Contact me
To contribute to this collective history project, send pictures and stories about the older women in your life to americanagefashion@gmail.com. The more information you can include (date, place, etc.), the better.-
Recent Posts
Recent Comments
- Bob Moeller on Florida Retirement Hotels in the 1970s
- Bob Moeller on Native Daughters of the Golden West
- Bob Moeller on Fashioning San Francisco
- Marianne on Grannies on the Red Carpet, 2024
- Nann on Duchess of Windsor Patterns
Categories
Tags
- About Me
- advertising
- advice literature
- African American
- Asian American
- book review
- California
- Chicana Latina
- coats
- colors
- comparative
- designers
- Florida
- fur
- generations
- glasses
- hair
- half sizes
- hats/headcoverings
- Illinois
- jewelry
- lace
- Mrs. Exeter
- New Look
- New York
- pants
- pantsuits
- photographer
- popular culture
- power dressing
- sewing
- sheath dress
- shirtwaist
- shoes
- sizes
- special occasion
- sportswear
- Texas
- textile patterns
- textile prints
- textiles
- Washington DC
- women's organizations
- World War One
- World War Two
Meta
Reference Links
Tag Archives: sewing
A Sewn Wardrobe, 1978
In the 1970s, Vogue Patterns magazine did occasional features on women who sewed most of their own clothes. As an added bonus, the editors asked the women why they had chosen particular styles. What could be better for someone interested … Continue reading
Tanaka Designing and Tailoring School, 1925
Although the banner in the background mentions ladies and gents, I see only women and children here. I suppose the students were making both women’s and men’s clothing. The photo possibly depicts some kind of open house or graduation ceremony. … Continue reading
Unruly Seamstresses in the 1930s
The Works Project Administration (or WPA) is best known for funding murals and highways in the Great Depression. However, it also started programs aimed specifically at women. One was the WPA sewing project, which employed thousands women creating garments for … Continue reading
Posted in 1930s
Tagged African American, California, generations, Great Depression, hats/headcoverings, sewing, shoes
1 Comment
Holiday Greetings from Ida Arneson, 1957
Is anyone named Ida anymore? It might be due for a comeback. This card was a lucky eBay find combing two favorite elements—an unlikely Christmas greeting and a sewing theme. I suspect Mrs. Ida Arneson is a widow, since there … Continue reading
Sewing for the Works Progress Administration, 1936
In the US, most of us have probably come across a bridge or a trail that was built by the Works Progress Administration (WPA), the Depression Era government sponsored employment agency. Not only did the program build bridges and sponsor … Continue reading
Sewing for a Cause, 1959
Celebrity endorsements are nothing new. Here’s a photo of Eleanor Roosevelt, then in her mid seventies, with a needle in her hand. She is meant to be sewing in the new label for the International Ladies Garment Workers’ Union. It … Continue reading
Sewing and Chatting, 1970
Home sewing can be an isolating activity, but not if you take your work outside. I wonder what the woman on the left is doing. Darning? Hemming? Making a couture outfit by hand? Whatever it is, she has a friend … Continue reading
Sewing Baseballs, 1938
Of course I know that baseball covers have stitches, but until I saw this photo I didn’t realize that the covers were stitched together by hand. Even today most covers are hand stitched, although the process is done in a … Continue reading
Sewing Classes in Chicago, ca. 1960
September is National Sewing Month, and I’m happily turning my attention away from our fraught political climate to find photos of older women practicing this craft. The American Sewing Guild, of which I’m a member, calls sewing “an art and … Continue reading
Posted in 1950s, 1960s
Tagged African American, aprons, Illinois, sewing, textile patterns
2 Comments
Finally Fashion Forward?
I used to think that I was the only woman in America who didn’t wear jeans, but maybe that is changing. The Washington Post recently featured an article on the decline of jeans sales during the pandemic. More and more … Continue reading