Sewing a Vintage Style Wardrobe: Plaid Topcoat by Pendleton

These plaid coats date from the late 1950's and early 1960's and were made by Pendleton.  They were a yearly classic that was created in several styles and in many seasonal plaids.

It could be designed to be part of a dress set, matching a slim sheath that was worn under it. Or the plaid could be a key accent, bringing together colors from a wardrobe, so that any item worn under it had a color connection.

Matching plaids is always a problem in fit and flare or princess seamed coat styles. In looking for a current coat pattern for this simple silhouette that would lend itself to plaid, it's important to steer clear of vertical or horizontal seam lines that will need to be matched. This includes princess seam lines and other fitting seams that run from shoulder to hem. If you find a jacket with the right collar, shoulder and sleeve fit, it's possible to lengthen that down from the underarm for a full length coat. Some princess seamed coat patterns can be taped together from the hip to hem level by laying the pattern pieces together, matching the grainline, then paing them together to create a seamless coat pattern for front and back views.

In published patterns, Vogue 8841, is a lean cut coat style. It does not show buttons, so those would need to be added after checking how much overlap there is in center front. Of course, vintage patterns can be used. Keep in mind the shoulder width and armhole depth found in patterns from the mid-80's through 2000 in the least, since this coat should have a lean fit and smaller armhole than patterns from that era.

Lilli Ann: 1956 Suit Advertisement

In the 1950's Lilli Ann suits were available not only at major department stores, but at locally owned shops in small towns as well. This advertisement is from the spring of 1956, and shows a suit called "Carousel" with flared peplum and longer narrow skirt.

The wool worsted fabric of gray and white has polka dots available in either white or red. This illustration can help us to see that the wide peplum was a popular silhouette in 1956 for this brand. There is a double layered collar as well.

The prices for the shop's Lilli Ann outfits ranged from $69.95 to $98.50. The advertisement is quick to point out that this store requires "no money down and 20 weeks to pay, use our budget plan", this being the way women could afford expensive clothing before credit cards made that possible.

This is the 1956 magazine advertisement for this same suit. It clearly shows all of the same elements as the illustration. It also refers to the "Carousel" as being the name of this outfit, with selling price "about $100" (around $870 today). It's ads like these that can help the Lilli Ann collector to date suit styles from this company. Besides the Lilli Ann monthly photo ad in fashion magazines, small store owners would also promote the label for their shop in local newspapers. The shop that published this fashion sketch was located in a southern California town, not far from Los Angeles.

If you want to see more on Lilli Ann, then just use the 'search' box at the top of this page to get a list of my other Lilli Ann posts, I think you'll like them.

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Betty Barclay, R & K Originals and Others: the Jonathan Logan Story

                                                             label: Betty Barclay

What do these vintage labels have in common: Betty Barclay, Butte Knit, R & K Originals, Youth Guild and Jonathan Logan? At one time all of these labels were popular divisions of the first large apparel conglomerate, Jonathan Logan. These labels were on some of the most popular dresses and sportswear from the 1950’s through 1970’s, and today they are sought out for their style and quality by vintage collectors and retro style lovers.

                                                         Label: R & K Originals 

When researching these labels and many others, the Jonathan Logan story comes up as part of their histories. At the beginning is the story of David Schwartz (1897 - 1985), a gifted business man, who entered the apparel industry at a young age, rising in manufacturing until he was ready to open his own company with $2,500 borrowed to buy new sewing machines at only 19 years old in 1918. He would partner with a friend, producing women’s dresses under such labels as “Tru Size Dress Co”, “Gladdy Dress Co” and Gladdy Tru Size” until about 1937, when he launched the “Jonathan Logan” company alone.

The first Jonathan Logan company had 10 people on its staff and was located in New York City. By 1954, the company had grown so large that it had to move to a new plant in Bergen, New Jersey. This was a dress company, producing apparel for young women 15 through 25 years old. This was a new niche in the industry that had been expanding since the 1930’s.

He is said to have produced the first rayon dresses for sale at $4 and $5 each. In 1949, he unionized his workers into the International Ladies Garment Worker’s Union, so his products after that date will contain that union label.

During this time, Schwartz was adding small labels to his core business, enlarging the company’s scope. In 1960 it became the first women’s apparel company to be on the New York Stock Exchange. At this time he entered knit apparel with “Butte Knit”, a brand with both a dress and separates line. His business sold $100 million in 1963, and was the first women’s wear company to make that record.

Schwartz stepped down from his position in 1964, turning it over to his son Richard who was only 25 at the time, but was able to run the company as chairman and maintain the high rate of sales his father had, with $203 million in sales in 1968. At that time there were 42 manufacturing plants in both the US and abroad. Many of the knits were created in Spartanburg, South Carolina for the Butte Knit and Act III lines.

To gage the size of this company, in 1969 it had over 24 divisions (labels), sold to 20,000 retailers, owned dozens of showrooms, owned 12 manufacturing plants and used 14 more to produce their lines.

The entire business was bought out in 1984 by United Merchant and Manufacturers.

                                                             label: Jonathan Logan

DESIGNERS

Probably the best know designer who worked for the company was Elizabeth “Liz” Claiborne who designed for the “Youth Guild” division from 1960 to 1975, leaving to start her own business at that time. The Jonathan Logan label had two well known designers: Doris Varnum and Jeanne Carr. Both designers often had their names included in advertisements and promotions, creating the allure of a designer produced collection for this junior label.

Doris Varnum appears in ads during the 1940’s. In an interview she stated that her designs “just happen” as she saw ideas in many things. She was born in California and lived in Los Angeles where her husband taught at Los Angeles City College before WWII. Her career began in fashion modeling (she was an auburn haired petite size) and the design position followed naturally for her. When working, she started her designs with a unique fabric, then created an idea from that. “Junior dresses are a style, not an age” she would comment.

Jeanne Carr would follow as the Jonathan Logan designer. She also began her career as a model, later working for the 1955 Coty award designer for the label “Sportwhirl”, Jeanne Campbell (an interesting designer as well). Campbell began that label in 1951, and hired her staff of 10 at that time. As a young designer, she had worked previously for “Loomtogs” from 1946 to 1951. If we look at Campbell’s career, she did not hire assistants until 1951, so Carr would have had to work for her after that date. This leaves the mid-1950’s as Carr’s probable start with Jonathan Logan as designer. Advertising with her name appears in 1956 and shows as late as 1960. She also prepared a patent document in 1956, so we know she was working there by that year.

LABELS

The following is a short list of the most popular and wide selling labels that were produced by the Jonathan Logan company. Most of these brands began as regional or local small businesses before being bought out by the company and later produced as a division.

Act III, Alice Stuart, Amy Adams, Beach Party, Betty Barclay, Bleeker Street, Butte Knit, Davis of Boston, Etienne Aigner, Harbor Master, Immerman Corp, Jonathan Logan, Junior Accent, Misty Harbor, Modern Juniors, R & K Originals, Rose Marie Reid, Trebor Knit, Turtle Bay, Villager, YouthGuild

The dresses shown in this article are currently listed for sale in my Pintucks Style shop on Etsy.



Sources:

Fashion & Merchandising Fads, F. Hoffman, B. Ramirez, 1994

Herald Journal, Spartanburg, South Carolina, April 5, 1970

Jeanne Campbell.com

Jewish Virtual Library.org 

Luther, Marylu, article: January 9, 1960

Pittsburgh Press, B. Byron, May 20, 1944

The Self-made Man: Success and Stress, American Style, Isadore Barmash, 1969 


This is an original article on Jonathan Logan published on Pintuckstyle.blogspot.com. The contents of this article are the intellectual property of this blog and the author. 

Please do not copy any content, written or photos, 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!  Jennifer Orsini

1960 Fashion Illustration: Brian Stonehouse

This dramatic fashion illustration from the fall of 1960 shows a tunic shaped over blouse and gathered skirt in an eye popping black and brown stripe. It was designed by Bud Kilpatrick for I. Magnin in California. This type of graphic fashion pattern was gaining in popularity as a modern, sophisticated trend towards a newer, more urban style. Clean simple styles and bolder prints were starting to dominate the lingering prints and silhouettes of the post-New Look era.

Brian Stonehouse, 1918 to 1998, was the fashion illustrator. Born in England, he was trained in fine art in the late 1930's and entered the fashion illustration field soon after graduating. Following WWII, he returned to fashion illustration, working for both "Vogue" and "Harper's Bazaar" in the US between 1946 and 1979. After that time, he retired to England where he produced fine art and portraits of important personalities, including the Queen.

More on Brian Stonehouse can be found HERE.

The Corsets of Gaultier

If you love corsets, lingerie, and vintage, you probably have more than a passing fancy for Jean Paul Gaultier, whose corset styles have influenced fashion trends and costumes with their couture details and punky concepts.

This year, the Barbican in London showcased one of the largest fashion exhibitions I have seen, the designer featured was Gaultier. His designs were showcased more by topic and type than era, so it was a great way to see his star designs and get a better understanding of his signature styles.

Probably the most well known of his work centers on lingerie specific to corsets. I thought that I would share some of the corsets that were shown throughout the exhibition halls. They range from traditional, satin and pink to outrageous and straw.

He uses metal or corset strips often to create a sense of shape and form, like corset bones without the fabric creating shape.

Satin too makes an appearance using more traditional lingerie techniques.

And to wrap this corset festival up, here's a version in straw.

The Barbican, London: The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: from the Sidewalk to the Catwalk: April 9 to August 25, 2014"

Bonnie Cashin: 1949 Coat Patent with Design Details

The well known mid-century American fashion designer, Bonnie Cashin, began to find her signature style in the late 1940's, and this design patent from 1949 shows two of her popular design elements together in one garment.

The Noh coat, an Asian inspired garment would be part of her 'look' for decades. In this design we find it in its early stages of development. The silhouette is consistent with her later designs. As this look developed, she would venture further into a timeless cut by excluding the bust dart that starts on the the shoulder seam. That would create a flat pattern, without shaping.

This is a draft taken from a later Noh coat, dated from the early 1970's. Here her classic lines are seen: a flat coat that is cut with the sleeves in one with the body.  Like the coat from 1949, it includes a small mandarin collar and large, roomy pockets.

This helps us to see how Bonnie Cashin refined her early designs to reach a style that she felt was classic and suitable to her range of textiles, colors and layering concepts.

The other design element in the 1949 patent that became part of the Cashin design vocabulary is the concept of using a clasp purse as a pocket. This diagram shows the clasp coin purse open, the full coat draft shows that same purse folded forward. This delightful and quirky detail continued to appear in designs through out her career, including the leather handbags she would design for Coach. An example from 1954 showing a plaid skirt with purse pocket is on the MET website HERE.

So, this coat patent may be of a style that might seem fairly typical for the late 1940's or 1950's, but upon closer inspection it is a key starting point in the signature style of a major American fashion designer, Bonnie Cashin.

Pat Premo: a California Fashion Desiger

Pat Premo was a California designer who made her name during the 1940's and was strong through the 1960's, showing her unique style of using texture and pattern in her fashions, and looking for inspiration for her unique silhouettes in ethnic apparel

During the 1940's, California style was a direct selling point for fashions designed in Los Angeles, and sold nationally. These styles were distinct in the use of ethnic textiles, innovative textures and patterns in textiles, along with playful, easy to wear fashions for both indoor and outdoor living. Much of what the rest of the country saw were colorful fashions, perfect for resort and warm season wear, and Pat Premo was a successful designer of these styles.

Her playful short and skirt set is typical of the kind of styles that were being designed and manufactured in Los Angeles during the 1940's and 1950's.

These sundresses were called "sun back" dresses for their open back, usually sold with a bolero coverup.

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She included day wear as well, styles suitable for lunch, work or daytime activities by an active woman.

In the 1960's, she continued to present unique styles made from distinctive textiles. Her fashions were sold in the best high end department styles and commanded top prices.

Today, finding a vintage Pat Premo label is a rare find to be treasured. This would be a fashion made from the best textiles available, and sewn to meet high quality standards.

Nelly Don: a short film clip

The "Nelly Don" label represented the largest women's dress manufacturer in the mid-20th century. This Kansas City business was started in 1916 by a fascinating women named Nell Donnelly Reed who created innovations in manufacturing, design and employee benefits. Here is a short clip is from a larger film titled "Nelly Don: A Stitch in Time"(2006).

Sewing a Vintage Style Wardrobe: 1952 Dress

When I saw this Lobell's advertisement in "Charm" magazine, spring 1952, I thought those amazing pockets seemed very familiar. It only took a quick look through the Butterick pattern's set of retro styles to find this exact dress! How often does that happen? So in the interest of fun sewing and vintage styles, here is a great project that is easy to sew as well.

This is the original 1952 ad, and in it you can see all of the fun details that make this dress unique. The only departure from this original design in the sewing pattern is the lack of buttons down the front, but those are easy to add.

Here is Butterick 6055, the pattern that captures this vintage look perfectly. The bodice has an easy fitting kimono shoulder and sleeve, which makes any alterations easier too.

This close up of the pocket details shows how similar the dresses are, and it also gives a better idea of how the pockets are sewn. These could have contrasting ties, or even be a contrast color as well.

When sewing a dress with this type of kimono sleeve bodice, I recommend fabrics that aren't too stiff, thick or crisp, since this will make the sleeve look and feel like wings. Any moderate woven will do, even sheers like organdy or organza sew up well in this style (plan on a co-ordinated color full length slip instead of lining). For fall or winter, a dark plaid cotton with white collar is a classic look, both in the 50's and now as well.

Advertisement copy:
Pocketeer, in flower fresh zephyr cotton…Just $8.95
So smart…this combed zephyr cotton step-in that takes a day’s labors in its stride…goes blithely on to an evening’s date!
Pockets on the grand scale…a skirt that billows free and full! Sanforized to launder perfectly!
Raspberry, green, navy, aqua, charcoal grey, maise, lilac
Sizes 10 – 18, 9 – 17, $8.95.
Lobells, Inc., Hanover, Penn.