Day Dresses for November, 1934

Butterick dress patterns for “High Noon,” November 1934. Nos. 5961, 5955, and 5857. From The Delineator magazine. Photographer not named.

High Noon

“If you sit in the lobby of any smart luncheon place at high noon, you’ll see these smart women come in. The one who wears a tailored tweed dress, 5961 [left], with careful details — small collar, pockets, buttons, pleats, stitching.  The one who wears a black wool dress, 5957 [right], with slits in the streamline skirt and a shining satin sash.  The one who wears a bright crepe dress, 5955 [center], punctuated at neckline and wrists with black. There’s a look of Jodelle about the lovely, simple lines. . . . Cheney fabric. Delman shoes. Lilly Daché hat. Furs from Jaekel.”

Butterick 5961

Butterick pattern No. 5961, Nov. 1934, The Delineator magazine.

I confess that this is my favorite. It has so many great details, including that yoke extending into sleeves; the intriguing pocket shapes, copied on the skirt; and the big button accents. On the other hand, matching the large-scale plaid was undoubtedly easier for the illustrator than it would be for the home stitcher!

“5961:  The kind of tailored clothes that came out of Paris are the kind with interesting details — stitching, slot seams, amusing pockets, slit skirts. As Agnes-Drecoll uses details, we used them in this plaid wool dress. For 36 (size 18), 3 yards, 54-inch wool.  Designed for 12 to 20; 30 to 42 [inch bust measure.]”

Not what we think of as a ‘slit skirt’ today: Butterick #5961, 1934. It wouldn’t make walking much easier….

Butterick 5955

Butterick pattern No. 5955, with Lilly Dache hat. November 1934 The Delineator magazine.

“As Jodelle grows familiar, you recognize the simplicity of her lines. Like our dress with its convertible collar, they suit everyone. . . . Designed for sizes 12 to 20; 30 to 40 [inch bust measure.] “

Butterick pattern No. 5955, The Delineator, Nov. 1934.

That’s certainly an interesting sleeve (although likely to swoop into the soup at lunch). The article gives no alternate view to explain how the collar is “convertible.” Here’s a closer look at the Lilly Daché hat, with its brim of pleated velvet:

Black velvet hat from Lilly Dache. 1934.

I had to increase the contrast to show the hat details. According to Lizzie Bramlett, writing for the Vintage Fashion Guild, Lilly Dache’s first hat under her own name was also made of velvet. Fashion trivia fact: “In 1958 Daché hired Halston as a hat designer.”

Butterick 5957

Butterick pattern 5957, The Delineator magazine, Nov. 1934.

“5957  A new French house called Robert Piguet slit the skirts of trim wool dresses and filled them in with pleats. We make a dress like that and tie shiny satin around the waist. . . . Designed for sizes 12 to 20; 30 to 40 [inch bust measure.] ”

Slit with pleats in the style of Robert Piguet, 1934. The Delineator.

Writing for the Vintage Fashion Guild, emmapeelpants says that the house of Robert Piguet, founded in 1933, was “the training ground for Dior, Bohan, Galanos, Balmain and Givenchy. ” That’s quite an alumni group! Like Butterick No. 5961, this dress has broad shoulders and a yoke, which makes the upper body look wider (and the hips narrower by comparison. Also notice how much the length of the thigh is exaggerated in this fashion illustration.) The finishing touch on this dress (described in the copy as “a black wool dress,” but illustrated in red) is an exceptionally long rhinestone dress clip at the neckline, added in the illustration to continue the vertical CF seam.

1930s rhinestone dress clip from RememberedSummers.

I thought this vintage clip was long — over 2 inches — but it’s nowhere near as long as the one illustrated. The collar of #5957 would look quite different without that big piece of jewelry.

Not Quite Designer Fashions

You’ll notice that all three patterns are described with reference to specific Paris designers, but none of them claims to be an exact copy of a Paris design. “As Agnes-Drecoll uses details, we used them in this plaid wool dress.”  “There’s a look of Jodelle about the lovely, simple lines.” “Robert Piguet slit the skirts of trim wool dresses and filled them in with pleats. We make a dress like that . . . .” The Butterick Publishing Company maintained an office in Paris, partly for the purpose of reporting on the latest fashions. Back in the 1920s, it was raided by the French police on behalf of Madeleine Vionnet; they indeed found evidence that her dresses were being copied in the workshop. Vionnet sued. (Source: Betty Kirke’s brilliant book Madeleine Vionnet.)

 

 

Back to School Gym Suit, August 1931

Back-to-School Clothes, The Delineator, August 1931.

August meant back-to-school clothes, even in 1931. I was especially taken by this sleeveless gym suit:

‘Modern Gym Suit,’ 1931. Butterick pattern #4029. From The Delineator, August 1931.

The gym suit pattern is for ages 6 to 18, or for bust measurements 24″ to 44.”  It buttons on the shoulders. I confess I can’t understand how you could step into it from the top, since the waist seems snugly fitted. The back view doesn’t seem to show an elastic casing. Those two front buttons must have had some function.

Back views, including 1931 gym suit.

A gym suit like this also required shorter underwear than the just-above-the-knee bloomers worn in the 1920s.

Ladies’ yoked bloomers, 1931. From The Delineator, August 1931. Butterick pattern #4021.

Another pair of bloomers, pattern No. 4012,  is even shorter, and has an elasticized waist. They are bloomers, rather than panties, because they are still gathered around each leg. The yoke in front keeps your tummy as flat as possible under 1930s yoked dresses, although I would not recommend wearing bloomers under a bias-cut satin dress!

Short bloomers for August, 1931. Butterick pattern #4012, pictured in The Delineator.

The shoes illustrated with the gym suit and rolled socks are also interesting, since they appear to have a zipper closing.

Zippered gym shoes worn with rolled socks, Aug. 1931. The Delineator.

In the 1920s, B.F. Goodrich made rubber overshoes which zipped up the front and gave us the word “zipper.” Perhaps Goodrich made rubber-soled gym shoes from a similar design? Keds have also been around since the 1910s.

The other back-to-school clothes pictured in the photo at the top of this post are for girls and teens:

Back-to-School Clothes, The Delineator, August 1931.

On the left, Butterick pattern #4007: “White collar, white cuffs, a white leather or string belt, and a touch of white on the pockets will double the chic of a school-girl frock of simple lines. There is an inverted pleat at each side. Designed for sizes 14 to 20 [years]  and 32 to 38 [inch bust.]”

Center, Butterick pattern #4023:  “This Looks Two-Piece. It is the box pleated peplum that gives it that appearance. Frocks that button up close to the neck are very smart and detachable collars and cuffs are very practical for the school girl…. Frock designed for 26 to 33 (sizes 8 to 15.)

The box-pleated dress illustrated at top right, Butterick #4025, is made of navy blue wool, with a red patent leather belt keeping the pleats in place. It is worn with matching bloomers, so it has a close relationship to the uniforms worn by English schoolgirls. Designed for bust 24″ to 38″ (ages 6 to 20.)

The double-breasted coat at far right, Butterick pattern #4018, is also for girls 8 to 15, 26 to 33 [inches bust.] “A bright scarf is gay contrast.”

The lowered hem of the 1930s applied to adult women and teens, but not to little girls, who, from the 1800s onward, have worn shorter skirts until they were 16 or so.

The Vintage Traveler has written many interesting posts about vintage gym clothes, including the Evolution of the Gymsuit.