Print Dresses for Spring, 1934

Print dresses for Spring, 1934. Butterick patterns 5494, 5527, 5507 from The Delineator, Feb. 1934.

Eighty-one years ago, these print dresses were illustrated in The Delineator magazine, a Butterick Company publication. Print fabrics were suggested for both day and evening wear. I’ll show some close-ups of each dress, because the details are so lovely.

Butterick 5494

Butterick pattern 5494, Feb. 1934.

“The fruit prints are very charming, especially the berry, apple and pear ones.  A raspberry print is used for dress 5494, a frock distinguished also for its new type of high cowl neckline, buttoned to one shoulder and its sleeves that go just beyond the crook of the elbow.” — The Delineator, February 1934, p. 72.

What I really like about this dress is the unusual cut of the bodice and sleeves, and the way the diagonal seam is carried down into the skirt.

Butterick patterns 5527 and 5507

Butterick patterns 5527 and 5507, February 1934, The Delineator.

The large, swirling, abstract print on number 5527 is quite a contrast to “fruit prints.”

Dress details, Butterick 5527 and 5507, Feb. 1934.

Butterick 5527:  “Light rust is the newest color for prints, and best-looking when the design is in white, as in the hood frock 5527. In front the dress has a high neck, but it is its back that is the important thing.” [That’s right: A hood!]

Butterick 5507:  “Neat little unimportant designs, spaced apart, make the smartest looking dresses after all, as 5507 with its entrancing laced and buttoned scarf, proves. This is the kind of print that is definitely high fashion for spring.”

Top details of Butterick 5527 and 5507, Feb. 1934.

Big bow/collars like No. 5507 were also popular in white. Notice the way the sleeves echo the curve of the bodice.

This print dress with a contrast collar/bow is Butterick 5609, from April 1934:

Butterick dress pattern 5609, April 1934, The Delineator.

It also has fullness gathered into curves on the sleeves, like No. 5507.

A print fabric was also featured in this dress from a Lane Bryant  catalog advertisement in February:

Lane Bryant catalog for stout women ad from The Delineator, Feb. 1934.

Print for a Spring Evening Dress

Butterick evening gown patterns 5534 and 5526, Feb. 1934. The Delineator.

 Butterick 5534:  This jacket dress would be hard to beat — for being terribly good-looking and practical, too. It’s suitable for Mama and Daughter alike.  Wear it informally with the jacket.  Take the jacket off and you have a covered-shoulder, low-backed frock …. Designed for sizes 12 to 20; 30 to 40.”

Butterick 5526:  The skirt of this dress is all one unbroken sweep of the satin, with a single seam down the back — no side seams! For this, you have to use 54 inch satin. There’s a built-in brassiere, so all one needs to wear underneath is a girdle and step-ins …. Designed for sizes 12 to 20; 30 to 40.”

Details of Butterick patterns 5534 and 5526, from Feb. 1934, The Delineator.

Number 5526 doesn’t use print fabric, but that description — a single seam bias skirt and a built-in bra — is pretty interesting!

A Vintage Print Evening Dress, circa 1929

While reading about these prints for spring — one of them in  rust, which is not a “springtime” color anymore — I remembered this vintage dress which I photographed — badly — several years ago:

Vintage print evening dress, circa 1929.

It is several years earlier than the patterns from 1934; it has a handkerchief hem which is much shorter in front than in back. 

These transitional gowns were popular around 1929 — this example is from Paris, by Lucien Lelong.

Navy Taffeta Gown by Lucien Lelong, pictured in The Delineator, August 1929.

A closer view of the front of the vintage dress shows a dropped waistline, too. It is made of print chiffon over a silk lining. Like many gowns of the 1930s, it depends on a bias cut for its effectiveness.

The use of bold, printed fabrics spanned several decades.

 

“Silver Hair Fashions”: Spring Styles for Older (and Larger) Women, 1931

“Silver Hair Fashions” from Butterick’s Delineator, April 1931

Six “Silver Hair Fashions” for April, 1931

A closer look at Butterick dress patterns # 3812 & 3797 (Top Right and Top Left):

3812   OLD IVORY LACE adds the final touch of distinction to this frock of sheer crêpe. There’s graceful movement in every line of the flared skirt, and the frills at the wrist match the self jabot. Choose this in soft rose if you are slim – if not-so-slim, black. For 40, 4 7/8 yards 39-inch georgette. Designed for 34 to 44. [bust] [I do wish the writers at Butterick Publishing had not repeatedly suggested that black was the only sensible color choice for larger women! How about something really daring – like navy?]

3797   PARIS SAYS GRAY and for the woman with silvery hair, nothing could be more flattering. This afternoon frock with vestee of white georgette  has gracefully molded hips and sleeves of three-quarter length. Flared wrapped skirt. For 40, 4 3/4 yards 39-inch silk crêpe; 3/8 yard 39-inch contrast.  Designed for 34 to 48.

Butterick patterns 3806, 3804, 3814, 3810; April 1931 Delineator

3806   ONE-REVERS FASHION  Every line of this frock is either up-and-down or diagonal, creating the illusion of height and slenderness. Gray tweed would be very smart, with a white piqué collar, white gloves, and a matching tweed hat. . . . Designed for 34 to 52. [inch bust]

3804   IF YOU’RE NOT SLIM  This surplice frock with pleats will do amazing things in the way of slenderizing and lending additional height. The pleats are stitched down so that fullness begins just above the knee. Contrasting jabot. . . . Designed for 34 to 48 [inch bust. The “surplice line,” running diagonally across the bodice, was a favorite suggestion for women who wore large sizes in the 1920s, too.]

3814   PLEATS FOR FLATNESS This is the kind of ‘useful frock’ you’ll wear for everything from marketing to motoring and golf. [!] The points on the yoke match the points on the skirt panel, and there are four kick pleats. One-piece back. . . . Designed for 34 to 44 [bust.]

3810   LONG SLIM LINES For anyone inclined to be a bit overweight. The low V neck and diagonal flare of this frock will subtract pounds from the silhouette. Wear it in a print if you like. One-piece from shoulder to hem. . . . Designed for sizes 34 to 52 [inch bust.]

And a Reality Check from Lane Bryant, 1931

Obviously, all six of these dresses for “mature figures” have been illustrated by Butterick as they would appear on an elongated fashion figure, in smallish sizes, even when the pattern is “for anyone inclined to be a bit overweight,” or “not-so-slim.” Numbers 3806 and 3810 go up to size 52, which is several inches larger than a modern Size 24. [I give Butterick credit for realizing — in the 1930s! —  that many women make their own clothes because they have hard-to-fit figures.]

This Lane Bryant catalog advertisement — from the February 1931 Delineator — doesn’t mince words: “For Stout Women and Misses.”

Lane Bryant “Style Book”/Catalog Ad, February 1931

The Lane Bryant  illustrations give a more realistic idea of how a 1931 dress would look on a woman with 48 inch hips and a good corset. The Lane Bryant styles also have that slenderizing, diagonal “surplice line,” even on the coat.