Bianca saying that the crop top playsuits and shirtdresses are too "casual" for her because she has two settings: high fashion vintage goth queen, and pajama pants with Star Wars t-shirts :P
I love a long video. Do people actually COMPLAIN? You are my teacher and I want my lessons! You take the time to explain details, details take time. You're willingness to explain things makes me think you're not beholden to sponsors. Lends ever more credibility to your true love of teaching/creating. Dig the catalog analysis 👌
I hope the algorithms don't penalize you for those of us who watch the video in chunks. I really do like the longer format, rather than having it broken into chunks for me. This way I feel free to stop the video where it's convenient and come back to it when it's convenient rather than holding out for 10 more minutes, or going looking for another video because I have a few minutes longer. I would be happy to watch more videos like these if you feel like making them. It's pleasant to hang out with my internet friend who is magically available at a moments notice, and my cat, and geek about vintage fashion and old catalogues.
Corsetry of the 1940s totally explains my grandmother being able to tell me she wore her regular clothes through her pregnancies. And she was teeny; you'd think she looked like a just fed snake...
I love this. I had no clue the 80s were so 40s. I was in my early 20s in the 1980s. Oh my goodness, I was so young, newly married, and trying to be so grown up. Lol I remember wearing dresses like that. And those pink dresses on the second page just said 1980s church ladies to me. Wow. I'm feeling old now.
Oh I'd love more videos like this, I don't mind the length! 💜 Also, I go "yes please!" everytime you ask if we want to see how to make/draft something (especially blouses and slips 😁) 💕🪡
This brings back so many memories ... I was a little girl in the 1960s, pouring through the family Sears catalogs ... you could get anything and everything through mail order. Imagine Amazon on paper. By the way, those girdles were on their way out in the 1960s. I never owned one, and my mom only wore them when she got dressed up, which was rare. I'm sure older women, who grew up corseted, kept wearing them - and if anyone wore them, Sears and Wards put them in the catalog!
It is harder to find the Sears catalogs from the 40's and 50's for sure, but at least they have done a few books over the years compiling some of the images. Clearly someone at the company knows they've got a huge resource in their archives!
@@TheClosetHistorian There were a lot of things that stayed in the catalog I marveled at. The armor undergarments. 🙄 Should require a prescription to have to wear those things for a decade later. Although now that I think of it were architecturally interesting to figure out what the heck was the purpose of all that. 😆
Just wanna note that that shade of blond hair is very close to the shade you end up with if you are dark/light brunette or "dirty blonde" or "mousey" blonde and then dump a bunch of bleach on your head with no color. I learned about this when a group of teenage boys next door tried to dye their hair white to be like Dante from DMC and they didn't use a kit. One of these lads may or may not have been related to me and wore the yellow of shame until he could find a buzzer. Anyway, we visited my grandmother later and she wistfully commented; "Oh that's the color I use to wear". This same grandmother then died her hair black in the 1950s/1960s as it became the "hip" color to have (can you tell this lady was a trend chaser or what? Even went full platinum in the 1970s).
I got a black jersey Spiegel dress in the late-1980s and wore it for almost 15 years when it was starting to fall apart. If I'd had any sense I'd have used it for a pattern and made several copies.
Thanks Debra! I just tried investing in 1940's Spiegel catalog for the first time actually, but unfortunately the ratio of fashion pages to other pages was not the same as Wards or Aldens, so I wont be paying a pretty penny for one again oops! Catalogs for my collection have to either have a good chunk of fashion pages or be really cheap 😅 I'm sure by the 1980's the fashion pages were a bigger deal and the spark plugs and such were...not ha
I was at minute 15 of the video when i had to stop and comment. Yes-please do those look through vintage magazines/ catalogues and Yes-please make a pattern drafting video!
I LOVE this style of flip through with commentary! “Let me show you our yacht.” 😂😂😂 Hilariously educational! Thank you I would absolutely be on board for more of this! 😉❤️❤️❤️
Shirtdresses are probably one of the only vintage styled garments I actually wear, that and some knitwear and wool skirts. Everything else feels a bit too formal. Bonus points, shirt dresses work perfectly fine without the correct foundation garments and there is no way in hell I'm wearing the foundation garments, considering I can't even stand to wear a real bra for more than 15 minutes
@@infamoussphere7228 yeah I'm not wearing a girdle or a pointy bra either Heck to the no. I will wear a cotton ruffled slip for some 50's floof though..
Yes, please do more of this... It has been a wonderful time filled with very distant memories of my childhood, although I was born in '55, so much of the styles were all through our house and closets. I remember my Mom talking about the day when Wards announced it was discontinuing their book with great sadness. It seemed the world had changed and they were unsure how it could proceed without it :):)
My dad was born in '57 and I occasionally do think of how odd it is how many of my vintage accessories are from long before he was born 😅 I have one costume jewelry brooch from his mother that is from the 1950s/1960's and I treasure it extra, especially since she gave to to me herself a few years before she past away when I was first getting into vintage ❤ Sometimes I find writing in the margins of these catalogs or just item numbers circled and I can imagine the woman ordering things when the catalog was new
I love a beautiful slip and wore them my entire working career! Not only are the necessary under sheer garments but also helped with reducing static electricity and they keep your dress or skirt from bunching up in the crotch area when walking! Such a useful item.
I love everything about this so much! I'm overwhelmed, what a feast for the eyes. It fed the part of my soul that misses fashion and chatting over wine with friends.Thank you so much, I do hope you continue to do these.
I am so much in love with this. This conversation going through this catalogue while enjoying an espresso and a Sicilian cannoli would be me in fashion heaven.
I love that stores like Montgomery Ward, JC Penney, and Sears used to sell EVERYTHING! Thanks for sharing your vintage catalogs! Absolutely would love to see you make some of these.
Loved this, it took me back to the early 70’s with the Eatons catalogue, first to the teen section, and then page by page through inch and a half thick catalogue. I loved this look back in time!
This was really fun to flip through! I had never heard of Montgomery Wards before. It feels very similar to the Sear catalogs, how you could buy houses and such from a magazine, nuts...
Apparently they were mostly a midwest thing I guess? They were quite a gigantic company that operated for nearly 150 years and had hundreds of stores once in addition to their catalogs, but they closed for good in 2001. Very much like Sears indeed!
I'd love to visit a department store as they used to be, they absolutely fascinate me. When I was in Thailand for uni I had the unique and very bizarre experience of visiting Nightingales. "An old-fashioned department store" was how it was described to me, and I imagined just like..a historic building, maybe selling some more traditional stuff. But no. It was basically an old-fashioned department store that had been shut up and still had the old products in it, and the owner opened it up for us. Extremely weird. Stuff from the 60s just on the shelves for sale, along with stuff from the 80s and 90s, like deadstock. Had a very prypiat vibe. I bought a box with two pairs of stockings in it from the 50s or 60s. I haven't worn them - they'd need garters in any case, but I really wanted to have something physical to document what a bizarre experience that was
Indeed...MW was a great store that seemed to carry items you couldn't find anywhere else. They were well known for their Kenmore sewing machines, a very well made popular machine that set the standard at the time they came out (besides Singers, of course). My 1st machine was a Kenmore...🧡
OMG - I can't believe you have the Montgomery Wards catalogs! I grew up in SF and my mother (once I moved to the NY area) gave me her old Montgomery Wards sewing machine - a true work horse! I have it in storage now BUT I should get it out and find someone to service it because it's been the best machine I have ever worked with. Talk about a blast-from-the-past. So happy TH-cam's algorithm sent me your way!
Thank you, Prof. Esposito. Loved this and I learned so very much. Also, very glad you’ve mentioned the lack of diversity, illustrating that racism permeated through all aspects of society - even in catalogs. It’s definitely time for more honest self-reflection, which some people are apparently still not ready to confront. I appreciate this, so thank you.
It wasn't only about race. It was also about the "ideal" woman. Blonde hair, blue eyes, thin, and with an hourglass figure. There wasn't any diversity at all. Either you looked like that, or you weren't pretty. I wasn't, but then, no one else was either...except my older sister! (I loved her, but I was jealous of her face and figure.) It really was in the 1970's that things started to change. I remember seeing black models at that time, but still no latina or asian models. I do love the fact that all races and colors and shapes are beautiful now!
Hi Bianca!! Wonderful to reminisce through those books.. I remember my grandma having them around & I sit there for an eternity looking through the pages.. Thanks for the fond memories.. Deeply appreciated.... 💜💜💜🧵🧵🧵
I would enjoy seeing more catalogs and any dresses you might wish to make from said catalogs. I’m in my forties so Montgomery Ward, Sears, and JC Penny catalogs were still very much a thing growing up.
This was such fun. My mum has old photo albums that are decorated with those flowers and I never knew where they came from!..I'm from South Africa so wow globalization.
I think they had other special catalog editions that were all seeds too, so even more flower pages to cut apart for crafting! I am always surprised when those pages haven't been torn out ha
The 3 ladies in the blush pink dresses (that come across looking white to my old eyes) look like the standard uniform, especially with the white pumps, back when I became a nurse. I realize I am dating myself like a Neanderthal, but I am having flashbacks to white dresses and support hose.
This was quite interesting, not only the analysis in itself, but as a demonstration on how to "read" an historical document. Quite an educational video, and will be recommended to students :)
Loved this. Sewing a dress from a 1940s pattern while watching/listening to this video and it was fun to have your “company”!Thank you so much for sharing this material, it’s such a great resource!
This video was delightful. A relaxing yet interesting walk through a small piece of history. I loved your commentary, I could listen to another 20 of these videos if it weren't trouble for you to make them! Thank you for taking the time.
I watched this while having tea this morning. It was so soothing and informative. I remember when I use to spend hours looking through the big jc penny catalogs when I was a kid, imagining how cool it would be to order all the different things when I got older. What a wonderful way to start the day. Thank you!
Thank you Monti! My strongest JCPenny catalog memory is waiting around their photography studio as a little kid for whatever reason. I feel like I must have had to sit and be calm with the catalogs while my mom got photos of my little brother taken or something!
Thank you for discussing the catalog entries in such detail. I don't think I knew about the options to buy items in different fabric types/qualities before. I gave up on trying to use catalogs a few years ago because scans were low quality unless you paid for the high quality PDF, and they were too expensive to buy (shipping to Australia strikes again!). So I really appreciate the work you do sharing these resources and providing so much additional info and context.
I enjoyed this video so much! Your explanations on the details taught me how to look at clothes beyond the superficial first glance. Yes, more of these videos in the future! I'd love it if you made the dress with wings! Even if it is just to understand the rationale of such design.
I very much enjoy watching the catalog videos - so much ASMR but also relaxing while working! More please! :) Also, depending on size, Fullbeauty still sells slips in various sizes - even full length.
Oh gosh, the shade at 23:00. “The men around you definitely wouldn’t notice”. So true tho :’) Love this style of video! Would be amazing to see a drafting video on the third dress on the inside cover! It’s utterly gorgeous. Also so interesting to see the fashion differences just between the US and UK, where rationing was still taking place into the 50s!
I'm s history fanatic. Thank you for preserving a part of it! I love watching these and learning. I have a similar silhouette as you. Really needing these flattering hints. Like the sleeve cut at angle being better than straight across. I didn't think of that 🤔.
A tutorial for the fancy lace slips would be amazing! You are right, they are impossible to find! If you could please review the proper fabric & where to get it, that would be amazing. :)
Yes, definitely will watch more of this style of video. I had a plain shawl to finish weaving and instead of falling asleep at the loom, you made the time fly by. Oh, and corsetry never died, it just continued to evolve.
I loved this style of video! It’s so fascinating to see primary resources like these-I didn’t even know there were any of these catalogs still out there! And I LOVED the way you took the time to call out specific style points and break down what made the specific dresses etc special. I’m still learning about fashion/sewing/vintage style, so going beyond “Oh wow that dress is gorgeous” and breaking down the hows and whys is really helpful! I also appreciated the reminder of the document being of its time and your deliberate mention of the lack of diversity.
I know this video is long but I loved it, it was so interesting to go through the catalogue and you explained/ provided your opinion on the styles. You're one of the few YT channels I can listen to forever!
I'd love to see more videos like this! Watching videos of creative people being creative while I'm pattern making/sewing/designing is great because it really keeps my creative momentum going. Your joy in this magazine is infectious!
Love love and love! Love! Want to see every catalog, every picture and hearing you talk about them is amazing and so helpful! TY TY esp for scanning them and not putting them behind a paywall ... you're the best!
Like, like, like :D I think it's very interesting browsing through this catalogues. I am also interested in every drafting you make :) Love your videos.
Thank you for sharing this! I find the US catalogues from this time just post-war really interesting. There was so much more choice (in fabric especially) available than in Britain and the Commonwealth where rations were still in effect. Off to finish the video!
Yes yes yes yes yes!! I needed this today... am recovering from a ruptured ovarian cyst (TMI?), and needed something wholesome and informative to keep me occupied while I snuggle with my cat, wheat-bag and cuppa. Thank you 😊
@@emmypatten9326 thanks! It’s bad, but I have a diagnosis of either endometriosis or Adenomyosis along with it, so I couldn’t tell you which symptoms go with which one. Hope you’re better today!
Thoroughly enjoyed this! I do love a bit of Social History though. I inherited a cookery/home management book from my Nanna from about this period, I love looking through it for the different things that "normal" women - it was always women - already knew, or wanted to find out.
I loved this and would be very happy to see more catalogue walk-throughs! And it would be quite wonderful to see you recreate any dress from this catalogue. I learned so much from hearing you talk about and analyse different styles. Thank you for sharing! Now I’m off to find the 1940s catalogues you’ve shared on Pinterest. 😎
Definitely make more. I kept wanting to comment every now and then. This might make a good topic for a live video, though I know that a whole other amount of work!
More of these videos please! I agree with all the ideas for drafting. The epic shoulder with drapey sleeve (3 blue dresses page) i would love to hear you teach.
Iwow! I had no idea how gorgeous late 1940s fashion was! I associated many of these feminine shapes with the 1950s. So flattering for those of us blessed (cursed?) with an hourglass figure 😊 Fabulous! Thanks for sharing.
I love this!! Yes, do more! I am curious about petticoats that were actually worn and I have a hard time finding that information. Made my first one in white eyelet cotton, but I plan to make more.
Ps while at an antique store I found some vintage repro patterns I though you might be able to draft from ,not my style but yours, and they look uncut. I can send them to you if you are interested 😊
Yes please! More Catalog flip through videos 😍 I just followed you on Pinterest too. I’m a huge fan of your channel and your Blue Patterning Table of Doom🤣
This was so awesome! Please do more - your commentary is really useful (those random tidbits about the items provides us with a lot of info that we - I certainly - don't have the prior knowledge to glean from the pages ourselves).
OOOOHHH I would like to see you draft the 3rd option of the v neck with the double tiered front draped dress (shown with aqua background black with white print) looks almost like daisies or floral with vines going through with the dark scarf like tie off design. What a treat to see these styles. thank you thank you!
That is probably the first time I have ever sat through a 1.5hr video from beginning to end without moving! The dresses and suits were awesome enough but I swooned, actually swooned, when you turned to the hats pages. I am very much a hats girl. Yes yes yes, please do more of these :-)
Only 13 minutes in and really loving this video. I may have to watch it in smaller bites over a few days, but I'm totally here for ogling vintage catalogs with you. I especially appreciate the details you're pointing out, because it helps me learn what to look for when drawing inspiration for my own vintage influenced designs.
What a great idea for a video! I would definitely enjoy another romp through the catalogues, there's so much to look at and you give such wonderful insight on the cuts and shapes of everything. It's nice to see a focus on the details, I really like that and also how observant you are. The gal with the pants and the diagonally striped short sleeve top looked really nice in her outfit and I had to laugh out loud at a few of the other items. And fabric with flying books? I could go for that. I also found myself imagining captions for each of the models on the page, sort of like a comic. I could so get carried away with imitating what the models are thinking. Thank you Bianca!
Thank you Penny! I need to recreate that flying book fabric! What better for making a dress to wear to book signings and publishing meeting in my future right? Dream big, dress for the job you want and all that....
Bianca saying that the crop top playsuits and shirtdresses are too "casual" for her because she has two settings: high fashion vintage goth queen, and pajama pants with Star Wars t-shirts :P
this exactly indeed 😂
I love a long video. Do people actually COMPLAIN? You are my teacher and I want my lessons! You take the time to explain details, details take time. You're willingness to explain things makes me think you're not beholden to sponsors. Lends ever more credibility to your true love of teaching/creating.
Dig the catalog analysis 👌
Thank you Susan! No sponsors here just wonderful Patrons ❤
Wonderful. Yes. Agree.
Can we potentially get a series of you creating your favourite dresses from this or one of your other catalogs?
I second this
I third this.💟
Great idea
I hope the algorithms don't penalize you for those of us who watch the video in chunks. I really do like the longer format, rather than having it broken into chunks for me. This way I feel free to stop the video where it's convenient and come back to it when it's convenient rather than holding out for 10 more minutes, or going looking for another video because I have a few minutes longer.
I would be happy to watch more videos like these if you feel like making them. It's pleasant to hang out with my internet friend who is magically available at a moments notice, and my cat, and geek about vintage fashion and old catalogues.
Thank you Lynn! I'm not sure how the algorithm counts views that get paused, but if anything it may actually count it as 2 views which would be nice 😂
I could sit through another one of these immediately.
Corsetry of the 1940s totally explains my grandmother being able to tell me she wore her regular clothes through her pregnancies. And she was teeny; you'd think she looked like a just fed snake...
Just fed snake 🐍 is certainly a description 😂 but also an accurate one I feel 😅
I love this. I had no clue the 80s were so 40s. I was in my early 20s in the 1980s. Oh my goodness, I was so young, newly married, and trying to be so grown up. Lol I remember wearing dresses like that. And those pink dresses on the second page just said 1980s church ladies to me. Wow. I'm feeling old now.
I was thinking similar, Sunday Best dresses!
The 1980's borrowed a lot of styles from the past! There is a ton of 80's does 50's too that I always "see" when looking in my real 1950's catalogs 😅
I’d love it if you went through a 1950s catalog next so we can see the evolution of the styles that were happening in 1948 👍
This is certainly something we can do!!
Oh I'd love more videos like this, I don't mind the length! 💜
Also, I go "yes please!" everytime you ask if we want to see how to make/draft something (especially blouses and slips 😁) 💕🪡
Slips, yes, directions for various vintage/old style slips wanted. The old slips are my favorites to wear under any and all my dresses!
"I do love a gay cotton." That phrase made me laugh, it came out of no where.
All the gay references made me bust out laughing
This brings back so many memories ... I was a little girl in the 1960s, pouring through the family Sears catalogs ... you could get anything and everything through mail order. Imagine Amazon on paper.
By the way, those girdles were on their way out in the 1960s. I never owned one, and my mom only wore them when she got dressed up, which was rare. I'm sure older women, who grew up corseted, kept wearing them - and if anyone wore them, Sears and Wards put them in the catalog!
It is harder to find the Sears catalogs from the 40's and 50's for sure, but at least they have done a few books over the years compiling some of the images. Clearly someone at the company knows they've got a huge resource in their archives!
@@TheClosetHistorian There were a lot of things that stayed in the catalog I marveled at. The armor undergarments. 🙄 Should require a prescription to have to wear those things for a decade later. Although now that I think of it were architecturally interesting to figure out what the heck was the purpose of all that. 😆
Just wanna note that that shade of blond hair is very close to the shade you end up with if you are dark/light brunette or "dirty blonde" or "mousey" blonde and then dump a bunch of bleach on your head with no color. I learned about this when a group of teenage boys next door tried to dye their hair white to be like Dante from DMC and they didn't use a kit. One of these lads may or may not have been related to me and wore the yellow of shame until he could find a buzzer. Anyway, we visited my grandmother later and she wistfully commented; "Oh that's the color I use to wear". This same grandmother then died her hair black in the 1950s/1960s as it became the "hip" color to have (can you tell this lady was a trend chaser or what? Even went full platinum in the 1970s).
Your grandmother sounds amazing
Hi, Bianca! Just fascinating. I remember spending hours devouring Spiegel catalogs in the early '80s.
I got a black jersey Spiegel dress in the late-1980s and wore it for almost 15 years when it was starting to fall apart. If I'd had any sense I'd have used it for a pattern and made several copies.
@@lilibetp I know! They had the best '80s clothes! 🤗
Thanks Debra! I just tried investing in 1940's Spiegel catalog for the first time actually, but unfortunately the ratio of fashion pages to other pages was not the same as Wards or Aldens, so I wont be paying a pretty penny for one again oops! Catalogs for my collection have to either have a good chunk of fashion pages or be really cheap 😅 I'm sure by the 1980's the fashion pages were a bigger deal and the spark plugs and such were...not ha
I was at minute 15 of the video when i had to stop and comment. Yes-please do those look through vintage magazines/ catalogues and Yes-please make a pattern drafting video!
Hooray! Will do more then 🥰
There she is 😂 scared me yesterday when I didn’t get a notification
I LOVE this style of flip through with commentary! “Let me show you our yacht.” 😂😂😂 Hilariously educational! Thank you I would absolutely be on board for more of this! 😉❤️❤️❤️
Thank you Elinor!
In defence of shirt dresses, they are incredibly comfortable to lounge around the house in
I love mine I just made. I'm discovering house dresses
Shirtdresses are probably one of the only vintage styled garments I actually wear, that and some knitwear and wool skirts. Everything else feels a bit too formal. Bonus points, shirt dresses work perfectly fine without the correct foundation garments and there is no way in hell I'm wearing the foundation garments, considering I can't even stand to wear a real bra for more than 15 minutes
I really should have made a pattern of my favorite shirtdress. Always comfortable and I didn't have to look in a mirror before I answered the door!
@@infamoussphere7228 yeah I'm not wearing a girdle or a pointy bra either Heck to the no. I will wear a cotton ruffled slip for some 50's floof though..
@@maryblaylock6545 I'll have to do that to my favourite dresses, thanks for the reminder!!
Yes, please do more of this... It has been a wonderful time filled with very distant memories of my childhood, although I was born in '55, so much of the styles were all through our house and closets. I remember my Mom talking about the day when Wards announced it was discontinuing their book with great sadness. It seemed the world had changed and they were unsure how it could proceed without it :):)
My dad was born in '57 and I occasionally do think of how odd it is how many of my vintage accessories are from long before he was born 😅 I have one costume jewelry brooch from his mother that is from the 1950s/1960's and I treasure it extra, especially since she gave to to me herself a few years before she past away when I was first getting into vintage ❤ Sometimes I find writing in the margins of these catalogs or just item numbers circled and I can imagine the woman ordering things when the catalog was new
I love a beautiful slip and wore them my entire working career! Not only are the necessary under sheer garments but also helped with reducing static electricity and they keep your dress or skirt from bunching up in the crotch area when walking! Such a useful item.
I love everything about this so much! I'm overwhelmed, what a feast for the eyes. It fed the part of my soul that misses fashion and chatting over wine with friends.Thank you so much, I do hope you continue to do these.
Thank you Monique! 🍷 cheers!
This was so educational and fun! More, more!!
Thanks Steven! We can do more indeed!
I love reading the descriptions in these old catalogs (I have many from the 1920s-1950s). A hat is not just a "hat," after all!
I am so much in love with this. This conversation going through this catalogue while enjoying an espresso and a Sicilian cannoli would be me in fashion heaven.
Anytime there is a cannoli I am a very happy gal 😍
I love that stores like Montgomery Ward, JC Penney, and Sears used to sell EVERYTHING! Thanks for sharing your vintage catalogs! Absolutely would love to see you make some of these.
I’ve been binging your content for a few days now and I’m so excited for this new video!
Me too!
Thank you!
Half sizes! We need these! I can remember my grandmother buying patterns in that size category. Now-it me!😎
Loved this, it took me back to the early 70’s with the Eatons catalogue, first to the teen section, and then page by page through inch and a half thick catalogue. I loved this look back in time!
This was really fun to flip through! I had never heard of Montgomery Wards before. It feels very similar to the Sear catalogs, how you could buy houses and such from a magazine, nuts...
Apparently they were mostly a midwest thing I guess? They were quite a gigantic company that operated for nearly 150 years and had hundreds of stores once in addition to their catalogs, but they closed for good in 2001. Very much like Sears indeed!
I'd love to visit a department store as they used to be, they absolutely fascinate me. When I was in Thailand for uni I had the unique and very bizarre experience of visiting Nightingales. "An old-fashioned department store" was how it was described to me, and I imagined just like..a historic building, maybe selling some more traditional stuff. But no. It was basically an old-fashioned department store that had been shut up and still had the old products in it, and the owner opened it up for us. Extremely weird. Stuff from the 60s just on the shelves for sale, along with stuff from the 80s and 90s, like deadstock. Had a very prypiat vibe. I bought a box with two pairs of stockings in it from the 50s or 60s. I haven't worn them - they'd need garters in any case, but I really wanted to have something physical to document what a bizarre experience that was
Indeed...MW was a great store that seemed to carry items you couldn't find anywhere else. They were well known for their Kenmore sewing machines, a very well made popular machine that set the standard at the time they came out (besides Singers, of course). My 1st machine was a Kenmore...🧡
OMG - I can't believe you have the Montgomery Wards catalogs! I grew up in SF and my mother (once I moved to the NY area) gave me her old Montgomery Wards sewing machine - a true work horse! I have it in storage now BUT I should get it out and find someone to service it because it's been the best machine I have ever worked with. Talk about a blast-from-the-past. So happy TH-cam's algorithm sent me your way!
Thank you, Prof. Esposito. Loved this and I learned so very much. Also, very glad you’ve mentioned the lack of diversity, illustrating that racism permeated through all aspects of society - even in catalogs. It’s definitely time for more honest self-reflection, which some people are apparently still not ready to confront. I appreciate this, so thank you.
It wasn't only about race. It was also about the "ideal" woman. Blonde hair, blue eyes, thin, and with an hourglass figure. There wasn't any diversity at all. Either you looked like that, or you weren't pretty. I wasn't, but then, no one else was either...except my older sister! (I loved her, but I was jealous of her face and figure.) It really was in the 1970's that things started to change. I remember seeing black models at that time, but still no latina or asian models. I do love the fact that all races and colors and shapes are beautiful now!
Hi Bianca!! Wonderful to reminisce through those books.. I remember my grandma having them around & I sit there for an eternity looking through the pages.. Thanks for the fond memories.. Deeply appreciated....
💜💜💜🧵🧵🧵
Yes I enjoy you narrating a catalog. Yes I would love to see you draft a dress from one of those catalogs. Thanks!
I was going to get some extra sleep but now I'm totally nerding out. And enjoying it. Please do this again sometime!
Thank you Allison! I do belive I will be doing soem more soon!
I could watch a million of these all day. Please I MUST see all your catalogs with your lovely narration
I would enjoy seeing more catalogs and any dresses you might wish to make from said catalogs. I’m in my forties so Montgomery Ward, Sears, and JC Penny catalogs were still very much a thing growing up.
I would love to see you draft and sew that dress you focused on, on page 63. The dark floral second in from the right. Love it!!! 😍😍😍
This was such fun. My mum has old photo albums that are decorated with those flowers and I never knew where they came from!..I'm from South Africa so wow globalization.
I think they had other special catalog editions that were all seeds too, so even more flower pages to cut apart for crafting! I am always surprised when those pages haven't been torn out ha
The 3 ladies in the blush pink dresses (that come across looking white to my old eyes) look like the standard uniform, especially with the white pumps, back when I became a nurse. I realize I am dating myself like a Neanderthal, but I am having flashbacks to white dresses and support hose.
This was quite interesting, not only the analysis in itself, but as a demonstration on how to "read" an historical document. Quite an educational video, and will be recommended to students :)
Thank you Maellen!
I looooved this and would definitely watch hours of you going through catalogs just talking about what's in them. So much inspiration and detail!
Thank you Josie!
I really enjoyed this! Whilst reviewing catalogues on my own I do not notice such details, so the commentary is truly golden, thanks for sharing!
Thank you!
Loved this. Sewing a dress from a 1940s pattern while watching/listening to this video and it was fun to have your “company”!Thank you so much for sharing this material, it’s such a great resource!
Thanks Helena! Hope the dress went/is going well!
Best day ever!! Loved this video. I love looking at authentic vintage clothing. So much fun. I also enjoy your commentary.
Thank you Janet!
This video was delightful. A relaxing yet interesting walk through a small piece of history. I loved your commentary, I could listen to another 20 of these videos if it weren't trouble for you to make them! Thank you for taking the time.
I watched this while having tea this morning. It was so soothing and informative. I remember when I use to spend hours looking through the big jc penny catalogs when I was a kid, imagining how cool it would be to order all the different things when I got older. What a wonderful way to start the day. Thank you!
Thank you Monti! My strongest JCPenny catalog memory is waiting around their photography studio as a little kid for whatever reason. I feel like I must have had to sit and be calm with the catalogs while my mom got photos of my little brother taken or something!
I love the idea you showing us how to recreate something out of that catalog!
Thank you for discussing the catalog entries in such detail. I don't think I knew about the options to buy items in different fabric types/qualities before. I gave up on trying to use catalogs a few years ago because scans were low quality unless you paid for the high quality PDF, and they were too expensive to buy (shipping to Australia strikes again!). So I really appreciate the work you do sharing these resources and providing so much additional info and context.
I enjoyed this video so much! Your explanations on the details taught me how to look at clothes beyond the superficial first glance. Yes, more of these videos in the future! I'd love it if you made the dress with wings! Even if it is just to understand the rationale of such design.
Thank you Susie! I do love to study clothes indeed 😅
I'd love to see you draft the blue wrap (faux-wrap?) dress about 16 minutes in.
I very much enjoy watching the catalog videos - so much ASMR but also relaxing while working! More please! :) Also, depending on size, Fullbeauty still sells slips in various sizes - even full length.
Thank you! I'll have to check out those slips!!
You have no idea how much I needed this flip through today! Thank you so much for taking time to create this 🖤
This is awesome - would love to see more of these kinds of videos please...
I love this content. Seeing the old catalogs, absorbing all your knowledge. Taking some time for the in-depth discussion. This is great!
Thank you Casey!
Oh gosh, the shade at 23:00. “The men around you definitely wouldn’t notice”. So true tho :’)
Love this style of video! Would be amazing to see a drafting video on the third dress on the inside cover! It’s utterly gorgeous.
Also so interesting to see the fashion differences just between the US and UK, where rationing was still taking place into the 50s!
I mean I got short bangs and neither my dad nor my brother noticed so...😂
@@TheClosetHistorian Big relate, dyed my hair bright red and took a month for my dad to notice haha
I really enjoy these! It's so cool to see the primary sources.
Thank you for generously sharing your catalogs on Pinterest and youTube! How I loved to look at catalogs when I was a girl (60s, 70s).
I'm s history fanatic. Thank you for preserving a part of it! I love watching these and learning. I have a similar silhouette as you. Really needing these flattering hints. Like the sleeve cut at angle being better than straight across. I didn't think of that 🤔.
I love going through old catalogs, this type of video is lots of fun and informative.
A tutorial for the fancy lace slips would be amazing! You are right, they are impossible to find! If you could please review the proper fabric & where to get it, that would be amazing. :)
I’m so glad I found your videos. I finally understand how to read a pattern. ❤️
LOVED getting a tour of this catalog. 😍
Yes, definitely will watch more of this style of video. I had a plain shawl to finish weaving and instead of falling asleep at the loom, you made the time fly by. Oh, and corsetry never died, it just continued to evolve.
I loved this style of video! It’s so fascinating to see primary resources like these-I didn’t even know there were any of these catalogs still out there! And I LOVED the way you took the time to call out specific style points and break down what made the specific dresses etc special. I’m still learning about fashion/sewing/vintage style, so going beyond “Oh wow that dress is gorgeous” and breaking down the hows and whys is really helpful! I also appreciated the reminder of the document being of its time and your deliberate mention of the lack of diversity.
Thanks Heidi! I'll try and show another catalog soon, perhaps a 50's one next time!
I know this video is long but I loved it, it was so interesting to go through the catalogue and you explained/ provided your opinion on the styles. You're one of the few YT channels I can listen to forever!
Thank you Roxanne!
I'd love to see more videos like this! Watching videos of creative people being creative while I'm pattern making/sewing/designing is great because it really keeps my creative momentum going. Your joy in this magazine is infectious!
Thank you Kathryn!
I could listen to you all day as I love both your accent and humour. A sew along on some of these dresses would be great. The more the merrier.
Thank you Susan!
Love love and love! Love! Want to see every catalog, every picture and hearing you talk about them is amazing and so helpful! TY TY esp for scanning them and not putting them behind a paywall ... you're the best!
Thank you! I'm glad you liked it, I shall make more!
Loved this! So much fun looking through the old catalog.
Thank you Janice!
Like, like, like :D I think it's very interesting browsing through this catalogues. I am also interested in every drafting you make :) Love your videos.
Thank you Zevi!
I love listening to people nerd out on historical fashion so keep these coming. It’ll be cool for you to pair a video like this with a sew along too!
Thank you for sharing this! I find the US catalogues from this time just post-war really interesting. There was so much more choice (in fabric especially) available than in Britain and the Commonwealth where rations were still in effect. Off to finish the video!
Yes yes yes yes yes!! I needed this today... am recovering from a ruptured ovarian cyst (TMI?), and needed something wholesome and informative to keep me occupied while I snuggle with my cat, wheat-bag and cuppa. Thank you 😊
Oh no! Feel better! (I have PCOS, I’m so sorry you’re in pain.)
@@Lauren_P_ you’re very sweet, thank you! And gosh I feel for you... PCOS must be hell!
@@emmypatten9326 thanks! It’s bad, but I have a diagnosis of either endometriosis or Adenomyosis along with it, so I couldn’t tell you which symptoms go with which one.
Hope you’re better today!
I hope you feel better soon, Emmy! I used to get those.
Thanks Emmy! I hope you are feeling better! Cat snuggles are always helpful indeed ❤
I love love the catalogue study. Would love to see more. Thank you for sharing.
Thank you Adele!
Those long boxy coats feel so early X-Files, I love it!
Love this catalogue tutorial. Thanks for sharing. I will go to to Pinterest to see more. ❤️Lynne
Thank you Lynne!
Thoroughly enjoyed this! I do love a bit of Social History though. I inherited a cookery/home management book from my Nanna from about this period, I love looking through it for the different things that "normal" women - it was always women - already knew, or wanted to find out.
this is the perfect video to watch while sewing, it inspires me to keep going!
I love videos like this! A good deep-dive, some primary source material... and a dress-by-dress critique. Amazing!
Thank you!
I loved this and would be very happy to see more catalogue walk-throughs! And it would be quite wonderful to see you recreate any dress from this catalogue. I learned so much from hearing you talk about and analyse different styles. Thank you for sharing! Now I’m off to find the 1940s catalogues you’ve shared on Pinterest. 😎
Thank you Kate!
Thank you so much for this video! You're one of my sewing inspirations and it's cool to see your sources!
Thank you! It's vintage catalogs and Pinterest for the most part 😅
This was a great video. I enjoy looking at clothing from different eras. I love the dress with the side darts!
Thank you Dawn!
Definitely make more. I kept wanting to comment every now and then. This might make a good topic for a live video, though I know that a whole other amount of work!
More of these videos please! I agree with all the ideas for drafting. The epic shoulder with drapey sleeve (3 blue dresses page) i would love to hear you teach.
Would definitely watch you do this with more of your catalogs ☺️
So great that you make the catalogues available to everyone I always knew you were special, thank you so much for sharing.
I love this! I don’t know how watching someone go through a catalogue can be so fascinating! 😂 I’m new to your channel and loving it!
Thank you Shannon!
Iwow! I had no idea how gorgeous late 1940s fashion was! I associated many of these feminine shapes with the 1950s. So flattering for those of us blessed (cursed?) with an hourglass figure 😊 Fabulous! Thanks for sharing.
Love this! I have about 7 or 8 vintage catalogs. I’ve gotten all mine locally. They are fantastic and it definitely hurts to know you can’t order!
I have never seen one in the wild, I would be so excited! The not being able to order issue is a major problem!
I love this!! Yes, do more! I am curious about petticoats that were actually worn and I have a hard time finding that information. Made my first one in white eyelet cotton, but I plan to make more.
I have a quilt with all these prints 😍. Crazy! I would LOVE another magazine and more draping vids too!
Ps while at an antique store I found some vintage repro patterns I though you might be able to draft from ,not my style but yours, and they look uncut. I can send them to you if you are interested 😊
I would love to see more of these. I enjoyed it immensely and learned a lot!
Yes please! More Catalog flip through videos 😍 I just followed you on Pinterest too. I’m a huge fan of your channel and your Blue Patterning Table of Doom🤣
Thank you Karin!
This was so awesome! Please do more - your commentary is really useful (those random tidbits about the items provides us with a lot of info that we - I certainly - don't have the prior knowledge to glean from the pages ourselves).
Thank you Erica! I will make more! 😊
OOOOHHH I would like to see you draft the 3rd option of the v neck with the double tiered front draped dress (shown with aqua background black with white print) looks almost like daisies or floral with vines going through with the dark scarf like tie off design. What a treat to see these styles. thank you thank you!
This was all eye candy😍! I'll take 4 dresses, 2 pairs of shoes, a purse, and 4 chickens please!!! 😍😍😍🐔🐓🐥🐣
That is probably the first time I have ever sat through a 1.5hr video from beginning to end without moving! The dresses and suits were awesome enough but I swooned, actually swooned, when you turned to the hats pages. I am very much a hats girl. Yes yes yes, please do more of these :-)
The hat pages are simply painful since we can't order really 😭
Thanks for showing this catalog. I have photos of my mom and aunt wearing clothes like these. Thanks so much.
Only 13 minutes in and really loving this video. I may have to watch it in smaller bites over a few days, but I'm totally here for ogling vintage catalogs with you. I especially appreciate the details you're pointing out, because it helps me learn what to look for when drawing inspiration for my own vintage influenced designs.
Thank you Christy!
Thank you for adding all those resources on Pinterest. I appreciate all the time you put into that!
What a great idea for a video! I would definitely enjoy another romp through the catalogues, there's so much to look at and you give such wonderful insight on the cuts and shapes of everything. It's nice to see a focus on the details, I really like that and also how observant you are. The gal with the pants and the diagonally striped short sleeve top looked really nice in her outfit and I had to laugh out loud at a few of the other items. And fabric with flying books? I could go for that. I also found myself imagining captions for each of the models on the page, sort of like a comic. I could so get carried away with imitating what the models are thinking. Thank you Bianca!
Thank you Penny! I need to recreate that flying book fabric! What better for making a dress to wear to book signings and publishing meeting in my future right? Dream big, dress for the job you want and all that....