High Fashion in Austin Texas - 1942!

Sometimes I find great stuff in with patterns I buy. These clippings are from the American-Statesman, an Austin, Texas newspaper from Sunday August, 23, 1943. They feature fashions from Yaring's and Scarbrough & Sons, two fine department stores that catered to collage bound gals, school girls and some high end suits and coats - "all sketched from stock"!

"Fitted black 100% wool coats with gleaming silver fox fur. $110.00"

"White Collar Class" - Make and Mend - 1942 - Part 5

"It's a frame up to make you prettier"
Back by popular demand here's another installment from Make and Mend for Victory. The focus is on Vestees, Dickeys, and Collars. Some are just fabric, some are edged with crochet. Have fun...and remember it's all for the War Effort!

"Smart Headwork" - Make and Mend for Victory - 1942 - Part 4

"A ball of yarn, a scrap of felt, and you...looking like a fashion photo" More from Make and Mend, this time it's Hats. Fabric Hats, Crochet Hats, Felt Hats...with a few Bags and Collars!
Again this includes lots of instructions, but I wanted to help anybody who wanted to make these. And please come back and show us!

"You Have The Goods On Him" - Make and Mend - 1942 - Part 3

Here's some more from Make and Mend for Victory. This is a bit wordy, but if any of you want to actually repurpose a man's suit into a womans you'll need all the details. Remember you can click on any image twice to enlarge and then print it.

"Fortunately, you can be patriotic and pretty both" - Make and Mend - 1942

"It's up to you to keep the home fires burning, to see that you and your family stay easy-on-the-eyes. Fortunately, you can be patriotic and pretty both. It's easy to teach an old wardrobe new tricks, to resurrect the skeletons in your closet and bring them up to date. Come on, take those old knockabouts and turn them into knockouts, keep that glint in Uncle Sam's eye and still do your stint towards Victory!"
This is from a 1942 booklet called Make and Mend for Victory put out by The Spool Cotton Company...who was urging you to use J. & P. Coats-Clark's O.N.T. threads to re-do your wardrobe so you could help do your part for the war effort. The ideas are good ones that can work today...re-use clothes you have or find good thrift shop pieces and make use of some wonderful fabrics!

Fredrick & Nelson Cotton Housecoats - 1942

I found this in a pattern today. "Quality Costs No More"

Save Your Cans For A Foot Stool!

Another project from Ruth Wyeth Spears, from her booklet "Sewing Book 3" from 1942.

"One thing always leads to another. After directions for making hanging shelves of spools were published, someone wanted to know if we couldn't think of something to do with empty cans. Fortunately, we have a long memory. There came to life a picture of a rather fat little girl sitting on a small foot stool in a Victorian parlor while her Great Aunt rocked and visited. And there was something about the foot stool - yes, it had cans inside. These cans were filled with sand to make the foot stool heavy. The cover was red carpet with handles of the carpet material at the ends. So we saved six cans. A piece of upholstery material was substituted for carpet, and here is a step-by-step sketch of the foot stool that resulted. It is a great success. Yes, the cover is red, but not quite so bright as that red carpet."
OK, this is a little strange. First the image of a "fat little girl"...and then there's the part about what color red this is...I assure you this is a black and white drawing. But the idea has possibilities. Report back!

The Victory Vest

For the stylish guy in 1942.

Minerva 1942 Ladies Staple Sweaters

"There is nobody like the American Girl for practicability and smartness. No wonder - at work or at play- they have voted the classic sweater their first choice."