In honour of Alexander McQueen, currently the subject of the retrospective Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty at New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, I’d like to dedicate my inaugural blog posts to some fashion ephemera with an interesting connection to the late designer.

Between 1998 and 2002, Vogue Patterns released a series of licensed designer sewing patterns based on Givenchy designs by Alexander McQueen. These patterns provide an opportunity to study—as well as to recreate—a body of work by McQueen that is less well known than his work for his own label.

The eleven Vogue patterns represent seven collections presented by the house of Givenchy in the late 1990s. In my next three blog posts I’ll share the results of my project to match the patterns to the collections shown on the Paris runway.

Because Vogue Patterns didn’t always release these designs in the sequence in which they were shown, I’ve grouped them by collection, noting the copyright date found on my copy of each pattern. Many of the designs were not made up for the magazine’s editorials; they were usually introduced in the ‘Shop Vogue’ section in the back, often with a runway photo that helps identify the collection from which it was drawn. I’ve noted where this is the case. To facilitate comparison, I’ve also added a link to the parallel McQueen collection.

1. Givenchy Prêt-à-porter Fall/Winter 1997–98 (shown March 1997)

For their first patterns by Givenchy’s new designer, Vogue Patterns selected two designs from Alexander McQueen’s second collection for the house, the Fall 1997 ready-to-wear, which was shown in a former slaughterhouse. The first is a sharply tailored evening suit, Vogue 2086, modelled by Jacki Adams:

Vogue 2086 by Alexander McQueen for Givenchy (1998) Strapless sheath and jacket with pierced front.

Technical drawing for Vogue 2086

Here’s the description from the pattern envelope: Misses’ Jacket and Dress: Semi-fitted, partially interfaced, lined, below hip jacket has front shield extending into back collar with opening for lapels, shoulder pads, side panels, no side seams, side front pockets and long, two-piece sleeves. Close-fitting, tapered, lined dress, below mid-knee, has front princess seams, side front slit, foundation with optional bust pads, inside belt and side zipper.

This design was pictured on the cover of the March/April 1998 issue of Vogue Patterns:

Vogue Patterns, March/April 1998. Model: Jacki Adams. Image via eBay.

Vogue 2086 remained in print for at least two years: Vogue Patterns was still promoting it in the May/June 2000 issue of the magazine (Shop Vogue).

This WWD image from the ready-to-wear collection shows the same green moiré. Vogue Paris put the jacket on the cover (as part of a pantsuit) on Chandra North:

Suit by Alexander McQueen for Givenchy, Vogue Paris, Août 1997

Vogue Patterns’ second selection from the collection is a two-in-one design for a pantsuit or short coatdress, Vogue 2183:

Vogue 2183 by by Alexander McQueen for Givenchy (1998) Double-breasted pantsuit/coatdress.

Technical drawing for Vogue 2183

Here’s the pattern envelope description: Misses’/Misses’ Petite Jacket, Dress & Pants: Loose fitting, partially interfaced, lined, double breasted, below hip jacket or straight dress, above mid-knee, has collar, slightly extended shoulders, shoulder pads, side panels, no side seams, flaps, welt pockets and long, two-piece sleeves. Semi-fitted, lined, straight-legged, floor length pants have waistband, side front pockets and fly zipper closing. Featured in the November/December 1998 issue of Vogue Patterns (Shop Vogue).

Images from the collection show variations on the strapless sheath and tailored pantsuit/coatdress:

(All three images are from L’Officiel 1000 modèles 1997 no. 6 via The Fashion Spot.)

Vogue 2183 is also very similar to a suit shown on Amy Wesson in the January couture show. This was McQueen’s first collection for the house, entitled The Search for the Golden Fleece (Givenchy Haute Couture Spring/Summer 1997). In this collection image from L’Officiel, the pantsuit is in the bottom row, third from the left:

L’Officiel 1000 modèles 1997 no. 4 via jalougallery.com

Flickr member pogisto has posted images for the entire couture collection; here’s the pantsuit. Just for fun, here’s an editorial photo of Stella Tennant in the dress with gold ivy, from Harper’s Bazaar:

Harper’s Bazaar, May 1997. Silk crepe bias-cut dress with gold ivy, Givenchy Haute Couture by Alexander McQueen. Photo: Craig McDean. Fashion editor: Melanie Ward.

Parallel Alexander McQueen collection: It’s a Jungle Out There (FW 1997–98). The Givenchy Couture collection that followed is Eclect Dissect (FW 1997–98).

2. Givenchy Prêt-à-porter Spring/Summer 1998 (shown October 1997)

This collection had a glitzy, Wild West theme. The International Herald Tribune’s Suzy Menkes summarized, “Think Calamity Jane calling in at a sex shop” (“Glitter Gulch from Givenchy As McQueen Goes Wild West”), which doesn’t sound as bad as intended to me. In any case, Vogue Patterns’ selection, Vogue 2157, a bias slip dress with optional overlay, seems to have been one of their most popular McQueen/Givenchy designs:

Vogue 2157 by Alexander McQueen for Givenchy (1998) Asymmetrical bias-cut dress

Envelope description: Misses’ Dress: Close-fitting, bias, flared, pullover dress, mid-knee (center back), has shoulder straps, seam detail and shaped hemline. A: sheer. Note: A is shown over B. Featured in the July/August 1998 issue of Vogue Patterns (Shop Vogue ‘cover’).

The Vogue 2157 dress is visible on the lower left in this L’Officiel collection image:

L’Officiel 1000 modèles 1997 no. 9 via jalougallery.com

Parallel Alexander McQueen collection: Untitled (Spring/Summer 1998).

Have you seen any of these patterns made up? Do the Givenchy designs show any connections to McQueen’s work for his own label?

Bonus: SHOWstudio has a free Alexander McQueen pattern download—a kimono jacket from Scanners (FW 2003–4). See my post on the SHOWstudio pattern here.

Next: Part 2: McQueen hits his stride at Givenchy.

This week, the second instalment of my continuing three-part series on Alexander McQueen’s Givenchy designs for Vogue Patterns. (Read Part 1 here.) Our next four patterns were drawn from three Givenchy collections presented in 1998: the Fall 1998 and Spring 1999 ready-to-wear, and the Spring 1998 couture.

3. Givenchy Haute Couture Spring/Summer 1998 (shown January 1998)

The January Givenchy Haute Couture collection was shown in a Japanese bonsai garden. The models, styled with kabuki makeup and lacquered hair, were silhouetted on a screen before they emerged onto the runway. Critics noted the collection’s precision tailoring, especially the pagoda-shouldered jackets. (See Suzy Menkes, “Givenchy and McQueen Opt for Zen” and Constance C.R. White, “For Couture, New Ways to Seduce.”)

(I wasn’t able to find titles for any further Givenchy collections. If anyone knows of a resource for these I’d appreciate it if you could contact me. Thanks!)

Vogue Patterns’ selection, Vogue 2343 (1999), is the only pattern in this series from an Haute Couture collection:

Vogue 2343 by Alexander McQueen for Givenchy (1999) Tuxedo jumpsuit.

Technical drawing for Vogue 2343

Here’s the envelope description: Misses’/Misses’ Petite Jumpsuit: Semi-fitted, lined, straight-legged jumpsuit (loose-fitting through hips) has collar, shoulder pads, welt/side pockets, side zipper, front button trim and long, two-piece sleeves with mock vent/button trim. B: contrast upper collar/front facing. Purchased top. Featured in the November/December 1999 issue of Vogue Patterns (Shop Vogue).

This design was easy to place, since the staging in the Vogue pattern photo matches the staging shown in L’Officiel‘s collection photos for the Givenchy Spring 1998 couture show:

L'Officiel 1000 modèles 1998 no. 10 via jalougallery.com

L’Officiel 1000 modèles 1998 no. 10 via jalougallery.com

(You can always follow the L’Officiel link to see larger collection images.) Just for fun, here’s a Vogue Paris editorial photo of Guinevere Van Seenus in another look from the season’s Givenchy couture:

Jacket with pleated sleeves in Prince of Wales wool gabardine and matching straight skirt, Givenchy Couture. Vogue Paris, Février 1998. Photo: Steven Klein. Stylist: Debra Scherer.

The Vogue 2343 jumpsuit was promoted in the magazine’s holiday issue. I’m fascinated by the fact that this pattern gives dressmakers and home sewers access to couture tailoring of this calibre. The design is probably my favourite of the series.

(No parallel Alexander McQueen collection, since the designer didn’t produce haute couture collections for his own label.)

4. Givenchy Prêt-à-porter Fall/Winter 1998–99 (shown March 1998)

The Fall 1998-99 Givenchy ready-to-wear collection drew praise for its draped cowl necks, sleek tailoring, and its skilled use of leather and fur. (See Suzy Menkes, “McQueen Makes Peace With His Heritage” and Anne-Marie Schiro, “McQueen Pilots Givenchy Boldly Into the Late 90′s.”) In May, WWD announced the renewal of McQueen’s contract with Givenchy, which had been due to expire with the Spring 1999 ready-to-wear (Bridget Foley, “McQueen Renews Givenchy Contract”). For the Fall runway show, the models were made up with vampy red lips, their hair in exaggerated 1940s-style rolls.

It seems the Fall collection’s success led it to be chosen to open the supplement of L’Officiel devoted to the season’s Paris ready-to-wear. Here are L’Officiel’s collection images:

L'Officiel 1000 modèles 1998 no. 12 via jalougallery.com

L'Officiel 1000 modèles 1998 no. 12 via jalougallery.com

L'Officiel 1000 modèles 1998 no. 12 via jalougallery.com

Vogue 2228 by Alexander McQueen for Givenchy (1998) Faux fur-trimmed skirt suit.

Technical drawing for Vogue 2228

The envelope description reads: Misses’ Jacket & Skirt: Semi-fitted, interfaced, lined above hip jacket has contrast collar/hemband, shoulder pads, princess seams, no side seams and long, two-piece sleeves with mock vent and button/buttonhole trim. No provision for above waist adjustment. Semi-fitted, tapered, lined skirt, below mid-knee or mid-calf, has waistband, front hemline slit and side zipper. Featured in the January/February 1999 issue of Vogue Patterns magazine (Shop Vogue).

FirstVIEW runway images for this collection have been posted at The Fashion Spot. Here’s the runway photo for the Vogue 2228 skirt suit:

Givenchy Prêt-à-porter Fall/Winter 1998-99. FirstVIEW image via The Fashion Spot.

The Fall 1998 campaign featuring Erin O’Connor showcased a similar design, a fur-trimmed coatdress:

Givenchy Fall 1998. Photo: Steven Meisel. Image via eBay.

The second pattern, Vogue 2248 (1999), is a cowl neck dress:

Vogue 2248 by Alexander McQueen for Givenchy (1999) Dress with contrast cowl neck.

Technical drawing for Vogue 2248

Here’s the envelope description: Misses’ Dress: Fitted, tapered, lined dress, below mid-knee or mid-calf, has contrast cowl, front slit and back zipper. A: long sleeves. B: sleeveless. The pattern recommends chiffon for the contrast cowl.

This Corbis runway closeup shows the detail of the cowl neck, which was netting (not chiffon) fabric:

Dress with neck line in netting, Givenchy Prêt-à-porter Fall/Winter 1998-99. Corbis image © Thierry Orban.

Although there are similar cowl neck looks in the collection, I couldn’t find the sleeveless version shown in the Vogue 2248 pattern illustration (view B). It seems it wasn’t a runway look.

Parallel Alexander McQueen collection: Joan (FW 1998–99).

5. Givenchy Prêt-à-porter Spring/Summer 1999 (shown October 1998)

The Spring ready-to-wear collection represented a departure from Alexander McQueen’s previous work for Givenchy: the softer silhouettes, neutral palette, and occasional, subtle sprinkling of sequins recalled the understated elegance for which Hubert de Givenchy was known. At the same time, McQueen played with his signature tailoring by using asymmetry and isolated tailoring motifs. (See Suzy Menkes, “Growing Up and Freshening Up at Givenchy and Chloe.”)

Vogue Patterns’ selection, Vogue 2628 (2002), is an asymmetrical, double-breasted coatdress:

Vogue 2628 by Alexander McQueen for Givenchy (2002) Asymmetrical coatdress. Model: Colette Pechekhonova.

Technical drawing for Vogue 2628

The envelope description reads: Misses’ Dress: Fitted, A-line, lined, double-breasted dress, above mid-knee, has collar, shoulder pads, seam detail (no side seams), welt pockets, flaps, shaped hemline and two-piece, above-elbow sleeves with mock vent/button/buttonhole trim. A: button tab. B: contrast collar. Featured in the April/May 2002 issue of Vogue Patterns magazine (Shop Vogue).

As you can see from the copyright date, Vogue 2628 was released several years after the collection was presented in Paris. Despite its runway photo, I had more difficulty placing the design until I found this Corbis photo, which shows the same dark, glossy runway, palette, hair, makeup, and even shoes:

Skirt suit, Givenchy Prêt-à-porter Spring/Summer 1999. Corbis image © Pierre Vauthey.

In fact, this look was shown just before ours: the back of this model is visible behind the model in the Vogue pattern photo. I thought I recognized the shoes with moulded toes from the Savage Beauty exhibit, but I see from the catalogue that those ones are from Natural Dis-tinction Un-natural Selection (Alexander McQueen Spring/Summer 2009).

Here are a couple L’Officiel photos that show the Givenchy Spring/Summer 1999 collection’s softness and neutrals:

L'Officiel 1000 modèles 1998 no. 2 via jalougallery.com

L’Officiel 1000 modèles 1998 no. 2 via jalougallery.com

The asymmetrical motif in Vogue 2628 was carried over into McQueen’s next collection for Givenchy, the Spring/Summer 1999 Haute Couture, as may be seen in this editorial photo in the Vogue Italia couture supplement (with Małgosia Bela on the right):

Vogue Italia, Marzo 1999. Silk satin and wool pantsuits with striped satin shirts and ties, Givenchy Haute Couture. Photo: Peter Lindbergh.

Parallel Alexander McQueen collection: No. 13 (SS 1999).

I would love to see photos of these patterns made up. Across the series of McQueen/Givenchy Vogue Patterns, though, the difficulty level ranges from Average to Advanced, so you could say they’re restricted to more experienced sewers. (I’ve only come across one pattern in the series—the evening suit, Vogue 2086—that had been cut out.) Which would you make first?

Next: Part 3: McQueen’s tailoring for the millennium at Givenchy.

John Galliano’s designs for Givenchy were the first to alert me to the fact that Vogue designer patterns can replicate high fashion designs. When I saw this dress—on Shalom Harlow on the runway and later on Linda Evangelista in Vogue—

John Galliano designs a hand-pleated, double-layered mousseline dress with Juliet sleeves. Dress by Givenchy Haute Couture by John Galliano. Vogue, December 1996. Photo: Steven Meisel. Fashion Editor: Grace Coddington.

and this Vogue Paris Original in my mother’s subscription copy of Vogue Patterns

Vogue 1978 by John Galliano for Givenchy (1999) Empire dress. Image via Etsy.

I felt the thrill of discovery and rushed off to buy the sewing pattern. I still have it, and still plan to make it up. At the time, I thought Vogue Patterns had altered the design by adding the bodice inset, but it’s actually from a different collection.

John Galliano produced only four collections for the house of Givenchy before he left for Dior in late 1996. He was replaced at Givenchy by Alexander McQueen, who shared the British Designer of the Year award with him in 1997. (Read my Alexander McQueen series here.) Because of Vogue Patterns’ production schedule, Galliano was already leaving the house by the time the first Galliano/Givenchy pattern was ready. The January/February 1997 issue of Vogue Patterns magazine included an article on the Galliano-McQueen transition (“Givenchy’s Fashion Illusions”) that actually notes the collectability of the Galliano/Givenchy patterns.

During 1996 Galliano presented a full cycle of collections for Givenchy: two couture and two ready-to-wear. Vogue Patterns’ Galliano/Givenchy designs seem to be drawn from three different collections for the house. In this post I’ll review the patterns in their sequence of release.

1. Givenchy Prêt-à-porter Fall/Winter 1996–97 (shown March 1996)

Galliano’s first ready-to-wear collection for Givenchy reinterpreted motifs from his first, couture show for the house, which included gray flannel and bow pockets. (See Suzy Menkes, “A Neat, Cool Take on Couture for the Fall” and Amy M. Spindler, “Givenchy in the Galliano Era: Clean Looks, Few Surprises.”) Vogue Patterns’ first selection is a skirt suit with bow pockets (called a top and skirt on the envelope):

Vogue 1889 by John Galliano for Givenchy (1997) Bow-pocket skirt suit

Technical drawing for Vogue 1889

Here’s the envelope description: Misses’ Top & Skirt. Semi-fitted, partially interfaced, lined top has collar, slightly extended shoulders, shoulder pads, side panels, no side seams, middle front extending into bows with pleated knot, button fly closing and long, two-piece sleeves with mock vent. Semi-fitted, straight, lined skirt, above mid-knee, has waistband and back zipper/slit. Featured in the January/February 1997 issue of Vogue Patterns magazine.

Vogue 1889 was featured in the Vogue Patterns article mentioned above with the matching runway photo from the Fall 1996 ready-to-wear show.

These Corbis photos show Karen Mulder and Amber Valetta in Givenchy dresses with bow pockets; the first is couture, the second ready-to-wear:

Givenchy Haute Couture Spring/Summer 1996. Photo © Stephane Cardinale.

Givenchy Prêt-à-porter Fall/Winter 1996-97. Photo © Pierre Vauthey.

Bow pockets also reappeared in the Fall couture, as may be seen in this WWD runway image of Guinevere Van Seenus:

Givenchy Haute Couture Fall 1996. Photo via WWD.

As Amy Spindler observed, these “tidy little suits with bow pockets” seemed designed to meet expectations of what an established Paris house should produce. Compare the bow pockets on McCall’s 5550, an early ’60s design by Pierre Cardin:

McCall’s 5550 by Pierre Cardin (1960) Bow-pocket skirt suit

2. Givenchy Prêt-à-porter Spring/Summer 1997 (shown October 1996)

Vogue 1978 (1997), the Empire gown pictured at the beginning of this post, is a ready-to-wear version of an Empire gown from Galliano’s Fall couture collection for Givenchy. Here’s the technical drawing for Vogue 1978:

Technical drawing for Vogue 1978

The envelope description reads: Misses’/Misses’ Petite Dress. Lined dress, mid-calf or floor length, has neckbinding, contrast yokes, close-fitting bodice, raised waist, semi-fitted, bias, A-line skirt, back zipper and short sleeves. Featured in the July/August 1997 issue of Vogue Patterns.

Collection images from L’Officiel show Nadja Auermann in the black version of the Vogue 1978 design and what looks like Eva Herzigová (who was the face for a couple Givenchy fragrances) in the floral print version:

L’Officiel 1000 modèles 1996 no. 3 via jalougallery.com

L’Officiel 1000 modèles 1996 no. 3 via jalougallery.com

A more casual variation, photographed for L’Officiel, has pockets, self belt, and the bodice inset in the main dress fabric:

L’Officiel, février 1997. Photo: Hiromasa. Stylist: Anne Dupas de Vertamy.

The Vogue 1978 dress was even featured in the summer advertising campaign:

Givenchy Summer 1997.

Suzy Menkes noted the echoes of Galliano’s first, couture collection for the house in the Spring ready-to-wear collection’s “empire dresses with puff sleeves, high waists and a sweet flower print, inspired from the Empress Josephine look in Givenchy’s January haute couture show” (Suzy Menkes, “Yamamoto Steals Couture Crown: Galliano Strikes Out“). Of course, Galliano’s second couture collection had also featured Empire silhouettes, the most photographed of which seems to have been the white pleated gown at the top of this post. Here are a couple L’Officiel images from the Fall 1996 couture collection; the dress on Naomi Campbell in the first image (with stole: bottom, centre right) seems closest to the Vogue 1978 design:

L’Officiel 1000 modèles 1996 no. 1 via jalougallery.com

L’Officiel 1000 modèles 1996 no. 1 via jalougallery.com

Just for fun, here are a couple editorial images of Fall 1996 Givenchy Couture. The first, from W magazine, features Esther De Jong (slightly cropped by my scanner), the second is from an editorial in L’Officiel showcasing the season’s Givenchy couture:

Givenchy’s hand-embroidered mousseline Empire dress with floral appliqué, by John Galliano. W magazine, October 1996. Photo: Mario Sorrenti. Stylist: Alexandra White.

L’Officiel, septembre 1996. Photo: William Laxton. Stylist: Monica Pilozzo.

(You can see a quirkier British Vogue/Steven Meisel editorial photo of this dress here.)

3. Givenchy Haute Couture Fall/Winter 1996 (shown July 1996)

Vogue Patterns’ third selection, a blue velvet evening dress with bow bodice and bias back, was featured in their holiday issue:

Vogue 2061 by John Galliano for Givenchy (1997) Gown with bow bodice

Technical drawing for Vogue 2061

Here’s the envelope description: Misses’ dress. Fitted and flared, lined dress, above mid-knee or floor length, has front pleated bodice forming bow effect, center front pleated skirt with asymmetrical seam, bias back and side zipper. B: back seam detail. No provision for above-waist adjustment. Featured in the November/December 1997 issue of Vogue Patterns.

I’m not certain, but Vogue 2061’s bow bodice and velvet fabric make me think it’s from the Fall/Winter 1996-97 couture collection. The bow bodice is very similar to that on a dress shown on Kirsty Hume in the Fall 1996 couture:

L’Officiel 1000 modèles 1996 no. 1 via jalougallery.com

One other Givenchy pattern appeared during the time frame matching Galliano’s tenure at the house, but it’s from Hubert de Givenchy’s final collection, Givenchy Prêt-à-porter Spring/Summer 1996:

Vogue 1931 by Givenchy (1997) Off-the-shoulder dress

Vogue 1931 was featured in the May/June 1997 issue of Vogue Patterns (Shop Vogue). Details of the pattern’s runway photo match images from the Spring 1996 ready-to-wear show, including this Corbis image of the models with Hubert de Givenchy.

Although Galliano produced only a handful of collections for Givenchy, with a correspondingly small number of licensed designs for Vogue Patterns, his Givenchy designs are clearly consistent with his other work—both for his own label and for the house of Dior. It’s interesting to see Galliano’s trademark bias dresses and Directoire references in designs available to home sewers.

Update: I’ve identified a fourth Galliano/Givenchy pattern—see my post here.

Bonus: SHOWstudio also has a free Galliano pattern download, an intricate jacket from Techno Romance (FW RTW 2001-2).

Some time ago, Paco Peralta blogged about a Vogue pattern from the 1980s by Christian Lacroix, Vogue 2184, that he’d found while spring-cleaning his studio. (Read his post here. If you haven’t seen Paco’s blog yet, check it out! He shares both his work as a couturier and his extensive collection of Yves Saint Laurent patterns, often matching them up with vintage images from his personal archive.) Paco wasn’t sure whether Vogue 2184 was the only Vogue/Lacroix pattern, or whether there were others. This post is offered as a sequel and tribute to Paco and his work.

In the spring of 1988 Women’s Wear Daily announced a licensing agreement between Christian Lacroix and Vogue Patterns for a series of three patterns (“Lacroix makes deal with Vogue Patterns,” WWD, April 6, 1988). According to WWD, the three designs selected were all from the designer’s new ready-to-wear collection and would be on sale through the December catalogue from October 1st. Lacroix had presented his first ready-to-wear collection in March 1988, only a few weeks before the WWD announcement, meaning the three Vogue patterns are designs from the Fall/Winter Prêt-à-porter 1988-89 collection.

Christian Lacroix’s training in art history and museum studies was always evident in his work as a couturier. Lacroix wrote his master’s thesis on French costume in seventeenth-century painting, and historical costume was an important influence on his designs. (On Lacroix’s more recent fortunes, see the ‘people pages’ maintained by the Guardian and the New York Times.) Before I looked into these patterns, I was most familiar with Lacroix’s fanciful couture evening wear; I hoped to find a pattern for a crazy eighties Lacroix evening design like the pouf—the bubble skirt for which he became famous. What I didn’t realize is that the pouf was actually conceived at Patou, where Lacroix was artistic director from 1981 to 1987. This photo shows a stunning Lacroix design for Jean Patou haute couture:

Hand-painted toile de jouy cocktail dress, Christian Lacroix for Jean Patou, 1987. Photo: François Hallard, Condé Nast archives.

One of the things that made Lacroix leave Patou was the lack of opportunity to design ready-to-wear. His new label, backed by Bernard Arnault, was launched with a couture collection, followed by a ‘luxe’ ready-to-wear line, and then by the ready-to-wear in March 1988. (See Michael Gross, “High Fashion, Corporate Intrigue.”) Shown in a tent in the Louvre courtyard on the first day of the Paris prêt-à-porter, Lacroix’s inaugural ready-to-wear collection was characterized by short hemlines and fitted and flared silhouettes, especially rounded barrel skirts, and warm colours like orange and purple. (See Bernadine Morris, “A Spirited Lacroix and the Serious Japanese.”)

The three Vogue designs from this collection look to have been photographed on location in Paris. The photos show a short version (view A) of the skirt or dress—presumably the version closest to the original design. But the illustrations (view B) all show the option of a lower hemline. Here is Paco Peralta’s pattern, Vogue 2184, a cropped jacket and high-waisted skirt that flares from released pleats. The skirt is underlined and has an inside belt of grosgrain ribbon.

Vogue 2184 by Christian Lacroix (1988) High-waisted skirt and jacket

Technical drawing for Vogue 2184

The envelope description reads: Misses’ jacket & skirt. Loose-fitting, lined, waist length jacket has shoulder pads and long two-piece sleeves. Fitted and flared skirt, above mid-knee variations, has raised waist, no waistband, front and back pleats, inside belt, pockets and side zipper. Purchased top.

Vogue 2183 is a similar ensemble, a tapered, high-waisted barrel skirt and bolero that buttons to the top of the skirt:

Vogue 2183 by Christian Lacroix (1988) High-waisted skirt and jacket

Technical drawing for Vogue 2183

Here’s the envelope description: Misses’ jacket & skirt. Semi-fitted, lined, above waist jacket has dropped shoulders, shoulder pads, side panels (no side seams) and long, two-piece sleeves with cuffs. Tapered skirt, above mid-knee variations, has raised waist, front pleats, side panels (no side seams), side front pockets and side zipper closing. Purchased top.

The pièce de résistance, photographed before the Eiffel Tower, is Vogue 2176, a full-skirted dress with broad, dropped shoulders and optional front trim:

Vogue 2176 by Christian Lacroix (1988) Dress

Technical drawing for Vogue 2176

The envelope description reads: Misses’ dress. Dress, above mid-knee variations, has dropped shoulders, shoulder pads, close-fitting, shaped back bodice, princess seams, side panels (no side seams), flared, pleated skirt, pockets (slightly forward), front zipper and hemline slit, stitched hems and long sleeves. A: purchased trim. No provision for above-waist adjustment.

Here are a few editorial images from L’Officiel showing Lacroix’s ready-to-wear for Fall 1988. I was tickled to see that, in French, barrel skirts are called ‘amphora-shaped.’

Christian Lacroix ready-to-wear: smocked coat dress in wool and Zamori cashmere, worn over a turtleneck bodysuit, also Zamori wool. L’Officiel June 1988. Photo: Mark Arbeit. Image via jalougallery.com.

Christian Lacroix ready-to-wear, L’Officiel August 1988. Photo: Peter Godry. Image via jalougallery.com.

According to the WWD article, more Lacroix designs were expected to be added “for next spring and each season thereafter.” But I have a feeling the first set was also the last. The ’88 Lacroix patterns seem to be fairly rare, suggesting their sales may not have met expectations. Or maybe the big shoulders and skirt volumes were too perfectly ‘eighties’ for home sewers, post-Black Monday. What I was surprised to see were the barrel skirts, familiar to me as a trend in the early 1960s (and also, apparently, in 1917), showing the breadth of Lacroix’s references and fashion’s continual re-incorporation and renewal of its past.

Now in the PatternVault shop: a new section devoted to Vogue patterns by Alexander McQueen for Givenchy!

(Go straight to the McQueen for Givenchy section.)

A couple years ago I started collecting these patterns as I found them. After the overwhelming response to my Alexander McQueen Patterns series, I’ve decided it’s time to share them with the world…

Here’s what you’ll find in the shop:

Alexander McQueen for Givenchy strapless sheath dress & jacket — Vogue Paris Original 2086

Alexander McQueen for Givenchy double-breasted pantsuit — Vogue Paris Original 2467

Alexander McQueen for Givenchy double-breasted pantsuit or coat dress — Vogue Paris Original 2183

Alexander McQueen for Givenchy faux fur-trimmed skirt suit — small size range — Vogue Paris Original 2228

(Available in small and medium size ranges; see the medium here.)

Alexander McQueen for Givenchy pantsuit or skirt suit — Vogue Paris Original 2653

Alexander McQueen for Givenchy asymmetrical double-breasted dress — Vogue Paris Original 2628

Alexander McQueen for Givenchy pantsuit with tailcoat — Vogue Paris Original 2486

Alexander McQueen for Givenchy Couture tuxedo jumpsuit — Vogue Paris Original 2343

On the set of Peter Greenaway's "The Cook, the Thief, His Wife, and Her Lover" (1989). Costumes by Jean Paul Gaultier. Corbis image © Byron Newman.

Late last month I had the opportunity to visit “La Planète mode de Jean Paul Gaultier. De la rue aux étoiles / The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier: From the Sidewalk to the Catwalk” at the Musée des Beaux-Arts de Montréal. (Overheard in the “À fleur de peau/Skin Deep” room: a father telling the small boy on his shoulders, “Le créateur aimait faire des robes avec des seins pointus.”) The show wrapped up in Montreal yesterday but will be on tour in the U.S., Spain and the Netherlands in the coming months. (See the international tour schedule here.) If you missed the show, Susan Orlean’s article in the New Yorker captures the mood of celebration surrounding the exhibit.

I’m not aware of any Jean Paul Gaultier sewing patterns, but two of the houses where Gaultier worked as assistant designer before starting his own fashion business—Pierre Cardin and Jean Patou—had licensing agreements with Vogue Patterns. On his eighteenth birthday, April 24, 1970, Jean Paul Gaultier was hired as assistant designer at Pierre Cardin. The following year, after a brief stint at Jacques Esterel, Gaultier began work as assistant designer at the house of Jean Patou. In 1974 he returned to Pierre Cardin, working at the house’s Manila studio before launching his own label in 1976.

In honour of Jean Paul Gaultier, I thought I’d feature a few early seventies patterns from Cardin and Patou from around the time Gaultier was working as assistant designer at each house. (I may have overlooked some patterns—currently the early ’70s don’t seem to be very well represented in the Vintage Patterns Wiki.) I’ve tried to factor in the time lag between runway presentation and the appearance of a licensed Vogue design, but I should stress that my choices represent a rough guess.

First, two Cardin patterns from 1971. Vogue 2405 is a long-sleeved or sleeveless dress with loop streamers. The three streamers extend from the right side of the high waist and re-join the garment at the hemline:

Vogue 2405 by Pierre Cardin (1971) Dress. Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

Vogue 2520 is a Pierre Cardin bridal gown: a long-sleeved, A-line wedding dress with high Empire waist and train-like back panel. The April/May 1971 issue of Vogue Pattern Book shows the dress made up in a silk knit. Isn’t it lovely?

Vogue 2520 by Pierre Cardin (1971) Wedding dress. Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

The most fabulous mid-seventies Jean Patou pattern I’ve seen is actually a loungewear design. Vogue 1344, modelled by Billie Blair, is an evening-length dress with a boat neck, blouson bodice, dolman sleeves, side slit, and a contrast sash with streamers:

Vogue 1344 by Jean Patou (1975) Maxi dress. Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

Unless I’m mistaken, Vogue 1344 is the rightmost dress in this Vogue Patterns editorial photo:

Vogue Patterns, November/December 1975. Image via eBay.

(Update: for a clearer image see Miss Dandy’s tumblr blog—the contrast sash is sequinned.)

The pattern envelope calls the dress “Misses’ loungewear.” Since the house of Patou was exclusively a couture house, this must be an example of couture loungewear! Maybe it’s because I just saw the Montreal exhibit, but Vogue 1344 and Vogue 2405 remind me of a design in the show’s first room, a couture dress from Gaultier’s Spring 2007 couture collection. (See a photo of the mannequin on The Sewing Divas blog here.) The dress plays with the idea of streamers, integrating them into the skirt and also the motif of the bleeding heart:

Bleeding heart dress, Jean Paul Gaultier Haute Couture Spring 2007. Model: Querelle Jansen. Photo: Marcio Madeira via Vogue.co.uk.

Catherine Deneuve wore a black version to the 2007 Academy Awards:

Catherine Deneuve in Gaultier Couture at the 79th Academy Awards, 2007. Photo via Style.com.

Gaultier himself designs through sketches, then collaborates with his atelier staff to develop the final design. In an interview with the curator of the Montreal exhibit, Gaultier discusses his formative technical training at Cardin and Patou. He says he “definitely had my rite of passage at Patou” and was still developing his technique during his second position at Cardin, when he made clothes for the notorious Imelda Marcos:

“When I worked for Cardin in the Philippines, I was always learning, because I really didn’t have any technique at that point. I dressed Imelda Marcos, making her clothes under the Cardin name that didn’t hold up or have the right proportions, but she wore them all the same!”

—from Thierry-Maxime Loriot, “The Rise of a Couturier,” in The Fashion World of Jean Paul Gaultier (catalogue excerpt downloadable here).

Image via Fondation Pierre Bergé-Yves Saint Laurent.

Yves Saint Laurent’s Fall/Winter 1965 collection, inspired by the abstract paintings of Piet Mondrian and Serge Poliakoff, included one of the most iconic garments of the twentieth century: the ‘Mondrian’ dress. David Bailey photographed the multicolour Mondrian dress for the cover of Vogue Paris’ 1965 September issue, and Saint Laurent’s Mondrian designs spawned countless knockoffs, including sewing patterns and knitting patterns. Today, Yves Saint Laurent Mondrian dresses may be viewed in museum collections such as those of New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Victoria and Albert Museum, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. (On the construction of the Mondrian dress and on fashion inspired by modern art, see the posts by Couture Allure and oh mighty!)

Vogue Paris, September 1965. Photo: David Bailey. Image via Rachel Wells on tumblr.

In early 1966, Vogue Patterns introduced Yves Saint Laurent with five pieces from the “Mondrian et Poliakoff” collection. The designs were photographed in mid-century splendour at Knoll International, Paris by Richard Dormer. The first page of the Vogue Pattern Book editorial shows model Merle Lynn standing before a 1954 Florence Knoll lounge chair:

Vogue 1556 by Yves Saint Laurent. Vogue Pattern Book, February/March 1966. Model: Merle Lynn. Photo: Richard Dormer.

Vogue Patterns chose a simple, red-accented Mondrian dress for the highly sought-after Vogue 1557:

Vogue 1557 by Yves Saint Laurent. Vogue Pattern Book, February/March 1966. Photo: Richard Dormer.

The photos of Vogue 1567, a dress and coat, show a 1955 Tulip Chair by Eero Saarinen (hair by Alexandre of Paris):

Vogue 1567 by Yves Saint Laurent. Vogue Pattern Book, February/March 1966. Model: Merle Lynn. Photo: Richard Dormer.

And the last page of the editorial shows what looks like one of Knoll’s signature textile wall panels:

Vogue 1569 and 1571 by Yves Saint Laurent. Vogue Pattern Book, February/March 1966. Photos: Richard Dormer.

The pattern envelopes show different, colour images from Dormer’s shoot. Here is Vogue 1557 (see Paco Peralta’s blog posts here and here for more images):

Vogue 1557 by Yves Saint Laurent (1966) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

The description reads: One-piece dress. Sleeveless shift has narrow, contrasting inserts around the hem, down center back, and crossing high in front to create a yoke.

Richard Avedon photographed Jean Shrimpton in this Mondrian dress for his final issue at Harper’s Bazaar:

Harper’s Bazaar, October 1965. Model: Jean Shrimpton. Photo: Richard Avedon. Image via ‘jean shrimpton’ on tumblr.

Irving Penn photographed Veruschka in the same dress for Vogue U.K. (via Magdorable; see her recent post for more photos):

Vogue U.K., September 1965. Model: Veruschka. Photo: Irving Penn.

You can see a photo of Veronica Hamel in the same dress here. (Thanks to Paco Peralta for alerting me to these last two images.)

The Vogue 1567 envelope gives a better view of the Tulip Chair:

Vogue 1567 by Yves Saint Laurent (1966) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

Here’s the description: One-Piece Dress and Coat. High-waisted dress has contrasting bodice with high band collar, a button-trimmed inset, and sleeve banding to match gathered skirt. Self belt. Long sleeved, double-breasted coat with yoke seam has wide, button-trimmed belt and pockets in seams. Trim stitching.

And the bold teal of the wall panel may be seen on Vogue 1569 (I haven’t been able to find a pattern image for the fifth pattern, Vogue 1571):

Vogue 1569 by Yves Saint Laurent (1966) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

The description reads: Suit and Blouse. Long sleeved, slightly fitted jacket has wide hem band and optional purchased or self belt. Trim stitching. Tuck-in blouse has high shaped neckline, squared-off armholes, and welt pockets. Gathered skirt has pockets in seams and optional purchased or self belt.

Vogue 1557 and 1569 were both featured on the cover of the Vogue Patterns counter catalogue (photos via eBay):

Illustrations of Vogue 1557 were also commissioned for the monthly Vogue Pattern Fashion News (more illustration scans posted by Damn Good Vintage—click the image for the post):

Vogue Pattern Fashion News, February 1966. Image via the Vintage Goddess blog.

Although Yves Saint Laurent’s Mondrian collection was inspired by modern art, Vogue Patterns’ editorial at Knoll situates pieces from the collection in the context of modern design. The editorial is interesting, both for how it frames the designer’s garments and how it ignores his celebrity. The designer’s name is prominent on the news booklet and first counter catalogue—arguably more overtly promotional publications. But the name Yves Saint Laurent is not included on the magazine’s cover or even mentioned in the Editor’s letter; there’s no photo, no bio like those we see in later decades. The emphasis is firmly on the designs and their place in contemporary visual culture.

Next: My version of Vogue 1556.

Sid Vicious, 1977. Photo: Dennis Morris. Daria Werbowy in Chanel, Vogue, March 2011. Photo: David Sims. Image via the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

This year’s Costume Institute exhibition, PUNK: Chaos to Couture, is devoted to punk and its influence on high fashion. The show relates the punk ethos of DIY (do-it-yourself) to the custom-made garments of haute couture, devoting sections to the distinctive elements of punk’s aesthetic vocabulary: embellishments and techniques such as hardware, graffiti, and distressing. In addition to curator Andrew Bolton, the exhibition team includes Nick Knight as creative consultant and design consultant Sam Gainsbury, who was creative director of Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty.

It seems the punk theme is presenting a challenge for some celebrities attending the Met’s Costume Institute gala on Monday. (See Eric Wilson, “Would Anna Settle for a Safety Pin?“) You can watch a live stream from the red carpet this Monday, May 6th at 7pm EDT.

PUNK: Chaos to Couture runs from May 9th to August 14th, 2013. If you can’t make it to New York this summer, the exhibition catalogue is out next week from Yale University Press.

This week, in the punk spirit of DIY, I’ll be posting about two punk-inspired patterns in my Free Designer Patterns series.

Thanks to Paco Peralta,* I received a review copy of the new book from Museu Tèxtil i d’Indumentària de Barcelona, Pedro Rodríguez: Catalogue of Maria Brillas’s Dresses. The museum’s collection of Pedro Rodríguez’ work was recently expanded when it acquired the wardrobe of Maria Brillas (1905-1992), a Barcelona society lady who dressed exclusively in Rodríguez for much of her life.

Image via Paco Peralta.

Brillas’ extensive wardrobe—over 300 pieces, from the 1920s to the 1970s—covers most of Rodríguez’ career, and in 2011 the collection was the subject of a major exhibition, ¿Qué me pongo? El guardarropa de Maria Brillas por Pedro Rodríguez (What to Wear? Maria Brillas’ wardrobe by Pedro Rodríguez). The book concludes the museum’s project of cataloguing the new collection.

As I found when preparing a brief discussion of Rodríguez for a Mad Men series post, it isn’t easy to find English-language studies of the designer and his work. Vintage sewing enthusiasts will be aware of Rodríguez through his licensed sewing patterns, which were available from Advance, Spadea, and especially Vogue Patterns in the 1950s and 1960s (click to enlarge):

Vogue patterns by Rodríguez. Images via VADS and the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

Three short essays accompany the catalogue. Fashion historian Sílvia Rosés’ contribution, “Pedro Rodríguez: the Birth of a Fashion House and the Evolution of a Style,” gives readers an overview of Rodríguez’ 60-year career, with special attention to collections presented during the golden age of couture. Museum preservationist Sílvia Ventosa’s essay, “From the Wardrobe to the Museum: The Dresses of Maria Brillas in the Museu Tèxtil i d’Indumentària de Barcelona,” recounts the story of Brillas’ donation to the museum and its efforts in transferring her private wardrobe to a public, institutional context.

In “The Role of the Client in the Creation and Popularizing of New Trends,” Miren Arzalluz, who curated the 2011 exhibition, offers an intriguing perspective on the couturier-client relationship. Noting the long friendship between Maria Brillas and Pedro Rodríguez and the designer’s published observations on his clients’ role in the design process, she argues that “the relationship between designer and client was far richer, more complex and more fruitful than many people were willing to recognize” (67).

The book’s introductory material includes photographs of Pedro Rodríguez and models wearing his designs, but none of the client whose wardrobe the catalogue documents. Although an image gallery may be seen on the museum’s website, Brillas’ absence from the book feels like an oversight. In this photo taken in the 1950s, Maria Brillas dances with her husband at a formal event:

Maria Brillas and Joachim Ensesa, 1950s. Image via Museu del Disseny Barcelona.

The catalogue proper is divided into eight sections organized by type; a brief summary introduces each section. There are five sections devoted to Rodríguez’ couture garments for Brillas: day dresses; suits and tailored ensembles; coats; cocktail or ceremonial dresses; and evening gowns. Here are some highlights:

Rodríguez day dresses. Left: cotton tulle with cotton embroidery, 1935; centre: printed silk taffeta, 1959; right: double wool knit, 1965.

Rodríguez coats; left: double-faced wool with dyed fox fur collar, 1972; right: silk satin, 1957.

Rodríguez coats. Left: raincoat in waxed acetate cloqué, 1965. Right: coat in double-faced wool with monkey-hair trim, 1974.

Rodríguez evening gowns. Left: silk crêpe georgette with silk lace appliqués, 1940-50; centre: silk gauze embroidered with glass and jet bugle beads, 1972-73; right: silk muslin embroidered with jet, 1973.

Rodríguez mermaid dress in tulle and pleated cotton lace, ca. 1950.

Two sections are devoted to accessories, one for hats and the other for shoes, gloves, and bags. The hats are the earliest pieces in the catalogue, with many from the 1920s and 1930s. Some hats were produced at Rodríguez’ studio, while others were commissioned by him from prominent milliners. Brillas’ shoes were made to match her dresses.

Rodríguez cocktail dress with accessories. Dress: printed silk satin with rayon tufts; silk satin handbag and gloves; Bonet court shoes; all 1955-56.

The final section documents the collection’s miscellaneous other pieces: blouses, skirts, boleros, a bathrobe dress, a marabou-trimmed cape, and a fancy dress costume with mask headpiece:

Rodríguez fancy dress hat and mask. Hat: nylon tulle with fil coupe brocade; mask: rayon satin with rhinestones, 1968-70.

It’s a beautifully produced volume, with high-quality photos presented in a reader-friendly smaller format. (You can see more photos at the website of Folch Studio, the design firm behind the book.) My only quibble is with the English text (I don’t read Spanish or Catalan), which contains infelicities that seem to be an effect of translation.

This book is a valuable addition to English-language resources on Rodríguez, and will assist in further study of the designer and his place in the history of haute couture.

* Paco was a member of the collection’s monitoring committee; you can read his post on the exhibition here.

Publication details:

Rossend Casanova (ed.), Pedro Rodríguez: Catàleg dels vestits de Maria Brillas / Catálogo de los vestidos de Maria Brillas / Catalogue of Maria Brillas’s Dresses, Barcelona: Museu Tèxtil i d’Indumentària de Barcelona, 2012.

Text in Catalan, Spanish, and English.

ISBN 978 84 9850 402 6

Available online from Laie, Barcelona.

Image via the Fashion and Textile Museum.

The current exhibition at London’s Fashion and Textile Museum, The Glamour of Bellville Sassoon, celebrates the museum’s 10th anniversary with a retrospective of the British fashion house. If you’re in the London area this week you can bring in your Bellville pieces, including versions sewn from Vogue Patterns, for evaluation by David Sassoon at the event “Bring out your Bellville.” (The exhibition runs until January 11th, 2014.)

Bellville Sassoon sketch. Image via Vogue Italia.

Belinda Bellville founded her eponymous couture house in 1953, and recruited David Sassoon in 1958; the Bellville Sassoon name dates to 1970. Following Bellville’s retirement in the 1980s, Sassoon was joined by Lorcan Mullany as designer of the house’s ready-to-wear line. Vogue Patterns has been producing Bellville patterns since the late 1960s.

Bellville Sassoon sketches, 2003-4. Image via Vogue Italia.

Bellville Sassoon is unusual for having no licensing apart from its long-running sewing patterns with Vogue. (See Libby Banks, “Loosening a Fashion Stiff Upper Lip.”) This has the effect of giving the patterns a special prominence. As Suzy Menkes observes, although Bellville Sassoon is perhaps best known for its society wedding gowns and association with the British royal family, the sewing patterns show the house’s “more democratic side.” (See Sinty Stemp, The Glamour of Bellville Sassoon [Antique Collectors' Club, 2009], which devotes a chapter to Vogue Patterns.) Even the couture-focused exhibition Glamour and Gowns: Couture by Belinda Bellville and Bellville Sassoon, which ran through October, 2013 at Holkham Hall (the ancestral seat of Bellville’s son-in-law), included Bellville sewing patterns.

Here is a selection of Belinda Bellville and Bellville Sassoon sewing patterns from the Sixties to now.

1960s

From early 1967, this Bellville evening ensemble includes an elegant, bow-trimmed jacket and A-line gown with optional beaded trim:

Vogue 1677 by Belinda Bellville (1967) Image via Etsy.

The bodice of this popular design for a short or long evening dress extends into a large bow in the slit back:

Vogue 2112 by Belinda Bellville (1969) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

1970s

This high-waisted evening dress with waistcoat bodice could be made short, or above the ankle:

Vogue 2421 by Belinda Bellville (1970) Image via eBay.

The back wrap on this bias dress creates a cowl neckline that becomes a V in the back. The model is Rosie Vela:

Vogue 1584 by Belinda Bellville (ca. 1977) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

1980s

This dramatic, one-shouldered cocktail or evening dress has a draped, asymmetrical bodice with big bows at the hip and shoulder:

Vogue 1635 by Bellville Sassoon (1985) Image via Etsy.

The volume in this strapless, ruffled formal dress is amplified by an attached ruffled petticoat:

Vogue 1936 by Bellville Sassoon (1987) Image via PatternVault on Etsy.

1990s

A petticoat is also essential to this full-skirted, strapless party dress from the early 1990s. The bow detail at the bodice can be made in contrast fabric:

Vogue 2468 by Bellville Sassoon (1990) Image via Sew Exciting Needleworks.

This evening dress with bias-banded bodice was photographed at Los Angeles’ Biltmore Hotel for the May/June 1997 issue of Vogue Patterns magazine, which also included an article by Claire Shaeffer on couture techniques for constructing the design:

Vogue 1966 by Bellville Sassoon (1997) Image via Etsy.

2000s

Strong shoulders are achieved through extravagant sleeve rosettes on this recent Bellville Sassoon cocktail dress, which also features a piped and ruffle-trimmed neckline:

Vogue 1162 by Bellville Sassoon (2010) Image via Etsy.

Current Vogue patterns, like this dress with draped and pleated bodice, show the designer as Lorcan Mullany for Bellville Sassoon:

Vogue 1362 by Lorcan Mullany for Bellville Sassoon (2013) Image via Etsy.

As a teenager in the ’90s, one of the first things I made was a Bellville Sassoon corset top (from Vogue 1605). Have you sewn any Bellville patterns?

Guinevere Van Seenus in vintage 1930s Schiaparelli, Vogue, May 2012. Photo: Steven Meisel. Image via vogue.com.

Have you heard? The house of Schiaparelli, founded by the legendary Elsa Schiaparelli (1890-1973) and dormant since 1954, has been revived.

Schiaparelli label, 1938. Image via the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Last year Christian Lacroix presented a one-off couture collection for the house, and this week the new head designer, Marco Zanini, presented his first Schiaparelli collection at the Paris couture. (See the Spring 2014 collection on style.com, or read W’s coverage of Zanini’s appointment here.)

Christian Lacroix sketch for his Schiaparelli collection. Image via Fashion Loving.

The opening look in Marco Zanini’s debut collection for Schiaparelli. Model: Stella Tennant. Image via style.com.

The high-profile revival follows the Costume Institute’s major 2012 exhibition, Schiaparelli and Prada: Impossible Conversations (see my earlier post here). And, timed to coincide with couture week, an auction of Schiaparelli’s personal collection takes place Thursday at Christie’s Paris:

Collection personnelle d’Elsa Schiaparelli. Image via Christie’s.

Many of you will be aware of Schiaparelli’s licensed sewing patterns, since she was among the first designers of Vogue Paris Originals. There were also Schiaparelli knitting patterns. If you knit, you can download a free pattern for Schiaparelli’s 1927 Bowknot sweater, updated by Lisa Stockebrand (Ravelry page here):

Bowknot sweater by Elsa Schiaparelli, Vogue, December 15, 1927. Illustration: Douglas Pollard.

Like Vionnet, Schiaparelli also saw commercial sewing patterns for her designs in the interwar period, released by companies including the McCall Pattern Company, Pictorial Review, and the Paris Pattern Company. Here is a selection of early Schiaparelli patterns.

This McCall pattern is the earliest Schiaparelli pattern I’ve seen. Dating to the autumn of 1929, it’s a pattern for a blouse, skirt, and coat with angled pockets. It was still shown in a 1930 catalogue:

McCall 5839 by Schiaparelli in the McCall catalogue, 1930. Image via echopoint.

Here is the illustration of McCall 5839 in McCall’s magazine:

McCall 5839 by Schiaparelli. McCall’s magazine, October 1929. Illustration: Blanche Rothschild.

This Schiaparelli pattern from the Paris Pattern Company has some unusual details. The wrap skirt buttons diagonally across the hips and has two slits through which the blouse’s attached scarf can pass, for a suspender effect:

Paris Pattern 1647 by Schiaparelli (c. 1931)

McCall 6981 is a three-piece suit consisting of a jacket, cropped pussy-bow blouse, and sleeveless, bias dress:

McCall 6981 by Schiaparelli (1932)

Here’s an illustration of this design (centre, no. 14) in the summer 1932 issue of McCall Fashion Bi-Monthly. Elsewhere it calls McCall 6981 a “trick” ensemble, since the blouse and jacket disguise a dress suitable for tennis:

McCall Fashion Bi-Monthly, July/August 1932. Image via carbonated on flickr.

This Benito illustration for Vogue shows a similar Schiaparelli ensemble, worn with a tomato red Sicilian cap:

Schiaparelli beige suit, blue blouse and Sicilian cap; pink jacket and brown skirt, Vogue, May 1, 1932. Illustration: Eduardo García Benito. Image via Corbis.

This Pictorial Review Schiaparelli adaptation dates to late 1933. The dress has interesting details like shoulder flanges, diagonal waist darts, and inverted darts radiating from the neckline:

Pictorial Review 6764 adapted from Schiaparelli (c. 1933) Image via Best Vintage Patterns.

Here’s the catalogue illustration for Pictorial Review 6764:

Illustration of Pictorial Review 6764 (c. 1933) Image via Best Vintage Patterns.

Paris Pattern 2286, illustrated in my 1934 Paris and Style Patterns booklet, is a jaunty ensemble consisting of a coat, skirt, and jacket blouse. The description reads, “A superb town and country suit. Just the thing for that week end vacation. Top coat can be worn over any dress. The skirt and jacket blouse make an ideal spectator costume”:

Paris Pattern 2286 by Schiaparelli. Paris and Style Patterns leaflet, June 1934.

Also in this leaflet is the Schiaparelli dress and capelet ensemble available as a reproduction from the Vintage Pattern Lending Library. The dress has shoulder yokes, puffed sleeves, and a skirt with pointed set-in panels and pair of buttons at the waist; the matching capelet is trimmed with pleating and buttons to the skirt front:

Paris Pattern 2301 by Schiaparelli (c. 1934) Image via the Vintage Pattern Lending Library.

Finally, from McCall’s, this Schiaparelli dinner dress in two lengths dates to winter 1936-37. The bodice back extends into sleeves that are gathered into a heart-shaped bodice:

McCall 9076 by Schiaparelli (1936) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

The pattern is illustrated in the January 1937 issue of McCall’s magazine, which made much of the new, street-length hemline:

McCall’s magazine, January 1937. Image via eBay.

Schiaparelli patterns from between the wars tend to lack the surrealist touches we associate with the designer, since many of these were based on couture embellishment, accessories, or notions. (Cricket buttons, anyone?) I remember reading a contemporary 1930s article that said Schiaparelli pieces were so simple, they were too easy to copy. Today one might say it’s her brand of dynamic severity that makes her clothes seem so modern.

Next: Schiaparelli’s postwar Vogue Paris Originals.

Paris Originals by Schiaparelli (left) and Jacques Heim (right). Vogue, November 15, 1949. Photo: Richard Rutledge.

This week, the second part of my series on commercial sewing patterns by Elsa Schiaparelli. (See Part 1 here.)

Schiaparelli was one of the eight couturiers who licensed designs for the first Vogue Paris Originals in 1949. Vogue’s first Schiaparelli pattern was a skirt suit with double pockets and one-sleeved blouse, Vogue 1051:

Vogue 1051 by Schiaparelli (1949) Image via the Blue Gardenia blog.

The suit was photographed in Paris by Clifford Coffin:

Vogue 1051 by Schiaparelli. Vogue, March 1, 1949. Photo: Clifford Coffin.

The photo that opens this post shows Vogue 1074, a Schiaparelli dress and shortcoat from Vogue’s fourth series of Paris Originals. The original coat was lined with astrakhan. (The suit on the right is Vogue 1076 by Jacques Heim.)

Vogue 1074 by Schiaparelli (1949) Image via Pinterest.

New Look curves characterize this Schiaparelli suit pattern from spring, 1950, which was photographed in Paris by Norman Parkinson. The short-sleeved jacket has rounded, stiffened hips, while the kimono-sleeved blouse buttons its curved fronts to one side. Vogue recommends making the blouse from the suit’s lining fabric:

Vogue 1098 by Schiaparelli (1950) Image via eBay. Photo: Norman Parkinson.

Vogue 1133 is a vampy, short-sleeved dress with hip-enhancing pocket flaps and convertible collar at both front and back:

Vogue 1133 by Schiaparelli (1951) Image via eBay.

Arik Nepo’s photograph plays up the dress’ severity:

Vogue 1133 by Schiaparelli. Vogue, February 15, 1951. Photo: Arik Nepo.

Vogue 1142 is a faux suit, an asymmetrical dress with a skirt front extension that creates the illusion of a jacket on one side. (Much like Galliano’s Givenchy jumpsuit, Vogue 1887.) The shaped projections of the big, rounded collar, skirt extension, and off-kilter double-breasted closure playfully destabilize the garment:

Vogue 1148 by Schiaparelli (1951) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

This Schiaparelli evening dress pattern, Vogue 1144, includes a petticoat and diaphanous kerchief. Look closely, and you can see that the oversized, decorative pockets extend almost the length of the skirt:

Vogue 1144 by Schiaparelli (1951) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

Here’s a closer look at Henry Clarke’s photo:

Vogue 1144 by Schiaparelli. Vogue, May 15, 1951. Photo: Henry Clarke.

In 1952 Schiaparelli showed inverted heart necklines for spring; with its pointed, stand-away neckline and narrow shawl collar, Vogue 1179 allowed the home dressmaker to be right up to date. The cocktail dress closes with not one but two side zippers:

Vogue 1179 by Schiaparelli (1952) Image via eBay.

Vogue magazine showed an alternate photo by Robert Randall:

Vogue 1179 by Schiaparelli. Vogue, May 15, 1952. Photo: Robert Randall.

Frances McLaughlin photographed Bettina in Vogue 1198, a short evening dress with what Vogue called “a big pleated bandage—like an outside order ribbon” wrapping over one shoulder and around the waist. The original was made in black silk brocade:

Vogue 1198 by Schiaparelli. Vogue, October 15, 1952. Model: Bettina. Photo: Frances McLaughlin.

Here’s a catalogue page for Vogue 1198, with illustration and alternate photo:

Vogue 1198 in a 1950s Vogue Patterns counter catalogue.

Vogue 1231 is a day dress with a single patch pocket and bloused bodice gathered to a dramatic convertible collar:

Vogue 1231 by Schiaparelli (1953) Image via Betsy Vintage.

The dress was photographed in Paris by Robert Randall:

Vogue 1231 by Schiaparelli. Vogue, August 15, 1953. Photo: Robert Randall.

Finally, Vogue 1245 is a long evening dress with an attached stole that passes through the bodice front:

Illustration for Vogue 1245 by Schiaparelli (1954)

The stunning gown was photographed by Roger Prigent:

Vogue 1245 by Schiaparelli. Vogue, January 1, 1954. Photo: Roger Prigent.

If you don’t have the budget for an original Schiaparelli pattern, a reproduction of the one-sleeved stole from Vogue 1068 is available from Decades of Style:

Vogue 1068 by Schiaparelli. Sketch by David, Vogue, August 1, 1949.

Detail of Vogue 1471 by Yves Saint Laurent for Christian Dior, Vogue, January 1, 1960. Photo: Leombruno-Bodi.

For Paco Peralta.

Before Vogue Patterns introduced Yves Saint Laurent with patterns from the Mondrian collection, the company had already licensed the designer’s work for the house of Dior. (Read more at the Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent, or see Dustin’s post here.)

Yves Saint Laurent was appointed head designer at Dior after Christian Dior’s death in 1957. Dior had been his mentor; in 1955 he hired Saint Laurent to work at his new boutique, later promoting him to accessories and couture. Richard Avedon’s famous Dovima with Elephants shows a velvet evening dress designed by Yves Saint Laurent while he was still assistant designer:

Richard Avedon, Dovima with Elephants, Evening Dress by Dior, Cirque d’Hiver, Paris, 1955, and sketch by Yves Saint Laurent.

(Images via Enticing the Light and Encore! Life.)

Saint Laurent’s first collection for Dior, Trapèze (Spring 1958 haute couture), was a huge success, and his later work at the house continued its play with proportion. L’Officiel’s spring preview issue for 1958 featured an illustration of a Dior trapeze dress by René Gruau:

Christian Dior trapeze dress on the cover of L’Officiel, March 1958. Illustration: René Gruau. Image via jalougallery.com.

The young Yves Saint Laurent designed six haute couture collections for Dior; Vogue’s licensing represents his last three collections for the house, from 1959 to 1960.

Christian Dior label, automne-hiver 1959. Image via the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

1. Christian Dior Haute Couture Fall/Winter 1959

Saint Laurent’s second Fall/Winter couture collection for Dior was controversial; L’Officiel declared its aesthetic “femininity pushed to the extreme.” Suits were shown with severely cropped jackets, and the skirt silhouettes included voluminous tiers and hobble skirts.

The first Dior patterns were promoted with illustrations by Esther Larson in the late 1959 issues of Vogue Pattern Book and Vogue Printed Pattern News (thanks to the White Cabinet for the ID):

Vogue Printed Pattern News, December 15, 1959. Illustration: Esther Larson.

Anticipating demand for this high-profile addition to Vogue’s designer patterns, Vogue Pattern Book noted that the new patterns would be available in stores after November 10th:

Dior patterns in Vogue Pattern Book, December 1959-January 1960. Illustrations: Esther Larson. Image via Make Mine Vogue.

The first Dior patterns were photographed by Joseph Leombruno and Jack Bodi, the couple who worked as Leombruno-Bodi. In Vogue magazine’s first issue for 1960, Isabella Albonico modelled the two dress ensembles, Vogue 1471 and 1470:

Vogue patterns from designs by Dior, Vogue, January 1, 1960. Photos: Leombruno-Bodi.

Leombruno-Bodi also photographed the new Dior patterns for Ladies’ Home Journal. The accompanying text for Vogue 1470 suggests that the hobble skirt silhouette was considered extreme: “Dior’s famous ‘hobble’ skirt makes a charming mid-season costume … The pattern also includes details on how to make the dress without the band at the bottom of the skirt for less extreme effect.” The model on the left is Anne St. Marie (click to enlarge):

Nora O’Leary, “Christian Dior: Yours for the Making,” Ladies’ Home Journal, January 1960. Photos: Leombruno-Bodi. Image via the Internet Archive.

Vogue 1470 is a striking dress and jacket ensemble. The short jacket has three-quarter sleeves and bow trim at the waist, while the dress has short sleeves, low V-neckline, and the collection’s distinctive pouf-hobble skirt banded at the knee. The original was navy tweed:

Vogue 1470 by Yves Saint Laurent for Christian Dior (1959) Dress and jacket.

Here’s the envelope description: One piece dress and jacket. Skirt, with or without puffed tunic, joins the bodice at the waistline. Wide V neck-line with band finish. Short kimono sleeves. Short fitted jacket, joined to waistband, has concealed fastening below notched collar; below elbow length sleeves. Novelty belt.

Vogue 1471 is a close-fitting, double-breasted jacket with matching dress. The original was black-and-white tweed:

Vogue 1471 by Yves Saint Laurent for Christian Dior (1959) Image via Make Mine Vogue.

The envelope description reads: One piece dress and jacket. Flared skirt joins the bodice at the waist-line. Single button closing below the wide V neck-line with extension band finish. Above elbow length and short sleeves. Double breasted jacket has notched collar and below elbow length sleeves. Novelty belt for version A.

Vogue 1472 seems to have been the most popular of the three patterns. The voluminous coat and skirt suit were modelled by Nena von Schlebrügge:

Vogue 1472 by Yves Saint Laurent for Christian Dior (1959) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

Here’s the envelope description: Coat, suit and scarf. Double-breasted hip length jacket has a notched collar and below elbow length sleeves with buttoned vents. Slim skirt. Double-breasted, full coat in two lengths has a large shaped collar. Concealed pocket in side seams. Below elbow length sleeves joined to dropped shoulder armholes. Straight scarf.

In the next issue of Vogue Pattern Book, the Vogue 1472 coat is called “the newsmaking original Dior coat that tops the suit… Note the extras here: the enormous buttons, the slashed side seams, the stitched collar, the scarf to match. Your own extra: a towering cloche of the checked fabric”:

Vogue 1472 in Vogue Pattern Book, February/March 1960. Image via eBay.

2. Christian Dior Haute Couture Spring/Summer 1960

Saint Laurent’s Spring 1960 collection for Dior was characterized by rounded silhouettes and vibrant colour. L’Officiel noted its straight suits with jackets cut on the bias to achieve the suppleness of a knitted cardigan.

Vogue 1012, introduced in the August/September 1960 issue of Vogue Pattern Book, includes a collarless, single-breasted skirt suit and sleeveless blouse with crisscross back. The jacket in view A is cut on the bias:

Vogue 1012 by Yves Saint Laurent for Christian Dior (1960) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

The envelope description reads: Suit and blouse. Short, straight jacket buttons below collarless away from normal neck-line. Welt pockets. Below elbow length kimono sleeves. Skirt has soft gathers from very shallow yoke. Easy fitting overblouse has shoulder straps crisscrossed at back.

This suit is similar to Vogue 1012, but has a more conventional button front:

Christian Dior’s pared-down suit, L’Officiel, April 1960. Photo: Philippe Pottier. Image via jalougallery.com.

These Guy Arsac editorial photos of a red “boule” coat and teal dress show the collection’s play with colour and silhouette:

“Boule” coat by Christian Dior, L’Officiel, March 1960. Photo: Guy Arsac. Image via jalougallery.com.

Silk dress by Christian Dior, L’Officiel, April 1960. Photo: Guy Arsac. Image via jalougallery.com.

3. Christian Dior Haute Couture Fall/Winter 1960

Yves Saint Laurent’s controversial final collection for Dior, le Beat look, was inspired by Left Bank icon Juliette Gréco and the Beatniks of Saint-Germain-des-Prés. It was innovative for its infusion of youthful, bohemian street style into the couture, with Beat elements including leather jackets, knitted turtlenecks, and plenty of black.

Vogue produced two patterns from this collection, drawn from the more conventional designs. Vogue 1041 is a skirt suit and matching, loose coat with a big standing collar and side slits:

Vogue 1041 by Christian Dior (1960) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

Here’s the envelope description: Suit and coat. Easy fitting jacket has high buttoned closing below neck-band. Vent opening in side front seams. Bracelet length and elbow length sleeves. Slightly gathered skirt has outside stitched front panel concealing pockets. Seven eighths length loose coat has opening in side seams. Away-from-neck-line standing neck-band. Bracelet length kimono sleeves.

Philippe Pottier photographed the purple coat ensemble for L’Officiel‘s winter collections issue:

Christian Dior tweed ensemble, L’Officiel, October 1960. Photo: Philippe Pottier. Image via jalougallery.com

Vogue 1041 was photographed for Vogue magazine by Henry Clarke:

Vogue 1041 in Vogue, November 15, 1960. Photo: Henry Clarke.

Vogue 1041 in Vogue, November 15, 1960. Photo: Henry Clarke.

Vogue 1049 is a skirt suit and sleeveless overblouse. The blouse is worn over a barrel skirt with attached underbodice for a dropped-waist effect. The jacket of view A is designed to be worn open:

Vogue 1049 by Yves Saint Laurent for Christian Dior (1961) Image via Etsy.

The envelope description reads: Suit and blouse. Box jacket has cut away fronts and simulated buttoned closing or complete buttoned closing, below standing band collar. Easy fitting overblouse with optional tied belt has bateau neck-line. Above elbow length sleeves and sleeveless. Slightly barrelled shaped skirt attached to bodice.

The dotted black ensemble in duchesse velvet was photographed for this Chatillon Mouly Roussel advertisement in L’Officiel:

Chatillon Mouly Roussel ad showing an ensemble by Christian Dior, L’Officiel, October 1960. Image via jalougallery.com.

I also found the black suit in a later L’Officiel composite:

A Dior suit by Yves Saint Laurent, L’Officiel 1000 modèles no. 81 (2007). Image via jalougallery.com.

These William Klein editorial photos featuring Dior Fall 1960 designs capture the Beat collection’s youthful spirit:

Dorothea McGowan and Sara Thom in Dior, with Little Bara. Vogue, September 1960. William Klein. Image via Pleasurephoto.

Dorothea McGowan in Christian Dior. Vogue, September 1960. Photo: William Klein. Image via the Fashion Spot.

For more of Yves Saint Laurent’s work for Dior see L’Officiel 1000 modèles’ Dior special issue.

Lanvin anniversary logo. Image via WWD.

Lanvin celebrated its 125th anniversary this year. Founded in 1889 by Jeanne Lanvin, the house marked the occasion with an extensive look into its archives on Instagram, Pinterest, Facebook, and the new Lanvin Heritage website. (See WWD’s article here.) In 2015, Paris’ Palais Galliera will host a major exhibition devoted to Jeanne Lanvin.

Lanvin hand embroidery, ca. 1925. Image via Instagram.

Commercial sewing patterns based on Lanvin originals were produced between the 1920s and the 1970s. Four head designers presided over the house during that period; I’ll be devoting a post to each designer.

The interwar Lanvin designs available as sewing patterns are by Jeanne Lanvin (1867-1946), who was known for her romantic, youthful dresses with couture embellishment, particularly her robe de style, a full-skirted alternative to the 1920s tubular silhouette.

Lanvin label, 1926. Image via the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

1920s

From McCall’s earliest couture patterns, this robe de style with a big bow at the waist and skirt with beaded appliqués was modelled by film star Hope Hampton:

Hope Hampton in Lanvin, McCall Style News, January 1925.

A version of this dress is in the collection of The Costume Institute:

Lanvin robe de style, Fall/Winter 1924-25. Image via the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

McCall 4856 is a short evening or afternoon dress with sheer overlay. The version on the right is in Lanvin blue:

Illustrations in McCall Quarterly, Summer 1927. Images courtesy of Debby Zamorski.

(McCall’s also sold transfer patterns for beading and embroidery; the catalogue illustrations show nos. 1558 and 1388.)

This simple double-breasted coat from Pictorial Review was adapted from a Lanvin design:

Pictorial Review 3978 adapted from Lanvin (1927). Image via vintage4me2.

Pictorial Review’s catalogue illustration shows the coat with contrast lapels and fur cuffs and collar:

Illustration from Pictorial Fashion Book, Winter 1927-28. Image via vintage4me2.

Trim is an important feature of this Lanvin day dress, which is shown in my 1929 Paris Pattern leaflet (available in PDF from my Etsy shop):

Paris Pattern 1122 by Lanvin (1929)

1930s

McCall 7711 is a day dress with drape-necked bodice and bow-trimmed sleeves. View A, with long sleeves and contrast bodice, has topstitched sleeves and belt that are characteristic of 1930s Lanvin:

McCall 7711 by Lanvin (1934) Image via VPLL on Pinterest.

Here’s the illustration from McCall’s Advanced Paris Styles catalogue:

Illustration by Blanche Rothschild in McCall Advanced Paris Styles, March 1934. Image via vintage4me2 on eBay.

In late 1934, McCall and Pictorial Review both produced versions of the same Lanvin afternoon dress: a slim, full-sleeved gown with back cutouts. A reproduction of the McCall version is available from Past Patterns:

McCall 7959 by Lanvin (1934) Image via Petite Main on Pinterest.

In Blanche Rothschild’s illustration for McCall’s magazine, the dress is shown with McCall 7954 by Georgette Renal:

Illustration by Blanche Rothschild, McCall’s magazine, September 1934. Image via Vintage123.

The text for McCall 7959 reads, “Lanvin’s long skirted afternoon dress has a new feeling of formality. The back of the bodice is suspended in folds from a cross shoulder band, slit in triangles to expose the back. Raglan sleeves provide material contrast. The skirt spreads, bell shape, into a hesitation hem.”

The Vintage Pattern Lending Library has a reproduction of the Pictorial Review adaptation of the dress, Pictorial Review 7363:

Pictorial Review 7363 adapted from Lanvin (1934). Image via VPLL on Pinterest.

Here’s an illustration of the Pictorial Review adaptation from the Winter 1934 catalogue:

Illustration from the Pictorial Fashion Book, Winter 1934-35.

McCall 8591 (previously featured in my goddess gowns post) is a glamourous evening dress with pleated shoulder draperies. This illustration is from the McCall catalogue:

McCall 8591 by Lanvin (1936) Image courtesy of Debby Zamorski.

Marian Blynn illustrated McCall 8591 for McCall’s magazine (the other gown is by Ardanse):

Illustration in McCall’s magazine, January 1936. Illustrator: Marian Blynn. Image via eBay.

The caption reads: “Long scarfs, drifting down from the shoulders, are used by Lanvin. The scarf dress here is hers, and when you dance it is supposed to make you look as though you were floating. These scarfs are also worn wound once around the arm.”

Just for fun, here are two photos by Horst P. Horst and Albert Harlingue showing Lanvin designs from the 1930s:

Lamé blouse by Lanvin, ca. 1934. Photo: Horst P. Horst. Image via Corbis.

Jeanne Lanvin with model, ca. 1930s. Photo: Albert Harlingue. Image: Roger-Viollet via Catwalk Yourself.

Next in the series: Marie-Blanche de Polignac’s early Vogue Paris Originals.

Happy New Year, everyone!

The closing look from John Galliano’s Maison Martin Margiela Spring 2015 couture collection. Image via style.com.

Today John Galliano presented his first collection as creative director at Maison Martin Margiela: the Spring/Summer 2015 couture. It was the first time Margiela showed in London; the collection will also be viewable by appointment during Paris couture week. (See Suzy Menkes, “Galliano for Maison Martin Margiela” and Melanie Rickie, “John Galliano: penitent return of an enfant terrible.”)

The show comes four years after Galliano’s last runway presentation. It’s been nineteen years since his first couture collection, for the house of Givenchy in January, 1996.

Shalom Harlow in Givenchy Haute Couture by John Galliano, Vogue Paris, March 1996. Photo: Mario Testino. Image via Vogue Paris.

To celebrate the designer’s return, here’s a roundup of my posts on sewing patterns by John Galliano, both for Givenchy and his own label:

• John Galliano for Givenchy: Vogue Patterns
• A Fourth Givenchy Pattern by Galliano
• Free Designer Pattern: John Galliano Jacket

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For a retrospective look at Galliano’s career, see this Vanity Fair slideshow or British Vogue’s editorial gallery.

Vogue 1120 by Lanvin, Vogue, October 1950. Photo: Richard Rutledge.

This week, the second post in my series on Lanvin sewing patterns. (See my post on Jeanne Lanvin’s interwar patterns here.)

Born Marguerite di Pietro, Marie-Blanche de Polignac (1897-1958) was the only child of Jeanne Lanvin and her first husband, Italian aristocrat Emilio di Pietro. Marie-Blanche (who is sometimes called the Comtesse Jean de Polignac) was director of Lanvin from her mother’s death in 1946 until the appointment of Antonio del Castillo in 1950.

1940s

From the earliest Vogue Paris Originals, Vogue 1052 is an elegant, short-sleeved dress with a waistcoat effect:

Vogue 1052 by Lanvin (1949) Image via eBay.

Clifford Coffin photographed the dress in Paris for Vogue magazine:

Lanvin pattern Vogue 1052 in Vogue, March 1949. Photo: Clifford Coffin.

According to Vogue, this strapless evening dress design was “sketched by David in Paris.” The caption reads, “Lanvin’s remarkable new evening line. Remarkable for the shape: a buttoned figureline from top of peaked décolletage to knee, then—outrush. Remarkable for the cutting, the angling of seams. Add the authority of ottoman or new satin piqué.” The rhinestone detail became a Marie-Blanche signature (see an earlier example in the collection of the Costume Institute):

Vogue 1073 by Lanvin (1949) Image via flickr.

Vogue 1078 is a dramatic dress with high roll collar and draped and pleated, asymmetrical overskirt. The surplice bodice belts on the left; it’s actually the slim underskirt that’s separate. The original was made in black faille:

Vogue 1078 by Lanvin (1949) Image via eBay.

Richard Rutledge photographed the dress for Vogue magazine (with Vogue 1077 by Jacques Fath):

Vogue Paris Originals 1078 and 1077 by Lanvin and Fath, Vogue, November 1949. Photo: Richard Rutledge.

Vogue 1064 is a bloused shirt dress with generous cuffs and stitched belt detail. Vogue called it a “four-season dress.” The cuffs could be made in contrast material:

Vogue 1064 by Lanvin (1949) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

The original, in black taffeta with pink cuffs, was photographed by Cecil Beaton (with Vogue 1058 by Molyneux):

Vogue Paris Originals 1058 and 1064 by Molyneux and Lanvin, Vogue, June 1949. Photo: Cecil Beaton.

1950s

Vogue 1104 is a pattern for a suit and blouse ensemble. The boxy jacket has detachable cuffs, and the short-sleeved, tie-neck blouse has lovely pleat and seam details in the back:

Vogue 1104 by Lanvin (1950) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

Here’s a closer look at Norman Parkinson’s photo of the late Bettina in Paris:

Vogue 1104 by Lanvin, Vogue, May 1950. Model: Bettina. Photo: Norman Parkinson.

Richard Rutledge also photographed Vogue 1107, a formal dress with asymmetrically draped cowl neck and overskirt. The magazine caption reads, “Lanvin’s afternoon and little-dinner dress with an overskirt. The underline, slim, simple; the attached overskirt, fuller, drawn high on one side. One sided too, the cowl neckline. Below it here, a curved spray of embroidery, such as you might add, if you like.” The original was black flat crêpe:

Vogue 1107 by Lanvin (1950) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

The design shown in colour at the top of this post, Vogue 1120, is a button-front dress with draped bias sleeves and skirt with draped detail created by pleats and darts. Vogue called the design a “late-day coat-dress”:

Vogue 1120 by Lanvin (1950) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

Vogue 1122 is a bias, wrap-front dress with raised neckline and sleeve variations. A zipper closure is concealed under the right front, and there’s a single, almond-shaped pocket on the right hip:

Vogue 1122 by Lanvin (1950) Image via the Vintage Patterns Wiki.

Instead of the envelope’s location shot, Vogue published a studio photo of the dress:

Vogue 1122 by Lanvin, Vogue, January 1951. Photo: Richard Rutledge.

Marie-Blanche de Polignac ended her directorship of Lanvin with the Fall 1950 couture; Antonio del Castillo’s first collection for Lanvin was the Spring 1951 couture, and during his tenure the house became known as Lanvin-Castillo. But some 1951 patterns still say Lanvin and not Lanvin-Castillo—such as Vogue 1139, an ensemble consisting of a slim dress and cropped, bloused jacket. Henry Clarke photographed Anne Gunning in the shantung original for a May 1951 issue of Vogue magazine:

Vogue 1139 by Lanvin (1951) Image via eBay.

Vogue 1139 by Lanvin, Vogue, May 1951. Photo: Henry Clarke.

Next in the series: Antonio del Castillo’s Vogue Paris Originals.

Yves Saint Laurent 1971: la collection du scandale. Model: Willy Van Rooy. Photo: Hans Feurer.

Yves Saint Laurent’s Spring 1971 haute couture collection, Libération, is currently the focus of a major Paris exhibition. Curated by Olivier Saillard of the Palais Galliera, Yves Saint Laurent 1971: la collection du scandale may be seen at the Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent through July 19th, 2015. A catalogue (in French only) is available from Flammarion.

Inspired by the women of occupied Paris, Saint Laurent’s “Forties” collection interpreted vintage styles for the younger generation—subversive historicism with an edge of camp. The wartime silhouettes of thirty years previous dominated for day, with evening gowns featuring prints based on ancient Greek erotic art. (See Suzy Menkes for Vogue and Joelle Diderich for WWD.) Like the designer’s Beat collection for Dior, it brought youthful street style to couture, prompting a similar backlash but ultimately succeeding in terms of broader influence.

Yves Saint Laurent Spring 1971 haute couture (Libération), L’Officiel 1000 modèles hors série, 2002. Image via jalougallery.com.

L’Officiel was one of the only magazines to put the collection on the cover; British Vogue and Harpers & Queen opted for related Rive Gauche looks instead:

Yves Saint Laurent couture ensemble, L’Officiel, March 1971. Photo: Roland Bianchini. Image via jalougallery.com.

Poppy accessories from Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche, British Vogue, March 1971. Model: Florence Lafuma. Photo: Barry Lategan. Image via Vogue UK.

“Lips” print dress from Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche, Harpers & Queen, early April 1971. Model: Viviane Fauny. Photo: Helmut Newton. Image via Pinterest.

Vogue Patterns licensed two patterns from the Spring 1971 couture. Vogue 2571 is a puff-sleeved dress trimmed down the front with tiny buttons. Frank Horvat photographed the navy original for the August/September issue of Vogue Pattern Book. The editorial text reads, “From Yves Saint Laurent, a slither of crepe. Note the new high puffed sleeves tight round the wrists, with just enough flare and tiny ball buttons”:

Vogue 2571 by Yves Saint Laurent (1971) Image courtesy of Paco Peralta.

Technical drawing for Vogue 2571

Here’s the envelope description: Misses’ Dress. Semi-fitted, slightly flared dress, mid-knee length, has jewel neckline, front button and loop closing, front gathered into forward shoulder seam and topstitch trim. Full length leg-o-mutton sleeves with pleated cap have zipper closing. Purchased scarf. Semi-fitted sleeveless slip has back zipper closing.

The exhibition catalogue includes this photo of the dress in the original collection presentation:

A model shows the navy dress from Yves Saint Laurent’s Spring 1971 Libération collection. Image courtesy of Paco Peralta.

Vogue 2598 is a pattern for pleated skirt, cuffed trousers, and double-breasted jacket with optional ribbon trim (see Paco’s post here):

Vogue 2598 by Yves Saint Laurent (1971) Image courtesy of Paco Peralta.

Technical drawing for Vogue 2598

The envelope description reads: Misses’ Three-Piece Suit. Fitted, double-breasted blazer jacket has notched collar, wide lapels, patch pockets, extended padded shoulders, full length sleeves with buttoned vents and turn back cuffs. Topstitch or ribbon trim. Gored, pleated skirt, two inches below knee, has waistband and topstitch trim. Straight-legged pants with cuffs are darted into waistband.

Here is a ribbon-trimmed pantsuit version of Vogue 2598 in the original presentation. The pattern could be adapted to make the sleeveless variation:

A model shows a pantsuit from Yves Saint Laurent’s Spring 1971 Libération collection. Image: Fondation Pierre Bergé – Yves Saint Laurent.

These editorial photos from L’Officiel’s spring couture preview show three variations on the Vogue 2598 double-breasted suit look: a long, houndstooth coat; a jacket worn with a short, wool jersey jumpsuit; and a pinstriped pantsuit topped with a fur stole:

Yves Saint Laurent Spring 1971 couture in L’Officiel 582 (1971). Photo: Jean Louis Guégan. Image via jalougallery.com.

Jane Birkin was photographed in the long-sleeved, ribbon-trimmed jacket (can anyone identify the photographer?) and Bianca Jagger wore a white, single-breasted jacket from this collection to her wedding:

Jane Birkin in Yves Saint Laurent. Image via tumblr.

Mick Jagger with Bianca Jagger in Yves Saint Laurent, May 1971. Image via Gaia Fishler.

Just for fun, I’ll close with some editorial images featuring spring 1971 Yves Saint Laurent:

Yves Saint Laurent couture in Vogue Paris, March 1971. Photos: Helmut Newton. Models: Viviane Fauny, Margrit Ramme. Image via Youthquakers.

Anjelica Huston in Yves Saint Laurent couture, Vogue Italia, June 1971. Photo: Bob Richardson. Image via Vogue.it.

Ingmari Lamy in Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche (?), 1971. Photo: Gian Paolo Barbieri. From Soie pirate (Scheidegger & Spiess, 2010) Image via little augury.

With thanks to Paco Peralta.

Vogue 1101 by Paquin, Vogue, May 1950. Model: Maxime de la Falaise. Photo: Norman Parkinson.

In honour of Paris, a selection of postwar fashion photography shot on location in the city.

Vogue’s earliest Paris Originals were photographed in Paris, by Vogue editorial photographers including Clifford Coffin and Norman Parkinson.

Vogue Pattern Book, April/May 1949. Photos: Clifford Coffin.

The eight colour photos were first seen in the March 1st, 1949 issue of Vogue magazine, to announce the new couturier patterns.

Vogue 1053 by Robert Piguet, Vogue, March 1949. Photo: Clifford Coffin.

Vogue 1055 by Jacques Fath, Vogue, March 1949. Photo: Clifford Coffin.

Vogue 1057 by Paquin, Vogue, March 1949. Photo: Clifford Coffin.

Vogue 1052 by Lanvin, Vogue, March 1949. Photo: Clifford Coffin.

Vogue 1051 by Schiaparelli, Vogue, March 1949. Photo: Clifford Coffin.

Vogue 1050 by Molyneux, Vogue, March 1949. Photo: Clifford Coffin.

Vogue 1056 by Jacques Heim, Vogue, March 1949. Photo: Clifford Coffin.

Vogue 1054 by Pierre Balmain, Vogue, March 1949. Photo: Clifford Coffin.

(Available as a print from Condé Nast.)

Vogue 1099 by Jacques Heim, Vogue, May 1950. Photo: Norman Parkinson.

Courrèges glasses, February 1965. Photo: Richard Avedon. Model: Simone D’Aillencourt. Image via the Richard Avedon Foundation.

André Courrèges died early this month. He was 92. (See WWD, “André Courrèges: Space Age Couturier,” or Vanessa Friedman’s obituary for The New York Times.)

Courrèges hat, Vogue, November 15, 1964. Photo: Irving Penn. Model: Astrid Heeren. Image via Vogue.com.

Born in Pau, France, André Courrèges (1923-2016) initially became an engineer at his father’s behest. He changed careers after the Second World War, spending ten years at Balenciaga and founding his own couture house in 1961. His silver and white, spring 1964 “Space Age” collection made the Courrèges name with its futuristic, body-conscious, practical designs; a May, 1965 profile in Life magazine hailed him as “The Lord of the Space Ladies.” (See Patricia Peterson, “Courrèges Stresses Modern Look” [Spring 1964] and “Courrèges Is Star of Best Show Seen So Far” [Fall 1964]; on those otherworldly sunglasses, which reference Inuit snow-goggles, see FIDM’s note.) He retired in 1995.

Courrèges ensemble, Vogue Paris, March 1965. Model: Maggie Eckhardt. Image via Pinterest.

In North America, licensed copies and other versions of Courrèges’ work were more common than couture originals. In the summer of 1965, McCall’s released nine patterns adapted from Courrèges. Six of these were photographed by Edward Pfizenmaier for “The Look of Courrèges,” an editorial in the Fall 1965 home catalogue. On the left is coat pattern McCall’s 7938; on the right, ensemble and dress patterns McCall’s 7932 and McCall’s 7918 (click to enlarge):

“Precision… Proportion… Perfection! This is the Look of Courrèges,” McCall’s Pattern Fashions & Home Decorating, Fall-Winter 1965-66. Photos: Edward Pfizenmaier.

Here, on the left, jumper and blouse pattern McCall’s 7914; on the right, skirt suit McCall’s 7936 and jumper McCall’s 7940, made in a special Carletex fabric described as the “perfect medium for the ‘go-go’ look: washable cotton with the look and texture of leather” (all boots by Golo and Capezio):

“This is the Look of Courrèges.” McCall’s Pattern Fashions & Home Decorating, Fall-Winter 1965-66. Photos: Edward Pfizenmaier.

This photo portfolio was followed by an illustrated Seventeen feature showing three more Courrèges-look patterns: jumper ensemble McCall’s 7903, dress McCall’s 7923, and hooded poncho McCall’s 7884. The textile credits are interesting: the jumper is shown in houndstooth Crompton corduroy; the dress in Burlington Dacron-cotton twill*; and the hooded poncho “in shiny make-believe black patent that’s actually vinyl-coated cotton by Landau”:

“Seventeen Magazine Seconds the Courrèges Look.” McCall’s Pattern Fashions & Home Decorating, Fall-Winter 1965-66.

A “Courrèges look” pattern also appears in the catalogue’s front pages, in a Crompton Corduroy ad that pairs McCall’s 7923 with op art by the late Marcel Barbeau:

Crompton Corduroy advertisement featuring McCall’s 7923 after Courrèges, 1965.

As the catalogue reminds readers, McCall’s 7923 was also photographed for the cover of Seventeen magazine. The cover model for the “summer party issue” is Jennifer O’Neill, who would go on to star in David Cronenberg’s Scanners (1981); the matching hat seems to be an Adolfo version of a Courrèges original (see Sotheby’s and the Costume Institute):

McCall’s 7923 after Courrèges on the cover of Seventeen, July 1965. Model: Jennifer O’Neill. Image via eBay.

Inside, a McCall’s editorial shows popular teen model Colleen Corby photographed by Carmen Schiavone; here she wears McCall’s 7902 (far left) and McCall’s 7903 and 7884 after Courrèges (Adolfo II hats):

7902, 7903, 7884. Seventeen, July 1965. Model: Colleen Corby. Photos: Carmen Schiavone. Image via eBay.

Corby’s version of the McCall’s 7884 hooded poncho is shown in tomato red:

McCall’s after Courrèges in Seventeen, July 1965. Model: Colleen Corby. Photos: Carmen Schiavone. Image via eBay.

Here’s a look at McCall’s Courrèges-look patterns. McCall’s 7884 includes a sleeveless dress with low-slung, drawstring belt and an ultra-mod poncho with separate hood (available in the shop):

McCall’s 7884 after Courrèges (1965) Image via PatternVault on Etsy.

In addition to a U-neck jumper and pleated skirt, McCall’s 7903 also includes a blouse with optional trompe-l’oeil collar and cuffs (available in the shop):

McCall’s 7903 after Courrèges (1965) Image via PatternVault on Etsy.

McCall’s 7914 is a pattern for a dress or jumper, blouse, and skirt. The jumper’s welt seams could be topstitched in contrasting thread to match the blouse::

McCall’s 7914 after Courrèges (1965) Image via the Vintage Pattern Wiki.

McCall’s 7918 is a dress with optional collar and sleeves cut in one with the yoke. Skinny belt included in the pattern:

McCall’s 7918 after Courrèges (1965) Image via Etsy.

McCall’s 7923, the dress from the Seventeen cover and the Crompton Corduroy ad, could be made sleeveless, as a jumper, and came with a blouse with zippers at the sleeves and back. The pattern also included the low-slung skinny belt and carriers (available in the shop):

McCall’s 7923 after Courrèges (1965) Image via PatternVault on Etsy.

Perhaps the rarest of these patterns, McCall’s 7932 is a short-sleeved top and skirt ensemble:

McCall’s 7932 after Courrèges (1965) Image via Etsy.

McCall’s 7936 is a short-sleeved blouse and skirt suit with Courrèges’ characteristic, stand-away collar (available in 2 sizes in the shop):

McCall’s 7936 after Courrèges (1965) Image via PatternVault on Etsy.

McCall’s Courrèges-look double-breasted coat, McCall’s 7938, has welt pocket flaps and a martingale and loose panel in back, with all edges accented by contrast binding. The pattern also includes a skirt suit and blouse (available in 2 sizes in the shop):

McCall’s 7938 after Courrèges (1965) Image via PatternVault on Etsy.

Finally, McCall’s 7940 is a pattern for a high-waisted dress or jumper, short-sleeved blouse, and double-breasted jacket with standing collar (available in the shop):

McCall’s 7940 after Courrèges (1965) Image via PatternVault on Etsy.

André Courrèges’ futuristic style, high hemlines, and fresh trouser looks had made him a hit with the youthquake set. In a nod to this market, the illustrations show kitten heels and go-go boots, and the three patterns shown in Seventeen magazine have the text, “SEVENTEEN says: ‘It’s Young Fashion!'” Most of the Courrèges-look patterns were available in teen and junior sizes; one (M7923) was not available in misses’ sizes at all. (Of the two patterns in misses’ sizes only, M7938 and M7940, the former was featured in McCall’s magazine, though I’m not sure which issue.) It’s surprising that the patterns include no pantsuits: Courrèges was a great proponent of pants for the woman of the future.

I’ll close with some William Klein photos of Courrèges for Vogue magazine (visit Youthquakers for the full editorial):

Courrèges in Vogue, March 1, 1965. Photos: William Klein. Image via Youthquakers.

Courrèges in Vogue, March 1, 1965. Photos: William Klein. Image via Youthquakers.

* Dacron was known by the name Terylene in the U.K.

Paco Peralta sketch for Vogue 1567 ©McCall’s/Paco Peralta.

Paco Peralta has seen some major milestones lately. Last fall, the Barcelona couturier became Vogue Patterns’ first Spanish designer in half a century, and this year his blog, BCN – UNIQUE Designer Patterns, is celebrating a decade online. (Like Toronto’s YYZ, BCN is both the airport code for Barcelona and shorthand for the city itself.)

The licensing deal brings a new audience to Peralta’s precision-cut designs. Peralta himself was already a pillar of the online sewing community, both for his fine sewing tutorials and as a purveyor of couture patterns, all hand-traced in his studio not far from Gaudí’s Sagrada Família basilica.

Born in Huesca, Aragon, Peralta studied at Barcelona’s Institut Català de la Moda before apprenticing in some of the city’s couture ateliers, who kept alive the traditions of Balenciaga and Rodríguez. He became interested in commercial patterns in the 1980s, when a friend gave him a copy of Vestidal; his first pattern purchase was a Vogue Individualist design by Issey Miyake.

Vogue 1476 by Issey Miyake (1984) Model: Ariane Koizumi. Image: Etsy.

Peralta may also be the world’s foremost collector of Yves Saint Laurent patterns, and his blog doubles as a window into this private archive. As regular readers of this blog will recognize, any high fashion sewing history owes much to his work.

Couture designs from Yves Saint Laurent’s Mondrian and Libération collections. Images: Etsy / Paco Peralta.

Vogue Patterns introduced Peralta with two designs in last year’s holiday issue. (Click to enlarge.)

Introducing Paco Peralta, Vogue Patterns, December/January 2016-17. Photo (L): Eric Hason. Image: Issuu.

You can skip the buttonholes with this short-sleeved jacket: it has a midriff inset instead. For the original ensemble, Peralta used a double-sided Italian wool twill-crepe for the jacket, wool-cashmere for the trousers, and for the shirt, a sturdy Egyptian cotton.

Vogue 1526 by Paco Peralta (2016) Photos: Eric Hason. Image: PatternVault shop.

Paco Peralta sketch for Vogue 1526 ©McCall’s/Paco Peralta.

Peralta also used Italian satin-backed wool twill-crepe for his wrap skirt and coat-length jacket. The latter sports a tuxedo-style shawl collar, while the pussy-bow blouse, made in silk crepe de Chine, has French cuffs:

Vogue 1527 by Paco Peralta (2016) Photos: Eric Hason. Image: PatternVault shop.

Paco Peralta sketch for Vogue 1527 ©McCall’s/Paco Peralta.

This tunic and pants ensemble was the summer bestseller. The long version is a heavy linen, while the short, gaucho version is a lightweight silk/rayon. Both have silk organza insets.

Vogue 1550 by Paco Peralta (2017) Photos: Tim Geaney.

Paco Peralta sketch for Vogue 1550 ©McCall’s/Paco Peralta.

For the holiday season, mix and match with party separates: a dolman-sleeved top and winter-weight handkerchief skirt, shown in cotton knit and silk-viscose duchesse satin.

Vogue 1567 by Paco Peralta (2017) Photo: Tim Geaney.

Image: McCall’s.

Coming soon: even more Paco Peralta designs exclusive to Vogue Patterns.

With thanks to my friend, Paco Peralta.

Image: Tany’s Couture et Tricot.