Vintage Commercial Patterns (60s and 70s)

Hi there
Anyone that knows me well, will know that I have the knowledge and skills to design and make my own clothing patterns. I am trained to make patterns from using 'dress blocks" (templates) and measurments, this is called 'flat pattern cutting'. my preferred method, as I mentioned in a previous blog is moulding to the tailors dummy, or indeed a real person.
With my latest ranges I have been using genuine 1960s and 70s patterns for authenticity, although, some of them I have had to adapt them to the modern figure, due to the quite dramatic changes in our body shapes and measurements since the 60s.

Foxy Ladys 1960s and 1970s dress patterns

1973 commercial dress pattern

Brief History
Commercial dress patterns started in the 1860s, companies like Buttericks, McCall, Vogue and Simplicity all date back to this period and a are still going today.
I am just gooing to discuss the eras that I am interested in which is the 60s and early 70s. Some of you reading this (like my retired mum) will reminise thinking back to the 60s when you would try and replicate the Carnaby Street look at home using your Singer. The designs then were quite simple, and learning to sew was compulsory at school so you would have the skills to do it. These days, clothes are so cheap, people rarely bother and have lost those skills.
Not only does fashion change (starting with the silhouette), but so does the female form. We look back on the 60s and think of Twiggy, all skinny and elf like, yes she was young and she was a model, but the body shape was more svelt then. In the early 60s the average woman size was a 12, now its a size 16. From 34B boobs to a 36DD.
Since the end of the !950s to now, women have grown around 2 dress sizes ( a couple of inches on the waist, bust and hips) roughly. So a size 12 in the 50s would now be a size 8.
When I am buying a new pattern I like to know what year it was made, I can roughly tell by the style of the garment, but I like to be specific, some pattern envelopes have the date on them, but some dont or it has rubbed or ripped off.
In order to determine the age, I will look and see if the price is pre- decimal, if it is then I know its definatly before 1971. A lot of the vintage patterns I have say 'New Sizing' on them, this also tells me they are older than 1967, as this year they changed womens sizings again. Pre - 1968 the bust measurement of 34" was a size 14 , but in 1968 they changed it to a size 12. today it is a size 10.
I source my patterns from various places, charity shops, friends, ebay or vintage fairs.
When I chose a vintage pattern I am going to use, I will always look at the specific measurements of it, then adapt them to whatever modern size I want to make.

McCalls 1967 Vintage sewing book

I was recently at a vintage event and came across this book, which I just had to have for fun. Its dated 1967, and although as a trained fashion designer with over 30 years experience, I don't need to use it, it is actually a very thorough and educational, so thorough infact that they have a wardrobe planning section. Its a real historical account of how 'some' women would have lived back then. Outfits for all occassions, at home, shopping, at work, the school run, sports activities, shopping, travelling, club activites and my favourite,  "For after five". Basically when your husband comes home from work, and you are going to be entertaining. it says 'usually the colours are lighter and brighter, and fabrics more fragile",   ahhh so you can look feminine, pass me a manhatten please, in fact make it two.



If you would like to find out more please click on the link below

The History of commercial sewing patterns