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Summer 2018 Designer Pattern Highlights
A look from Guy Laroche Spring 2017. Image: vogue.com. The new designer patterns for Summer 2018 play with texture and special fabrics. Lace, seersucker, matelassé, waffle georgette, even a laser-cut...
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Patterns in Vogue: Where There’s Sun There’s Silk
Detail, British Vogue, May 1966. Photo: Helmut Newton. Image: Youthquakers. A mid-1960s Helmut Newton editorial features a leopard and a Vogue pattern. The model on the right wears Vogue 6468’s beach...
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Pertegaz 1918-2018
Pertegaz (Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, 2004) Model: Laura Ponte. Photo: Antoni Bernad. Image: The Cary Collection. Manuel Pertegaz was born on this day in 1918. Paco Peralta asked me to contribute to...
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Gnyuki Torimaru (Yuki): Style Patterns
Diana, Princess of Wales, wears Yuki to a banquet hosted by Emperor Hirohito in May, 1986. Image: Pinterest. Gnyuki Torimaru, or Yuki, is most famous for dressing Princess Diana on her 1986 state visit...
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Sewing and Smoking
Detail, Virginia Slims advertisement, 1975. Today is World No Tobacco Day. Here’s a look at a Virginia Slims ad that ran in Vogue Patterns magazine. The mid-’70s ad—with the famous You’ve come a long...
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Carolyn Murphy
Carolyn Murphy in Armani, Vogue Italia, September 1998. Photo: Steven Meisel. Image: Pleasure Photo. Supermodel Carolyn Murphy can be seen on some ’90s Vogue patterns. Born in Florida, Carolyn Murphy...
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McCall’s x Canada Dry, 1971
McCall’s 2761 (1971) Canada Dry “Pounds-Thinner” pattern. Happy Canada Day! In celebration, here’s a Canada Dry pattern from McCall’s. Established in Toronto in 1904, by the ’70s Canada Dry was owned...
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Free Pattern: Incroyables Tailcoat
Incroyables ensemble, ca. 1790-95. Image: LACMA. Happy quatorze juillet! For Bastille Day, here’s a pattern for an Incroyables tailcoat. The tailcoat, which dates to Revolutionary France, was part of...
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McCall’s Pattern Fashions, Summer 1971
Lauren Hutton on the cover of McCall’s Pattern Fashions, Summer 1971. Photo: Myron Miller. Lauren Hutton frolics in Martinique for McCall’s seasonal pattern book. Hutton wears two-piece swimsuit...
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Fall 2018 Designer Pattern Highlights
Vivien Solari in Anne Klein’s Fall 2015 ad campaign. Photo: Nathaniel Goldberg. Editor: Laura Ferrara. Image: Instagram. Have you seen the new Fall patterns? 1597 Vogue Patterns lookbook Fall 2018....
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Inspired by Lost Horizon
Olivia Hussey in Lost Horizon (1973) Image: Pinterest. Olivia Hussey has an autobiography out, reminding us of a legendary bomb: the musical Lost Horizon. Naturally, there was a pattern tie-in. Ross...
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Free Designer Pattern: Callot Soeurs Pyjamas
Callot Soeurs lounging pyjamas, ca. 1913. Image: LACMA. This week, a free couture pattern from Callot Soeurs. Callot Soeurs was one of the old couture houses of Belle Époque Paris, founded in 1895 by...
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New Look
I’m delighted to introduce my blog redesign. Bear with me as I tweak seven years’ worth of content. The new format has a more streamlined navigation, as well as increased space for images and an...
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Ralph Lauren: 50 Years
Linda Evangelista in Ralph Lauren, Vogue, September 1991. Photo: Arthur Elgort. Editor: Grace Coddington. Image: TFS. Tonight at New York Fashion Week, Ralph Lauren celebrates his company’s 50th...
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In memoriam: Joy Emery
A History of the Paper Pattern Industry, by Joy Spanabel Emery. Image: Bloomsbury. Joy Emery, Professor Emerita of the University of Rhode Island and curator of the Commercial Pattern Archive, has...
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Mary Quant: Butterick Patterns
Tania Mallet wears Mary Quant (hat by James Wedge) on the cover of British Vogue, October 1, 1963. Photo: Brian Duffy. Image: eBay. Nothing says Swinging London like Mary Quant. The pioneer of the...
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Silhouette News for Fall, 1956
Anne St. Marie in McCall’s 3793, McCall’s Pattern Book, Fall 1956. Photo: The Dodenhoffs. There are only two weekends left to catch Balenciaga: Master of Couture at the McCord Museum. Anne St. Marie’s...
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Winter/Holiday 2018 Designer Pattern Highlights
A look from Cynthia Rowley Fall 2017. Photo: William Eadon. Image: Vogue Runway. The new designer patterns for Winter/Holiday 2018 amp up the drama with sparkle and embellishment. Vogue’s designer...
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Costumes after Eiko Ishioka
Google doodle celebrating Eiko Ishioka, 2017. Image: Google. In memory of Eiko Ishioka, who would have been 80 this year, a look at costume patterns based on her work. Eiko on Stage (Callaway, 2000)...
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Armistice Centenary
Women in uniform on the cover of The Delineator, November 1918. Image: eBay. This Sunday is the centenary of the Armistice of 1918, marking the end of World War I. On the November 1918 Delineator cover...
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