It's time for the new pattern books to be hitting the tables at your local fabric mega mart. The Christmas Season isn't even over yet and frothy chiffon and pastel confections are staring up at me from the pages of the Big 4's pattern books.
As of tonight, I was able to browse the "Early Spring" collections of Butterick, Simplicity, McCall's & Vogue. Butterick & Simplicity are paying an homage to patterns of days gone by since they are having landmark anniversaries this year.
Butterick is turning 150. And is looking well preserved, I might add. Of note is Butterick 5859, a sportswear collection that is reminiscent of the 40s without being costumey. It's definitely wearable today.
Honorable mentions go to a child's companion to the above - Butterick 5844 - and a lovely little formalwear pattern for little girls, Butterick 5845.
I appreciate the simplicity of the styling as well as the use of the mauve/lilac and ivory backgrounds. They give a little dimension to the photos and make it feel like a portrait rather than a really bad eBay auction photograph.
Simplicity has re-released a 1940s vintage blouse pattern in honor of their 80-something-eth anniversary.
The styling on this one is also very pleasing to the eye. Here's hoping 2013 is better than 2012 for pattern catalog styling, eh?
Vogue has three dresses of note for early Spring. One in the 2013 color of the year - Emerald Green - which reminds me of "the" dress from Atonement:
With some great accessories and the right fabric, the Vogue version could be spectacular. I'm not thrilled with what they used for the sample, but it definitely has possibilities. There are two more Vogue patterns I'd like to feature, 8850 & 8851, from the Vintage Vogue collection.
Again, the styling is impeccable and they manage to make vintage work in today's reality.
Unfortunately, McCall's catalog seems to be largely a regurgitation of designs from the last few seasons, just photographed differently. Color blocking? Check. Little girls outfits made from 16 different fabrics stitched together to look like a crazy quilt? Check. Totally derivative work that I've seen a million times before? Check and check.
So there you have it folks, your preview of early spring pattern catalogs (without pity). Enjoy!
No comments:
Post a Comment