Gilbert Adrian, American Fashion Designer: 1947 Suit Jacket, Part 2

This black wool jacket by the California designer Gilbert Adrian represents a significant contribution to twentieth century fashion design. By all of its details, along with the silhouette, this design is a classic Adrian piece. The wide shoulders still reflect the Joan Crawford styling that Adrian would ‘invent’ for her movie characters in the early 1930's, long before Paris showed the wedge silhouette.

Glibert Adrain, American Fashion Designer: 1947 Suit, Part 1

Looking closely at a 1940s vintage jacket by Gilbert Adrian can help us understand its style and silhouette. Originally from a 40s suit, this press photo of designer Adrian’s black wool jacket from 1947 shows fashionable accessories on the model, such as her dark gloves. At that time, hair and hats were often small and fit close to the head for a more modern post-war look.

1940s Fashions: American Fabrics magazine from 1949

This post features fashions from 1949 as seen in "American Fabric" magazine. These 1940s fashions were shown to support the growing textile and fashion industry that followed World War II. Inside this issue are full page advertisements from the 40's of fashions using new textiles that were used to promote textile manufacturers.  Many of these ads were also seen in "Vogue" magazine co-sponsored by the fashion designer or label and the textile brand.

1949 Fashions: Simplicity Sewing Patterns

This vintage 1949 August brochure for Simplicity sewing patterns shows diverse new silhouettes available to home sewers that year, for 25 cents each.  The company provided a wide range of styles suitable for it's readers who would be making their own clothes for summer and fall.

Fashion Books: 1940's Fashion Illustrations from the House of Jaques Heim

Full color fashion illustrations of the Jaques Heim French couture collections from the late 1940's are available online through a publication by the Melbourne Fine Art gallery, Sept. 2012, found HERE titled "Fashion Illustrations from the House of Jaques Heim".

Lavish water color illustrations show this French couture designer's genius, and provide a wide range of styles, arranged in chapters. This would be a 'must' for any fashion library, but it is amazing to find it now through issuu.com, without charge. The exhibit was curated by Mara Sison and Peter Jago, under the direction of Bryan Collie. This e-book is divided in chapters on coats and furs, ball gowns, spring and summer, and suits.

A second e-book, "French Fashion and Design: The Art of Fashion Illustration", found HERE was published in 2011, and curated by Mara Sison, directed by Bryan Collie. This book has more variety. In addition to the Jaques Heim fashion illustrations, it also features fashion photos from the 1930's and late 19th century costume illustrations.

Together, these two e-books provide a valuable resource of Jaques Heim during the late 1940's, also a wide variety of skillfully painted illustrations, along with inspiring fashions from that important era and are worth noting.


Fashion Illustrations from the House of Jaques Heim, published Sept. 2012 by the Melbourne Fine Art gallery

The Art of Fashion Illustration published 2011, by the Melbourne Fine Art gallery

Claire McCardell: 1942 Popover dress, the design diagram

When it comes to an American classic, this popover dress by Claire McCardell is one of the most popular. McCardell was able to capture a moment in the social scene where utility and fashion intersected, creating this original garment design that was patented October 31, 1942 at a time when yardage and trims were in short supply.

This dress wraps across the front and buttons down the left side. It pre-dates the later back wrapped house dresses made popular by such labels as Swirl. Sewn up in sturdy fabrics like cotton denim, it provided a women with a serviceable garment that had a bit of style as well.

A photo of the original appears in the MetMuseum web site HERE. With a closer look at the actual garment, it appears that the sleeves were probably cut very 'flat' in a kimono shape, rather than set to hang down at a angle from the shoulder line, as the draft suggests.

If you are wondering about patenting apparel, it is interesting to note that at one time the apparel industry tried this method to reduce copies from being made of original garments.  Class D2 patents (apparel) during the 1940's was about 16.6% of all patents (compare this with 3.6% today).  That was for 45,277 patents made during the 40's.

source: US Patents

1944 RBW Fashion Illustration: Davidow Suits

This ink wash fashion illustration is by RBW and shows Davidow suits for winter, 1944. The signature Davidow soft tailoring is already in evidence by the soft belting and shirt-style jackets pictured here.

I include this Davidow set to reference earlier designs from this label (see previous Davidow post HERE). I also have an earlier post on RBW, the sign-off for Count Rene Bouet-Wilaumez, whose illustrations during the 1930's through 1950's were a signature look for "Vogue" magazine, HERE. On Pinterest I am building a Davidow board with both advertisements and garment photos.

Elsewhere online you can find Davidow posts at "The Vintage Traveler" HERE and at "Past Perfect Vintage" HERE.

Fall Fashion, 1949: Claire McCardell does Tartan Plaids

Taking a look back to the fall of 1949, fashion of the late 1940s was showing dramatic and inventive silhouettes that followed Dior's New Look. American designers such as Claire McCardell would see a huge rise in their fashion star as the post war economies allowed for greater experimentation and design creativity than had been possible during the war years.

Back to school fall fashions have always included plaids in the mix. Warm wool plaids would appear in the fall magazine issues that hit newstands during the hottest weeks of late summer, providing the reader with an exciting change from hot weather wear.

While the classic, preppy kilt and other plaid skirts seemed to dominate, there have always been those who explore plaids just a bit further. Case in point: Claire McCardell's knife pleated plaid dress on the left with push up sleeves and a dramatic shawl collar (Miron worsted wool, $59.95 at Lord & Taylor). On the right is a dress designed by Dorothy Cox. Her design shows a traditional plaid made up as a wonderful cape collar over a circular skirt ($55 at Henri Bendel). Both are from the fall of 1949, when skirts were wide, hems longer, and gorgeous textiles were becoming more plentiful. These would be the seed of style for the next decade to come, the 1950s fashion silhouette.

Let's Talk About: Mood Boards

It looks like summer is winding down. Not that the weather is changing, but September is almost here, and those leisure free days are at a premium. It's time to start thinking about dressing again: wearing more than a brief dress and flip-flops.

This wonderful photo of the 1940's "New Look" is so inspiring. It's a "Vogue" cover from 1948, and so much of what we see here is on trend for the coming year. The overtones of gray, the slightly Victorian air to her look, the vintage mirror and cool men's hat, gloves and umbrella all tie this theme together.

Why not make a mood board showing a current fashion trend you like. Start by gathering up photos of inspirations, colors, fabrics and trims to create a design direction for your own 'look' or wardrobe. It's fun to start with a photo you like, then bring in elements that support the look you are going for.

Here is the original 1948 photo with my fashion inspiration from it. I used current color and style trends to put this together. I found the coat design at Butterick 5824 This coat is a new retro style designed by blogger Gertie. The wonderful soft orange-red tea rose is from FairytailFlower on Etsy. The jewelry photos are of vintage pearls, necklaces and other accessories that helped me to visualize this 'look'. I also included a velveteen swatch in black to complete the design direction.

Mood boards are an important part of the design room. They help to show everyone involved the 'story' or 'concept' for a single item or a whole line. This is a perfect example of non-verbal communication. Originally these were created from magazines and newspapers, but as digital media has grown, so has the available image pool. More designers are using digital technologies to create their mood boards. The added bonus is that these can be easily sent by email or text, and can be printed up when several copies are needed.

While Adobe Photoshop is more commonly known, other technologies such as PowerPoint can be used to compile a mood board. To use PowerPoint, simple create your collage on a single slide. You can even add print. Save this image as a jpg, rather than a PowerPoint presentation and you can use this in your own work, blogs and other media.


This original article on mood boards is part 5 of a series on fashion design that are posted here at Pintucks. The contents of this article are the intellectual property of this blog. Please do not copy any content to another blog or digital media without contacting me first. I will ask that you link back to this article and give reference to this source within your feature. If you are using content for a research paper or project, please link back to this page in the traditional academic format, thank you!

Fashion Illustration by RBW, late 1930's or 1940's

"RBW" is the signature for Count Rene Bouet-Wilaumez whose illustrations during the 1930's through 1950's were a signature look for "Vogue" magazine. He would become popular both in advertising and editorials commissioned to support written magazine articles.

RBW used pen and ink to create the look he was known for. Often brush strokes are seen along with both color and ink washes. Like most illustrators, he used live models wearing the gowns as he worked. Hence, his textile work is gorgeous, such as the drapery seen in the illustration shown here.

1940's Hawaiian styles and Lauren Bacall

Audree Gay Creations, California, c. late 1930's through 1940's

I saw the Alfred Shaheen exhibit of Hawaiian fashions recently and it brought to mind this sultry gown in an aloha print fabric. The fashion styling blends a bit of Pacific sarong skirt with a mainland cowl neck top. A flash of midriff is seen between the skirt and cropped top that is held in place by the insertion of a center front tab, attaching the skirt to bodice. This cocktail or evening style would have been a sensation on the dance floor of the WWII era ball room or private patio party.

It is made from a fine navy blue rayon crepe with white floral design, to immitate the better Japanese kabe crepe that was first imported and later inspired the Hawaiian tropicals of the 1930's and 1940's pre-war years.


To Have and Have Not,1944, Lauren Bacall, designer Milo Anderson (1910-1984)

The aloha print rayon dress is similar to a sleek version of the same style by Milo Anderson for Lauren Bacall in 1944. Her sarong skirt and midriff top are linked (literally) by a metal ring: a style that would take fire in the 1970's. Her top is more artfully custom draped, but the overall sense of style is still the same: bared midriff with a tropical front draped skirt.

It is interesting that this flattering style is so seldom seen in fashion. The concept is a perfect example of 'less is more' when it comes to body exposure!

Tweet

House Dresses: Fashion at home, cottony and cute

A stepchild of fashion, the humble house dress has been worn in one form or another for centuries. When women's fashionable gowns were silk, this was even more so. Wearing 'wash dresses' of cotton calico allowed mothers and maids to get their chores done, while wearing something cool, comfortable, and easy to launder. The sketch here is from 1928 and shows a simple to sew house dress pattern at a time when home sewing was on the upswing in a growing suburban culture.





Following World War II, a flood of changes affected fashion. The availability of fabrics, both natural and synthetic soared. Add to this the availability of the zipper. This innovation had become popular in apparel during the 1930's, but the war years put a stop to that. After the war, the zipper became a 'must have' element in all apparel. During the late 1940's and through the 1950's, zipper use was at an all time high, as women happily abandoned their buttons for the convenience of a zipper. This house dress pictured above of cotton calico sports a sweetheart neckline and pockets edged in looped trim. A long center front zipper is set between full length rows of tiny pintucks (label: Nip'N'Tuck).

House dresses changed from being softly fit to becoming more fashion aware during the 1950's and 60's. The sporty rust red version shown here is by "Swirl". This wrapped house dress has huge patch pockets embellished with large appliques of fruit, veggies and kitchen kitch. The back wraps around and snaps at the waistband for a great flexible fit.









This cute polka dot dress is by another popular label "Models Coat". Originally a cover up for fit and runway models, it has similar 'easy to wear' features as other house dresses.

As young women moved from dresses into pants for day wear during the late 1960's and 1970's, the house dress lost its position in the housewive's wardrobe. Jeans, blouses and 'T' shirts took its place to become the prefered apparel for chores and leisure activities at home.

More on House Dresses:
Fuzzy Lizzie Vintage Clothing: overview of 'Swirl' house dresses
Eda Danese: The House Dress