at the construction of the same dress. A small note on yardage makes me giddy. Changed seam allowances? I'm ecstatic. I especially love seeing patterns that have been shortened or lengthened. I like to sit and wonder who the garment was being made for. I love to discover that said person had short arms or a long torso.

Sometimes if you're lucky you get an even closer look into the world of the previous seamstress. One of my favorite patterns isn't the most attractive design, but the note scribbled on the front of the Butterick 2110 envelope makes it wondrous. The note reads "Ramona, dear -- My conscience would not permit me to finance the wearing of pants by a girl, not event to the small extent of furnishing a pattern, so I have removed that portion." The lady did indeed remove the pants portion, but apparently Ramona didn't particularly enjoy the skirted version of the outfit. The pattern remains uncut.

I recently came into possession of a huge box of patterns. About 41 pattern envelopes or so. The patterns were from an estate sale and very likely were owned by the same lady. The markings and handwriting on the various patterns confirm that most of them had been used by this lady. As I open and use each pattern I feel like I'm learning something more about her. For example. She only purchased Simplicity patterns or she kept all her patterns organized by brand and I happened to receive her simplicity supply. I know she lived in Florida. She also very often bought the same pattern in multiple sizes. I assume she had children or grandchildren that she made matching clothing for. The box included four patterns for a men's shirt/vest combo. One in boy's size 1, one in boy's size 8, one in boy's size 10 and one in an adult 15 inch neck.

She was a very talented sewer and she took very good care of her patterns. Each is folded very carefully and not one of the patterns is showing its age. I very often find her alterations to the patterns and the pattern that I'm working with now (Simplicity 5616) is no exception. You can see a close up of some of her alterations on one of the facing pieces.

And on the shoulders of the back and front pieces.

You can read more about this project at my blog: $25 Vintage, but what I'd really like is to ask this group a question.

Why do you sew vintage? Do you like to touch the past like I do? Or do you absolutely love vintage styling? Do you make dresses that remind you of your mother or grandmother? I'd love to know, please share!

Best,
Nancy

$25V and Nancy's introduction.

Hello hello. My name is Nancy and I'm very pleased that I am able to add my post to the series of introduction posts that have been going on this week. You'll have to excuse me as my blog has been going through some major updating. I've recently dusted off an old blog and started a new project on it. I'm calling my project that $25 Vintage Wardrobe Challenge or $25V for short.

Here's the premise. My Beau and I were sitting at the dinner table discussing my recently doubled stash of vintage dress patterns and my love of all things vintage. I was boring him with talking about fabrics, patterns, and zippers when this question was posed. Is it possible to have a completely vintage wardrobe? And what's more is it possible to do it an affordable cost? An intriguing question I thought.

Back in the day my Mother and Grandmother made all of their clothing. And I mean all of it. Fabric was inexpensive and store bought clothing was well out of their price range. My mother grew up in the country with four younger brothers and sisters. My grandmother clothed every single one of them in handmade clothing until they were old enough to sew their own clothing. This seems crazy now when a yard of cotton sometimes exceeds $10.00. Making your own clothing has become more a labor of love and a hobby. It really isn't cost efficient with places like Target, Charlotte Russe, and Kohls around.

So it was with this thought that my Beau issued the challenge. My task? To make a vintage inspired wardrobe. This means tops, bottoms, slips, camis, suits and most especially vintage dresses. There are very few rules, but they are strict.

Rule 1: The total cost of the garment must not exceed $25.00 US Dollars.

Rule 2: All dresses must be made from vintage patterns or vintage inspired patterns.

So that's what's been going on over at my blog. Things are just now getting started so I hope some of you with more established blogs will forgive me as I get my bearings. I'll definitely be posting more about my pattern collecting, vintage colors and fabrics, and other goodies here as things move along.