In November 1929, Butterick’s Delineator Magazine ran two full pages of sketches of Paris Fashions — Vionnet, Chanel, Patou, Schiaparelli, Molyneux, and many other top designers, some of whom are no longer very well known.
Sketches of Paris fashions, # 1 through 15, Delineator, November 1929. Page 26.
In order to make these sketches available for further research, I’ll try to show them one at a time, with their original descriptions from The Delineator. And, because there are thirty sketches in all, I’ll show 15 designs for daytime today, and designs 16 through 30 in Part 2.
Sketches of couture, # 16 through 30, Delineator, Nov. 1929, page 27. Leslie Saalburg, illustrator.
After 1929, hems dropped precipately. Patou claimed the credit, but I won’t pursue that here. Schiaparelli, who wore culottes in the city in 1935, showed a pleated “knicker” skirt with a covering panel here, in 1929. The sketches are accompanied by the original descriptions. Perhaps you’ll find other surprises….
Paris Fashions for Daytime Sketched in the Delineator, November, 1929
Patou coat and dress, Delineator sketch, Nov. 1929.
The coat seems to be about the length of the dresses shown by other designers, but it’s hard to tell what is going on with Patou’s pleated skirt. Notice the suggestion of a natural waist, trimmed with buttons.
Sketch of Schiaparelli “knicker skirt” in Delineator, Nov. 1929.
The illustrator, Leslie Saalburg, seems to have had a little trouble with this one. As we know from Elizabeth Hawes’ Fashion Is Spinach, illustrators had to make furtive notes and then sketch from memory later.
Coat designed by London Trades, Delineator sketch, Nov. 1929.
London Trades is one of those designer names, popular in the 1920’s, but rarely mentioned today.
Green cloth coat by Cheruit, sketched for Delineator, Nov. 1929. Note the natural waist on this fitted coat.
Mme. Cheruit herself retired in 1914, but the House of Cheruit carried on until 1930. This Cheruit tea-gown from 1922 shows strong influence from The Ballets Russes: Big, bold patterns and brilliant, exotic colors.
A caped dress, which looks like a coat, from Molyneux, 1929. Delineator sketch.
“Captain Molyneux” — he was an Englishman — also produced some spectacular evening wear. Click here for a glimmering dress from 1926-27.
Coat with interesting back detail from Lucien Lelong. Sketched for Delineator Nov. 1929 issue.
Burnt orange suit from London Trades, 1929. Delineator sketch.
A caracal is a lynx-like cat with beautiful tufted ears. See more here.
Tweed cape by Lelong. Sketcher for Delineator, Nov. 1929.
Astrakhan is a tightly curled fur, a variation on “Persian” lamb. Click here if you need to know more….
A coat and matching “rug” (a small lap blanket for wearing in cold cars, while watching outdoor sports, etc.) by Elsa Schiaparelli, sketched for Delineator. Nov. 1929.
Costume by Molyneux, sketched for Delineator Nov. 1929 issue.
Nutria (also called coypu) is a rodent. Raised for fur, some nutria escaped. In 2010, it was being treated as an invasive species in Louisiana. The New York Times explained here.
Day dress by Patou, sketched for Delineator, Nov. 1929.
Cheviot is a kind of wool. This dress is slightly longer than other dresses of 1929 shown in the same article. Perhaps more interesting is the belt — worn approximately at the natural waist. Patou was famous for his sportswear in the 1920’s. You can read about his monogrammed sportswear in this article about the influence of tennis on fashion.
A basque blouse outfit from Cheruit, sketched in 1929.
Duveteen was a napped fabric, often suggested for Butterick patterns in the Delineator . The flared skirt was fairly new, but this Cheruit outfit was soon to be out of style without ever being really in style.
A coat made from double-faced tweed, by Nowitsky; 1929 sketch from Delineator.
Mary Nowitsky was often mentioned in Delineator’s Paris coverage; I find some of her twenties’ sportswear very attractive. It’s hard to find information about her.
Coat with interesting back by Schiaparelli. Sketched for Delineator, in 1929.
Jersey coat by Chanel, sketched for Delineator in 1929.
Chanel’s striped dress anticipates the 1930’s — except in length. More Chanel in the next post, Part 2 of Paris Fashions from The Delineator, 1929.
witness2fashion 
Fabulous resource – thank you sooo much! Wish I could locate “burnt orange tweed” these days. Lol!
I’m with CurlsnSkirls, both on the fabulous nature of the pictures and the burnt orange tweed. This is so interesting! Although the hems are in the same general area, there are many ups and downs between the coats and the dresses, almost as if designers were trying to hedge their bets. And the waist lines–you can really see them changing but not quite yet at something new.
Your sharp eyes found those waists-at-the-waist! More about them in Part 2.
Fascinating. It’s funny, I was thinking about the burnt orange tweed as well! I think #16-30 will be even more interesting! Great post.
I’m glad this is useful. I just found a wonderful place to see design sketches from the 1930s. Will write about it soon.
I’d sure love a better view of that Schiaparelli knicker skirt. I’m assuming the “model” is holding up panels that hide the knickers??
Me, too. As I said, the illustration is not good — probably because it was sketched from memory. Butterick was not above pirating designs, along with other pattern companies and manufacturers. Once, Vionnet got the French police to raid Butterick’s offices and sued. Betty Kirke wrote about it,
Hi, I came across this post on your while researching the term ‘Crepella’. I was wondering if you could tell me what ‘Crepella’ means. Is it a style of a dress or is it a term for a specific fabric?
PS: What wonderful blog you have! I have already spent there hours over here! 🙂
I found it listed as one of the many kinds of crepe fabric at this Wikipedia site. It may even be a brand name, or a brand name that was expanded to cover a type f crepe; a British blogger who kept referring to “Crimplene” showed many examples of what, in the U.S., we called polyester knits. I’m guessing that’s an example of a brand name being generalized to apply of a wide range of products. (E.g., in England they “Hoover” their carpets; we just vacuum ours….)
Thanks for reading and enjoying w2f!