Vintage Patterns: 1944 Wedding Dress

A beautiful example of a ’40’s wedding gown by Butterick. In this pattern we see the styling so typical of the 40’s silhouette – a slim, tapered waist and narrow hips with wide shoulders. In this design the shoulders are padded and frilled to add to the illusion of width. In the below picture an inset image shows an alternative version of the gown for evening wear, with extra long gloves and a veiled cocktail hat as accessories.

Smocking the Old Fashioned Way

I found this wonderful example of smocking at the Camberwell Market in Melbourne. A testament to the painstakingly slow process of hand smocking, this cotton frock was never finished. In this example, a wire weaves through the fabric to create hundreds of tiny pleats. The sewer then stitched a design on top.

Biggest Fan

This 1920’s Japanese fan was a beautiful find at my local op-shop. According to the shop assistant the previous owner had traveled the world and collected fans as mementos. She was a very conscientious collector and labeled each one with the date and place of purchase and the materials used. This one is made from hand painted silk and wood.

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