Look for the Union Label

Copyright 1942 McCalls May Issue

I have mentioned before that my grandmother was a master seamstress. Most women knew how to sew back in the day. After The Great Depression, knowing how to sew meant being able to update the old dress or make something new out of materials you had at hand.  There simply wasn't money for fancy new dresses. 

I am seriously smitten with these 1940s pattern images. This is the introduction of the 'wrap dress'...years and years before Dione Von Furstenberg made her version in the 1970s. This style of dress is so incredibly flattering on all figures. I have a stash of vintage patterns, including some Haute Couture Vogue patterns from the 1940s on through the 1970s. It is my goal to learn how to sew well enough that I can take these patterns and make some brand new vintage clothing! They don't make clothes like this anymore...well they do, they're called haute couture and most of us can't afford them.  But we can make them ourselves!

Most of what is on the market is so poorly made and so horridly constructed. It looks good until you wash it a time or two and then...blah. Gaining the ability to repurpose and make it yourself means gaining an appreciation for the considerable skill involved in designing and making well tailored clothing. We used to make it here in America, some of you will remember the song: Look For The Union Label.

We don't have to wear crappy clothes made in sweatshops by people being paid pennies, we can make our own lovely clothes out of pieces we find at thrift stores and flea markets. We can...and I will learn how. Galdangy.

Love
Madge