Own Name 101: 1930s Uncut Misses Afternoon Dress 38 B Vintage Sewing Pattern
Original 1933 Own Name Pattern No. 101 - Front-Closing Dress
Original 1933 Own Name Pattern No. 101, an Own Name pattern produced by the New York Pattern Company, for a stylish ladies' and misses' front-closing dress. This slim, floor-length design features a dramatic lapped-over bodice with a collarless V-shaped neckline, set-in sleeves gathered into narrow wristbands and perforated for a shorter, turned-back cuff, and a five-section circular skirt attached under a removable belt. Factory Folded and Unused, with its original glassine outer envelope included, a little worn.
Quick Facts
- Pattern Number: Own Name No. 101 (New York Pattern Company)
- Year: 1933
- Garment: Ladies' and Misses' Front-Closing Dress
- Size: 20 (38" Bust, 41" Hip)
- Condition: Factory Folded and Unused
- Glassine Envelope: Included, stamped Barron Bros. of Texas - a little worn
Design
This front-closing dress builds its interest into the bodice: lapped-over fronts form a collarless V-shaped neckline, echoed by a diagonal contrast yoke in the envelope's own illustration. Set-in sleeves are gathered into narrow bands at the wrist, and are perforated so the same pattern can be cut with a shorter sleeve finished in a turned-back cuff instead. Below the waist, a five-section circular skirt is attached under a removable belt, giving the long, bias-inflected line so characteristic of the early 1930s. The pattern is cut in ten pieces, with the front and back skirt insets requiring two pieces each rather than the usual single half-pattern piece.
A Moment in Fashion History
By the early 1930s, women's fashion had settled into the long, lean silhouette that followed the boxy flapper years, with interest shifted from ornament to cut - a diagonal seam, a lapped closing, a graceful bias skirt. Own Name patterns like this one were a common feature of the era's home-sewing trade: rather than carrying a national brand's own label, they let independent retailers sell professionally drafted patterns under their own house identity. This particular copy still carries its original glassine sleeve stamped for Barron Bros., the small Texas store where it was originally sold - a detail that rarely survives, since the glassine typically absorbed the worst of decades of handling.
Connections
This pattern is part of our ongoing exhibit, In Name Only - a growing collection of New York Patterns and Own Name Patterns from the 1930s. Come take a look.
