| MESSAGE FROM THE FOUNDER | Dating Rare Patterns

|   MESSAGE FROM THE FOUNDER  |
 
Dating Rare Patterns

The process of dating rare and obscure patterns

Dating Patterns
 
Many patterns have the copyright dates printed clearly on the pattern cover. Some pattern companies, however, did not print the copyright date on the pattern, such as this Christian Dior Boutique published by Woman's Own.

“I despise simplicity. It is the negation of all that is beautiful. As a rule, ladies of the royal family wear light coloured clothes because such colors are more discernible against a great crowd. Black does not appear in the rainbow of hope".
 
- Norman Hartnell -

Unscpecified date: Circa 1960's
 
We try our best to accurately date all patterns. When a date is not specified on the pattern cover, we then go to the museum library and cross-reference the pattern to any counter books, pattern books, or magazines that we have access to. If we find no relevant catalog resource, we date the pattern by decade, with reference to the known historical silhouettes of the designer.

Unconventional Dating
 
Using pattern mailing envelopes
 
Some vintage patterns still have their original mailing envelope, like 5098 and 5099 (seen in the photo above). If the pattern does not have a date printed on the envelope, or if we do not have a catalog resource in our library, we will use the date on the mailing envelope. In this case, unless proven otherwise, we date the Christian Dior and Norman Hartnell patterns from 1963. 
 
We hope you found the process of dating rare and obscure patterns to be interesting.
 
Warm Regards,
 
Cara Austine
Founder and Executive Director
Couture Pattern Museum