1964 Bold Wool Checks

The fashion illustrations here date from 1964. They feature shaped wool suits with bold checks. It's hard to think of a more classic 60's wool than hounds tooth, and here it is in full splendor. As examples of mid-1960's fashion, 3/4 sleeves (worn with long gloves) are almost equal to the short jacket length. The rolled collars are heavily interfaced to achieve that carefully curved line. The jackets probably have self covered buttons, in a bold, large scale typical of the Jackie O era.

Most likely drawn using colored chalk on an egg shell finish bond paper, these drawings have a glowing effect achieved by carefully controlling the lighting. For illustrating checks, these illustrations offer great inspiration and show how to not over-draw the details, rather how to suggest an overall effect to a better advantage.

When I can indentify the illustrator, I'll add that information here.

Alper Schwartz: Vintage Fashion Label

This silk duopuoni dress by "Alper Schwartz" is from the 1960's. The dress has exceptional details for a mass produced garment of that era. On close inspection, details emerge that contribute to the quality of this design.

Overall, it has an ultra-clean look, very monochromatic and smooth. This effect is enhanced by the soft champagne color.  To create a sense of simplicity, the pattern design uses a bias cut bodice where the fabric is cut on the diagonal. French darts taper the midriff and reduce bulk in the torso. The bias cut top would provide a slight stretch to fit, making extra darts unnecessary.

In keeping with the monochromatic look, the belt is self covered, reducing contrast and softening the line. The shoulders are smooth, using a type of kimono sleeve design to create an unbroken line in the bodice. Underarm gussets provide a good fit to the arm.
Overall, this dress is elegant, subtle and speaks of quality in design and construction.

In trying to find out more about the "Alper Schwartz" label, several bits of information were found, but I could find nothing on who designed this label, or how long it was produced.

My earliest sighting is in 1955, with an adorable navy silk dress with white linen collar. The fit and flare silhouette is created with a wide gored skirt, held out by petticoats so typical of that time. The bodice is fitted, with 3/4 length sleeves. This dress appears in an article promoting a local fashion show, where the dress is sold in the college girls boutique of the major department store in that town. This article lets us know that during the 50's, the "Alper Schwartz" label was sold in the upper tier regional department stores to junior customers who wanted current fashion styles.  A later dress from the 1950's is priced at $50.

This advertisement from 1963, for Joseph Horne of Pittsburgh, shows a very fashionable layout and illustration style that features one large coat dress, with two smaller. The coat dress is priced at $110, and the dresses are $90 each. This ad also lists Jack Feinstein as the company representative who was scheduled to hold a trunk show at the department store.  During this same time period, a label with "Tony Ruocco for Alber Schwartz" can be found, but this name does not appear with any other design position.

This fashion illustration from Fall, 1978 shows a navy wool knit dress with coat ensemble that sold for $260.  The design style reflected the current trend towards a slender silhouette.  This simple look suggests an affluent customer who wanted a subtle fashion statement.


By 1983, the "Alper Schwartz" line is shown in the same niche as Halston, Bill Blass, St. John Knits, Geoffrey Beene, Albert Nipon, Joan Leslie, and Adele Simpson. This would put that label in the higher priced ready-to-wear category, where quality and style are important to the customer. A 1985 advertisement shows a wool crepe jacket dress ensemble for $340. This certainly gives a good indication that the label offered fashion garments to a conservative customer who wanted quality workmanship and design.

The Alper-Schwartz company was manufacturing fashion by the early 1950's in Philadelphia. Owned by Samuel Alper it was later sold to Bernard Schwartz in 1956. Samuel Alper was a known Philadelphia dress manufacturer by the early 1940's. There isn't a record of his designers, beyond the "Tony Ruocco" name that appears on some labels during the 1960's.

The gorgeous champagne silk duopuoni dress from the 1960's shown in the title here is available through our shop on PintuckStyle on Etsy.

Another 60's Romantic Wedding Look

This 1960's bride creates her own world where Victorian romance and Mod style combine to create a fairy tale princess world.  

Illustration: guache on illustration board, artist unknown

Romantic 60's Wedding Look

This late 1960's fashion illustration of a fantasy bridal look captures so much of what we tend to think about that vintage era. Fanciful petal veiling, soft hair and bouffant gown makes for a perfectly romantic look that can be inspiring for us now.

illustration: guache on illustration board, no signature

Young Innocent, 1969 by Sue Wong at Arpeja

"Young Innocent" was a junior petite label designed by young Sue Wong when she was fresh from her training at L.A. Trade Tech college. This label was under the "Arpeja" brand. Wong's designs were young, spirited and very trend conscious. These and her "Young Edwardian" designs would become iconic junior looks for that era, one of several strong junior brands being developed in Los Angeles at that time.

These illustrations show the strong design influence of Peter Max during during the late 1960's. Sort of 'trippy' in style, with elements of the 1920's illustrator John Held, the figures create a great look that identified that brand from others at the time.

Mad Men: 1960's Fashion Trends for Season 5

This season's "Mad Men" episodes should continue moving forward into the later half of the 1960's. We can expect to see a more diverse styles in that era. Probably the most consistent looks will be prints and color. It's hard to imagine this era without bold pattern or color.

The first dress shown here has "the look": a Mod style "A" line shift in classic houndstooth pattern, it has a bow accent with low peter pan collar that would have seemed very British is style to an American customer. This look would appeal to a junior shopper who was looking for a bold fashion statement.


This dress is a more sophisticated silk chiffon style. It would have been custom ordered from I.Magnin's on the west coast. The sleeves are sheer with jeweled cuffs and collar (which were so popular then).

The shifts below follow the trend with abstract prints on a smooth shift silhouette. Worn by all age groups, the shift would be the most common look during that era. The changing scene would create a rising look in hemlines, moving up to finger tip length by 1969.






Pucci-style bold patterns dominated both junior and women's apparel. Here copies of the iconic look are seen in bright, dramatic color designs.



Both dresses have engineered prints which were custom made to be cut and sewn into dresses with balanced patterns and borders. Both are also jersey knits, which were becoming wildly popular. This type of long dress would be increasingly popular for casual wear. Worn at parties, picnics and proms, the longer length was brought on to the scene by the hippie styles seen in San Francisco and elsewhere worn by the youth movement.


For the more mature or conservative woman who still wanted to emphasize her waistline, there were still styles with fitted bodices. Although this silhouette might seem dated, the fabric design would be strictly late 60's with bold pattern and bright florals.

The longer dress in chiffon might have been worn during an afternoon party, barbeque or wedding. It has a trailing scarf that floats from the left shoulder. The short blue floral print dress was custom ordered from I.Magnin's which catered to a wealthy customer who wanted top quality textiles but often with a more conservative look.


At a career and professional level, the shirt dress assumed the required shift silhouette, but it might be belted by the woman who wore it. A younger customer would have worn it without a belt, but snug around the hipline.


The three shirt dresses here all have bold patterned fabric, in keeping with the era. The top dress is a mock plaid with floral overlay. These 'happy flowers' would be a dominate pattern, seen all over the fashion scene.

The middle dress by Lanvin, uses that logo on the textile in an engineered print to create the contrast hem detail.



The final dress is clearly influenced by abstract art. All dresses are synthetic fiber. Many are polyester. This 'miracle' textile would be 'wash and wear', releasing women from ironing chores that could have taken one day each week to perform.


Now it's time to decide who will wear what. Will aging characters like Joan and Betty opt out for the latter fashions here, or go forward with current trends? At that time, married women were expected to assume a certain level of decorum, especially if they were over 21.

And what about Peggy? Her fashion sense has never been spot-on, so she can probably be expected to keep her career wear conservative and slightly outdated. But in her free time she might swing over into the more ethnic and experimental looks of the youth movement. Will she choose batik Indian print wrap skirts with peasant tops?

Megan was last seen in current mod silhouettes, so being one of the younger women she should continue to be fashion current. Will her marriage affect that youthful look? Will she try to assume a more mature style, or stay on trend?

As for Trudie, she has leaned toward a feminine junior silhouette. Her ongoing style has been to wear quality textiles with very modern silhouettes in girly prints and colors. Will that keep up as she stays at home?

What's your take in predicting what we'll be seeing?

Rudi Gernreich California Fashion Designer: early 1960s fashion designs

Early on, California fashion designer Rudi Gernreich was associated with the young fashion innovators. In these early 1960's designs, his look was clean cut, easy to wear and popped with bright contrast or graphics. The silhouettes forecast the shirt or "A" line shapes that would be widely worn later in the 1960s

These styles show that even common fabrics such as table cloth checks found new fashion meaning under his genius. Although he was working with wovens, during this time many of his designs were wool double knits for Harmon Knitwear.

Prices were above average, with the little striped Harmon Knitwear sailor dress and jacket selling for $65.

Fall 1961: Fashion Illustrations for Evening

Fall 1961, fashion illustrations by Mouchy, for an editorial on evening wear and eye makeup showing the younger point of view for that season. The pages are green, white, gold and silver with the black line illustrations.

Breakfast at Tiffany's: 50th anniversary

Fifty years ago Breakfast at Tiffany's captured an era and a generation, distilling glamour and charm into one amazing film.

It's never to late to join in the fun, especially with a bright orange coat, so Holly
Golightly! You can have your own from our Pintuck Style shop: HERE.

Sewing Vintage Fashion: Vogue Patterns, April 1960

Vogue 9967. Blue eyelet, embroidered with dots, great full sleeves on fitted shirt waist dress



Vogue 9991. Floral border on cotton with matching stole wrap, sleeveless bodice with deep "V" back



Vogue 4101. Small kimono sleeve bodice with 3.5 yards wide gathered skirt in mauve ribbed cotton

These three vintage Vogue patterns are all sewn in cottons. They appear in "Ladies Home Journal", April 1960 (the Kim Novak cover is so sadly damaged I couldn't include a photo for you). It is interesting to note how easy the dresses would be to sew. The seam lines are classic, so that they might be duplicated today using patterns available.

The slides below show some current sewing patterns from Vogue, Butterick and McCall's that I found online. These could provide the basic garment to work from. Gathered skirts are not common in today's patterns, so that style would need to be improvised (easy stuff to do).



A kimono sleeve bodice is not common today, but there is one vintage styled pattern from Butterick that is similar. This pattern also has a "V" back (remove the bow). Small cap sleeves will also get the 'look'. When sewing a "V" back, that diagonal cut seam will need to be stabilized with twill tape, a strip of interfacing or elastic. That way it won't gap or fall off the shoulders.



The fitted top with deep "V" back on the blue floral dress is very simple. When cutting a "V" back neckline, be sure that the front neckline stays high enough to keep the shoulders in place. If the front is also low cut, the shoulders slip down easily. Dressmakers would add little snaps inside that neckline so the bra strap could be fastened to the shoulder, keeping it in place.

Basic fit patterns are great for classic bodices such as this one. For the vintage sewist, this type of pattern is essential to own. It can be used for many styles once a true fit has been made. All three pattern companies carry a version of this pattern.

An alternative to simple darts is the princess bodice. Those vertical seam lines make for a better fit on curvy bodices. I show a princess pattern for each style.



This full skirted shirt dress with puffed sleeves can be duplicated in two ways: as a dress or as a blouse with gathered skirt (an easier fit for most). Those great gathered sleeves are probably easier to locate in a 1980's pattern, since current sleeves have a slender upper arm. I found a few blouses that might make a fitted bodice, and two have fuller sleeves.

Mad Men Era: Green Silk Cocktail Coat

Vintage fashion from the late 1950's or early 1960's can be created in silhouettes that stop traffic. Mad Men style, it's something to wear this winter.

Sometimes something perfect comes along, and this emerald green cocktail coat from Sak's Fifth Avenue is one of those moments in fashion history. Sculptural and refined, it's waiting for an evening on the town or keeping off the sea breeze when you admire the view of Hollywood from a hillside terrace.

Green Silk Satin Cocktail Coat: Sak's Fifth Avenue

Fashion and Fabrics: Sewing Vintage Styles from the 1960s

The image above from the early 1960's illustrates how a girl could plan her wardrobe around a single sewing pattern or style, just by using assorted fabrics and accessories.  Getting mileage out of a simple, classic silhouette was seen in many features of that time.  These examples are great ways to find inspiration today when sewing, and to help date an outfit from the early 1960's by the garment cut, silhouette, fabric and trim.

Taking simple trims, like the lace motifs shown here was popular throughout the 60's.  With only a simple sheath, a great fashion statement can be created.   These spring and summer looks sport crisp linen fabrics with sharp white lace applique and linear trim texture for an 'icing' effect.

 These fun looks are part of a 2 dart shift or 4 dart bodice dress designs.  The placement of linear applique was selected to elongate the figure and add slimming lines to looser styles.  These easy to sew silhouettes were the backbone of any girl's wardrobe--a "make it in one day" styles. 

When looking for vintage patterns, those new to sewing should seek out these styles.  They often have great instructions, which can be used with a good sewing manual to create great outfits more easily. For advanced sewing projects, upgrade the textiles, lining and trims for a sophisticated style that can be easily altered for a perfect fit. 

The pattern styles shown above may seem vintage, but they can be found currently in modern sewing patterns that have a more current fit with a wider range in sizes.  The following patterns are currently available in the Butterick catalog.  Pattern  5746 is a classic darted bodice with fitted skirt (you add the sash).   This pattern can also be used to create a perfect fit body pattern, which is something you may want to have if you sew from vintage patterns and need to make alterations.  Patterns 5277  and 5407 are also darted, but without waistline seam, and the addition of cap sleeves.  Other fitted sheath dresses can be found in  Butterick 4386 and 5235.  These have both bust and torso darts for a slender fit. A classic shift silhouette is Butterick 3880, that has a bustline dart for upper body fit.  Looser shift styles without darts can be found in Butterick 5211, and 5269.

You will find cool fabrics from the vintage sellers on Etsy and my own online vintage sewing shop: Pintuck Sew.  Drop by, you may find the inspiration to sew up a quick dress!

illustrations are from: Better Homes and Gardens Sewing Book: 1961 and 1970.