Fashions for women from Butterick patterns, February 1924. Delineator Magazine, page 32.
The iconic look of nineteen twenties’ fashions — dropped waists, short skirts, an emphasis on youth — didn’t really dominate until the latter half of the decade. These styles from 1924 don’t suggest flaming youth.
Butterick coat 5055 with skirt 4743, from 1924.
These outfits from the tubular twenties have very long skirts, just exposing the ankle area. Women’s hemlines are not much changed from 1917. The 1924 Butterick suit coat shown above, from the lower left of the page, not only looks matronly to me, it reminds me of the suits of 1910, although the body ideal is quite different.
From The Gimbel Book, 1910, a store catalog in the Metropolitan Museum Library.
More suits from The Gimbel Book, a 1910 catalog in the Metropolitan museum collection.
Another suit, from the Bendel Collection, by French designer Jenny has a vague twenties’ look, hinting at a lowered waist, but it is actually from 1914. Here’s a closer look at that Butterick style for 1924:
The coat is long, the bust is low, and the waist is ignored. 1924. Butterick also sold the hat pattern, a Tam-o Shanter, No. 4886.
An illustration from later in 1924 shows that this shapeless look (with the same hat) was not necessarily for older women:
Butterick hat pattern No. 4886, is worn with a coat (Butterick 5120) and matching skirt (Butterick 4983.) in Delineator, April 1924.
Returning to the top of page 32, a “box coat,” elaborately embroidered using Butterick transfer pattern 10181, is at left. The dress worn under it does have a dropped waist.
At left, Butterick’s box coat pattern 5052 over dress 4721. From 1924. The outfit at right is made from coat pattern 5051 over dress 4789.
Butterick coat pattern 5053 treats the female body as a long cylinder, although this pattern was available up to bust size 46 inches, which assumed a proportionately bigger hip measure.
Left, a “coat dress,” Butterick 5054, with embroidery pattern 10191; right, a mannish suit made from “sack coat” 5040, blouse 4790, and skirt 4753. Delineator, Feb. 1924, page 32.
The sack coat (as in the traditional sack suit worn by men) is shown with a Butterick hat pattern, 4973. From 1924.
Here’s another illustration of hat 4973, worn by a much more girlish model, from April of 1924.
This last coat, from the lower right side of page 32, is rather charming, perhaps because it looks more like the fashions to come:
Butterick coat pattern 5032, Delineator, February 1924.
The model is drawn as a teen; her hem shows just a bit more leg, and the coat’s pin-tucked trim on cuff and collar hints at an Art Deco influence.
Butterick coat 5032 — with a swirling button — and cloche hat pattern 4973 again.
When I look at these styles, I can hardly wait for the “real” twenties to begin. As in the 1960’s, styles favored by young women and teens became dominant as the decade progressed.
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