vintage fashion moments

all posts that feature vintage fashion magazines, books and other vintage fashion images

A Fashion Moment With (1959) American Thread Company: Easy Fall Knitwear

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Easy to Make fashions Star Book 149 front cover on a knitted background

We’ve been enjoying a beautiful long fall, with warm temperatures for most of the past month, but in the last few days it’s dropped and that wind is cold in the mornings. I’ve still been wearing my summer wrap skirts and short sleeved tops, albeit with a coat on top, but these last few days have put me in the mood for cozy knits. And what better way to get in the mood for colder weather than some good vintage knitwear! Today I’ve got the 1959 “Easy to Make Fashions for the North, South, East, West” by American Thread Company, Star Book No. 149.

cropped cardigan with velcro fastening for collar

First up this lovely cropped cardigan. I will take one each in black, brown, camel, sage, rose and navy please. Interestingly, this one features a detachable collar, fastened with Velcro, which was still extremely new at this point, having been invented only a few years before in 1954.

vintage long cardigan coat

On the other end of the spectrum is the long cardigan, which can be made to any length you like. I love this late 50’s look, where the styles held onto some of that 50’s glamour, but had loosened up a bit.

two vintage cardigans

Now for two lovely cardigans…and I have cropped the models faces out of the images because whoever owned this pattern book thought it was a good idea to draw their faces with a blue pen! The cardigan on the left reminds me of Welsh knitwear designs- it’s so intricate!

his and hers cardigans and pullover knitwear

Now for some his and hers pieces!

vintage easy to make fashions Star book 149 knitwear

yellow vintage cardigan from American Thread Company

I love this yellow one, it’s like an upscale version of a hoodie.

looped and fringed sweater and toque from American Thread Company

This is my go to winter look- well not with that toque! But I love tucking a pullover sweater into a skirt, especially a cute plaid one like that.

And lastly two beautiful stoles!

Which vintage knitwear pieces are your favourites? Are you looking forward to sweater weather again, or would you prefer that the temperatures stayed warm a while longer?

knitted stole from Star Book 149

A Fashion Moment With (1949) Styles By Beehive: Sweater Weather

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Styles By Beehive by Patons & Baldwins cover featuring a knitted sweater vest, skirt and sock combination

I found this great vintage knitting book when we were organizing our new sewing/craft room. It was mixed in with some sewing patterns and books from the 1980’s, so I’d never looked closely at what was in that folder (the anorak pattern dissuaded me) but when I emptied out that folder to put on the shelf, I came across this book by Patons & Baldwins Limited Toronto: Styles By Beehive Series No. 40. The back page was torn, so I didn’t know what year it was from, but judging by the styles I guessed 1940’s. I was able to track the year down online and I was right; it was from 1949! This book was my Grandma’s and it was open to Page 9, the “Antelopes” sweater, below right, which is why much of the colour is rubbed off that page. I wonder if she ever made that sweater?

I hope you enjoy seeing these lovely 40’s fashions!

styles by beehive ski sweaters from the 1940's

styles by beehive by Patons & Baldwins book with a lady wearing a dressy knitted sweater

On a different style note- I love the waistband of this skirt, above, it looks kind of like a half waistcoat.

styles by beehive book with several ladies wearing knitted pullovers and cardigans and a head scarf

The checked grid pattern on the cardigan above adds such a great detail.

styles by beehive by Patons & Baldwins lady wearing a pair of jeans, knitted boots and a casual cable knit cardigan coat

The earliest “Uggs”, above.

styles by beehive knitted accessories

page 1 of the styles by beehive knitted accessories featuring socks, scarves and gloves

Would you wear a hood like these?

page 2 of styles by beehive featuring accessories including hoods and socks

styles by beehive pages showing a lady wearing a tennis outfit and another with a casual pullover sweater

styles by beehive book featuring ladies wearing straight skirts paired with knitted pullover sweaters and cardigans for a dressy look

I like the texture of the one on the left, above.

styles by beehive by Patons & Baldwins lady wearing a cardigan and skirt combination

styles by beehive lady wearing a sweater with a hare and tortoise pattern knitted into it

I love the cardigan on the right, below, too. It’s lightweight and would look so nice paired with a skirt.

styles by beehive by Patons & Baldwins two ladies wearing dressy knitted sweaters

A Fashion Moment with Creative Hands: Evening Wear

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lady wearing a white crocheted long dress with a square motif

Because Valentine’s Day is fast approaching, I thought today would be the perfect time to share some of the evening wear and wedding looks from the Creative Hands book series from the 1960’s – 1970’s. (Also published under the name “Golden Hands”) There are a lot of eras in the past that had elegant evening wear…the 1970’s wasn’t one of them, unfortunately. However, there is still much inspiration to be had!

I have published some more images from the Creative Hands series here, here and here.

Starting off with the wedding looks, I don’t think the above image is supposed to be a wedding look, but it has that iconic space boho look the late 60’s and early 70’s was famous for.

wedding long coat with a hood from the Creative Hands series

Here is a wedding look featuring a floor length coat with a hood and the front buttons all the way down. I love this piece!

vintage 1970's evening dress with batwing sleeves and a regency styled wedding dress

Here is another wedding dress, on the right. I wish that the fabric they had chosen was softer so the gathers didn’t pouf out like that, but it’s a pretty Regency style which is also very iconic for the era.

two 1970's fashion illustrations of a wedding dress and a stole

Here’s the final wedding look, and a knitted stole. I love the fashion illustrations in these books; these two are so detailed.

silver crocheted sleeveless dress with a cowl hood from the Creative Hands book

Now this is an interesting evening dress in silver yarn (with matching silver platform shoes too). The cowl hood is crocheted separately and added afterwards, it says.

crocheted lacy evening top with a silver belt

They were really into the silver yarn/thread, as this lacy top demonstrates. I’m not sure if this is supposed to be an evening look, or not, but because it’s silver I thought I’d include it!

angora knitted sleeveless top and a fringed shawl

Here is the last silver piece; an angora sleeveless top. Definitely not my favourite look. That shawl would be very pretty if worked in a natural fibre and not synthetic, though.

red evening skirts in patterned fabrics and patchwork

I love the floral skirt on the left. There was definitely a thing for patchwork in the 70’s, and it’s actually a great way to use up textile scraps. We should bring it back!

two green dresses with patchwork and embroidery

Another patchwork look- this time inset onto a plain background. And on the right an amazing embroidered dress. Both dresses are in the popular A-Line style.

elegant fashion illustration form Creative Hands book of a dress with bishop sleeves and a lace collar

And to finish off, this beautiful fashion illustration of a dress with bishop sleeves and lace collar and cuffs. Made of a very soft and lightweight cotton/silk blend, or a chiffon this would be so elegant! It’s definitely got that Gibson girl look of the Edwardian era.

Which look is your favourite? Would you wear any of these dresses? Do you like to dress up for holidays such as Valentine’s Day? 

A Fashion Moment With McCall’s Treasury Of Needlecraft: Accessories

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vintage lady wearing a homemade hostess apron

Today is the last post in this McCall’s Treasury of Needlecraft series, because we’ve, sadly, reached the end of the book. For this post, I’ve got some lovely vintage 1950’s accessories to share with you.

Above, is a smocked hostess apron. I love wearing aprons while cooking, because if I don’t, I will inevitably splash all over my clothes. I don’t have any hostess aprons, but I think they are so of-the-era, don’t you think? Do you wear an apron while working?

vintage knitted scarf

This is a really cute scarf. I think it would keep you warm, without being too bulky, and I love that it provides the perfect spot to show off a vintage brooch.

gloves patterns

Ahh some lovely hand made gloves. I like the look of the lacy ones on the right. (Though why do pictures of gloves always look like a murderer preparing for their evil deed?)

vintage belt

trim details illustrations

These home made trims would add such a nice detail.

dress accessories illustrations

And finally, I love these beautiful vintage illustrations, as well as the ideas on how to use sequins for effect. Those stars scattered across a plain dress would be so pretty! The best part about home made clothing, really is the endless options for customization, isn’t it?

That’s all the photos for today; a bit of a shorter post. While I don’t have any more 1950’s images to share from this book, I do have other vintage catalogues and books, so I will still keep sharing from those in the future to keep this series going. And, as always, if you are interested in making any of these vintage crochet/ knitted accessories, feel free to contact me, as I am glad to share the patterns!

A Fashion Moment With McCall’s Treasury Of Needlecraft: Short Sleeved Knits

vintage lady wearing a short sleeved collared knit cardigan

Welcome to another instalment of the Fashion Moment series, this time featuring quite a few lovely vintage short sleeved knits. I only have a couple of short sleeved sweaters, but they are great pieces to wear in the Spring before the weather gets too warm. Depending on where you live, it might already be past the season for sweaters! This is the second-last post in this McCall’s series as I’ve only got one more set of photos from this book. I hope you enjoy seeing these today!

Above, is a very pretty dressy cardigan with embellishments on the collar. It looks like she’s wearing it for a formal event. And, below is this lovely dressy knit pullover with a beaded yoke- so pretty! I love how adding beads to a sweater suddenly makes it so dressed up.

vintage lady wearing a bead embellished sweater

Next up are several short sleeved knits in a similar style- all featuring a small collar and some with buttons and some without. I think this is a pretty classic vintage wardrobe staple. This style of sweater has been around for so long, and you can usually still find plenty of them in the thrift shops!

lady wearing a vintage button up sweater

lady wearing a vintage sweater with a collar

lady wearing a vintage short sleeved button up cardigan

lady wearing a vintage daytime blouse

Next up is this pullover with a hood. I love the look of hoods, but I often find that they look less than ideal when they are pulled up…what do you think about hoods?

lady wearing a vintage hooded short sleeved sweater

lady wearing a vintage short sleeved hooded sweater with the hood up

I really like this v-neck collar detail on this next sweater. I think it adds such an elegant shape to the sweater and makes it a bit dressier than the ones with peter pan or pointed collars.

lady wearing a vintage short sleeved v neck sweater

And lastly, a casual striped sweater. This looks, to me, like something you’d wear for sports or out camping, but they’ve got the model carrying a purse and wearing pearls, so I’m guessing they are thinking it’s more for an afternoon out shopping!

Which of these is your favourite? I’m partial to the beaded sweater, but I wouldn’t say no to any of these actually!

lady wearing a casual striped vintage sweater

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