Monday, August 10, 2009

Clothes for You: a Gem from 1954!

Tina, from the awesome blog what-i-found, is doing an amazing series of photographic posts from a vintage fashion book called Clothes for You, which was a "guide for the young woman who wishes to be well-dressed."

This book was first published in 1947, and then updated in 1954, which is the edition Tina is posting photos from. Just two years after the publication of Vogue's New Book for Better Sewing! The outfit featured above is described as "an afternoon suit with its soft dressmaker touches that may be worn for after-five affairs when you wish to keep your outfit simple but in good taste." (Afternoon suit? After-five affairs? I think this is directly related to our earlier discussion about "overdressing.")

My favorite is this versatile ensemble, which is a strapless dress for evening, but can be transformed into a day dress with the addition of a smart little jacket. (And, apparently, a . . . bonnet?)

what-i-found is a fabulous blog with tons of "vintage sewing and fashion ephemera." Be sure to go check it out! Tina also has an online shop with lots of vintage patterns, like the darling one below.

P.S. If you're interested in buying a copy of Clothes for You, there's one on Alibris right now for $35.

6 comments:

  1. The bonnet is kind of cute in a "going to roll up my sleeves and scrub the house from top to bottom" kind of way. Of course I don't wear a day dress to do that though.

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  2. Thanks for the link! :) I just love that little strapless dress too--but I think I like her bracelet even more. ;) lol! (I'm a sucker for those large, bangle style bracelets!)

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  3. I love looking at pictures of fashions from the past. Thanks for the link.

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  4. Gloves. Are we going to start wearing little white gloves? Until then, I don't think we have to worry much about being overdressed.

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  5. k, I can't even imagine trying to wear those little white gloves here in NYC! They'd be filthy by the time you got to the office.

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  6. Oh, my! Thanks for the shout out. I had lots of new visitors today thanks to your nice post. I hope some of them stick around. I sure plan to hang out here!

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Thanks for your comments; I read each and every one! xo Gertie

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