Tag Archives: 40s

What I’ve been buying lately: Suits, dresses and jackets galore

Posted in 40s, 50s by

Today I thought I would share with you all some of my recent purchases, my very kind Nanna and Great Aunt both gave me some money for Christmas so I have been lucky enough to have a little bit of spare cash to spend on vintage!
I’ll start off by saying I’m actually feeling really let down by ebay at the moment, well in the UK at least. I am finding that there are less and less sellers out there offering high quality vintage pieces that are accurately described. There are a few exceptions, Lestervintage is one such seller. I’ve bought from this seller before and their items are always exactly as described. I also really appreciate how well photographed they are. Another on this list is redappleclothing who again I have bought from in the past.
The problem seems to be the sheer volume of incorrect listings out there. I’ve ended up with three paltry eighties copies of 50s dresses lately due to people insisting things are genuine 50s that are not. If you aren’t sure, state it!
So yes, this means my vintage buying habbits have swerved overseas and I’ve been buying quite a few bits from America, something I never used to do for fear of a)import charges and b) the items taking an age to arrive.
This has surprisingly not been the case and I’ve been really happy with the items I’ve picked up from the US and the price I’ve paid including postage.
Here are a few of my recents.


First off these lovely two Bobbi Brooks jackets which I think cost me under £40 for the two and from America. They are in MINT condition and are really versatile too. They both look amazing with jeans, and when the weather warms up a little more I’m sure they will become my springtime failsafes.
I also bought this SENSATIONAL 40s red suit. I’m sure it only cost $45, it wasn’t expensive at all. The quality of this piece is quite frankly wonderful. It has padded weighted pockets it is beautifully lined in silk throughout and has a really strong metal zipper. The fabric is some sort of Gaberdine and its pretty warm. I think come February I’ll be wearing this number regularly. I’m not normally one for wearing red (I think it looks a bit funny with my skintone) but the colour really looks good on, and even better the suit makes me feel amazing.

 Then onto this lovely little Blanes dress. Another of my obsessive collecting labels. I believe this dress is a very early 60s piece and is a sensational fit too. What gives this dress the edge is its lovely cowl draping at the back. I just need to find a belt to go with it now. Hmmmm….

I also wanted to show the fact that I don’t only buy vintage and sometimes the odd new piece creeps into my wardrobe too. I bought this during the week in Leeds as my finishing coursework treat to myself. I love a good bit of zingy orange and it has some little side splits for added interest. I bought it in the Whistles sale and it was reduced from (if memory serves me correctly) £175 to £40. Ace! I just want to apologise for my drag queen worthy make up in these pictures, unfortunately the light in my room is absolutely horrendous and I can never tell until I leave the house quite how heavily I have clarted the make up on!

A wonderful little blouse

Posted in cc41, ebay, moygashel, utility by


Today I am dedicating my blogpost to one little item. On first glance you are probably thinking it’s just a simple blue and white striped blouse. A vintage item most probably (this is me after all and it is highly unlikely to be modern), but this blouse is much more than it at first appears and also helps to tell a story about an important period in Britain’s fashion history.
There is one small label sewn into the side seam of this blouse which makes all the difference: A cc41 label. What I really like about this blouse is that it shows so many of the restrictions in one item.
First off (although difficult to tell by my picture) the blouse is really quite short. Now whilst the length of a blouse was not rationed many manufacturers made garments that were designed to be tucked in to quite a short length to save on fabric. When looking inside the blouse you can also see how tiny the hem is, again a fabric saving device. All of the seams in the blouse have very small seam allowances as is illustrated in the pictures, and again was a necessary fabric saving device.

Next is the collar (I’m a sucker for a Peter pan collar any day of the week). One of the rulings under utility was that a collar could be no deeper than 5” as illustrated here, this is a very short collar!

If you look at the sleeves you can see how they have been made to look like turnback cuffs, yet the “turnback” is actually a strip of fabric stitched on as turnbacks cuffs where strictly prohibited. The sleeves also do not have any buttons- this would make it easier to get into the blouse, but restrict the amount of buttons that could be used elsewhere, hence why there aren’t any.
I think the most canny part of the blouse though is the centre front button fastening. Under Utility restrictions a blouse with full length sleeves could have up to 7 buttons, whilst one with short sleeves was restricted to just 5. This blouse originally had just four (currently 3 as one is missing) and the rest of the blouse fastens with poppers. Two at the bottom of the blouse and one for security at the neckline. I feel that the ones at the bottom of the blouse actually act as a really good design feature, if you are tucking the garment in you would not have the added bulk from the button showing through your skirt.
And, whilst researching into utility I also found out something rather interesting about the manufacturers labels themselves, they could have “no more than one name tab and one drop ticket in addition to the size tab and utility label.” This blouse has its manufacturer label and then details about the fabric “moygashel” on the same label. It is interesting to consider how in 40s garments these details would often be on two separate labels, but under the utility restrictions only one label could contain all of these details. The smaller label underneath is the utility design no. which all utility items should have.
And on another note some may be wondering what is this mystery fabric moygashel? It is a particular type of linen fabric from the area of Moygashel in Ireland, it is quite a strong hard wearing fabric and was particularly popular during the 40s 50s and 60s before falling out of favour. I have to say that the vintage moygashel garments I have come across all seem to be particularly hard wearing and also they retain their colours rather well.
The label also states that it has “tubernised fused parts” (it too me a while to work out what this word actually said) basically this was a finish that helped garments to look “fresh and clean all day” and reduced the need to starch or boil your garments (in particular this finish was used for men’s starched collars.
So all in all a very interesting little blouse, and what is even better. I am selling it! Find it over on my ebay here. I’m selling a lot in the next few weeks and months including some amazing vintage Biba and Alice Pollock, so do keep having a look.
If you want to know more about Utility check out some of the restrictions here, http://cargocultcraft.com/knowledge/wartime-austerity-restrictions-on-british-clothing/womens-and-girls-wear-dresses-jumpercardigan-suits-blouses-skirts-and-slacks/ it really is an invaluable resource. Or, have a look at my previous post on the topic here.

A very special dress

Posted in 40s, advantage in vintage, cameo, Hope and Harlequin, novelty by

My blog post today is all about one little dress. This absolute STUNNER of a dress was one of my 21st birthday presents (i had chosen it before mind you). I am normally a huge 50s fan, but this dress creeps into the earlier decade.

My main reason for loving this dress is the print. I have a real thing for novelty prints, and I adore the quirky cameos in bold colours that hark to a previous era. They sort of remind me of Wedgwood porcelain. This dress screams “conversational print”.

Another reason for loving this dress is the zipped sleeves. The dress has incredibly narrow sleeves, the look created with zips on each sleeve. I have another beautiful silk 40’s dress with sleeves like these. They just scream elegance to me.

I also love the typical 40s combination of the peplum and shoulder pads. Its so nice to feel the quality of the older shoulder pads such as these which are softer and less spongy than their eighties counterparts. You can see in the pic too how the shoulder pad has been finished by hand. This dress being made before overlockers really came to popularity.

What i wonder most about this dress though is where is it from??? I am guessing it is American (i’ve had a few very similar crepe de chine dresses from across the pond before). But, there is the remnants of a shop label. I wonder where it might have been from originally?

I bought the dress from Hope and Harlequin in Brighton, probably my favourite vintage shop EVER (It’s the main reason why i went from a casual vintage buyer to a complete vintage obsessive). I really do recommend visiting the shop, I don’t think i have ever been there and not bought something!

I will be sure to update soon when i find an occasion to wear the little beauty too!