The Vintage Dressing Gown, Part 1

For the last few weeks I have become slightly obsessed with vintage dressing gowns (a.k.a. : robe, housecoat, peignoir, hostess gown, breakfast coat and in more modern terms, a bathrobe. Here we also call them dusters, I don't know if that's a dutch thing and if it has any relation to the western duster. And of course we also have the 1920s kimono. There are slight differences between some of those, but generally they have the same purpose.)

A month or two ago I had bought a gorgeous dressing gown online for the shop. First I thought it was from the 40s but it turns out to be early 1950s. It is floor length with gigantic 3/4 puffed sleeves and has a lovely big floral print. It doesn't fit me well at all so that prevented me from really falling deeply in love with it. Still, I thought, those robes from back in the day, they are so fabulous, I want one. For the past weeks I have been casually browsing the web for robe / dressing gown patterns from the 1940s and 30s so that I could make one for myself. I noticed that I was starting to get a tiny bit obsessed.

Last week I bought a late 30s / early 40s robe from someone online for a very reasonable price. The picture wasn't super clear and it didn't seem like something that I'd be interested in for myself. I just thought it would be nice for the shop since I want to focus on selling things from the 30s and 40s. When it arrived I was surprised, it was much prettier than it looked in the pictures. It is a pretty lilac satin, with little flowers embroidered all over and short puffed sleeves (I love love love puffed sleeves). I put it on (as I always do with any garment I buy for the shop as it helps me determine the fit and size) and I was sold. It was so beautiful and elegant. I realized I wanted more. Then I remembered all the time spent searching patterns and actual vintage robes. I realized this was a true obsession. (Although my interest gravitates more towards the patterns than the made up ones.)

First I was merely focused on 1930s and 1940s robes. But after reading Peter aka Male Patterns Boldness' post about his 1920s kimono project I wanted one of those too.