Saturday, November 5, 2011

Mail call, and I still have books on my mind!

I just love it when my sweetie comes home with a big pile of mail for me. He picks it up on base and brings it home from work with him. Yesterday was the first time he checked the mail in about three weeks since we were on vacation in the U.S. and boy, did some good stuff show up!


Most of this I bought online right before we left, or later whilst hunting online, morning coffee in hand, on vacation.

 I'm really excited to find out that Spadea Patterns released their own book, The Spadea Sewing Book: Sewing Tips by World Famous Designers (1967).

Another great book that came in the mail was Underwear and Lingerie from the Women's Institute of Domestic Arts and Sciences (1940). I'm sure you'll hear me referring to this one often, as it covers EVERYTHING!


And of course, on etsy I found this cute little vintage costume brooch of an airplane and pilot, so my style. I have a thing for the vintage aviator look.

Then I got The Vogue Lingerie and Lounge-Wear book from he 1970's that I completely forgot I had bought. Surprise for me!


And this cool vintage booklet on sewing ideas for things you can make from cotton bags, along with this great collection of Simplicity and Hollywood pattern flyers that had been FOLDED IN HALF and thus nearly destroyed when I got them in the mail (grrrrrrrrrrr.........).


Folded in half, noooooooooooooo!

 From being folded the aged paper was unable to handle the crease, and splintered and cracked to pieces... so sad! Poor little things.




This lovely New York Patterns booklet barely survived intact. More pictures of that later. I saved the very best for last, of course, because it comes with a story. Upon receiving two lovely vintage fashion pattern catalogs that I had ordered from an etsy shop, I noticed the name on the return address and it rang a small bell...


It took me a moment of pondering where I knew the lovely French name Wade Laboissonniere from and then it hit me, Duh, he's only my hero!

The brilliant Wade Laboissonniere is the author of the two books I reference most in my studio!
Blueprints of Fashion: Home Sewing Patterns of the 1940's (and it's equally important sister volume, Home Sewing Patterns of the 1950's) are the most informative and fascinating reads a pattern collector and vintage fashion lover could have in her possession!



I can't recommend these books enough!
I bought two vintage pattern catalogs from the collection of an author whose expertise and pattern collection I constantly return to for information when working with my own massive collection. (No, seriously, I have a MASSIVE pattern collection.)
 SWEET!
So of course, without further ado, here they are:

Fashion Book Fall and Winter 1941.


Fashion Book Fall and Winter 1941.

Fashion Book Fall and Winter 1941.

Fashion Book Fall and Winter 1941.
 You know I can never pass up adding the lingerie portion to the post!

 Fashion Book Fall and Winter 1941.
Fashion: The Farm Home Edition, fall/ winter 1948.

Fashion: The Farm Home Edition, fall/ winter 1948.

Fashion: The Farm Home Edition, fall/ winter 1948.

Fashion: The Farm Home Edition, fall/ winter 1948.
Have a happy weekend!

3 comments:

  1. What fantastic finds! I have the Underwear and Lingerie book, what a great little textbook! How exciting to receive the booklets from your favorite author with his address on it, what a wonderful collector's item.

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  2. Yay for books! A few of the ones you've mentioned in this post and the last are also on my shelf. I love those Woman's Institute books and also have the lingerie one. It's a treasure!

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  3. I am green eyed! And I'd love to have anything Wade owed...lucky you!

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