A Dress A Day

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Mostly every day.

October 07, 2008

The Fauxlero Post to End All Fauxlero Posts

Not that I want fauxleros to end ... but here's a smattering of those that have been sent to me lately:

Dulcet sent this one from 1896.

Our beloved Cookie sent three. This one is highly abstract -- you have to have a highly-attuned fauxlero-sense to spot it:


McCalls 5396


This one is a mod, mod take on the concept:


McCalls 9255


And I really want to know why someone wrote "Magic Lady" on this one:


McCalls 8666


Pamela was listing this one on eBay ("designed" by Gloria Swanson!), but the auction may have ended by now:


Advance 7011


Summerset found this one, although I'm not sure if it's a fauxlero or a cape in its larval form:

McCalls 4912

Ashley found this one from Alexander McQueen, although it will set you back more than £900 (!).

The sharp-eyed Helen saw this one on Etsy. The pattern calls it an "attached capelet," but she said she wasn't fooled: it's a fauxlero.

Gremly Girl sent me this image -- the woman in the center now has a starring role in my nightmares -- but yes, that's a fauxlero:

McCalls 4373

This fauxlero (sent by lorrwill) WINS with POCKETS:

McCalls 7882

Elle sends this fantastic vintage Burda ... a wraplero!

And, as a reminder, the fabulous Jenny started at category page on the Vintage Pattern Wiki for fauxleros here. Add yours!

And more sales! Lisa is having a fall sale at the Vintage Fashion Library. 15% off, using keyword fabulousfall, good through the 15th of October, and Sandritocat is having a one-day sale, 20% off everything (before shipping) tomorrow, Wednesday the 8th.

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37 Comments:

  • At Oct 7, 2008 12:25:00 PM, Blogger Lydia said…

    Holy schnikes. I am overwhelmed by the magnificence of the Burda pattern. *LUST*

     
  • At Oct 7, 2008 12:48:00 PM, Blogger Julia said…

    Wait, does the McCalls 7882 one have pockets over the boobs?! I guess in concept it's not that different from a chest pocket, but boy, that strikes me as a real oddity...

     
  • At Oct 7, 2008 1:07:00 PM, Anonymous Cathy said…

    McCall 4912: I go for cape. My mother had that dress, and she was fascinated by capes all of her life.

     
  • At Oct 7, 2008 1:13:00 PM, Blogger jdoogan said…

    Ewwww. I would have loved the McCalls 4912 if it weren't "larval."

     
  • At Oct 7, 2008 1:13:00 PM, Blogger jdoogan said…

    Ewwww. I would have loved the McCalls 4912 if it weren't "larval."

     
  • At Oct 7, 2008 1:13:00 PM, Blogger jdoogan said…

    Ewwww. I would have loved the McCalls 4912 if it weren't "larval."

     
  • At Oct 7, 2008 1:13:00 PM, Blogger jdoogan said…

    Ewwww. I would have loved the McCalls 4912 if it weren't "larval."

     
  • At Oct 7, 2008 1:29:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    The third one also has the "pull tab" effect. Fauxlero meets pull-tab...

     
  • At Oct 7, 2008 1:34:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    Love the Burda! How elegant and simple.
    McCalls 7882 is not really fauxlero, it more of a vest effect. Love the chest pockets.

     
  • At Oct 7, 2008 2:03:00 PM, Blogger Justine said…

    I've got to go for the Gloria Swanson designed dress.

    I can just see that on somebody saying "I'm ready for my close up Mr. DeMille!"

     
  • At Oct 7, 2008 2:19:00 PM, Blogger Doris said…

    Oh, Erin, I am so coveting the wraplero!

     
  • At Oct 7, 2008 3:02:00 PM, Blogger Sold A Moke said…

    Comment on McCalls 4373:

    Yes, the drawings from that era are detestable. As a young girl trying to find a suitable pattern I was always put off by them. Legs three times the size of their bodies...

    Just gross.

     
  • At Oct 7, 2008 3:25:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    I think McCall's 4912 has what my 93 year old mother calls a Bertha collar.

     
  • At Oct 7, 2008 3:26:00 PM, Anonymous Lady Be Good said…

    McCall's 4912 looks like the love child of a fauxlero and a sailor collar.

     
  • At Oct 7, 2008 3:27:00 PM, Blogger Nicole said…

    That Alexander McQueen dress is to die for! Does anyone know of a pattern similar to it? Heaven knows I can't afford the original....

     
  • At Oct 7, 2008 3:31:00 PM, Blogger Cookie said…

    The third one, McCall's 8666 (note the sign of the DEVIL!), is strangely hypnotic. I've always understood one mark of good taste to be that all features on a garment should be functional. Sort of a Puritan esthetic; No false buttons, no false pockets, NO FALSE MOVES. And yet I find myself horrifyingly drawn to this design! What could be cuter, or cooler on a warm day, than this fashion fake-out of a faux jacket over a faux sheath (note it's actually a "2-piece dress", another blot of suspicious fakery.) I see someone wearing this outfit to interview as a bank teller, or maybe to an uptight parent/teacher conference. WHY DO I LOVE IT SO??? And who will save me from it?! Pray for me!!!

     
  • At Oct 7, 2008 3:37:00 PM, Blogger Cookie said…

    PS: I also like how the lady on the left in the ghastly 4373 is staring at your nightmare woman as if thinking, "What the h#ll are you ON?"

     
  • At Oct 7, 2008 4:02:00 PM, Blogger Myra said…

    I have the Gloria Swanson one and always thought of that as fauxlero, but forgot to mention it. I think I have the McCall 9255 as well. Some of them can be kinda neat, but some are too strange.

     
  • At Oct 7, 2008 5:36:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    "Alexander McQueen has thrown up yet another designer piece that's steeped in vintage inspiration."
    Well why did he have to eat it in the first place?

     
  • At Oct 7, 2008 6:52:00 PM, Blogger Nadine said…

    I'm actually smitten with that 70s tunic, crazed grin notwithstanding. Love!

    But some of these patterns I'm really having to squint and peer sideways at to acknowledge them as fauxlero styles . .

     
  • At Oct 7, 2008 7:27:00 PM, Blogger Cookie said…

    << some of these patterns I'm really having to squint and peer sideways at to acknowledge them as fauxlero styles... >>

    The ways of the evil fauxlero are mysterious and cunning. You're right, they can be subtle. And they are ALL AROUND US!

    Examine all clothes and patterns purchased carefully.

     
  • At Oct 7, 2008 9:48:00 PM, Blogger enc said…

    I must know: How can a "dress" be two pieces?

    I thought a dress implied one piece only?

     
  • At Oct 7, 2008 10:03:00 PM, Blogger Cookie said…

    I want an answer to this, too...because it's a major gyp! (Hope that's not an insulting term to any gypsies reading this.) But there IS such a thing as a "2 piece dress", crazy as that sounds. No one seems to be able to quite define what one is, however. Basically, it seems to be a top and a skirt that LOOKS like a dress, because they match, but they're not really an actual dress. OUTRAGEOUS!

     
  • At Oct 8, 2008 7:12:00 AM, Anonymous Kate in England said…

    Could it be "Magic Lady" because it looks like something Samantha from Bewitched would wear?

     
  • At Oct 8, 2008 8:00:00 AM, Blogger beebe said…

    As the only man (ostensibly) on this comment board, I can only say those fauxleros are deconstructed. Deconstructed as hell. They're the Albert Ayler of fauxleros.

     
  • At Oct 8, 2008 8:22:00 AM, Blogger Canine Diamond said…

    I LOVE 7011!

    Actually, the fauxlero goes back at least to the 1860's. Zouave jackets were popular for young women during the Civil War, but some day dresses imitated the look with just two curving lines of braid running from the shoulder downward, and curving backwards above the waist. Simplicity 3791 does that look pretty well (sorry, but this is a clearer picture than any of the period ones I could find).

     
  • At Oct 8, 2008 9:51:00 AM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    The McCalls with the pockets also wins because the model for view A has gone with the faux cane. It's clearly for flair and not function because she's wearing pumps with high, narrow heels. She's fauxdacious!
    CH

     
  • At Oct 8, 2008 10:04:00 AM, Blogger Jen ~ MOMSPatterns said…

    Hey fauxlero lovahs.. don't forget I'm using that as a searchable keyword on the site now at www.momspatterns.com! I have a few from the 70s.. that decade REALLY seemed to love that look, didn't they?

    Cookie. Duly praying for you but just GO BUY IT! No, don't. Yes, DO! I'm no help. Pssh.

     
  • At Oct 8, 2008 12:03:00 PM, Anonymous Theresa said…

    Cookie is 8666 were in my size I would buy it and save your from it.
    honestly I love them all, but not equally.

     
  • At Oct 8, 2008 12:23:00 PM, Anonymous Anonymous said…

    While the look on the View B model of McCalls 4373 is a killer, I have to admit to coveting this pattern. I made a similiar dress in the mid-70's and wore it to death. Those bellbottoms are terrific. Wish I still had the guts to wear them....my boys would die laughing. My mom would love the fauxlero look and I always think of her with these patterns. I still have the dress and real bolero that she knit for me way back when I was in high school.

    Amazing how the fauxlero holds up through the decades and is still recognizable.

    Regards all.

    Teresa

     
  • At Oct 8, 2008 12:24:00 PM, Blogger Cookie said…

    Thank you all for your prayers. Devil Dress 8666 is not my size, either, but I keep thinking of new places to wear it. I see Easter Bonnet!

     
  • At Oct 8, 2008 12:29:00 PM, Blogger Spacehead said…

    The designer of McCall 7882 had seen too much of Will and Betty Rogers in those cowboy get-ups and set out to design a sophisticated dress for Betty.

    McCalls 4912 is for the femme fatale in training. The full fledged cape must be earned...

    I believe that McCall's 8666 was a home-ec project dress and that the project owner wrote this nicknake she aspired to on the pattern, hoping it would stick.

    Actually, I think the Burda is a fauxmono; the evil love child of a dress and a kimono.

     
  • At Oct 8, 2008 12:34:00 PM, Blogger wundermary said…

    Oops! that's me ^, not my husband!

     
  • At Oct 8, 2008 12:53:00 PM, Blogger Cookie said…

    << 4912 is for the femme fatale in training. The full fledged cape must be earned >>

    If this were in heavy white satin and had a big, full skirt, I can see Kim Basinger or someone whose taste is just a little wacky wearing it to the Oscars. One of those Close, But No Cigar type outfits.

     
  • At Oct 9, 2008 12:54:00 AM, Blogger wundermary said…

    That would be good! The Oscars could use a tad more wacky. I kinda miss the days of Angelina showing up as a vampiress.

     
  • At Oct 9, 2008 2:32:00 AM, Blogger Mahaut Katia Chevrolet said…

    All these old drawings are so cool!

     
  • At Oct 12, 2008 9:55:00 AM, Anonymous Jonathan Caws-Elwitt said…

    I understand that the garments with features that look like they're going to be capes but turn out not to be capes are made in Cape Disappointment, Washington.

     

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