Across the pond

My collection of Vogue Pattern Book magazines consists entirely of British issues. My understanding was that the pattern pages of the US and UK editions were the same, and it was only the advertisements and some of the articles, such as items for sale and fabric reviews, which differed - and of course I was more interested in what was familiar to me. But I recently found an American issue for sale online without the crippling postage charges which are often more than the magazine itself. What I hadn't realised until it arrived was that the US edition was published six times a year in 1950, and this was the February-March issue, whereas the UK edition was still quarterly, and my issue was for Spring.

Spot the differences

As well as being published more frequently, the US copy is much thicker; 82 pages instead of 52. As a result, the contents pages look very different.

More obviously different

Part of the difference is explained by this announcement in the UK edition.

I hadn't realised that paper rationing lasted for so long

The US edition has a lot more advertisements, and more colour printing. It looks like a different, and far more prosperous, world.

American ads, glossy and colourful

British ads are mostly monochrome

With more pages available, articles can be longer. "Spot news" is a few paragraphs in the British edition, but an eight-page feature with illustrations and photographs in the American one - although the fashion information is much the same in both.

Everything a British reader needs to know, in 15 lines

The first page of the US equivalent

Similarly, the Paris Originals feature in the UK edition is half the length of its American cousin, albeit with more illustrations.

All eight designs in a double-page spread

Larger illustrations . . .

. . . but fewer views shown of some designs

There are some articles in my American copy which aren't in the British one, such as these knitting patterns.

Instructions are provided, but are brief

But surprisingly, the reverse is also true. Possibly this was in either the December-January or the April-May US issue?

I doubt if jersey dresses were a purely UK thing

Even when articles appear in both copies, there are differences. In terminology, unsurprisingly, but also in colours.

Same illustrations, different printing

Some elements appear in both illustrations, others are changed

Occasionally most of a feature will be exactly the same (apart from colours), but then vary significantly.

The previous 14 pages of this 16-page feature use identical illustrations

I'm ending my comparison where I began, with the contents page, and one small but perplexing difference in the description of the cover image.

US suit made from "navy blue serge by Miron"

UK suit made from "George Harrison's blue-navy wool herringbone"

It can't be made from both! I'll be keeping an eye out for other US editions, to see how they compare once both magazines were being published to the same schedule.