Blog Posts

The Plus Four

12/4/2015

Another wonderful item in a vintage style men's wardrobe would be the so called 'Plus four' ending four inches under the knee, hence the name. Other varieties are the 'Plus two', the 'Plus eight' and Knickerbocker. The style was introduced in America by Edward Prince of Wales during a diplomatic trip in 1924. It seems to fit in perfectly with the looser clothing style of the 1920's. The trousers are worn with argyle socks, silk neckties and dress shirts and sweaters. Some are worn as complete suits, like Louis Armstrong is wearing in the photo on the right.

Louis Armstrong in Plus fours with argyle socks.

The Norfolk suit

A tailored sports coat, with partial lining

The Plus four or Knickerbocker is very suitable for sports and the outdoors. For hunting it would be worn as part of the Norfolk suit (the name derived from the hunting suit of the 19th century Duke of Norfolk) made of a heavy tweed or plaid for the cold and wet English weather.

The Knickerbocker derived from the Dutch settlers in the 1600's in what is now New York. In 1809 writer Washington Irving wrote the satiric 'A History of New York from the Beginning of the World to the End of the Dutch Dynasty' under the pseudonym Diedrich Knickerbocker, later known as 'Knickerbockers history of New York'.
With the publication of Irving's book, the Dutch settler 'Knickerbocker' character became synonymous with New York City. Hence the name of the famous basketball team the New York Knicks.

The Dutch settlers and native Americans about 1600. Notice the short puffed trousers.

Palle Huld in Moscow

Later the Plus four was made famous by Tintin, the famous comic book Character by Hergé, presumably based on the actual person Palle Huld. In 1928 a Danish newspaper ran a centennial about author Jules Verne. The winner would re-enact the globe-circling voyage undertaken by Phileas Fogg in Verne's bestselling novel 'Around the World in 80 Days'. Strangely enough to our modern ideas, the contest was only open to teenage boys. Freckle faced and red haired Palle Huld traveled the globe, dressed in Plus fours.

Today the Plus four is most commonly known as a golfers outfit. And since the Plus four was worn often during sports and outdoors, we now can understand why golfers love to adorn themselves with puffed trousers and checkered socks.

Edward the Prince of Wales as painted by Wiliam Orpen

Two College undergraduates wearing Plus fours

A ladies Plus four advertised in a catalogue

read more:
Jocks and Nerds, Men's style in the Twentieth Century, Richard Martin and Harold Koda

2 Comments

the waistcoat

1/4/2015

0 Comments

One very typical item in a gentleman's wardrobe must be the waistcoat, in American English called a vest. Much loved by dancers it gives your outfit just a little bit more style and class, yet it is comfortable, and not as warm as a jacket.

A waistcoat is typically worn as part of a three piece suit. It can be single or double breasted, although single breasted is more common. it closes with buttons or snaps. Waistcoats can have lapels or revers, depending on the use and style. A watch can be kept in the front pocket, attached to chain trough a button hole. Wearing a belt with the trousers under a waistcoat is not traditional. Instead braces are worn that are covered by the waistcoat. Sometimes the bottom button is undone, or placed so it can't be closed at all. It is said King Edward VII, by then Prince of Wales started this fashion, due to his expanding waistline.

Waistcoat or vest made by myself with the bottom button undone

The waistcoat is said to derive from the Persians in the 17th century as seen by English visitors to the court of Shah Abbas. King Charles the II got the credits for introducing it in the European style of clothing. After the Great Plague, and the Great Fire of London, he felt the need for a more sober style of clothing. It was designed to discourage the use of lavish materials, and cover the body much plainer and cheaper than before. John Evelyn wrote about it on October 18, 1666: "To Court, it being the first time his Majesty put himself solemnly into the Eastern fashion of vest changing doublet, stiff collar, bands and cloak, into a comely dress after the Persian mode, with girdles or straps, and shoestrings and garters into buckles...resolving never to alter it, and to leave the French mode".

King Charles II of England 1661-62in his parliamentary robes.

Antique Persian waistcoats

18th century dressing gown with attached waistcoat of chintz embroidered with flowers

a Dandy: Robert de Montesquiou 1855-1925, portrait by Giovanni Boldini, Musée d'Orsay, Paris.

Another milestone in European history that altered fashion and the waistcoat was the French revolution in 1789. The fit of the waistcoat became shorter and tighter. The waistcoat became skin tight, often stiffened with whale bone, reinforced buttons at the front and laced at the back just as a corset. The overcoat cut to emphasis the waist and broad shoulders. The Edwardian look (King Edward being a big fellow) made a larger physique more popular. With the Dandy-ism in the 19th century the waistcoat evolved to a foundation garment.

Read and see more:
I Am Dandy: The Return of the Elegant Gentleman by Nathaniel Adams
History of men's fashion, Nicholas Storey

Waistcoats in the Philadelphia Museum of Art

Waistcoats in the Victoria & Albert Museum

0 Comments

The day dress

7/3/2015

0 Comments

After all that writing about suits and menswear, let's have some girl talk again about dresses. Spring is definitely coming, and it is time to put away the woolen sweaters, long trousers and socks and get your skirts and dresses out!
So what to wear when you are a vintage gal?

An evening gown from Madame Grès. The last couturier to launch a ready to wear collection.

Actress Libby Holman in a strapless gown.

In the 1930's there was a big difference in classes. There are plenty of books with Paris 1930's fashion, beautiful fashion drawings and photographs of famous designers with elegant bias cut evening gowns, elegant woolen day suits with fur collars, and lace trimmed dinner gowns. The 1930's is often referred to as the 'Golden age of Glamour'. Despite the great depression, the fashion expressed luxury and elegance. This new fashion was driven by Hollywood, and many French fashion designers designed dresses for the silver screen. After the liberating 1920's with a boyish silhouette and dropped waistline, fashion in the 1930's was more classical feminine, with a natural waist. Madeleine Vionnet introduced the bias cut, which gave fabrics more drape and made dresses figure hugging. In the 1930's it was very common for women to change clothes two or three times a day. Sometimes even more, depending on the class and the situation. You would have day dresses, evening dresses, dinner dresses, cocktail dresses, sports outfits, and so on.

The 1930's were also the age where swing dance and especially Lindy Hop took a real fly. So naturally, when you practice Lindy Hop, and like to dress for the occasion, you can get your inspiration in the 1930's. So what are you looking for?
Not the glamorous long evening dresses I should think. Although wonderful and elegant, not really practical for swinging and swaying. Pictures of the Savoy Ballroom show girls dressed up in simple day dresses, skirts and even trousers. Simple outfits often with flat shoes and bobby socks. So modern girls, go for the day dresses! Practical, easy to maintain, comfortable and still, always stylish and if possible... with stockings...

1930's everyday life; women in dresses

0 Comments

Zoot suit

23/2/2015

2 Comments

While I was writing about fashion the second world war in my blog last week, I came across a topic I would like to write little more about: the zoot suit. Many know of the zoot suit through Cab Calloway, who was known for it, and had many varieties. Personally I love the one he was wearing in ‘Stormy Weather’ , the wonderful film with Lena Horn, Bill Robinson (mr Bojangles), the Cotton Club orchestra, Fats Waller, and of course Cab Calloway. A must see if you haven’t already.

What is a zoot suit, and how did this fashion take of?
In the thirties high waisted pants, so called slacks, were in fashion. The silhouette was masculine, broad shouldered and narrow waisted. The ‘English drape’ grew popular. London tailor Scholte designed a suit with jackets with wide shoulders and chest, wide armholes and narrow waist, worn with high waisted tapered pants. This look conquered America in the midst of the Great Depression. Hollywood embraced this drape cut. Men Like Gary Grant and Clark Gable wore draped suits. By 1940 the drape style became known as the ‘American cut’. As the Great depression deepened, men started mixing jackets and pants. Menswear changed. Sportswear was common, and especially in World War II men changed their factory overalls for simple T-shirts and slacks instead of suits. The men’s garment industry started manufacturing for young men. Style that adults would never wear. Film and dance also influenced fashion. The Sears catalogue of 1941 offered new wide legged pants called ‘swing pants’ and colors ranging from brown to teal blue and medium green.

The drape suit started to evolve. In Harlem there were tailors advertising with ‘extreme English drapes’. Other clothing stores advertised with ’New long drapes’ and adds for pegged pants or ’Jitterbug pants’ started to appear. Photographs of the Savoy ballroom in Harlem show these extreme drape style. In Chicago tailor and trumpeter Harold Fox gained clients with musicians and performers. In his store many jazz musicians gathered because of his costumes and the music was good too. According to Fox the zoot suit was not his invention: It came ‘out of the ghetto’. Young men walked in at tailors and asked for them to make wider and longer jackets, and pegged pants.

By the end of the thirties, US government wanted to stop this exaggerated look. The materials were called upon by the war effort. The restrictions weren’t as strict as in Great Britain,but still there was advertised against certain styles for men and women, and so also the zoot suit.

The type of youth that would wear the early zoot suit was not you average middle-class guy. Most of the ‘sharpies’ came from an African American background. They would tell their tailors exactly how they wanted their suits cut. An average ‘Sharpie’ was not easy to please. The zoo suit spread quickly to youth, musicians and the dance scene. By the early 1940’s the fashion even spread to white working class youth and middle-class teens.

Cab Calloway spread his ‘Jive talk’ and zoot style to musicians in the black community, and also with his white patrons. Soon zoot suits were even worn at the ‘White only’ venues. The name ‘zoot’ could well be deriving from his “Hipsters Dictionary of Jivetalk’ meaning ‘the ultimate’ or ‘exaggerated’.

By the early 1940’s the zoot suits became popular with the Mexican youth. In 1943 there were the infamous ‘zoot suit riots’. In Los Angeles, more and more Mexicans took refuge. Together with the war that took away many white men, the jazz scene that openly defied segregation, this caused a lot of racial tension. In 1942 after ‘the sleepy lagoon murder trial’ involving mostly Mexican American men, zoot suited or not, the suit was associated with gangsters and rebels.

These riots could well have been called ‘sailor riots’. As they were started by sailors and soldiers who spotted a group of Mexican American women across the street. As they were approaching them, they found a group of zoot suiters in between them. Sailor Coleman claimed he thought he was being attacked, and grabbed the arm of a zoot suited man. Coleman was hit on the head, and from that incident on sailors organised strikes on zoot suiters. The violence continued multiple nights and affected everybody even remotely associated with zoot suits, Mexican youth and jazz. The Los Angeles city counsel approved of criminalising wearing zoot suits with reat pleats. The worst violence was at June the 7th 1943. A Los Angeles paper printed a guide of how to ‘de-zoot’ a zoot suit: “Grab a looter. Take off his pants and frock coat and tear them up and burn them.” That night 500 civilians, sailors, marines and soldiers gathered downtown to go after the Mexicans and African Americas.
That year a committee ordered by the governor determined racism to be a central cause of the riots. The Mayor however concluded that juvenile delinquents were the cause, and racial prejudice had nothing to do with it.

So… It was ‘just’ a youth style from the streets. And maybe one of the first to occur in the history of fashion. Others would follow, and certainly nowadays we are used to the idea that street styles first appear in Harlem. Like the jeans that were put on backward, the very low worn pants, cap styles, the zoot suit was merely a street style loved, worn and made famous by dancers and musicians. The zoot suit riots had nothing to do with the suits and were based on racism rather than clothing style.
Feel free to wear one, you should only be associated with dancers and musicians. In my mind that is not bad at all!

Read more:
Zoot suit, The enigmatic Career of an Extreme Style, Kathy Peiss
American Experience http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/
Cab Calloway, Hepsters Dictionary

For this once, I had to put in two video's.

2 Comments

How WWII influenced fashion

16/2/2015

0 Comments

By the end of the 1930's and in the 1940's fashion changed dramatically.
For women the dresses were more and more practical. Instead of the glamor of the thirties with draped bias cut dresses, a very feminine silhouette with a slender waist showing of curves, and puffed sleeves by the end of the thirties, the forties were all about practicality. How to look elegant even in wartime? And how did the war change fashion forever?

1930's debutantes in long gowns

In September 1939 Germany invaded Poland and that was the beginning of WWII with Britain and France declaring war to Germany. In 1940 Germany invaded France and occupied Paris. Big fashion houses like Chanel, Elsa Schiaparelli and Jean Pattou stayed in Paris. They were isolated from the rest of the world. Britain and the US filled the gap in fashion.

In 1940 food was rationed in England, and a year later clothing was rationed as well. There was program for all ration problems called ‘Rationing, Utility and Austerity’ All clothes sold had to be labeled with the Utility Scheme label CC41 . In 1941 Silk was banned as it was needed for manufacturing parachutes. It was forbidden to import clothes, the money for clothing had to fund the war effort. The same thing goes for the US, so they were isolated economies. In 1942 the Board of Trade and London’s Fashion Group worked together to create a suit, dress and overcoat under the given rations with more appeal to the public. The materials used could be no more than 2 3/4 Yards (2m50) for an overcoat, 2 yards (1m80) for a dress and 2,5 yard (2m20) for a suit. There were rules of how a garment was made. Rules included:

-dress may only have 2 pockets
-No metal or leather buttons
-No boys under 13 could wear long trousers
-All embroidery and lace were banned
-Jackets and coats could hove only 3 pockets
-No double breasted Jackets and coats
-Trousers could not be cuffed
-No shirring, rushing, boning or fancy stitching was allowed

a 1940's 'Utility dress'

As in Britain, in the US clothing and make-up was rationed. The aims to appear beautiful and strong for patriotism and support.To encourage sales and keep morale high lipsticks had names like ‘Victory Red’. Make up for legs became popular since silk was banned for stockings. Hair was put up in Victory Rolls, which allowed women to keep the hair out of their faces while working in factories, and still look graceful. A snood became also popular. Hollywood lead the way in this new fashion, and make-up artists working in Hollywood stated to commercialize their products (Max Factor

Colors for printed and died fabric was limited. Chemicals were needed in the war industry. So reds, greens and blues were less vibrant then in the thirties. Fashion was also directly influenced by the war as military like suits and dresses were worn by women. And they soon found that these colurs combined perfectly with their ‘Victory Red’ lip stick.

As men were called to the front, women were called upon as work force. Women in factories often wore shapeless jumpsuits, and kept their hair pinned up under a head scarf. ’Rosie the riveter’ became the icon of the working women.

female factory worker in WWII

Rosie the Riveter

Siren Suit

The practical look was the most prominent in the ‘Siren suit’. In 1939 gas mask were distributed in Britain. Commercial made fashionable leather bags were sold, with compartments for the respirator. A new hairstyle occurred in 1939 the ‘Gas Mask Curl’ with curls on either side of the head leaving the center free for the main strap of the gas mask. In the fall of 1939 Siren Suits appeared in store windows. They were to be worn when the siren sounded. They were zipper closed, one piece jump suits that could be worn over pyjama’s or nightgowns. According to Charles Cunnington, a doctor in London during the war, “It gave the wearer an attractive appearance. So necessary of course when she is about to be blown to fragments, in which case her charm will abruptly cease”
(I will be making the jumpsuits later this year, so follow me on Facebook for more information!)

As for any time really, also in WWII there was anti-fashion. As American Jazz and swing started to spread in the end of the thirties, a subculture of youth used it to dress and act in a rebellious manner. In Germany the ‘Swing Kids” grew their hair longer, wore frivolous clothes or what was considered un-german. in the 1930’s in New York a fashion evolved under young urban black and Hispanic youth. they wore Full legged tapered trousers, very high, oversized jackets with padded shoulders. These ‘Hepcats’ called the suit ‘Zoot’ meaning according to cab Calloways ‘Hepcats dictionary of Jivetalk’ something like ‘the Ultimate’ or ‘exaggerated’. Variations of this style was worn by the paris youth. The suits had shorter trousers with exposed their brightly colored socks, a tie with a tight knot, thin mustache and a quiff of hair completed the look of these ‘Zazous’ (I will go in to this further on my blog next week!)

Dancing the Jitterbug. The man in the middle clearly wears wide legged tapered and cuffed trousers.

used stockings turned in for the war industry

Although invented before the war, only after the war synthetics became a hit. Viscose was already made by Du Pont in the 1930’s and designers like Elsa Schiaperelli used it a lot. It is light weight and drapes like silk. But as for all materials, they were soon called upon by the war industry. As soon as Nylon was no longer needed for the war, Nylon stockings took a fly.

So considering that all, you might want to respect the 1940's women for keeping a sense of style and grace under these conditions. And it made the way for later generations to start wearing more practical clothing.

Everything was influenced by the war. Not in the least music was. To keep up moral for the men at the front.
This song by Gene Krupa and Anita O'Day is a fine example.

0 Comments

1930's men's slacks or 'swing trousers'

9/2/2015

0 Comments

I have been making a small study out of the 1930's and 1940's men's slacks. I wanted to make them, and so I needed to spend time in books, on internet and inside my head to figure out just the right design. What did they wear?

Men's fashion went through a bit of a transformation after the first world war. Life changed, and so fashion changed. The men's pants grew in width. And as always, young people lead the way. The widest pants were the Oxford Bags, worn by Oxford students when they wanted to hide their knickers, since they were forbidden from 1925 onwards. They were mostly worn by the undergraduates.

The Oxford Bag got wider and wider, sometimes even 40 inches wide at the bottom!

Another novelty was the introduction of the zipper in the trouser fly. The prince of Wales was the first to wear it, and it soon became very popular.

Overall, the male figure was supposed to be masculine and sportive: narrow waisted and broad shouldered. The pants were high waisted, 2 or 3 inches above the navel, and tapered. The jackets grew wider at the top, shoulders were padded and the lapels of suit jackets were wide across the chest. This was called the English drape suit, or lounge style. This became very popular in the United States, as this add shows:

These suits could come in any variety: browns, greys or even green. Grey flannel slacks were combined with brown jackets. The tie knot was smaller in the thirties as in the twenties, thanks to new materials. The ties were usually bold colored. The suit could be worn for business or a more 'sports' look was created with wearing a cap instead of a hat (although mostly associated with the working class, a cap was introduced as suitable for sports and for driving a car). Braces should go with the slacks. You could wear a slightly bigger size for comfort. Gentlemen wear braces, a fireman wears suspenders. A gentleman is not in a hurry. Braces are fastened with buttons and are not elastic, suspenders close with clips.

A small detail I discovered while making the pants, concerns the pleats in the front. Modern pleated trousers have the pleat folded to the outside. Some vintage patterns I own clearly indicate the pleats should fold inwards. And yes, looking at drawings and pictures, both were used. I chose to fold them inwards to create a more convex shape.
And this is what they look like. My model was clearly in a hurry, but oké, a musician isn't necessarily a gentleman.

View details of pants

The Oxford Bag had a revival in the eighties, so obviously, this song comes to mind:

0 Comments

when in doubt...

2/2/2015

1 Comment

The past week was a bit of a struggle. I wanted to work with one of the beautiful fabrics I recently purchased.
I fell in love with this wonderful sheer silk georgette. The print is one typical for the 1930's and I thought that would be a good accomplishment for my shop. What vintage lover wouldn't fall in love with this?

I wanted to make a simple 1930's blouse and I knew this fabric would bring some problems. What makes it so nice to look at, makes it a nightmare to work with. It is sheer, and brittle, so no room for mistakes. So I made a muslin first. I used a polyester chiffon to see if what I wanted to make, is even possible in this kind of fabric. It was difficult, but as I was working along I had a few ideas. One of them came overnight as a EUREKA!! It was to line the facing with black organza to give a little stiffness. And that did the trick. it gave me enough to work with to create a collar, and to give structure for the buttonholes and buttons. Another issue I encountered was the look of it. I had to make some changes to make it look more modern. If you take a vintage pattern, you could simply make that pattern as it was intended 80 years ago. the funny thing is if you do that, it looks 80 years old to. Like something your grandmother would wear. And vintage is all lovely, but we do not want to look as grannies do we? Therefore I had to make some slight alterations. Give it some more waist, and lower the neckline. I tweaked it a bit to fit our vintage love with a modern sense.

So.... drum roll... I am proud to present, 1930's blouse 'Marguarite'

This whole process made me think, and doubt. Was this ever good enough?? And can I ever make it worthwhile?? On that track, I have to be very careful not to go overboard in my critical concoctions! There is a danger I start to doubt everything I am doing. That feeling grew yesterday when I was scrolling on internet to look at retro clothing. Of course there is a lot on offer, plenty to choose from. So where do I fit in? And, more important, where do I make a difference? I think I should keep going, and search for the uniqueness in my designs. And these very exclusive and expensive fabrics could well be one of the answers. Make something these other shops do not sell, make a unique product and be good at it! When in doubt, go ahead and do it!

view marguarite on etsy

This morning, as I finished the last seam on my blouse, I had to play this... Loudly... And sing along too!

1 Comment

THE BIG CHANGE

27/1/2015

2 Comments

The start of 2015 is the start of something new and I jumped in with both feet without looking.
This first blog I will use to introduce myself, what I do and why.

I grew up in a family of artists. My father is a glass artist, and together with my mother they run a successful studio. So after I finished my studies as a scenographer it was the natural course of life I started to use glass as my material.
In the fall of 2013 I was doing pretty good as a independent glass artist. I had my own studio at my house, so I could combine my work with being a mum and wife. I walked with my dog every day, fed the chickens, worked and every month or so we packed the van with big heavy pieces of art, and go somewhere to exhibit.
October the 14th we were packed to go to Strasbourg for the international glass biennial.

The barrage Vauban in Strasbourg as exhibition space

The exhibited work 'Aurora'. Made in cooperation with Royal Leerdam Chrystal

The day before that, I went to gym and for a swim afterwards. Unfortunately I slipped and fell on my hand. That night I was bothered with so much pain in my right wrist I couldn't ignore it, and we went to hospital. There they took pictures but couldn't find anything, then put a cast around it anyway and send me home. I thought I got away easy. The pain was pretty bad though and in the back of my mind I knew this wasn't good at all. We put up the exhibition, with lots of help from my husband and my son. That was the beginning of a whole year in and out of hospitals, they took scans, MRI's, and still couldn't find what was wrong. In April I had surgery and started to recover. All that time I couldn't work, I had no use of my right hand. Basically, my whole life had stopped. Couldn't play saxophone, couldn't walk my dog or drive my car, couldn't go to the gym for workout, or swim. I was feeling really bad.

So, I entertained myself with watching old movies, listen to music and because I can not sit still, I found a way to use my sewing machine with my left hand, cut fabrics and draw patterns. When it was really bad, like when I was in a cast for the second time after surgery, I watched DVD's with instructional video's about tailoring and read books about vintage fashion and techniques. I spend my days and learned, and enjoyed it. Then it started to grow on me. After all, I studied costume design, it is not a really big step towards vintage clothing. The strength in my hand wasn't going to come back easily, if ever, and I don't want to spend the rest of my life mourning about what could have been. So I made a decision. I had to change my profession, out with the glass kiln, and in with the sewing machine! Not something that is easily done, but it was now or never. I am still young enough to do this, so better take the chance when misfortune forces you to do so. Was it a misfortune? Or an event that helped me to be bold enough to take the step? I think the latter..

So my studio had to be transformed, and cleaned. A big spring clean followed. Out with the old, throw away old stuff and old thoughts. Clean my studio and my head. Away with all the spiderwebs!

I am very proud to present to the world: My little peace of heaven on earth, my studio: