Saturday, February 16, 2013

More Yummy Images from Sears Spring and Summer 1942 Catalog

Hello lovely readers! I had great intentions of actually writing a post for at least one of my three finished objects this weekend, but instead I came down with a cold. Yuck! Instead, I have some more great images from the 1942 Spring and Summer Sear's Catalog. I hope you enjoy and find some inspiration!

All of these outfits are so lovely! I especially like the fun shoes the lady on the right is wearing.

This is an close up shot of my favorite outfit from the previous page. I love the ensemble on the left with the red vest, white blouse, and blue pants. If you look closely, the vest actually buttons all the way down the sides. Since I don't have the skills to knit myself one of these, would it be possible to buy a large mans vest (thrifted of course), open up the sides, make buttonholes, and sew on buttons? Of course it would need to be serged and need some sort of interfacing. I am not really an up-cycler so any advice would be great.

Who says overalls are only appropriate for those doing manual, outdoor labor of those still holding onto the grunge scene. Those bib overalls on the left are totally adorable. The sweetheart neckline and cute pocket detail make them so feminine. As you can see on the right, they also come in a playsuit version, which would probably be a bit more wearable for me.

All of these are super cute. My personal favorite is the tailored blue slacks with the white blouse.

Notice the text on the page reads, " Special Playclothes for larger women". Now, none of these women appear to be "larger" to me, but I suppose the average woman in 1942 was much more petite than I am. Anyways, despite that these were supposed to be for a larger lady, they are every bit as stylish and cute as their smaller counterparts.

I hadn't posted many black and white images but I just had to show this flared skirt. It hangs so nicely and looks so elegant. Try finding a skirt that hangs this nicely in a department store today.

Even though the red coat in the middle is a bit on the boxy side I still think the outfit looks so neat and pulled together. I also love the jumper on the left.

Just look at those lovely prints! I would love to recreate these prints in a gorgeous rayon, but the only way I currently know how to do that is through Spoonflower which is so, so pricey.

Just look at that lovely fit! To most of us, $5.98 seems like a steal for a dress. If you account for inflation, this dress costs about $85 in current USD. While this dress is certainly better made than its modern day counterparts, it still wasn't inexpensive in 1942.

More yummy prints to drool over. I need at least 5 yards each of those polka dots.


That red fabric with leaves is divine.
 The outfit on the right is gorgeous. Sadly, I do not have the head shape nor circumference for hats. I have a rather large noggin.

 I love the skirt and blouse combo on the right. I'm not sure I'd wear this ensemble as is today, but I would definitely wear the pieces are separates.


Apparently, there were lots of dresses that qualified as the Best Dresses in America for $4.98. The dress on the left still has a pretty full skirt for the early 40's, but since 1942 would have been the early war years for the US it seems reasonable to assume the most strict rations had not taken effect yet.

Both of these coats are so divine. The both fit so well and just exude a sense of quality.


Doesn't she look ready to conquer the town in this coat? This coat wasn't an inexpensive purchase at $19.98. According to an inflation calculator, this cost would cost you approximately $281 in modern USD.

Readers, which are your favorites? I'd love to hear your opinions. I do have lots more images to share in time as the catalog is over 1000 pages in length. ( Though I doubt most of us want to see images for replacement farm equipment parts or other machinery.) I will definitely post the fabric and sewing section next!


2 comments:

  1. Thanks again. Wow, some great outfits there. Could you tell us what type fabric some of the clothes are, please?

    You could do a vest the way you mentioned, but if you do the overlap and underlap, you may make the armhole too small and it wouldn't match the right armhole.

    What I would do is to cut them as separate pieces, add seam allowances and stitch them on. This just seems like too much work and figuring. How aabout taking a regular vest pattern but plan to place the cf on a fold, then add overlap and underlap to the pattern left side, following sewing directions as if it were front buttoned?

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  2. It’s great to see 1940's pictures in color! Those coats are awesome; in fact all these images are.

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