Rimini

The pattern I used for my 1986 dress was part of Butterick's "Rimini" line, which I had never heard of before. So of course, I had to vanish down the rabbit hole of research.

I'm not sure how I had managed to avoid it, as there are lots of Rimini patterns for sale online, dating from 1984 to 2000.

The earliest and latest examples I found

There were a couple which were overly frilly for my taste.

Not for me, thanks

But overall, there was a very definite 'look', which mostly chimes with my non-frilly aesthetic.

More like it

I may have managed to miss a line which was sold for at least 16 years and included a number of patterns I would have happily made at the time, but others didn't. Judging by the frequency with which this 1987 pattern appeared in my ebay and Etsy trawls, it must have been hugely popular.

Clearly a bestseller

All of which was very interesting, but didn't provide me with a lot of information. "Rimini" is too vague a term to search on, and "Rimini pattern" brought back a lot of ceramics! So instead I tried the name which appears under the Rimini logo.

A possible clue

This was much more useful. Richard Warren was a designer for the Warren Group, which was founded by his late father David in 1967. Seeing a gap in the market for better quality dresses in luxurious fabrics, he designed a line under his own name to fill it, and sold the garments in stores including Neiman Marcus. The Warren Group also included the labels David Warren, DW3, Reggio, and Rimini.

Butterick clearly had an extensive relationship with the Warren Group, as I was able to find patterns for all of the labels apart from Reggio.

David Warren

DW3

Richard Warren

My Rimini dress undoubtedly included design details which took time to make but lifted it out of the ordinary - as Richard Warren intended. What I haven't been able to discern is how the labels (or patterns) differed from each other in terms of intended market. If any American readers can shed any light on this, I'd love to hear from you.