Don't Get Your Knickers in a Knot - Undies

Did you ever wonder when people began wearing undies? No? Well, having read a few historical novels where grand ladies didn't wear knickers under their regal skirts, I did.

In medieval times both men and women wore chemises, but no underpants. By the eighteenth century, women were wearing long pantaloons or drawers, to keep their legs hidden from a stray peep.
By the 20th century, underwear underwent a metamorphosis that caused it to get briefer, synthetic and less constricting. Fashions for underwear, as for other clothing, was linked to social change.

1900 (Batterberry)

The tyranny of the corset had endured for centuries. Women endured extreme discomfort and frequently injuries from extreme corsetting. The image of Mammy attempting to lace Scarlet O'Hara back to her pre-baby 17 inch waist in "Gone With the Wind," is one many of us will remember. Some women, like the one in this illustration, even had ribs surgically removed in their quest to achieve a waistline of less than 20 inches. This is a feat which horrifies the modern reader, and ranks with Chinese foot binding on the list of barbaric social practices.

1910 (Batterberry) 

In Britain in the latter half of the 19th Century, many followers of the Arts and Crafts movement and of the Suffragette movement,  shed their corsets and adopted looser, smock type garments as a bid for the freedom and equal rights for women. The corset survived in the milder form of the "girdle", but was certainly not compulsory.






Look what I found this week! For masochists only.
https://www.etsy.com/listing/125794897/white-sequined-corset
 

I have a fabulous book called "20th Century Fashion", by John Peacock, which is basically plates of fashion illustrations for every 5 year period from 1900-1989, with descriptions. There are plates for day wear, evening wear, sports wear, couture and accessories for each half of each decade, and I will share a few with you. I hope John Peacock does not mind.

The cotton camisole with separate petticoat were the basic items, along with long drawers, either separate or combined with the cami as camiknickers or combinations. These usually featured an open crotch for practical rather than erotic purposes! An early form of the bra features at the bottom left in a heavily boned corset and "bust supporter".









By 1910, the line of the undergarments is changing in line with the evolution of the outer garments. This underwear features machine made lace. The corset is still in evidence, but it is shrinking.

And just in case you thought all undies were glamorous in the old days, check out these knitted woollies.
(I have the patterns, if you're interested!)














By the twenties, the looser fitting style is more common, although the corset still exists, but once again with a new line.  The brassiere has appeared as a separate garment but is a soft, unstructured style. Note the chest flattening corsets. Crepe de chine was a very popular fabric for underwear at this time, taking over from wool.

Shetland Camibockers - 1928

One of my oldest newspaper patterns is from this period. These are "camibockers" knitted in the finest Shetland wool. If you live in  a cold climate, you might like to try them.




In the 1930s, the glamorous look of the slinky bias cut dress dress would have made the girdle necessary, at least for evening wear, unless one happened to be waif thin. The bra has become a more structured garment, with boning or underwires. Silk and satin have become the popular fabrics for underwear.

Onesie 

Simplicity 2 piece set - late 30s

But wool is still popular for the winter. Here are some beauties from my favourite Sun-glo book.










I think this model is so beautiful. I often wonder who the models were. Imagine finding your grandmother doing this modelling. Miranda Kerr, eat your heart out.

Coming Soon - Underwear, Part Two.

References:
Batterberry, Michael and Ariane; Fashion - the Mirror of History; 1982; London; Columbus Books
Peacock, John; 20th Century Fashion; 1993; London; Thames and Hudson

Peacetime Fashions are Gay

A few weeks ago I came across this wonderful article about celebrating the end of World War 2 in fashion in Madame Weigel's Journal of Fashion for October 1945. You don't see headlines like this these days.

"Peacetime Fashions are Gay

Apart from personal reactions, the news of Peace has brought many outward signs of brighter days ahead. Shop windows have blossomed forth in a galaxy of Spring  fashions, color runs riot everywhere and women who have waited so long  for this moment feel that they are justified in letting their heads go by buying something really feminine and attractive.
Girls who will be getting out of the various services will be sure to choose something soft and silky as a change from the severity of uniforn, and the present fashions will be ideal for this purpose. Many of the shops are showing frocks of plain pastel crepes - beige, eggshell blue, dusty pink, salt-bush green, and all those other soft shades which can be worn either with light or dark accessories...
A special effort should be made by women who are expecting their prisoner of war menfolk home soon for these men will expect to find their mothers, wives and sweethearts looking just as they left them. They have carried a picture in their minds  during the long, weary years away, and although women have had a lot to bear it is up to them to see that that picture has not changed.
It will not be easy, for women have aged just as the men themselves will have done, but a new frock, hat and careful attention to skin and hair, and perhaps the few lines that have developed will not be revealed in the general fresh appearance. Since all men love blue, perhaps that should be the color to choose. However, whatever the frock is to be, choose somehting colorful and becoming - made on truly feminine lines, and something which will appeal to him..."

There is a lot of detailed description about the upcoming fashion trends for various garments, but it was the sentiment that interested me most. It makes me think of Dusty Springfield's lines in "Wishin' and Hopin'", "Show him that you care just for him, do the things he likes to do, wear your hair just for him..."

Do all men love blue?

These are the years when fashion says goodbye to the tailored, masculine, shoulder-padded look taken on during the war by women stepping up into men's jobs and roles, and hello to the frivolous, feminine look leading into the 50s, such as that epitomised by Christian Dior.

After the war, they had another problem I hadn't thought about. They had all sorts of army surplus gear. What should they do with it? Ever the thrifty generation who had survivied the Great Depression, they recycled. I love this idea from the English Women's Weekly.

Who knew these were real parachute cords? I wonder if they made necklaces from shrapnel fragments too.

P.S. Keep Your Knitteds Nice

Back in October I was writing about dress shields, and how the use of them would prolong the life of your vintage garments. Well, I found this fabulous ad in an old Vogue knitting book, which is right at the end of the October post:
Keep Your Knitteds Nice

While we're on the subject, let me say now that I firmly believe in washing your knitteds as little as possible. With a baby, this is probably not going to be possible. But for adults (as long as they're not my partner) it should be possible. I rarely wash my woollens, and some I've had for 30 years are as good as new.

When my daughters were teenagers they were at first horrified that I only washed their school jumpers once or twice a year (and then they were carefully hand washed and dried flat). Their friends' mothers routinely washed their daughters' jumpers every week, often in the washing machine, because the tag said that was OK. I said, well that's fine if you want your jumper to be ruined in a few months. Slight soiling was sponged carefully, and that kept them nice. I firmly believe, I told them, that if it doesn't smell and it doesn't look dirty, then it doesn't need washing. They appreciated this "care" later on when their friends' jumpers were pilled, out of shape and needing to be replaced, while their own jumpers still looked like new after six years of secondary school. (Now, their brother was another story. Boys' jumpers appear to need much more frequent washing - he tended to lose them before they got ruined, anyway). Even if an item becomes a little smelly, often a good airing is enough to dissipate the smell and make washing unnecessary.

The school jumpers I'm talking about were of course machine knitted, commercially purchased items. It's hard to believe nowadays that mothers used to make school uniforms for their children. Jumpers were hand knitted, dresses were sewn by Mum. Imagine trying to get a child to wear a home made uniform these days - schools wouldn't allow it anyway, at least, not in Australia. I remember having a hand knitted jumper at secondary school. I had some regets that it wasn't a regulation item from the uniform shop, but enough other kids had home mades for me to have escaped being emotionally damaged by the experience.

My only other advice is never wring your knits, always gently squeeze out the excess water, and dry flat after pulling them into shape.

And if anyone ever wants a knitting pattern for a school jumper, I have quite a few. Collector's items only these days.

Australiana Crochet

This week a customer in Tasmania bought a really old pattern for a milk jug cover, featuring a map of Australia, a popular item in my shop. She also asked whether I had any similar crochet patterns featuring Australiana.

Australia Jug Cover

My grandfather lived with "another woman" for 40 years. This "other woman', or "partner" as I will henceforth refer to her, collected many old filet crochet patterns over the years, and after she died without an immediate family, my grandfather passed them on to me, as I was the "crafty" one in the family at that time. Most of these patterns were pages torn from The Weekly Times newspaper, featuring the women's page, with patterns for knitting, sewing and crochet. So, yes, I had quite a few patterns which which I felt you could call "Australiana".

A Bush Landscape

 

The Australiana patterns I have were published in The Weekly Times between 1923 and 1928. They are difficult to read. The print is tiny. The text goes all the way down one long column, then starts again at the top of the next column, unlike modern newspapers which publish their articles as segments on the page. This meant that patterns could start at the bottom of the page, then end at the top of the next long column, confusing to a modern newspaper reader. Also, the pages had been folded, and where the paper was creased it was difficult , and sometimes impossible to read the text. I had to get out my super magnifying glass to try to make out the pattern directions in the creases. Zooming in on the computer screen tended to distort the scanned image after a certain point. I included my transcription notes of the difficult spots in the pdf. sent to the customer. Some words had disappeared completely, and only an understanding of the sequence of the pattern could make them out.

The Weekly Times had been running a competition, and most of these patterns were submitted by readers who had created them themselves. In those days, you made your own , or went without. I guess there was nothing much to do in the evenings except your knitting, sewing or crochet - or you created new projects because there weren't many available to you otherwise.

 

I put together 10 of these patterns as a pdf. file and after at least 3 hours work, sold it to the customer for $5.00. She was thrilled, and shared it with her enthusiastic friends (none of whom can crochet!)Clearly, it wasn't the profit that motivated me to do this. It was the love of the old patterns, and the desire to share them with someone who appreciated them.

That is really the underlying motivation behind my vintage shop. I want these beautiful old things to go to homes where they will be loved.

Update: As from 2015 I am not selling any more digital copies of patterns due to copyright confusion.

Upcycled Vintage - Doiley Lamps

Well, I am really behind the times. Just as well I specialise in vintage stuff. I have just discovered doiley lamps.

A customer in Canada this week told me she was purchasing my doileys to make doiley lampshades for her wedding. I had never heard of doiley lampshades. Coincidentally, they were also mentioned in a book my partner is reading, so we googled them. And aren't they pretty?

I have to confess, I thought that some of the handmade doileys I sold were too nice to cut or stick or sew into something else, but I had to get over it. Those doilies are getting  a whole new life, as well as featuring in somebody's very special day.

Here's how you make doiley lamps.

http://blog.shannonsouth.com/2011/01/10/upcycled-doily-lamp/
And here is one of Shannon's photos.

And another site shows how you can make little lamps for a table centrepiece.

http://www.glamourandgraceblog.com/2011/diy-doily-lantern/

This explains why people have been buying their doilies in bundles . So, if you have a lot of doileys in a cupboard, (or on a cupboard), or your mother or grandmother has them, they could be donated to the next family wedding. The lamp makers have just about cleared me out of crocheted doileys, but there are a few left, and rest assured I will soon be listing some more. Or, I might have to keep them for my daughter's wedding in April.

Oval ecru doiley

Round ecru doiley

White crochet doiley

Pineapple motif doiley

Square pineapple doiley

A Well Turned Heel - Socks and Stockings

People today knit socks if they have a very special yarn, a novelty pattern, or a love of the old traditions.
 We forget, however, that people also used to knit stockings. Here is a selection of socks and stockings from a very old book from the 20s or earlier.

I imagine that wearing hand knitted stockings was warm, but neither stylish nor comfortable. I think they would have been scratchy, and difficult to keep up. Garters would have been required. No doubt they would have been made in drab grey or brown. A necessity in Europe perhaps, but probably not needed in most parts of Australia.

A few days ago I acquired an old New Idea crochet book from the early 70s and was thrilled to find this pattern for stockings, or rather tights.

I so want to make these tights. How fabulous are they? How jealous would your friends be if you had them, and how impressed they would be when you said you had made them?
























The word stockings was originally used to indicate very long socks for either men or women. Here is an illustration from a book published in 1913 for a "Gentleman's Cycling Stocking." I can just imagine it with the lycra!

Gentleman's Cycling Stocking

On the same page there are the instructions for "Sea-Boot Stockings".


It seems amazing to us today that people would have darned socks (and stockings), but when you think that they had to knit the socks themselves and that they were woollen, it's more understandable. My mother told me last week that she will still darn a favourite pair of socks if they are of good quality. She also told me that she still uses her darning mushroom, and that she was surprised to see on an episode of the TV show "The Collectors", the darning mushroom was featured as the "mystery object", and that no-one knew what it was. Have you ever seen one of these?

Darning mushroom

You would hold it by the handle and insert it into the sock. The flat part comes up behind the area to be darned, usually the heel, and you work over the top of it so that your stitches don't sew through to the back of the sock. You would make a little woven mesh patch to fill the hole, (which was uncomfortable to stand on.)

Socks are knitted on four double pointed needles. You knit around in a tube. You can achieve the same effect these days with a short circular needle.

An important part of sock construction is "turning the heel". I remember once reading a book, where the character who was knitting was a daydreamer, and had a tendency to accidentally "turn the heel twice", so that the sock went around in a square at the bottom. No doubt this has happened to a few dreamy knitters in the past. I wish I had a picture of this. We will all just have to imagine. Here are some different styles and methods for heels and toes.

 During the wars, women did their duty for their country and cared for their men by knitting socks and other woollies for the soldiers.

This book recommends purchasing 5 skeins (or one ounce) of khaki wool for the socks. The skeins were hanks, which then had to be wound into balls after purchase.

In books about war, you often read about soldiers marching barefoot, or marching in ragged boots without socks. No wonder the knitting needles were ever busy. I wonder how many miles of marching it took to wear out a pair of socks.






Another wartime book, The Australian Comforts Fund, insisted on good workmanship in the way of sock knitting.

My very old book also has pattern for gaiters. These also feature quite regularly in books of pattern for babies up until the 1950s.

There are lots of little leggings sets with gaiters rather than sock feet. I guess this was much more sensible for toddlers or once baby was walking and needed shoes.

Women did not really wear socks much until short socks became fashionable in the 50s. Stockings were worn with a dress and shoes, even when at home doing the housework.

Here is a cute idea from the 50s:

Angora Topped Sports Socks

And looking for pictures of socks on the internet today, I found these. I wish I had the pattern!

The Caftan - Looking Fabulous in a Tent

http://www.etsy.com/shop/VintageKnitPatterns

I've recently been surprised by how much interest there has been in a sewing pattern for a caftan which I found and listed in my Etsy shop. Back in the 1970s a few hippie types sported caftans. I even had one myself. I remember it clearly, although unfortunately I don't have any photos. Picture this... a primrose yellow cheesecloth floor length garment, with green and orange embroidered flowers around the neckline and down the front. I clearly remember wearing it on stage at a school talent contest when I was 14 or 15, when I played guitar and sang "Where Do the Children Play", from Cat Stevens "Tea For the Tillerman" album, very badly. Needless to say, I did not win. However, I like to think I looked great. Maybe I'm fantasizing again.

1974 pattern

That was probably the same year that this pattern was published. This is much more stylish, though, and not so hippie flavoured as my gear.



This pattern looks to me like something which Maggie Tabberer would have worn. Maggie Tabberer is a famous Australian businesswoman who was a model and later a TV personality in the 60s and 70s. Her trademark look was, and still is, a caftan type garment with very short hair or a turban. She is always incredibly stylish, even today in her 70s.

Check her out:

http://www.zimbio.com/photos/Maggie+Tabberer/Australia+World+Premiere+Arrivals/uQsfYPmAqaT

Then, I found these wonderful crocheted versions. They must have been quite heavy to wear, and difficult to launder, but they look very whimsical and floaty.

I  love this cream one, it looks so graceful and dainty. I can't quite make out her shoes, but I suspect they might be platforms.

This pink one looks more serious to me, and reminds me of a Greek goddess, but maybe it's just the hairstyle (and the view).

These designs are from a Villawool book from the 70s. I've never seen anything else like them, and I have over 1,000 books.

I wonder who would be brave enough to wear one today?