Hollywood Vintage Pattern: No. 895

This is one of the very first vintage patterns I got and the first Hollywood pattern I bought. I didn't find a copyright date on it but I'd say this pattern came out between 1933 and 1936. I really love the armscye angle and the sportiness of this look. I've always thought that if you're going to include a jaunty hat in a pattern picture then you ought to include the pattern for it. Sadly, this is never the case. I want the short version of this coat with the hat shown with it.


Many of the actresses that appear on the Hollywood patterns weren't huge (though I do have Betty Grable and Carole Lombard Hollywood patterns). I know that most of the ones I have aren't especially well known actresses because the really famous ones are usually more difficult and more expensive to get my hands on. I particularly remember the cutest dress ever that featured Claudette Colbert and it was way out of my reach at $80.

Although winter is my favorite season for most things I think fall is the most exciting season in fashion. In spite of the horrifying number of ugly furs that inevitably surface, fall fashion means tights, sweaters, hats, pants, scarves, shoes that aren't strappy, and jackets and coats.

Today is the first day of fall and I'm so excited it's here! I have a hunger to wear charcoal and pumpkin orange.

Summer Dressing: from the vintage pattern collection

Vintage Simplicity Pattern #3250

When you're collecting vintage patterns and you know all the good places to look you'll start seeing the same patterns in different sizes, different places, and in different conditions. The first time I saw this pattern it was smashing crushing love I felt for it. I got out-bid on it once on E-bay. Then I managed to get it, but in a size 12 which would have fit me when I was, well, 12. I gave that one to my friend Sharon who actually made it. She had to do some adjustments which is usual for most patterns but in the end she was so flipping cute in the outfit that if I didn't already love her so much I would have not been able to stand her. She has the nicest figure (still does after two babies...bitch! Ha, just kidding. Just so happens I still love her and she's not at all a bitch.) and this outfit when sewn is exactly as wonderful as I imagined.



As you can see, I finally ended up with a copy of it in my own size. I never stop imagining how great it would be to wear this ensemble to the farmer's market in the summertime. Or how about to a park with my kid? It would be awesome to garden in. Why people feel they have to garden in jeans is a mystery to me. I have never liked wearing jeans. I loath denim, for one thing. For another, they have never done my ass any favors. Pants like these ones made in a sturdy twill would be very comfortable for gardening in and super attractive on most people. If one is worried about dirt showing (as though it didn't on denim or sweats!) one can make them in a pretty cocoa or black twill.

As I load my vintage pattern collection onto this site it will become apparent what my style obsessions are. I won't give it away all at once.

Some day I hope to be able to finally make this for myself and then wear it with a giant sunhat and a pair of Jewish grandmother sunglasses.

Summer Dress: from the vintage pattern collection

I have a fairly big vintage pattern collection. It tells a very clear story about my tastes in clothes, what I want them to accomplish for me, and what I think I might actually look good in. I would go on very specific hunts for vintage patterns such as bathing suits, because I loathe nearly all modern bathing suits. When on a hunt for a specific pattern I decided not to get any that weren't in my size* or at the very least in my size range. Vintage sizes are very different than the standard industry sizing today. Earliest sizing reflected bust size and I don't see any sense in having changed that system. Soon the sizing standards changed to representational sizes like 12 and 16 and 18 and 20.

A vintage size 12 is similar to a current size "0", which is a total joke and implies that women are so vain that they can't understand that numbers are just numbers that describe a physical plane and a woman can have the most gorgeous slender body and have a bust measurement that reads "40", which doesn't say she's fat, it says she's either got a broad back or a full bust or some perfect combination of the two. It's distressing to me that women seem to fall for the trickery of diminishing size numbers.

Most of the patterns I've collected are in the following sizes: 18, 20, 22, 38, 40, and 42.

(The first three sizes represent a bust size and corresponding hip size, the last three ARE the bust measurements.)

I got this dress pattern because an online friend was giving it away so I figured it was fine getting a size 12 which, even at my thinnest I would never have fit into a size 12 because my chest is too wide (bust measurement isn't simply how big your boobs are, it's a measurement you take across your boobs and around your back to figure out what your widest bodice measurement is).

I'm not a stellar pattern grader, in fact, I got a D in it in fashion design school. Grading a pattern is a mathematical art and closer to sizing architectural models than it is to pattern drafting. If you buy patterns in the wrong size and you want to change the size it won't come out right if you just increase all the lines by a half inch. This is why I have always bought patterns in the actual size I was or close enough that simple adjustments would result in a well fitting garment.

I couldn't resist this free pattern though. This is a style I can carry off when my figure is at its best. Although I do think fuller breasts work best with this style, I believe that smaller breasts can carry it off.

And look at that hat!

I mean to write a mini dissertation on why I think vintage patterns are a rich resource for modern designers and pattern drafters. There are few subjects that I get so excited about with a completely geeky absorption. In short, a vintage pattern isn't just cool because the paper is old and the printing is charming, it's cool because it's a true blueprint to the fashions of the past. There really is no more authentic way to suit yourself up in vintage style. It's better than buying and wearing vintage clothes from a thrift or an antique shop.

It's the only way you can have a brand new authentic vintage design.

(Provided you can lay your hands on an appropriate fabric.)

It's a blueprint to the past.



*Back when I started collecting vintage patterns I was generally a size 20 (a bust 38, waist 32, hips 40). I am now off the vintage sizing charts. My goal is to return to a vintage size 20.