Taking a Break For Now Ten years again this fall, my publisher, Basic Books, asked me to start a Blog on Tumblr named after my book, The Lost Art of Dress. I would then re-post the post on Facebook (although the wackiness of that interface meant there are gaps over there). So every week from Monday through Friday, I posted on the history of fashion and the crafts of sewing and millinery. Generally, Mondays were devoted to patterns, Tuesdays to reviews, Wednesdays to quotations, Thursdays to historical objects, and Fridays to exhibitions online or in person. All this took planning, preparation ..read more

Threads, Fall 2023 Threads is a magazine that specializes in teaching fine sewing techniques, everything from fabrics choices to fitting garments. It also has made an effort lately to offer one basics article per issue for newer dressmakers and tailors, which I find usually has something to teach me despite my years of sewing. This issue has the color forecasts for the coming cooler seasons along with suggestions for some patterns to match.  The cover offers an example one of the hand details articles which are featured. the jacket is made of wool double-cloth when two separate fabrics ..read more

Not Going Anywhere Fast in 1950, Vogue 1964 This 1950 ensemble with sleeveless dress and matched caplet captures the other skirt silhouette introduced by Christian Dior in 1947: the long and narrow. We tend to think of the long, wide skirt as the New Look of the post-war era, but Dior also offered long, narrow skirts that year as well. Both had the small waistlines and soft shoulders you see here in a Vogue Pattern re-issued in modern sizes. I was intrigued by the shape of this dress  The bodice has a deep horizontal tuck whose purpose seems two-fold: decoratively, it both echoes th ..read more

Pronged or Not Pronged: 4 Vintage Buckles I found this set of vintage buckles in an antique store. Though I had not exact plans for them, I sew and knit with brown and greens, and the blacks might come in hand too. To actually use most buckles, you need an eyelet in the belt and a prong on the buckle. True, some buckles have a sash of fabric that pulls through, but unless there is enough fabric, they are unstable and may loosen up. But many vintage buckles are missing their prong, or you hesitate to use the prong for fear that pressure may break an old plastic that may be some 75 years old. W ..read more

Handstitched Worlds: The Cartography of Quilts | The George Washington University Museum and The Textile Museum | The George Washington Univ This show opens on Saturday, September 16th in Washington DC, but it was organized by the American Folk Art Museum of New York. Part of the exhibition is what they call a Community Quilt. And the curators explained “Visitors to the exhibition are invited to contribute to our community quilt. Stitch a place in the cartography of Washington, D.C., that holds special significance for you.” I am not sure how that will work but I am intrigued. I am primarily a ..read more

If you’re hesitating between unraveling or using a quick fix that will leave a mistake in your work, ask yourself these questions: Will it be visible… or will you be the only to know? Will a quick fix bother you forever…? Is the idea of unraveling so demotivating….? Do what feels best to you. These wise words come from Lovely Lace Knits by Gabrielle Vezina. It is one thing if a garment does not fit, if it chokes you at the neck or binds your arms. Clothing that does not let your body move the way you want it to move is a curse. But if the mistake is a purely decorative one, as is the case with ..read more

When you embroider, crochet, or knit, there are centuries in your hands. You are a maker, doing the same thing others have done for several thousand years. Their ideas created the techniques you now use. Who knows what pair of hands first cabled some stitches across some other stitches? Who knows where and when the first yarn over stitch was put on a needle to make an opening? All that matters is that they were done, somewhere, by someone. Now they are a part of the very ancient craft called knitting. This craft has endured, for the same reason that all such crafts endure: because people have ..read more

Lovely Lace Knits by Gabrielle Vezina It will soon be fall, so new knitting patterns and yarns are showing up and so are some books. I decided to offer this one on lace knitting because, on the one hand it is knitting, but on the other it is lace knitting, that is, knitting with tiny holes to make patterns. So, you don’t really want little holes in serious winter wear, but you can enjoy them in the fall. The book explains the basics of lace knitting but presumes some skill. Almost all the patterns are marked intermediate and only 1 hat and matching mittens are advanced beginner. It offers 1 ..read more

Nope, That Is Not a Blouse: Simplicity 9817 This set of re-issued accessories from the 1950s has some expected items and some unusual ones. Collars and cuffs that could be switched out, and thus give some variety to one dress, were a standard feature from at least the late 19th Century onward. Here, you see two rounded versions and one designed to look like lapels on a blouse. Hair bows too date way back although this is a bow on a headband which was a newer look in the 1950s. The bias-cut sash, which you see on the bottom row in red and in green stripes is also a traditional idea and here it ..read more

2023 National Design Award Winners | Cooper Hewitt, Smithsonian Design Museum Cooper Hewitt has named its National Design Awards for 2023, and the fashion design winner is Naeem Kahn. Click through and you can see a gallery display of his designs, focusing on his evening wear. But I think anyone interested in fashion design will probably be interested in all the winners’ work ..read more