#nancy ferris-thee

[professorpski]

1950s Sweetheart: Butterick 6672

Butterick offers up this 1950s dress for the spring, complete with white gloves, woven bag and half hat. The neckline is a higher, daytime version of the sweetheart neckline--so-called because it resembles the top of a heart--perfect for a spring or summer wedding or other celebration. It has a long, gored skirt, and a full-button front, both features of the 1950s. The long and flared skirt became the fashion after Christian Dior introduced the New Look in 1947, and although we see some full-button dresses earlier than the 1950s, prior to that, most shirt-waist dresses buttoned only to the waist and then also opened at the side seam with snaps. Notice there are LOTS of buttons here, 17, in fact, in order to avoid the gaping and flapping open that sometimes happens with poorly designed shirt-dresses. There are cap sleeves, gathers at the waist, front and back, and then a matching belt. She recommends cottons, but medium-weight rayon with some body to them would work nicely too. It has to have enough body to support the interfaced neckline.

Most fun of all, there is a pattern and directions for a half hat, a look that was very popular in the 1950s. It is kept on by the shape which is wired, and by a comb too in this case. You will need millinery wire, of course, plus as many flowers as like and veiling, etc. I am very fond of half hats which I have blocked in both fur felt and sinamay, but pattern magazines did include half hat directions for those covered in fabric. While fabric does have a bias to work with, you may find some wrinkling as you make it, but you can always cover that up with some flowers whose application you must play with to find what works best for your head and your hair. Work with a mirror for best results is my advice. 

This is Making History pattern by Nancy Farris-Thee who usually offers much  patterns from much earlier decades. You can find it at your local fabric store and here: https://butterick.mccall.com/b6672

[professorpski]

Making History: Butterick 6190: An Empire-Waist Evening Dress

Butterick Patterns offers this pattern from their Making History series by Nancy Farris-Thee which features the ankle-length skirt with an empire bodice. Although they don’t offer a date for this, I estimate it’s the very early 20th Century from the cut and the hemline at the top of the ankle.

These pictures give you can idea of the many ways a clever dressmaker could vary the materials and trims from lacy overlays to heavy satins to sheer panels. The 1900s and 1910s saw all kinds of mixes of fabrics and trims from the dramatic or daring for evening with lace for example, to the subtle for daytime, like wool suit with velvet trim. The dress is underlined, and also lined, plus the bodice is boned. Both the small bolero jacket which you see in the pink version, and two kinds of headbands are included, one you can clearly see in the gold version.

You can find this at your local fabric store, or here online: https://butterick.mccall.com/b6190

[professorpski]

The Forties: Tropical or Not, Butterick 6266

By the late 1930s, the hemlines had risen to just below the knee. This number could be from then and that hemline got women through World War II. But the tiered peplums tell you that this style did not come out during the war as there were strictures on how much fabric could be used in the U.S. And then the New Look in 1947, so this is either just before the war or just after it. The bodice has French darts coming up and then a dart and gather at the actual neckline which softens the look.

There are two different sleeves which give very different looks to the bodice. There is a short slightly flared sleeve in the tropical print, a cool, yet covered choice for a summer look. These can be lined in a contrasting color if you are feeling playful. They suggest cotton and cotton blends, but I can imagine a medium dress-weight rayon print doing service well here.

Then there is the longer, more serious looking fitted sleeve, with a few gathers at the top of the shoulder and shaping at the elbow by a gather along the back seam. I can imagine skipping the peplums all together if you want a simpler dress for work. This opens at the side with a zipper or the vintage snap placket. Again, I can imagine this is a rayon, one with a little body, or even a wool crepe. Both some of my fabric dress fabrics.

 This is one of the Making History patterns done in modern sizing by Nancy Farris-Thee, and you can find it at your local fabric store or online here: 

https://butterick.mccall.com/b6266