Wednesday, February 18, 2009

More vintage fun

I seem to be having a sleepy day. A normal person would get up in the morning but I managed to sleep in until 3pm. That's crazy late! And it's not like I get much done on days that I sleep that late, either... I can only guess that I need the sleep.

I bought some 1950's Australian Home Journal (I didn't get this one, but I do *love* that green dress in the picture!) magazines off of eBay because they have sewing patterns in them. They arrived today and they are so much more than just sewing patterns! There are knitting patterns for awesome sweaters (called jumpers) as well as an advice column and of course there are ads. Many of the ads are centered around losing weight or looking thin with girdles. The advice in the advice column is very dated, with a strong message to love and support your husband no matter what. They're awesome reading :).

The styles in these magazines are similar to their US counterparts from that era but they're a bit harder to sew. They're sort of comparable to today's Burda World of Fashion patterns, which are gorgeous and fit well but which are a little harder to sew.

One of the things I love about these magazines (and the Workbaskets that I received the other day) is that they offer a peek into what life was like back then. They don't just show what formal dress was like which, when it comes to actual clothes, is mostly what we know for pre-1850 women; the common woman's clothes just didn't last that long, and the clothes that museums do have tend to be formal garments. The patterns and ads show what women wore and what their life was like.

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