The Vogue Seamstress, 1930's

The Vogue Seamstress, 1930's

This is a Vogue Design Original Pattern from the 1930’s. Vogue was charging fifty cents when other pattern companies were charging fifteen cents. I have laid out some of the pattern pieces over the fabric to show transparency. The thread is wound on wooden spools.

The silhouette of women’s clothing began to change in 1928, because, according to Vogue, skirts could not get any shorter or waistlines any longer. The natural waist returned at the beginning of the period and remained throughout the 1930’s. By the mid-1930’s, the emphasis began to be on the broader shoulder line, initially developed through fuller sleeve shapes, and later with the introduction of shoulder pads, a style that would remain through World War II. Because a slender silhouette dominated dress styles at the start of the 1930’s, exercising, was recommended for slimmer bodies.

Joan Crawford’s famous designer, Adrian, widened her shoulders with ruffled sleeves and shoulder pads to make her hips look narrower and women wanted to copy Crawford’s style. Almost all dresses, suits and coats had belts. Gloves and hats were essential for day and eveningwear. The most frequently worn shoes were pumps that sat high on the arch of the foot. T-strap sandals and oxfords were also popular. Costume jewelry became popular in the 1920’s and continues to this day.

The fabric I used is a reproduction of a printed flour sack or feedback. The tradition began in the great depression and lasted into the 1950's. It is estimated that by the early 1940's over 3 million women and children were wearing some version of a printed feedbag garments.

Not only were flours sack designs simple, so was the concept. They were used as a promotion to sell more flour because the bag, or sack that the flour was packed in could be reused to make clothes. One of the reasons for there being thousands of different flour sack designs was the idea that the shorter the time that a particular design was available, more designs would be used. Women wanted more fabric designs and would therefore help drive demand for the flour. 

Oil on canvas board

12" X 10"

$600.00, plus shipping

Leighann Foster, foster3@gvtc.com

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