A short cut to fashion

I'm going to be busy with course work for the next few weeks, and not much sewing or knitting will get done. So, following on from last week's quick skirt, I'm looking at the "very easy to make" section, also called "short cut to fashion" in my January 1960 Vogue counter catalogue.

The earlier sections of the catalogue have photographs on their front page, but the later ones have illustrations.

Charming

The back of the page also has an illustration.

It's actually a wrap-around

Which is of this dress.

It's more obvious in this drawing

Most of the patterns have a schematic showing the pieces, to emphasise just how easy they are. There are several shirts like this one, made from a single piece of fabric with either one seam or a wrapover, plus a waistband and optional pockets.

Look, no side seams

The 'easy' patterns of some other brands only list the main pattern pieces, so a two-piece dress pattern could have lots of extra little bits, but these Vogue patterns are exactly as they are described.

Only four pieces to this top . . .

. . . and to this dress

Even the most complicated only have eight pieces, which is a far cry from some designer patterns with well over 20 pieces.

Sleeves and collar can be omitted to make it even easier

Not that the number of pieces is the only thing to consider. The view D collar piece in this pattern doesn't look like it would be straightforward to make or attach.

So many tight curves in that collar

Most of the dresses and skirts in this section are straight, but there are a few fuller-skirted options.

Simple flared skirt pieces

Also, "easy to make" doesn't have to mean 'basic'. For example, this jacket is fully lined.

Simple but chic

There is some ingenious shaping to keep the number of pieces to a minimum.

I suspect this would look terrible on me

It took me a while to work out how this jacket comes together.

All in one

But now that I have, I'm wondering if I could draft a version myself. When I have more time, obviously!