Tuppence Ha'penny

There are two articles of especial interest in this issue of Everywoman from 1949. The first offers couture dressmaking tips from five prominent designers for a polished look in your home dressmaking endeavours. The second is a wonderfully strident critique of the movie industry and its assumption t

My favourite feature in this issue of Everywoman from 1947 is an article on how to be beautifully dressed! Different ways of wearing flowers is another fun feature, illustrated in colour. There are also some lovely fashion features (including one which employs my fave collage-style illustrations tha

Wedding season continues with this issue of Woman magazine from June 1949, which includes features for the bride and newlywed including bridal beauty, wedding planning, bargains for your first home, and recipes for "Fancy dishes for a bride's first party".

Coincidentally, there's a skirt in the "Fashion looks forward to spring" feature on page 17 that looks remarkably like the Librarian skirt I've just published! Other features include the latest hair styles, recipes, Kitchen News, home dyeing, knitting patterns, and more!

I love how the designs in this Vogue pattern book is organised by fabric type - from plaids and tweed to stiff silks and nylons to crepes and satins. A treasure trove of late 40s fashion!

Illustrated fiction and last-minute gift ideas feature in this issue of Woman's Illustrated from 1945

There's so much to love in this issue! 1948 was a fascinating time for fashion, Dior's New Look having recently revolutionised the scene. This edition of Everywoman magazine shares runway looks, beauty hints, and styling tips for a little black dress. There's also a fabulous interiors feature on how

46 pages packed with postwar women's interest features including: - Knitting patterns - Superstitions - Beauty: Is Your Figure in Proportion? - Fashion: Suited for September; A New Way with Pearls; Hats are More Simple - and all the usual ration-book recipes, illustrated fiction, readers' letters, a

Aaaand we're back! Pattern news to follow, but in the meantime we're kicking off September with a fashion-packed 34-page sewing pattern catalogue from the mid-1940s. My personal favourites include the bolero and capelet suits on page 6, and the make-do-and-mend feature on pages 20-21!

It's 1948. The New Look debuted on Paris runways just last year and is starting to gain traction in mainstream fashion - but you, the everyday woman on the street, are reticent to take the plunge into such a radical shift in the fashionable silhouette. Your trusted Leach-Way pattern catalogue helps

Features include: Party hair styling ideas DIY gift guide for all the family (note: includes some problematic dolls) "Non-austerity" Christmas lunch recipes

Features in this issue include: - Christmas gifts to make - Knitting pattern for a holly design novelty sweater! - Christmas gift wrapping guide (as shown on the cover) - On Living, on Loving, and on being Loved - Beauty: the back (no mention of back fat!) - Fashion: Christmas party wear - Royal Wed

Includes DIY instructions for a crocheted silk cord necklace and matching evening clutch bag (second pic), plus the usual selection of recipes, illustrated fiction, knitting patterns and recipes.

Our first magazine for the month is a copy of Everywoman magazine from September 1947. I love the multiple beaded necklaces on the cover model - they would be a great look with a telephone cord purse, I feel! Interesting articles in this issue include styling your hair for hats, and a longform piece

The "Emphasis on Waist Drapery and Hip-lines" (page 13) of pre-New-Look fashion always gets me! I'm also getting ideas for future patterns from the beach wear designs on pages 20-21.

There's a vacation theme in this issue of Everywoman magazine from June 1949, featuring summer cotton fashions, a fun account of a four-week road trip through France and Switzerland, and sightseeing advice for London (much of which still holds up 75 years later. I was particularly pleased to see my

Our first magazine this month is this issue of Home Chat from June 1946. Published in the immediate aftermath of World War II, features in this volume include an interesting article on "rediscovering London", along with summer fashions, ration-book cookery for one, fiction, and readers' letters!

And we're back! Our first magazine this month is a bridal issue of "Woman" magazine from June 1948. 24 pages of women's interest and bridal features including: - Bridal trousseau on a budget and during the era of clothes rationing - Man's Eye View of Weddings - Recipes for the wedding Buffet - Brida

I mainly bought this magazine for the "Fashion in Miniature" cover feature - it's a fascinating look at the innovative idea of creating a travelling fashion showcase using 20-inch mannequins wearing miniature versions of couture outfits. The article also shows photographs of the actual garments on h

I love the classic combination of leopard print with red accessories on that cover illustration!

Happy New Year! New Year, New Look - Dior's "New Look", that is. When this January 1948 issue of Everywoman was published, the New Look (launched the previous year) was starting to hit mainstream fashion. The magazine has a fascinating feature on how to achieve the look - including some make-do-and-

Another Everywoman magazine, this time from towards the end of the decade, making an interesting comparison with the 1942 edition featured earlier this month. Features include an intriguing article comparing conditions for women to their prewar state. There's also an etiquette quiz, and advice on th

Highlights in this issue included a cute picnic-themed board game, beautifully illustrated fiction, problem page and those wonderful period adverts!

As a special bonus, this Leach-Way Fashions pattern catalogue from 1948 features a host of fabulous late 1940s fashion inspiration!

I just love that cover art! This is one of a lot of three copies of Woman's Own I bought together, all from 1947, all with the most delightful cover illustrations. Unfortunately there are a couple of pages missing, so we'll never know what became of Henry, Franny and Simonetta's love triangle.

Some fun features in this issue - from holidaymaking destinations and packing lists, to an article on so-called "marriage bureaux" (i.e. the Tinder of its day), to advice on how to properly wear Dior's New Look (which was, by the summer of 1948, filtering through to mainstream fashion). Plus swimwea

The second of two bridal themed magazines this month celebrating wedding season - this issue of Everywoman is from May 1946 and features tips for the bride including make-up for different complexions; homemaking & interiors; wedding hats; make do and mend bridal accessories; and hints for a happy ma

In a fascinating glimpse of the impact Dior's New Look had on the regular consumer and home sewist living in still-rationed postwar Britain, this pattern catalogue from 1950 comes with the following introductory remarks from "the Editress": The "new look," with the longer hemline, is uppermost in ou

Our first magazine of the month is an issue of Everywoman from April 1947: 48 pages of features including the fashion and beauty, recipes, knitting patterns, and the latest innovations for the home. Plus of course all the usual illustrated fiction, readers' letters, and all those wonderful period ad

This issue of Everywoman magazine from January 1947 contains both good advice (what to do when you get a cold; how to carve a roast bird) and dubious fashion ideas (sweaters with interchangeable button-on sleeves, anyone?) I need to do a series experimenting with some of the recipes from these vinta

It's a two-for-one extravaganza today! This 64-page issue of Everywoman magazine December 1948 has everything you need for Christmas covered, from gifts to make and buy to recipes for Christmas dinner. Not to mention all the usual illustrated fiction, readers' letters, and all those wonderful period

Special features in this issue include a long form article on how to be charming, and a fashion spread of ideas for using fancy ribbons to accessorise your outfits.

Our final magazine for August is the August 1948 edition of Everywoman

This issue includes instructions to make three DIY hats, as well as knitting patterns, a simple summer frock to make (instructions and scale pattern diagram to self-draft), plus all the usual illustrated fiction, readers' letters, beauty, and vintage adverts!

As a bonus for July, here's a pattern catalogue of "Outsize Summer Wear" patterns from Leach-Way. The catalogue is undated, but I estimate it's from the late 1940s (1948-1949) as there is a reference to the "New Look" (Dior launched his New Look in 1947, but it didn't really start to filter through

Fans of late 1940s fashions will LOVE this sewing pattern catalogue from 1949, packed with a bevy of delightful dresses and suits from the early New Look era.

This month's first free magazine is Everywoman, May 1947. This issue includes a feature for DIY hat and headwear projects which I'm excited to try!

Our first magazine this month is Everywoman, February 1947. Features include "A Woman Learns to Fly" and mental health care. Our first magazine for February 2022 is Everywoman, February 1947. Features include "A Woman Learns to Fly", mental health care, and how to make your own movies, along with th