Journal

I love it when designers make their work available to those of us who can't afford to buy the ready made thing from them but have the skill to make our own if we have the pattern. I would imagine that during the depression people desperately needed ways to cheer themselves up and to have nice clothes to wear. If you needed a new outfit and could use the fabric to make something really special you would. And most women would have some embroidery thread or beads, even if it was an old necklace. My mothers oldest sister, who must have been born in the early part of last century, told me that as a schoolgirl she unravelled an old jumper, dyed the wool and knitted it up in a new pattern and how proud she was to have a 'new' and fashionable garment. I suspect that that was about the time Schiaparelli was working.

That was really interesting but I think you may have overlooked an aspect of this. There was an army of seamstresses that worked from home, at least in Scotland. My grandmother was one of these, a trained tailor(esse) and kilt maker she spent her whole life from the mid 20s to the 70s in the Scottish Borders making clothes for women who brought her maybe a Vogue or Simplicity pattern, sometimes just a fashion illustration and often the fabric. These were farmer's wives or shop owners in the main and they wanted the latest styles made to fit them or their daughters. She held herself to high standards, understood the fine finishes such clothes needed. She was one of many and most small border towns had seamstresses like her. Sometimes they met up for tea and cakes and I was privileged to be a child playing in the corner at one of these events.