Hervé L. Leroux Resort 2017 photographed by Desiree Mattsson. Model: Alexandrina Turcan. Image: Desiree Mattsson.
Farewell to the great Hervé Léger. I wrote a brief tribute to the late designer for FASHION magazine.
To learn more about Léger’s work for Guy Laroche under the name Hervé L. Leroux, and the commercial patterns from his tenure, see my series.
A look from Adam Andrascik’s Fall 2015 collection for Laroche. Photo: Yannis Vlamos. Image: Vogue.com.
From Guy Laroche to Paco Peralta, Vogue’s designer patterns for Winter/Holiday 2017 offer a range of festive looks for the coming season.
The new Guy Laroche is a skinny jean and party top, recommended for lamé:
Vogue 1573 by Adam Andrascik for Guy Laroche (2017) Image: McCall’s
The ensemble is the first pattern to be drawn from Adam Andrascik’s debut collection for Laroche.
V1573 by Adam Andrascik for Guy Laroche on the Fall 2015 runway. Photo: Yannis Vlamos. Image: Vogue.com.
Gleaming tartan jacquard is the star of this ensemble from Anne Klein, now designed by Sharon Lombardo:
Vogue 1571 by Sharon Lombardo for Anne Klein (2017) Image: McCall’s.
Guinevere Van Seenus wore a similar look for the Fall 2016 campaign, photographed by Annemarieke van Drimmelen:
Anne Klein Fall 2016 ad campaign. Photo: Annemarieke van Drimmelen. Model: Guinevere Van Seenus. Image: Behance.
Like fall’s V1561 jacket, the two Zandra Rhodes offerings are from the Fall 2016 collection, which was sponsored by Kraftangan Malaysia. (Kraftangan is Malay for ‘handicraft.’) As always with Rhodes’ work, the focus is on textiles, here on a double-sided fabric such as metallic jacquard:
Vogue 1566 by Zandra Rhodes (2017) Image: McCall’s.
Shot by Andrew Woffinden, the collection lookbook was styled by Grace Woodward with Nicholas Kirkwood shoes and a turban by Piers Atkinson:
Zandra Rhodes’ Songket dress, FW 2016. Photo: Andrew Woffinden. Editor: Grace Woodward. Image: Zandra Rhodes.
Vogue chose three of Rhodes’ Songket pieces—a dress, peplum top, and trousers—for the Winter/Holiday collection. Songket is a traditional metallic brocade produced in Southeast Asia.
Vogue 1572 by Zandra Rhodes (2017) Image: McCall’s.
Zandra Rhodes’ Songket top, FW 2016. Photo: Andrew Woffinden. Editor: Grace Woodward. Image: Zandra Rhodes.
Zandra Rhodes’ Songket trousers, FW 2016. Photo: Andrew Woffinden. Editor: Grace Woodward. Image: Zandra Rhodes.
Paco Peralta’s latest design for Vogue is a dolman-sleeved knit top and handkerchief skirt. Festive and versatile, the skirt even has pockets:
Vogue 1567 by Paco Peralta (2017) Image: McCall’s.
I have some Lurex in my stash, don’t you?
If you’re fresh out of shiny fabric, you might be interested in Gorgeous Fabrics’ farewell sale. Last weekend, owner Ann Steeves announced that she is closing shop after 11 years in business.
Amanda Murphy wears Laroche by Adam Andrascik, Miss Vogue supplement, Vogue Paris, September 2015. Photo: Lachlan Bailey. Editor: Géraldine Saglio. Image: Guy Laroche.
Paco Peralta sketch for Vogue 1567 ©McCall’s/Paco Peralta.
Paco Peralta has seen some major milestones lately. Last fall, the Barcelona couturier became Vogue Patterns’ first Spanish designer in half a century, and this year his blog, BCN – UNIQUE Designer Patterns, is celebrating a decade online. (Like Toronto’s YYZ, BCN is both the airport code for Barcelona and shorthand for the city itself.)
The licensing deal brings a new audience to Peralta’s precision-cut designs. Peralta himself was already a pillar of the online sewing community, both for his fine sewing tutorials and as a purveyor of couture patterns, all hand-traced in his studio not far from Gaudí’s Sagrada Família basilica.
Born in Huesca, Aragon, Peralta studied at Barcelona’s Institut Català de la Moda before apprenticing in some of the city’s couture ateliers, who kept alive the traditions of Balenciaga and Rodríguez. He became interested in commercial patterns in the 1980s, when a friend gave him a copy of Vestidal; his first pattern purchase was a Vogue Individualist design by Issey Miyake.
Vogue 1476 by Issey Miyake (1984) Model: Ariane Koizumi. Image: Etsy.
Peralta may also be the world’s foremost collector of Yves Saint Laurent patterns, and his blog doubles as a window into this private archive. As regular readers of this blog will recognize, any high fashion sewing history owes much to his work.
Couture designs from Yves Saint Laurent’s Mondrian and Libération collections. Images: Etsy / Paco Peralta.
Vogue Patterns introduced Peralta with two designs in last year’s holiday issue. (Click to enlarge.)
Introducing Paco Peralta, Vogue Patterns, December/January 2016-17. Photo (L): Eric Hason. Image: Issuu.
You can skip the buttonholes with this short-sleeved jacket: it has a midriff inset instead. For the original ensemble, Peralta used a double-sided Italian wool twill-crepe for the jacket, wool-cashmere for the trousers, and for the shirt, a sturdy Egyptian cotton.
Vogue 1526 by Paco Peralta (2016) Photos: Eric Hason. Image: PatternVault shop.
Paco Peralta sketch for Vogue 1526 ©McCall’s/Paco Peralta.
Peralta also used Italian satin-backed wool twill-crepe for his wrap skirt and coat-length jacket. The latter sports a tuxedo-style shawl collar, while the pussy-bow blouse, made in silk crepe de Chine, has French cuffs:
Vogue 1527 by Paco Peralta (2016) Photos: Eric Hason. Image: PatternVault shop.
Paco Peralta sketch for Vogue 1527 ©McCall’s/Paco Peralta.
This tunic and pants ensemble was the summer bestseller. The long version is a heavy linen, while the short, gaucho version is a lightweight silk/rayon. Both have silk organza insets.
Vogue 1550 by Paco Peralta (2017) Photos: Tim Geaney.
Paco Peralta sketch for Vogue 1550 ©McCall’s/Paco Peralta.
For the holiday season, mix and match with party separates: a dolman-sleeved top and winter-weight handkerchief skirt, shown in cotton knit and silk-viscose duchesse satin.
Vogue 1567 by Paco Peralta (2017) Photo: Tim Geaney.
Image: McCall’s.
Coming soon: even more Paco Peralta designs exclusive to Vogue Patterns.
Image: Tany’s Couture et Tricot.
Tara Shannon wears Yves Saint Laurent’s V2337 in Vogue Patterns, November/December 1979, “Glow” editorial. Photo: Albert Watson.
Perfume: Opium, of course!
Yves Saint Laurent’s Chinese tunic got a lot of exposure during the 1979-80 holiday season. The cover of Vogue’s January 1980 retail catalogue also shows a version of this shot. (See Make Mine Vogue.) The pattern is Vogue 2337.
Happy holidays, everyone.
At the V&A in the Alyx pleat dress. Photo: Britt Lloyd. Model: Jazzelle Zanaughtti. Image: SHOWstudio.
The new Design Download from SHOWstudio is an Alyx shirtdress. Alyx was founded in 2015 by Matthew M. Williams, a well-connected American designer now based in Ferrara, Italy. (For more, see Emilia Petrarca, “Kanye West and LVMH-Approved: Meet Designer Matthew Williams” and Matthew Schneier, “Matthew Williams, Renaissance Man.”)
For the Alyx Fall 2017 collection, Williams was inspired by Berlin fetish clubs. The pleat dress was shown in two versions—black leopard print:
Model: Siouxsie Leenaars. Image: vogue.com.
And silver lamé:
Model: Siouxsie Leenaars. Image: vogue.com.
For more views see the Alyx retail site (silver | black).
Watch a video of Williams discussing a piece from the Alyx Spring ’18 menswear collection:
This year’s competition prize is an Alyx catalogue shot by Nick Knight. (Season unspecified.)
Alyx Natural Order catalogue (Fall 2016) photographed by Nick Knight. Image: SHOWstudio.
As before, the pattern download comes in a choice of A4 or A1 sheets, each with a test line to check the scale.
Image: SHOWstudio.
Download the dress pattern (22 pieces)
Size: M
Notes: The original was silk. Skirt has bagged lining. Calls for fusible interfacing for the collar, cuffs, etc.
Notions: 3 small buttons, 7 smaller buttons + additional for concealed skirt closure; contrasting thread for edge stitching, bar tacks, piping, and belt loops.
Stay tuned for the submissions gallery: the contest closes March 1st, 2018.
Catherine Nako wears a Tracy Reese dress at Red’s Jazz Shoe Shine Parlor, Detroit. Photo: Ray Rushing. Image: Instagram.
Have you seen the new designer patterns for Spring 2018?
Badgley Mischka are celebrating their fifth wedding anniversary this March, so it’s a treat to see their work on the cover of Vogue’s Spring lookbook. (Click their portrait for my 2013 Just Married post.)
Badgley Mischka dress V1579 on the cover of the Vogue Patterns Spring 2018 lookbook. Image: Issuu.
The Spring collection also marks the return of Tracy Reese. (The Detroit native was last seen in Vogue Patterns in 2016.) The new Reese design is a dress with contrast yoke and sleeves—great for those matching sheer/opaque print combos:
Vogue 1578 by Tracy Reese (2018) Image: McCall’s.
Sew Today’s latest issue tipped us off to Reese’s comeback:
Tracy Reese dress on the cover of Sew Today, February 2018. Image: sewdirect.
The dark floral was a signature print in her Fall 2016 collection, where it could be seen on dresses, sheer blouses, and a long, cuffed skirt:
Tracy Reese Fall 2016 collection. Image: Vogue.com
Tracy Reese Fall 2016 collection. Image: Vogue.com.
Reese was inspired by Detroit for this collection, and she opened her presentation with a short film starring local model Catherine Nako:
The film stills are by Detroit-based cinematographer Ray Rushing.
Catherine Nako in Tracy Reese Fall 2016. Photo: Ray Rushing. Image: Instagram.
Bonus: I published my Winter/Holiday post before the McCall’s Winter release, which included two Nicole Miller patterns. This asymmetrical top and flared trousers look to be from the Spring 2017 collection:
McCall’s 7692 by Nicole Miller (2017) Image: McCall’s.
Nicole Miller Spring 2017 collection. Image: Vogue UK.
Miller’s Gladiator gown uses contrast binding to punctuate the classic goddess dress. (Still available in white from the designer’s retail site.)
McCall’s 7685 by Nicole Miller (2017) Image: McCall’s.
The original was silk chiffon.
Nicole Miller’s Gladiator gown. Image: Rent the Runway.
See you in the arena!
Mirella Petteni in Venice, 1966. Photo: Helmut Newton. Image: Tumblr.
Happy Mardi Gras! To celebrate the last day of Carnival, here’s a look at the star of Helmut Newton’s 1966 Venetian shoot: Italian model and socialite Mirella Petteni Haggiag.
Born in Bergamo, Mirella Petteni moved to Milan to work as a model. As the wife of film producer Robert Haggiag, Petteni was also a society figure with residences in Venice, Tuscany, New York, and Rome’s Palazzo Mengarini. (See T magazine.) She retired from modelling to become an editor at Vogue Italia.
Mirella Petteni in Queen, August 1966. Photo: Helmut Newton. Image: Sweet Jane.
Petteni can be seen on many Vogue Couturier Designs by Italian designers.
Image: PatternVault on Etsy.
Vogue 1397 by Pucci, March 1965 retail catalogue. Image: Pinterest.
Petteni also appears in a Vogue holiday editorial that includes two Vogue Special designs (Vogue 6084 and 6054):
In Vogue 6084 and 6054, Vogue, December 1963. Photos: Irving Penn? Image: Youthquakers.
Here she wears Galitzine’s halter and culotte:
Vogue 1393 by Galitzine (1964) Image: Etsy.
Here, in Pucci’s bestselling cape-jacket ensemble, Petteni’s aspirational hair is an added bonus:
Vogue 1394 by Pucci (1964) Image: Etsy.
Image: Etsy.
In white dresses from Fabiani and Forquet:
Vogue 1402 by Federico Forquet (1964). Image: Create-Everyday.
Vogue 1866 by Fabiani (1967) Image: Etsy.
Vogue 1899 by Fabiani (1968) Image: Etsy.
Sorbet colour-blocking from Pucci:
Vogue 1865 by Pucci (1967) Image: Etsy.
Vogue 1955 by Pucci (1968) Image: PatternVault on Etsy.
In Forquet’s short, half-bias evening dress:
Vogue 1957 by Federico Forquet (1968) Image: Vintage Pattern Wiki.
Here she poses with Benedetta Barzini in early Valentino:
Benedetta Barzini and Mirella Petteni in Valentino, at Agnese Bruguier’s apartment in the Palazzo Borghese, Rome, Vogue, September 1968. Photo: Henry Clarke. Image: tumblr.
Mirella Petteni in Queen, August 1966. Photo: Helmut Newton. Image: tumblr.
Shalom Harlow in a gown from Hubert de Givenchy’s final couture collection, British Vogue, October 1995. Photo: Nick Knight. Editor: Lucinda Chambers. Image: TFS.
Farewell to Hubert de Givenchy, truly one of the greats.
Read the couturier’s Vogue Paris obituary.
The Gathering of the Clans, McCall’s Pattern Book, Fall 1956. Illustration: Sydelle Hall.
In honour of Tartan Day, a mid-century schoolgirl in the Royal Stewart tartan.
Pattern: McCall’s 2083.
A look from Guy Laroche Spring 2017. Image: vogue.com.
The new designer patterns for Summer 2018 play with texture and special fabrics. Lace, seersucker, matelassé, waffle georgette, even a laser-cut textile makes an appearance.
Vogue’s summer cover look is by Nicola Finetti.
Vogue 1587 by Nicola Finetti, Vogue Patterns lookbook, Summer 2018. Image: McCall’s.
The matelassé cocktail dress with shaped hemline and flounce sleeves is from Nicola Finetti Fall 2016.
Vogue 1587 by Nicola Finetti (2018) Image: McCall’s.
Finetti also showed a longer, front-zip version of V1587. Just trim down the A-line skirt and add a midriff panel:
Nicola Finetti Fall 2016. Images: Not Just A Label.
This season’s backless showpiece is by Adam Andrascik for Laroche: a long-sleeved dress with front bodice drape and slim, layered skirt. Use a semi-sheer fabric for the full effect.
Vogue 1589 by Adam Andrascik for Guy Laroche (2018) Image: McCall’s.
The original is textured silk georgette in a chartreuse-tinged shade of La La Land yellow.
Guy Laroche by Adam Andrascik, Spring 2017. Image: vogue.com.
Andrascik showed two takes on the backless V1589 dress. (A famously backless, ’70s Guy Laroche gown is a perennial inspiration for today’s Laroche designers. French actor Mireille Darc’s gown, worn in the 1972 comedy Le grand blond avec une chaussure noire, also informed Hilary Swank’s Oscar dress.) Here, the V1589 dress is seen backstage:
Backstage at Guy Laroche Spring 2017. Image: Guy Laroche/Instagram.
On a black, sleeveless version, bead chains dangled from silver appliques:
Guy Laroche by Adam Andrascik, Spring 2017. Image: vogue.com.
Judging from the pattern number, the second Laroche may have been delayed from Vogue’s spring release. From Marcel Marongiu, it’s a long-sleeved dress with contrast collar, cuffs, and curved contrast panels in front and back.
Vogue 1577 by Marcel Marongiu for Guy Laroche (2018) Image: McCall’s.
Revered American designer Claire McCardell was the inspiration for Marongiu’s last collection for Laroche. The V1577 dress was shown both long-sleeved and sleeveless:
Guy Laroche by Marcel Marongiu, Spring 2015. Image: Guy Laroche.
Guy Laroche by Marcel Marongiu, Spring 2015. Image: Guy Laroche.
As a grey and white coat dress, it swaps the button placket for jumbo exposed zippers:
Guy Laroche by Marcel Marongiu, Spring 2015. Image: Guy Laroche.
Marongiu’s shift dress version, with giant paillettes, was featured in the Laroche advertising campaign by Steve Hiett. Hiett also photographed the V1589 dress for Spring ’17:
Guy Laroche Spring 2015 by Marcel Marongiu. Images: Guy Laroche.
New from Rachel Comey: the Popcorn dress. The Comey staple is shown in Spring 2017’s seersucker.
Vogue 1585 by Rachel Comey (2018) Popcorn dress. Image: McCall’s.
The pullover dress works for both solids and prints—even print-mixing with contrast skirt inserts. The current version is black rayon.
Rachel Comey’s Popcorn dress, 2017. Image: Rachel Comey.
In her Spring 2007 collection, presented at the Altman building during New York Fashion Week, Comey showed the dress both loose and belted.
Rachel Comey Spring 2007. Images: ELLE.
Backstage at Rachel Comey Spring 2007. Photos: Randy Brooke/WireImage.
A closer look reveals the print-mixing. There are only two prints here, with one, reminiscent of Biba’s famous banana print, in three colourways:
Rachel Comey Spring 2007. Images: firstVIEW.
The Summer patterns include two lace looks from Rebecca Vallance: a cutout dress and the Dolce Vita jumpsuit. (There’s one dress left at the Outnet.) The Dolce Vita is a cropped, wide-leg jumpsuit tied with grosgrain ribbon:
Vogue 1591 by Rebecca Vallance (2018) Image: McCall’s.
The jumpsuit is from Rebecca Vallance Summer 2016.
Rebecca Vallance Summer 2016. Image: Rebecca Vallance/Instagram.
Simplicity’s latest from Cynthia Rowley is a flounce-sleeved lace dress with two neckline variations. Choose from off the shoulder or scoop neck.
Simplicity 8599 by Cynthia Rowley (2018) Image: Simplicity.
Rowley presented her Spring 2017 collection in a “feathered snow globe” at her West Village townhouse. (See WWD.) As photographed by frequent collaborator William Eadon, the S8599 dress is layered, maximalist-style, under an appliquéd satin smock:
Cynthia Rowley Spring 2017. Photo: William Eadon. Image: vogue.com.
The original dress had a contrast back bodice:
Seeing designers’ alternate looks for the Spring/Summer pattern designs, it’s striking how Vogue no longer provides variant views in their designer line, whereas for Simplicity, it’s built in to the business. But armed with reference photos, it’s easy to transform a design.
Nicola Finetti Fall 2016. Photo: Marissa Alden. Model: Morven MacSween. Image: Nicola Finetti/Instagram.
Diana, Princess of Wales, wears Yuki to a banquet hosted by Emperor Hirohito in May, 1986. Image: Pinterest.
Gnyuki Torimaru, or Yuki, is most famous for dressing Princess Diana on her 1986 state visit to Japan. But his licensed sewing patterns date to the year before.
Born in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan, Gnyuki Torimaru (b. 1937) studied architecture in Chicago before settling in London, where he attended the London College of Fashion. He launched his own label, Yuki, in 1972, after stints at Norman Hartnell in London and Pierre Cardin in Paris. (For more, see Suzanne Kampner, “Out Goes Majolica, In Goes Nothing.”)
Image: Vintage Fashion Guild.
Visitors to the Boston Museum of Fine Art can see his blue, pleated gown and other designs in the museum’s extensive Yuki collection.
Gown by Gnyuki Torimaru. Image: Boston Museum of Fine Art.
Torimaru made his name in the 1970s with his draped jersey gowns. Jerry Hall’s cream Yuki gown, seen on the cover of British Vogue and in Barry Lategan’s editorial, “Dare the Ritz,” has a hem that doubles back as a hood. The Boston Museum of Fine Art has a silk version; model-turned-actor Gayle Hunnicutt donated her carnation version to the V&A.
Jerry Hall wears Yuki on the cover of British Vogue, July 1976. Photo: Barry Lategan. Image: Pinterest.
Hunnicutt wore two Yuki pieces in her 1973 British Vogue editorial. The second, low-backed gown is carnation jersey, cut in one piece. She later wore it to a ball at Windsor Castle.
Gayle Hunnicutt in Yuki, British Vogue, October 1973. Photo: Henry Clarke. Image: Pinterest.
Gayle Hunnicutt in Yuki, British Vogue, October 1973. Photo: Henry Clarke. Image: Youthquakers.
Yuki also designed the costumes for Frank D. Gilroy’s romantic comedy Once in Paris… (1978), which starred his client, Hunnicutt.
Embed from Getty ImagesStyle Patterns’ earliest designer series includes two Yuki designs. Both dresses, one a voluminous one size fits all, showcase his trademark draping.
Style 4489 by Yuki (1985)
Misses’ Dress in Two Lengths: Dress is gathered from yoke. Draped sleeves are raglan. Opening is button loops. All edges are topstitched. Suggested fabrics—Fine silk or synthetic jersey, lightweight silk types, lightweight crepe types, crepe de chine, georgette. One size.
Style 4490 by Yuki (1985)
Misses’ Dress in Two Lengths: Dress has fitted under-bodice with draped front and back, which is gathered on padded shoulder and forms fluted sleeve. Skirt is slim with centre back split on full length version. Suggested fabrics—Fine silk or synthetic jersey, lightweight silk types, crepe types, crepe de chine.
Click the Style Patterns tag for more British designer patterns.
Yuki gown featured in Ballgowns: British Glamour Since 1950 (V&A, 2012) Photo: David Hughes. Image: The Cut.
Vivien Solari in Anne Klein’s Fall 2015 ad campaign. Photo: Nathaniel Goldberg. Editor: Laura Ferrara. Image: Instagram.
Have you seen the new Fall patterns?
1597 Vogue Patterns lookbook Fall 2018. Image: Issuu.
Vogue’s cover look is a cropped trench jacket by Sharon Lombardo for Anne Klein. Trousers also included:
Vogue 1597 by Sharon Lombardo for Anne Klein (2018) Image: McCall’s.
The cropped trench is a signature Anne Klein piece, seen in the Fall ’15 (above) and Fall ’16 campaigns. (See my post on Vogue’s Winter/Holiday release.)
Anne Klein Fall 2016 ad campaign. Photo: Annemarieke van Drimmelen. Model: Guinevere Van Seenus. Image: Behance.
From Badgley Mischka, a day-to-evening sheath dress, with cuffed sleeves cut in one with the bodice:
Vogue 1595 by Badgley Mischka (2018) Image: McCall’s.
The original is a navy poly-spandex crepe.
Navy crepe dress by Badgley Mischka. Image: Rent the Runway.
Brocade with a rose gold sparkle is the star of this Badgley Mischka cocktail dress with pleated sleeve flounces.
Vogue 1596 by Badgley Mischka (2018) Image: McCall’s.
A closeup view on the designers’ site, with a different pattern placement:
Detail, bell sleeve brocade cocktail dress. Image: Badgley Mischka.
The flounce sleeve featured prominently in Badgley Mischka’s Fall 2017 collection—in black lace for the opening look.
Two looks from Badgley Mischka Fall 2017. Photos: Umberto Fratini / Vogue Runway.
Paco Peralta’s new design is an edgy LBD with two-way separating zipper.
Vogue 1593 by Paco Peralta (2018) Image: McCall’s.
Plus, a men’s shirt from the team at Koos van den Akker. Make in a single fabric if print mixing isn’t your thing.
Vogue 1599 by Koos van den Akker (2018) Image: McCall’s.
Tonight at New York Fashion Week, Ralph Lauren celebrates his company’s 50th anniversary. Here’s a look at highlights of Ralph Lauren patterns from the ’70s to the ’90s.
Ralph Lauren started out in menswear, and Vogue Patterns’ first licensing with the brand was for men’s designs. The company released its first Polo by Ralph Lauren patterns in the summer of 1975.
That’s Polo Ralph Lauren on the right in Vogue Patterns’ American Bicentennial issue:
This Polo trench is classic for any gender:
Vogue’s licensing of Ralph Lauren women’s wear began in 1979. The earliest Ralph Lauren women’s patterns are for Annie Hall and Western looks like those shown in his Fall 1981 Santa Fe collection—prairie skirts, fringe, and serapes worn with cowboy boots and concho belts.
Ralph Lauren’s Spring 1984 Safari collection is said to have been inspired by Out of Africa, perhaps with a dash of Picnic at Hanging Rock.
Late ’80s Vogue Career designs by Ralph Lauren feature British model Saffron Aldridge, then the face of the brand.
Tartan was one of the main takeaways from Ralph Lauren’s Fall 1991 collection. (As L’Officiel observed, “For Ralph Lauren, tartan isn’t a fashion, it’s a lifestyle.”) Vogue released two patterns from this collection, a dress and trouser ensemble.
Although the envelope for the dress shows it in solid red, the tartan looks had pride of place on the holiday covers, both Vogue Patterns Magazine and the December catalogue.
The tartan pieces had already been promoted that same season in the Fall ’91 advertising campaign and a Grace Coddington / Linda Evangelista cover and editorial (“A Shot of Scotch”) in Vogue’s September issue.
Some later covers showing Ralph Lauren in a less WASP-y mode:
Nothing says Swinging London like Mary Quant. The pioneer of the Chelsea Look will receive a major retrospective at the Victoria and Albert Museum in 2019. (An earlier exhibit, Manchester Art Gallery’s Mary Quant: Fashion Icon, had to close early due to conservation issues.)
The V&A is seeking vintage Quant for the show, including garments — or even photos of garments — made with Mary Quant patterns. See here for more details, or email the curators at maryquant@vam.ac.uk. Update: submissions are now closed.
Butterick licensed Mary Quant patterns from the mid-’60s to the early ’70s. (See my Mad Men-era post.)
For knitters, there were also ultra-mod knitting patterns. Some of these vintage booklets are available as official reissues, like these ones from Mary Maxim. (More on Ravelry.)
Mary Quant and her husband were profiled in Life magazine as early as 1960. (View story here.)
For his 1963 Life feature on the Chelsea Look, Norman Parkinson photographed Melanie Hampshire and Jill Kennington in these Mary Quant dresses:
Butterick released its first Mary Quant patterns in fall, 1964. Here’s Celia Hammond on the cover of the retail catalogue:
The Butterick Home Catalog hailed Quant as the originator of the Chelsea Look.
The earliest Mary Quant patterns pre-date the Young Designer line. This dress pattern even includes the rosette:
British copies of this dress pattern say “featured in Queen magazine.” Jill Kennington wore this and other Butterick Young Designers in what was billed as “The Queen’s first ever make-it-yourself fashion.”
Here Moyra Swan models a mod scooter dress. Suggested fabrics include linen, jersey, lightweight wool, and knits.
This jumpsuit or playsuit came with a matching mini skirt — “the latest put-togethers”:
What to wear with a Mary Quant mini dress? Why, go-go boots, of course:
By 1970, a Quant jumpsuit was more fluid, with a pointed collar; this pattern also includes a maxi-length cardigan. The catalogue gives a better view of the inflatable chair:
Mary Quant in a more romantic mode means a sheer tunic worn with knickers. View B is a maxi dress.
After 1971 or so, Butterick Young Designer patterns had illustrations, not photos. This Mary Quant dress dates to circa early ’73.
Have you made anything from a Mary Quant pattern?
There are only two weekends left to catch Balenciaga: Master of Couture at the McCord Museum. Anne St. Marie’s look (above) was inspired by Balenciaga.
From the inside note: “The new straight-coat fashion favored by Balenciaga, fall and winter coverage for it own sheath dress and everything else in your wardrobe. In colorful Anglo tweed and coordinated red wool, interfaced with Armo hair canvas to hold its line. Earl-Glo Sanitized taffeta lining; B.G.E. buttons. Emme hat; Mark Cross bag; Superb gloves.”
Pattern: McCall’s 3793.
Farewell to Karl Lagerfeld. Prolific, influential, and above all, iconic, the designer — who had a lifetime contract with Chanel — was working to the last.
Read the couturier’s Vogue obituary. (Tim Blanks; German Vogue.)
Alexander McQueen would have been 50 today.
As many of you know, I started this blog with posts on Alexander McQueen, as a way to commemorate his work. His birthday is a natural time to revisit and reflect on his legacy. Since my last roundup in 2015, for the London version of Savage Beauty, I’ve posted about the designer’s 1998 Blade Runner collection. You’ll also find extensive updates to my inaugural McQueen for Givenchy series: as part of my recent blog redesign, I added additional and improved images from runway, advertising, and editorial.
I started this blog eight years ago this month. To celebrate, here’s a look at some all-but-forgotten licensing: patterns by Barbara Hulanicki for Biba.
Biba might be the biggest brand you’ll never see on a pattern. Born in Warsaw, Biba founder Barbara Hulanicki (b. 1936) grew up in Palestine and Brighton, where she attended Brighton Art School. She worked as a fashion illustrator before starting the Biba label with her husband, Stephen “Fitz” Fitz-Simon. Sometimes called the first lifestyle brand, Biba was a runaway success in Swinging London, selling everything from cosmetics to couture.
In 1970, Hulanicki licensed patterns with McCall’s as a way to launch her brand in North America. The main promotion was in Seventeen Magazine, as it was Seventeen editor Rosemary McMurtry who first approached Hulanicki about the idea. Hulanicki mentions the McCall’s deal in her memoirs, as well as The Biba Years, 1963-1975, which she co-wrote with Martin Pel
Around New Year’s, 1971, Seventeen readers could peruse the new Biba patterns in a dreamy Sarah Moon editorial shot in Paris. Among the models was Ingrid Boulting, the face of Biba Cosmetics (another Sarah Moon project). As Hulanicki writes in her memoir, From A to Biba, the setting for the shoot was the round tower of Au Printemps, the storied Paris department store. The printed fabrics — cotton satin, rayon crepe, cotton voile, twill, and broadcloth — were all Tootal for Biba, and available at retailers like Macy’s in New York. (More at Sweet Jane. Seventeen scans courtesy of Musings from Marilyn.)
The patterns were even covered more than once in Women’s Wear Daily.
The designs consisted of a top and skirt, separates and a hat, a long-sleeved dress and short-sleeved coatdress, and a midi or maxi dress, all in junior sizes only. Two included a matching choker. Customers could see the Biba logo in McCall’s retail catalogues, but the pattern envelopes give no indication they’re Biba designs.
McCall’s Pattern Fashions featured the Biba patterns in a four-page illustrated portfolio called “Seventeen Magazine Pattern Selections.” The write-up emphasizes Biba’s novelty in North America: Now Seventeen Magazine brings Biba to America … You, too, can be a Biba girl without crossing the Atlantic.
Curiously, the Biba patterns aren’t in McCall’s back index, but one of them appears in this croquet-themed textiles ad — at left, in printed Dacron crepe:
The peplum blouse with short “mushroom” sleeves (McCall’s 2725, view B) is very similar to a Biba evening suit seen in a 19 cover portfolio by David Tack. (Cover at top of post.) Like Seventeen, the British teen magazine also published its feature around the time of New Year’s, 1971.
Have you sewn any of the Biba patterns?
Peter Lindbergh died yesterday. He was 74. (Read the WWD obituary.) The German photographer was a frequent collaborator of Grace Coddington’s. In these images, the duo captured Naomi Campbell and Anna Getaneh in silk pyjamas made from Vogue Patterns.
The patterns are Vogue 7054 and 7079.
