Summer Dresses from Butterick, June 1926

As I read through successive issues of Delineator, I enjoy finding patterns that have common elements. These four color pages from the June, 1926, issue were illustrated by M. S. Walle. Some of the fashion ideas I wrote about in May reappear on new styles in June, like this charming border print:

This 1926 two piece dress uses a border print fabric, although it could also be made in solids or all-over prints. Butterick 6862 for Misses and Small Women. Delineator, June 1926, p. 27.

Delineator was a large format magazine, so I’ll show an overview of each color page and then select pattern illustrations for a closer look.

Clothes for Young Women, Small Women, and Teens, June 1926

Butterick patterns for Misses 15 to 20, and small women. Delineator, June 1926, p. 27.

Butterick pattern 6865, Delineator, June, 1926, p. 27.

This simple dress pattern included a handbag pattern. The long scarf-like tie passes through buttonholes in the front of the dress — a very common 1920’s feature.

This evening pattern, No. 6819, from 1926, shows that not every twenties dress had a snug hip band.

Butterick patterns 6831 and 6842 for misses and teens, Delineator, June 1926, p. 27.

The dress on the left has “saddle shoulders” and a long, thin, vertical tie. The yellow dress is made of sheer fabric and has interesting cuffs, with a long ribbon in front to create a vertical line. The dress on the right, below, also has a long ribbon as trim.

The two dresses on the left are for afternoon parties. (Remember “tea dances?”) The dress on the right has decorative smocking. Butterick 6854, 6848, and 6873, Delineator, June 1926.

Women’s Dresses, June 1926

Women’s dress patterns from Delineator, June 1926, page 28. “Plaits [Pleats] Narrow Down Smart Width to Parisian Slimness.”

The two dresses at top right look like house dresses, while the four bottom patterns are outdoor dresses, often worn for spectator sports. Notice all the vertical details introduced to draw the eye up and down, instead of across, the body.

Butterick patterns 6858 for a dress and bag, and dress 6867. Delineator, June 1926, p. 28. Triangular pockets!

Spectator sport dresses, Delineator, June 1926, Page 28. Butterick patterns 6839, 6833, 6794 and 6853. “Plaits [pleats] narrow down smart width to Parisian slimness.”

The woman on the left is carrying a shooting stick (a combination walking stick and folding seat.) The white dress appears to have a large, printed scarf billowing behind it.  The dress with a long rectangular bib does not have a belt. The skirt part of dresses like the three at right usually were sewn to an underbodice (like a camisole) that allowed the skirt to hang straight from the shoulders instead of having a waistband.

Sheer dresses for women, Delineator, June 1926, page 29. Butterick pattern illlustrations by M.S. Walle. The fabric on the bottom four implies that these are afternoon dresses.

Two evening dresses for women, from Butterick patterns 6856 and 6860. Delineator, July 1926, p. 29.

Orange was a popular color in the twenties; click for a  Chanel evening gown  made of “deep orange” lace.

Afternoon dresses 6871, 6875, and 6863, and a sheer green dress (Butterick 6827) whose collar ends in long ties threaded through an opening in the bodice. Delineator, June 1926, bottom of page 29.

Clothes for Children, Summer 1926

Butterick patterns for children, Delineator, June 1926, page 30.

Dresses for girls 8 to 15 ?? and a little boy’s suit. Delineator, June 1926, top left of page 30. Butterick 6841, 6813, 6851, 6880.

Girls’ dresses from Butterick patterns 6866, 6845, and 6861. Delineator, June 1926, bottom of page 30.

Several of the June dress patterns included a pattern for a handbag — even the ones for girls.

Dress patterns with matching handbags, June 1926. Butterick.

When the same design was manufactured in more than one size group, it was assigned different numbers:

The two ruched dresses at left are for Misses (No. 6854) and for girls and young teens (No. 6841.) The ruched dresses for women, at right, are Butterick Nos. 6871 and 6863. June 1926.

These dresses all use ruching as a design element; the two at left are for Misses (No. 6854) and for girls and young teens (No. 6841.) Note all the different, age-related hem lengths. The ruched dresses for women, at right, are Butterick Nos. 6871 and 6863. Ruched dresses were illustrated in May, 1926, and there are other examples in this post.

Chiffon dresses with fluttering panes (aka handkerchief hems) from June (left, No. 6860,) May (No. 6796, center) and June, No. 6819. The pink dress (6819) is for Misses 15 to 20 and small women; the yellow one (6796) is in women’s sizes. 1926.

The gown at the left assumes a rather flat chest, but the two at right have gathering at their shoulders.

You may have noticed that many of these mid-twenties dresses have tucks,  gathering, or ruching near the shoulder, taking the place of bust darts to accommodate a normal female chest. 1926 was also the year when Delineator offered one pattern for a bust flattener next to a pattern for a non-flattening brassiere with two soft “pockets” — both patterns on the same page.

1926: Gathering, ruching, smocking or tucks at the front shoulder take the place of a bust dart, creating a little fullness over the chest.

 

Suspender Skirts, 1925

Butterick suspender skirts with smocked blouses, 1925. Left, May, #5997; right, April, #5979.

The “suspender skirt” — called the “Pretty Peggy Skirt” in the Fall 1925 Sears catalog — was available in several Butterick patterns for women and girls during 1925. I hate to keep mentioning Downton Abbey, but I remembered seeing suspender skirts in Delineator magazine because Lady Edith recently appeared wearing one. (She was photographed mostly from the waist up, so I can’t be absolutely certain, but it looked like she was wearing a dark suspender skirt with a white blouse in the brief scene where she told Tom that she intended to leave Downton Abbey without talking to anyone.)

Suspender skirts #6079, far left, and #6063, far right. June 1925, Butterick patterns in Delineator.

It’s a rather strange fashion, and was sometimes described as a skirt, and sometimes as a dress. In America today, we’d be inclined to call it a “jumper,” meaning a sleeveless dress designed to be worn over a blouse. (“Jumper” is one of those words, like “braces” and “vest,” which mean a completely different piece of clothing in the U.K.)  Sometimes, as above, it was scooped to above the natural waist, but some versions appear to be open so low that the blouse wrinkles.

Designers had already shown one-piece dresses with a curved contrasting “bib,” one of many ploys for adding a vertical element, or a contrasting element near the face, to mid-1920’s fashions.

A dark dress with a contrasting bib effect. May, 1924. Delineator.

A ‘bib’ dress from Dec. 1924, left, and one from Oct. 1925, right. Butterick patterns in Delineator magazine.

The suspender skirt, however, was a skirt with wide shoulder straps — often bias bound — and a low, curved front, worn over a separate blouse. Patterns were available for women, teens ( called “misses”) and girls. In adult sizes, patterns for the blouse and skirt were sold separately, sometimes with a matching jacket or vest pattern, too. Suspender skirts for girls, however, included the blouse pattern — probably because child-sized patterns used less paper.

Girls’ suspender skirt and blouse pattern #6176. August, 1925. Delineator.

Butterick suspender skirt and blouse #6009. May, 1925.

Girls’ suspender skirt and blouse pattern #6131, July 1925.

Misses’ skirt #6017, with blouse #5903. Butterick, May 1925.  Note the line of slenderizing decorative buttons, seen on many 1925 patterns.

Many of the suspender skirts were shown over blouse pattern 5903, which has a smocked neckline and “folk” embroidery.

Butterick suspender skirt #6079 with blouse #5903. June 1925.

In 1925, dresses were often shown with a decorative handkerchief hanging out of the pocket, like most of these.

Skirt #5964 with blouse #5498 and coat #5981. May, 1925.

In this version, the coat is lined with the plaid wool used for the skirt. The blouse, Butterick 5498, first appeared in 1924.

Pattern information for skirt #5964 and the coat, #5981. The same coat and skirt were featured two months in a row; this describes them worn a different blouse and hat. From the April, 1925 Delineator.

The pattern descriptions for skirts #5997 and #5979 appear below.

Butterick suspender skirts, 1925. Left, #5997 has small pleats in front; right, #5979, has pleats near the hem at CF and side seams, but not in back.

Pattern information for skirt #5997, when it was featured in a different magazine issue with the sleeveless jacket, #6001, below.

Suspender skirt #5979, on the right above, was also illustrated in red, with a sleeveless jacket and contrast binding:

Suspender skirt #5979 with blouse #5903, and  jacket #6001. May, 1925. Delineator.

Pattern information for Butterick skirt #5979 and jacket #6001; this is the description from a different month, which showed the skirt and jacket with a different blouse and hat.

The vocabulary was not always used precisely; the outfit on the left, below, was called a “suspender skirt” and blouse, but the one on the right was described as a “dress” and blouse. They are shown with two versions of the same blouse, #5508, from 1924.

Suspender skirt #6077 (June 1925) with blouse #5508 and “Dress” #6119 (July 1925) with blouse #5508. The ‘dress’ has higher armholes.

Another thing worth noting, for the light it sheds on pattern production:  all but one of the suspender skirts have exactly the same back.

Back views of suspender skirts #5964 and #5979.

Back views of suspender skirts #6017 and #5979.

Personally, I suspect that the reason why this style only appeared for a short time was that it’s a bad design; with the back scoop as low as the front scoop, the straps would fall off your shoulder every time  you reached down, especially when you were sitting. Only #5997 solves the problem with a higher scoop in back than in front.  If you make a suspender skirt, copy this back.