Underwear and Other Garments

There were some very nice patterns in a recent donation to the Knitting & Crochet Guild collection, and I thought I would share some of them here.  They date back to the 1950s, or even earlier, and several are very stylish and elegant.  

There was a substantial proportion of underwear patterns, which might have been very practical in cold winters in houses with no central heating, but elegant they are not, as far as I'm concerned.  Here's one:  a Patons & Baldwins pattern from around 1951.  She is a lovely model, but the first thing that springs to mind is that that's a very uncomfortable way to read a book.  The pattern calls the garments "Vest and briefs", though I wouldn't call them brief, and they are knitted in 3-ply wool, so a lot of work to knit.  But as the leaflet says, at that time you could save money by making clothes for yourself and your family, rather than buying ready-made, and that was probably the motivation for a lot of knitters.  

P&B 568 3d

Here's another underwear pattern, also early 1950s, for a brassiere, vest and pantie set.   They look extremely unappealing without a body inside.  The set is supposed to fit a 34-35 inch bust, though the pattern suggests that you could make a larger size by increasing the needle size.  I can't really believe that the brassiere would fit at all well - especially if you think how many different bra sizes a shop like Marks & Spencer stocks, and how difficult it is to find one to fit, even so.  

Jaeger 3162 4d

Enough of underwear - there were some much more attractive patterns in the donation.  Another Jaeger pattern from about the same time is for a blouse, knitted in 2-ply, at a gauge of 32 stitches to 4 inches/10 cm.  There is no waist shaping - like all models at that time, she has a tiny waist, helped I'm sure by ferocious corsetry, and perhaps the blouse was knitted small to fit closely - or conceivably it was pinned at the back for the photo.  I think the cuffed sleeves are a very nice feature.  

Jaeger 3220 6d

The next pattern leaflet was advertised in 1950.  It's a "Double Purpose Jumper" - it's an Evening Blouse or a Sports Blouse (though the sport they have in mind is apparently nothing more strenuous than lounging in a deckchair).  

Lee Target 1059 6d - front

Lee Target 1059 6d - back

I think it would have been better if the leaflet had shown different colourways for the evening and sports versions - you wouldn't want to wear the same bouse for both purposes, and the red and white looks more sporty than evening to me.  The evening blouse could be all black or all white, for instance - the welts are knitted sideways, so instead of stripes of red and white, they could be all one colour. 

Another pattern which is definitely evening wear has a beaded yoke, and it looks very glamourous. 

Sirdar 1407 6d

This is one of a series of designs by Sirdar in 1952 which took inspiration from older pieces - I wrote about some of the others in the series here.  In this case, the beaded yoke is based on a beaded cuff, which I guess is 19th century, though the leaflet does not give any information beyond a photo. 

Beaded cuff in Sirdar 1407 

Another 1950s pattern is a cross-over jacket, from Lister.  

Lister 242 6d

It's a neat design, with the triangle of buttons on the front and the short dolman sleeves. If the body was made straight, instead of shaped to the waist, to make it boxy, it might fit with current fashions? 

There were a few patterns in the donation for other members of the family too. 

Robin 334 6d

Here's a pattern for a little girl's lacy dress and matching panties in stocking stitch, in Robin Perle, which was art. silk (rayon).   It's very pretty, and shows that little girls dressed all in pink, from hair ribbon to shoes, are nothing new.  Early Robin patterns are hard to date, but I think this is probably late 1940s or early 1950s.  

And finally, one for the men.  

Golden Eagle 35 2d

This is from the 1930s, when most knitting patterns for men were sleeveless V-neck pullovers, so this one is unusual - also unusual in that we have very few Golden Eagle patterns from the 1930s in the collection.  (I wrote about Golden Eagle here.)  They are sports shirts, one fastened with a zip and the other with buttons, and worn tucked into high-waisted, very wide trousers (and with the obligatory pipe).  

Copies of all these patterns are available free to members of the Knitting & Crochet Guild.  (And incidentally, there are many other patterns available to KCG members - there are catalogues on the website, currently showing over 3,000 patterns.)   Just email collections@kcguild.org.uk to ask.