FWIW, I only rarely see a vintage jacket/suit like that unlined.Did you check out the directions yet?
Also - EVERY proper lady wore a brassiere, girdle/corset, stockings & full slip, don'tcha know.....

Nowadays, a nice silk camisole or what's known as a 'shell'(is that right?) top, would prob'ly do fine.Actually, a 'shell' top might've reasonably been worn back then as well.It's basically a short-sleeved or sleeveless, collarless, fitted blouse - often has a zipper @ back neckline or side, but I've seen/had 'em w/ buttons too.There's usually a peplum-like bottom edge for tucking into skirts/slacks.

& ladies need not remove their hats (or gloves?) inside.

I've begun to appreciate the whole glove/hat wearing thing these days - keeps your hands & hair much cleaner & helps prevent 'catching' germs - who knows? Maybe it'll come back in style....= J

BTW - I'm 46, but I collect vintage clothing, books, magazines & patterns & relish old movies = )

Thanks for that Carol. My Mum said the same thing about a corset and slip!

Yes, it is fully lined - it has a back vent, so quite a complex lining. Also they recommend inserting the entire lining by hand, only the facing is attached by machine for the inside. We don't even do that in Hand Tailoring class! Usually we'd hand fell the vent, the shoulders and the sleeves at the armscye and cuff but the inside would be constructed on the machine before that and it is bagged out to attach the hem. The 1949 one has bound buttonholes, which I got laughed at for trying in HT class year before last - (used fake chocolate coloured suede in a tan tweed jacket for me).

The pattern even includes instructions for making shoulders pads out of cotton batting!

You are so right about gloves and germs!

We need to start a revival ;-)
AJ

A "lady who lunches" of this era would remove her gloves to eat, but not her hat and certainly not her jacket. That's a guess...I was a toddler in 1949. But I've watched enough old movies and period films. I've seen movies where ladies playing bridge at another lady's home did not remove their hats for that activity!

The lines in the jacket and skirt are lovely and I think a pair of slacks from the same era would look stylish with the jacket. I agree with Carol about the camisole or shell.

What about a twill or gabardine fabric?

Teresa

Mum was married in December 1948. I still have (and occasionally wear) the jacket that was 1/2 of her wedding suit. It was a Vogue pattern, too, similar to the one you posted. VERY fitted, mandarin collar, long, slim sleeves with turn-back cuffs. It has a "fishtail" pleat at the center back. The closure is invisible, snaps on a placket. It is teal velveteen. The skirt was long and slim, with a similar pleat detail. It was long ago turned into Barbie doll clothes. Both pieces were fully lined (but in rayon, because it was still terribly difficult to obtain silk at that time!).

The jacket was never intended to be worn over anything. Her headpiece was very small and quite fitted (sort of likw the little caps that Mamie Eisenhauer wore) with a very pretty veil of tulle (in teal).

It is a handsome garment; the detail in its construction is impressive, NOT appropriate for a beginner!

I love the pattern!!! Especially the pocket detail. When I learned clothing construction in high school (and later in Home Ec college), we always put in the lining by hand (but we also did hand-picked zippers, too). To insert a lining on the machine was simply unacceptable.

Perfect bound buttonholes are a snap with the Dritz "gadget" (see a picture I posted in the Gallery a while back), but the only one I've seen now is the large one for doing welt pockets. I guard my "gadget" with my life.

I vote for a pretty cami with just a peek of lace. And speaking of the underpinings...remember the garter belts with hose? I was a teenager then (pantyhose were just beginning to make the scene), and was thrilled to have a half slip with built-in garters. This is really making me feel old!

Anyway, great good luck with the suit (Vogue are always fun and challenging). I haven't done one for years...do they still give you a label?

Please post a pic when you're done.

I remember very well the summer I tried my hand at man tailored bermuda shorts. My mom took one look at the front fly zipper and welt back pockets and said "you're on your own!" I figured them out all on my own (no gadgets) and did them pretty good, too! I was so proud!

The company I work for invented panty hose! Now I hate to try to get into the things - LOL!

When fitting this pattern remember to look at the measurements for that day and compare them to yours...size measurements have changed several times since then. You may also have to round out the darts for today's foundations because bras were different then too (cousin and vintage wedding dress proved that one, darts kept coming to a point instead of rounding out no matter what her mother did to alter those darts).

Nothing wrong with a full slip, I have a slew of them, and just wore one last Wednesday. A full slip just eliminates the elastic wad going on at the waist between the pantyhose and half slip, and gives a better line for dresses and coverage for sheer blouses when wearing a skirt, a cami does the job for slacks. I have enough going on at the waist without added a wad of stuff. You develop your own method and dance getting into pantyhose.

I hated the garters on garter belts because they always dug into the back of my legs by the end of the day until I figured out that if I hinged the garters to the side direction of my legs, it wasn't so bad and easier to hinge everything together. From the time panyhose and knee highs for slacks came out, I never worn a light brief girdle with garters (not too bad once the brief really stretched out), a merry widow (strapless long line torture chamber garment with garters attached that was another one of mom's expensive bad ideas), or a garter belt again. I refuse to wear support pantyhose to this day and forget thigh high stockings.

As far as gloves are concerned, there is also a correct way to put them on. I learned the correct way from my grandmother who worked in the glove department of a store for years. I have my mom's long length black kid skin gloves stored in a box that I wear from time to time with my dress coat, my first purchased gloves were kid skin to match that first major purchased myself dress coat, and I have the white gloves I wore to my prom..just in case I might need them again.

When you live in a cold northern climate, you have an assortment of gloves and hats to wear according to the winter weather and coat being worn. Hats hid a multitude of things on bad hair days--for that matter, still do.

I can remember my mother telling me about her and my aunt running down the hill to catch the street car hanging on to their hats and the street car slowing down because the driver always knew they would be running late.

Thank you one and all!

I posted this, not because I'll be making it up soon, but because I have some rather pedestrian projects ahead of me and it's lovely to talk about the couture stuff with people who care about these things.

IF I was going to be making this up, I'd be able to do a cotton toile and get fitting advice from my college tutor - I'm rather thick waisted, like many modern women - so I'm not sure it would ever look that good on me, but with the right fit alterations I'm sure would be doable.

Nope no label! Anyway I have my own "Custom Made By AJK" label!!

Chelone that teal outfit sounds gorgeous! I get your point about expert skills required for that level of construction, but you can only really learn these things by doing. My method is to make an 'expensive' pattern in cheap fabric so that I feel free to mess it up. One day I'll have the nerve to sew with the expensive stuff. ;-)

I'm not sure but I think the measurements have been updated - certainly the size chart looks about the same as modern Vogue patterns. I generally only use patterns as a starting point anyway - I'm not a standard size and need a lot of alterations. Good 'point' about the darts though, I'll make a note to check that on the toile when it comes!

I hate tights (UK name for pantyhose). They are so, well, tight! I don't have thick legs, so if I buy large they are far too long, but if they fit in the leg for some reason the manufacturers think everyone wants to be squeezed like a tube of toothpaste. I like to breathe! Mostly I wear trousers, with socks (love my colourful socks!) and since I wear boots rather than shoes they don't show.

If and when I wear a skirt I have 2 ways of doing it - either it's the winter and I wear black silk thermal leggings with long boots and no-one who sees my knees would know it's not tights! Or I wear hold-up stockings. The ones with the silicone are very good, they really do hold up without cutting into your leg. Only problem is the sweaty bit at the top of your thigh. Tried ordering long knickers, but the shop didn't have the ones I wanted and I've given up for the moment.

Trousers are just so much easier!

I'd like to be this sort of elegant lady in hat and gloves. Not the reality of a clutz in jeans! (although I do have a great many hats!)

Cheers,
AJ

This is an elegant suit. It calls for both bound buttonholes and covered buttons I'd think. I wouldn't wear any shell under it as I don't think they did then. I was 4 in 1949, and I don't recall ladies taking their jackets off, unless they were a working girl, and might have worn a long sleeved blouse under the suit.

This pattern looks like it is suit only, with nothing under it. Full slips back in the olden days were PRETTY, or many of the ones for "dress" were. I still love full slips and seldom wear a half slip. I'm like above, hate another roll at the waist. It's difficult to find full slips today.

Actually, in 1949, most ladies probably wore their bras only when they dressed up. Many opted for only a slip at home. They would have worn house dresses at home.

Women didn't take their hats off when they lunched, or bridge partied, or PTAd, or whatever. To eat, they would have simply lifted the veil back. Now, gloves, yes, take them off to eat, or it was allowed. One could also leave them on--imagine how careful one had to be!

"Shop-girls", secretaries, the few there were, would have removed their hats at work, but put them back on at the end of the day.

I haven't made a tailored wool suit since 1963, but we did put the lining in by hand, and by then, didn't do quite as much tailoring as a decade earlier. I don't recall, for instance, doing the interfacing at the bottom of the sleeve.

Panty hose, forget them, I hate them, but wore them faithfully for years. I did have the garter belt when I was young, AND started out with seamed hose. I still love the look of those seams, but on skinny legs, they were a pain to get that seam straight! And, at least panty hose didn't bag quite as much, but the fit is awful on a skinny person with legs a bit long for her body!

My grandmothers had corsets, but my mother and aunts wore girdles, not the full length corsets. We loved looking at my grandmother's corset, it was such a fascinating item with it's laces and hooks. My generation had the "panty girdle", which one didn't go without even when one didn't need it. I weighed about 85, had no need of one except to hold my hose up, but was expected to wear one anyway. A garter belt was more my style!

I wish hats would come back totally into style, and yes, they could cover up "bad" hair. Ladies didn't wash their hair as often then either. Hats and gloves are so elegant.

The hat issue makes me smile. I'm a nut for them. And I wear them often; I do not generally remove them! I'm amazed at how wearing one brings out a man's more chivalrous side... they ALWAYS hold the door for me when I'm wearing one. :)

We were at a wedding over the summer and I wore a very pretty, genteel, straw one that is generally shaped like a derby. I added a long silk scarf, tied in a bow to it. EVERYONE commented on how nicely it went with my outfit; older men remarked that it was refreshing to see a woman in a hat!

I have a lot of gloves, too. Sadly, they don't fit me... my grandmother was more petite than I and there is no way I could squeeze my hands into her gloves. But they are lovely things!

(I call them "tights" too... I don't mind them too much but "control top" is the absolute WORST!)

Oh, Mum wore a full slip under her wedding suit. It was silk, cut on the bias and hand embroidered... part of her trousseau. The trousseau was intended to outfit the bride for a full year... so the struggling new couple could get on their feet and not worry about incidental expenditures... . A practical tradition!

I just had a thought - if the fabric is worsted wool, then you need not necessarily line it.

I have several vintage jackets in worsted wool w/ bound seams, no lining - 1 w/ only a half-lining across the upper back.

I presume these are for Summer/warm weather?

1 is men's, not ladies - & I just checked & half-lining goes across the front as well (but not sleeves) - it is bound @ the edges.

I love this post! I belong to the Red Hat Society, speaking of hats, and as a group we went to see the play "Steel Magnolias". The house manager came to welcome our group but asked us to remove our hats so those behind us would have an unobstructed view of the play. Would that have been done in the old days, I wonder? Just curious...

We have more fun dressing up in our red and purple regalia!

Yes, ladies were asked to remove their hats in theaters.

What's a gorgeous suit! It does take time to make something like that but it's well worth the trouble to learn. I learned to do bound buttonholes by practicing on scrap fabric.

This thread brought back such sweet memories of watching my Mother (born in 1908) get dressed in something like that. She was oh so slender snd fashionable. She always wore hat & gloves... even to the supermarket before she passed away in the late 60's. I have half dozen pair of her lovely gloves...one pair of soft white kid in elbow length with embroideried cutwork...they're still soft as butter. How I treasure them! My Dad, who was so proud of her, used to take her to St. Louis twice a year for shoes- she wore a size 4 (triple A with a AAAA heel.) Sample shoes were only ones that fit, and her favorite stores loved her visits 'cause she tried on so many pairs, they said she sold them by "modeling." Now I realize what a long trip it was from NE TX to St Louis before Interstate hwys.
I can remember "petting" her fur coat and wondering what it must be like to be so beautiful.

I have a nightgown (part of her trousseau) of pale yellow silk (bias cut in Harlow style) with silk flowers of darker yellow & pale green stems & leaves, all handmade. It is just exquisite, and such a treasure to me. Ladies always "dressed" for travel whether by car or train.

Wish I could post the picture of her as a newlywed, all dressed up, standing with one foot on the running board of their Buick convertible with the spare tire tucked in the front fender. When my Dad gave me the picture after she dies he said "She sure was a sassy lil' thing, wasn't she?" as tears streamed down his face. Little girls were in awe of their Mothers & wanted so much to be like them.

I thought it heavenly when given old clothes, purses, etc. to play dress-up in.
Suzi

Suzi - I loved reading your post! Your mother sounds like a real lady.

Bring back the age of elegance!!!!! I get so fed-up seeing women of all ages with their bellies hanging out over their trousers and 'builder's bum' at the back when they sit down. And every time I'm forced to stare down some woman's cleavage at a reception desk I want to say "put them away dear, I'm not interested".

And if you think I'm sounding like an old codger myself - I'm 34!

Thank you to all keep these great stories coming!!

Cheers,
AJ

I soooo agree, AJ! I'm almost glad I had boys instead of girls 'cause I would be raising a ruckus over how they dress these days. I've had a tatoo on a hip staring at me at work, and this is in an "executive" office. I'm ready for the low slung pants waistline to move on back up.

Loved reading about your mother, Suzi. What was it about the 30s and 40s with people posing by their cars? I've seen more family pictures from that era with the subjects sitting on the car hood, leaning against the car, or like the picture of your mother, with a foot on the running board.

"What was it about the 30s and 40s with people posing by their cars? I've seen more family pictures from that era with the subjects sitting on the car hood, leaning against the car, or like the picture of your mother, with a foot on the running board."

Teresa nc7, perhaps it's because the cars and women were so elegant or maybe the fellas were so proud of the cars! The one of my Mom was taken in 1929 I believe, and my Dad said there were not many paved roads back then. People were sorta' wonderous when he spoke of driving from coast to coast.

I recall going to Northern Arkansas as a child & my BIL having to back up a steep hill on a gravel road in his old '41 Ford Coupe...it didn't have enough power to "pull" the hill. And that was after we'd crossed the river on a mule drawn ferry! I was so scared I hid my eyes & prayed. Gosh, I AM old.
Suzi

I don't know about not wearing a bra while at home...my mother and grandmother definitely could not get away with doing that. What ladies did have were their every day bras (fairly worn out and comfy) and then the "good" bras for when they went out. We cousins learned that habit and have our "good" bras.

I was downtown last week for an interview and immediately noticed that office workers on the bus and on the street were all nicely dressed in business and business casual, including the younger adults. The young adults still have to learn what is appropriate when and what a good clothing fit is.

I remember my MIL dressing to go out and asking FIL how it looked. He kept sending her back to put on more slips until he couldn't see the girdle seams.

I'm sort of a newbie on this forum but I had to comment. Suzi, I could just picture your Mother. I too had a beautiful slender Mother who loved to dress up. I grew up in St Louis and going 'Downtown' was quite the thing. I have a picture of my parents that was taken by a man that took pics of the people on the streets downtown and would mail copies of them to the folks. This pic has my Mother in a silk dress that was form fitted at the top with a V neck and wide lapels. It had a very straight skirt but over the skirt was a half skirt that was very very full. She wore her pearls with it. A black pillbox hat with the net over her face and white gloves. She wore a size 5 shoe very narrow also and these were very high black patten heels with a small black patten purse. She looked glamorous and the photographer took dozens of pics of her that night. Talk about good for your ego. LOL

I agree with the dress today. My company just did away with casual Fridays and jeans of any type or color and no tennis shoes or flip flops. It had gotten really bad here. The day the General manager showed up in bib overalls and farmers boots was the last straw for the CEO. He sent her home and had me typing a dress code immediately.

I love the Vintage suit and wonder if I have the talent to attempt something like that. I really think I'm going to give it a shot this winter.

Thanks for the wonderful memory and letting me join in.

Cindy

i think a tight bouse under the suit was the order of the day

Here is a link that might be useful: 1940s fashions

As I remember, this type of suit was lined and the jacket was not removed. One wore a full slip under it. While it might look very tight and form fitting there ws enough "give" in it be comfortable.