There are three types of women:
- those who wear ready-made,
- those who make their own clothes and
- those who have their clothes made.
Most of us fit in the “ready-made” category. It’s convenient and it’s what we’re use to.
That’s okay. There’s nothing wrong with it. But let’s admit it-there’s something more satisfying about wearing something you made for yourself. Especially if it’s just as well-made as any other garment you can find in a department store.
Today fashion magazines center ads around high-end fashions worn by whatever person or persons that just happen to be “it” for the moment. In other words, magazine advertisers work hard at promoting a brand promoting a brand or designer.
There’s no incentive to sew anything.
This wasn’t always true. In the past, one of the reasons sewing was so popular and a major reason so many women (and men) sewed was because fashion magazines, advertisers and department stores promoted sewing.
For example, department stores offered fashion contests, sew-ins and they sold patterns, fabric and notions at pattern counters located right in the store.
Grab up some old fashion magazines and stroll through the ads. Take vintage Vogue magazines; its pages are filled with ads promoting fabric, notions and the textile industry.
Even prominent designers of the day (Dior and Trigere) not only promoted their designs, which could be purchased at fine stores like Neiman-Marcus, I. Magnin & Co., The Fashion Shop and Lord & Taylor, but also promoted sewing patterns of their designs which homemakers could make at home.
What I like best are the editorial pages in vintage Vogues that show fashion shoots where all of the clothes are Vogue patterns. At the end of the magazine is usually a page that shows the patterns that were used, which is helpful when figuring out what went into the pattern design.