The Art of J. Carlos

While researching Fon Fon, I found out some of the illustrations in the magazine (not the ones I posted) were drawn by J. Carlos, a famous Brazilian illustrator known for his gorgeous depictions of the Rio Carnival. He was a pretty multitalented guy and many Brazilians consider his work the pinnacle of Art Deco Brazilian style.

More Art Deco gorgeousness under the jump, including some NSFW images, so be prepared!

Fon Fon, 1952

I've never been into weddings, but I could have sworn my future wedding dress came to me in a dream last night. But when I woke up, I remembered it was just an illustration from Fon Fon.

It looked a little like the one on the left.

I couldn't find a lot of information on Fon Fon, but it was first published in 1907 in Rio de Janeiro and was published for over 50 years until it ceased publication in 1958. I know almost nothing about South American history in the 20th century, but there are a few gorgeous vintage Brazilian and Argentinian fashion magazines I've found that I plan on sharing later. There are some digitized issues here if you want to see more.

This looks like the "wedding issue" or something...check out more gorgeous illustrations under the jump!

Russian pattern diagrams from the 1920s

In case you just couldn't get enough of 1920s Russian fashions, here are some pattern draft...type...things I found in the depths of club.season.ru (be warned:  once you come in, you never come out). Even if these don't have measurements, the geometric illustrations are so gorgeous and may inspire you when making your next dress!

Some more gorgeous pattern illustrations after the jump.

The final installment of images from the 1928 Russian magazine

More beautiful 1920s illustrations. But fear not, there's much more!

Even MORE Russian fashions!

Including some in COLOR!

More gorgeousness below.

More Russian fashions from 1928!

A follow-up from my last post. The sportier styles in these pages are great. And while I can't understand the text, there are some nice photos of the New 1920s Woman in action–playing tennis, lacrosse (?), and even riding a motorbike. 

There's more under here:

Russian fashions from 1928

The 1920s were a great decade for fashion. While most people immediately think of designers like Chanel and Poiret, glamorous fashions were not limited to France. This magazine (source unknown, sorry) is from Russia and dates from 1928. I'll break up the posts over the next few days. 

The cover looks nothing like the rest of the illustrations in the magazine.

There's more after the jump!

Free women's slip pattern from 1930

Hey everyone, I come bearing even MORE gifts from Beyer's Modenblatt :p! 104 cm overbust. The pattern calls for 2.4 m of 100 cm wide crepe de chine.

Here it is.

I really like this one because of the elegant shaping and of course the lovely inset. You could use embroidery or roleau. 

I think the pattern might be harder than it looks...I have yet to master the art of the perfect mitered corner.

As always, please share what you make! Hope you enjoy!

XOXO,

Annie Belle

Free 1930 tap-pants pattern!

This pattern is, again, from the 1930 issue of Beyers Modenblatt. They look to be like tap pants–sort of like long underwear. But, like, short. The size on the pattern sheet is listed as 112 cm (hip measurement). 

They're made from 85 cm of 140 cm wide wool knit fabric. Again, because the original instructions are in Fraktur I can barely read them, but the illustration suggests these use some sort of elastic for the waist and legs. Even if the instructions DON'T call for elastic, go for it! It's a free pattern with virtually NO instructions! Do whatever you want!

You could also technically knit these if you figure out your gauge. They would look quite pretty with a simple lace pattern on the legs. 

This pattern is the front and the back, so you'd cut two and then seam 'em up. There's also a gusset.

No seam allowances, hems, etc., as always.

 Get it here. 

Free, printable 1930s apron pattern

Same as the last one. This is an apron for 100 cm (or 39.5") overbust. It requires 1.65m of fabric (the text doesn't specify how wide, but I'd guess 35" or 39" like other fabric from the period) and 40 cm of 80 cm wide...facing.

It's pattern 982. Sure you can read German, but can you read Fraktur?

It's right here.

I'm not really super into aprons, so I'm probably not going to test this one, but it looks like a decent enough stash-buster. 

Let me know what you make!

XOXO,

Annie Belle

free 1930 pajama pattern!

I made another free pattern, this time a little more complicated. It's from an issue of Beyers Modenblatt from 1930 that's been floating around the Internet for a while. (By the way, whoever scanned that, THANK YOU!) There's some lovely trim in the illustration:  I'm picturing it in a light mint green silk with white silk bias trim. But you can do whatever you want. I just want some comfy lounge pajamas...

No instructions (translation=the instructions on the pattern sheet are in Fraktur so I cannot read it), but I mean, they're pajamas so I don't think they're super complicated. The size given is a 96 cm overbust measurement, but since you're tracing the pattern yourself you can do the ol' slash and spread. Also, the measurements on these are very ROOMY.

Last thing:  make your own damn belt!

Oh, I have a "code" for these patterns:  Pink is front, blue is back, and purple is anything on the side (sleeves, side insets). Different shades for different items.

Here it is!

Crochet et tricot 1928 pt. 2

A continuation of my last post. Some men's patterns in this one, including suspenders and a tie. Super fun stuff! I haven't tested any of these patterns, but since most of them are basically rectangles, they should be easy enough to figure out, even if you can't read French.

Crochet et Tricot 1928

From Gallica, again. Don't forget you can download a .PDF of the entire issue. Lots of fun stuff in this post and the next one, including a girdle, a dress, and "combinations".

Socks, double-breasted vests, and lingerie under the jump!

1930s hairstyling magazines from ANNO

ANNO is the AustriaN Newspapers Online project. Not a WHOLE lot of fashion stuff, but what is there is very interesting. Here are a few selections from a couple of hairstyling magazines. There aren't many diagrams for sets, but they're still nice to look at. I can't seem to find permanent links to each title, but you can do a little ⌘+F/CTRL+F action on the magazines list to get where you need to go. You can also download PDFs of each magazine.

As always, I can't speak German, so they could be talking about Kim Kardashian for all I know.

Friseur und Fortschritt (1933-1939)

I couldn't find a whole lot of information on this one. These two images are from the May 1937 issue.

The next three are from the February 1934 issue. 

Friseurkunst und Mode

July 1925 

More under the jump!

Broke my foot.

Which means I will either be blogging a lot (boredom!) or not a lot (nothing to blog about/being awake sucks). We'll see!

Alas, I don't look quite as glamorous as Marilyn.

Some more photos of Marilyn looking lovely despite her injury:

I love this one...I need to make a pair of pants like that!

eBay Highlights: The Mystery of Grand Hotel

eBay listing

I love kitsch. In fact, I would describe this entire blog as a love letter to kitsch. The kitschier the better. I love pin-ups and roadside attractions and cheesy throwbacks to things I didn't get to experience. (I am living proof that youth is wasted on the young.) So when I find something as kitschy as vintage issues of Grand Hotel, I want to know everything about it. Sadly, there doesn't seem to be a lot of information. Which is why I am dedicating this post to The Mystery of Grand Hotel. (Which sounds like a Nancy Drew novel...another kitschy thing I love.)

I first encountered Grand Hotel while looking for vintage fashion magazines on the Italian eBay site. There were magazines like Grazia and...Grazia, but Grand Hotel instantly caught my attention with its insane cover illustrations. (Click for details, obviously. The links are to the eBay listings and go from left to right. All the covers are from the 1950s to 1962.)

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

I've seen a lot of pulp. I used to hang around the vintage perv Tumblrs (you know the ones), but I'd never seen anything like this. First of all, I couldn't figure out what audience the publishers had targeted. Nearly all the men in the illustrations seem vaguely predatory, if not outright terrifying (hello 7). So if the magazine was targeted towards women, were the messages of submissiveness that overt? Was it specific to Italy or the Mediterranean? And if the magazine was directed towards men–whoa, I know about machismo, but the illustrations seem to take it a bit far!

On the other hand, other covers from the same period seem to be pretty pedestrian. Or about as pedestrian as you can get with a donkey-cart.

1, 2, 3, 4

I did a bit of investigation and discovered Grand Hotel was first published in 1946. I'm still not 100% sure if it started off as a fotoromanzi or if it evolved to be one, but the brothers behind it got their start in comics if Google Translate is correct, so pairing illustrations–and later photos–with text probably seemed pretty natural. I don't have any covers from 1946, but there are a few currently on eBay.

By the mid-60s the covers started to be less creepy (though the baby doll in 2 and the cover-within-a-cover on 4 aren't helping):

1, 2, 3, 4

But I wouldn't say it went away entirely (I have to admit my mistake here:  I thought the girl in the middle had just seen like, a dead body, but nope:  she's just reading "Carlo ama la Giovanna". Her adorable sweater-dress reads Luisa, just to drive the point home). I'm mega-creeped out by the images on the left and right:

1, 2, 3

By the 1970s it seems to have evolved into a fotoromanzi-gossip mag, though issues occasionally contained knitting/crochet patterns, horoscopes, and puppies. Do you recognize any celebrities? (Is that John Kerry?)

1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8

These days Grand Hotel is essentially a gossip magazine, which you can subscribe to here.

If you want more information, there's an excellent (and much more informed!) write-up from Niamh Cullen here. Italian Ways also has a small selection of photos featuring moda e motori, and Salon has a general article on fumetti.

What do you think about Grand Hotel? Have you ever read an issue? Do you think social history is an important realm of study, or are comic books and other ephemera best forgotten? 

XOXO,

Annie Belle