Understanding Lines, Not Words

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>> Does this idiot need spoon feeding or what?  I make a little pondering about '100 Dresses', the Soviet pattern book that inspired Clare Lopeman's wonderful debut collection and a) someone quite bluntly points out I'm a Google idiot and directs me to an all Russian site with d/l links to reprints from the book and b) Clare also very helpfully sends me pics from her carefully thumbed and marked book…

More dunce moments… am I complete dumbass for not knowing that said Russian site also contains about a gazillion links to download all these odd DJVU files that basically are reprints of archive books, that I can then laboriously converted to PDFs and then to JPGs?  Is this something that everyone knows about… like the Catwalking password (the worse kept secret in fashion…).  The quality doesn't even touch these photos that Clare took but it's worth a root around if you're into patterns… knitting, dressmaking and otherwise… I preferred browsing through the very odd book covers instead…   

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I came across this hat pattern book that had a very enticing cover…

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I can't quite understand why these drawings make hatmaking look so erm… SIMPLE…

Me thinks any milliners out there will raise their eyebrows and go "Well actually…."

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I feel I can afford to DIY an Alexander Wang-esque aviator cap seeing as I already have a pretty good vintage one already… then it can go horribly wrong and I still have the ability to laugh at it…

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I have a PVC version of this hat too… though the girl is clearly mocking my inability to wear large goggle frames…

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These are the kind of hats that as a child communicated to me "rich lady with very very delicate and unworked hands…"

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Happy browsing, downloading, unzipping, viewing and converting!

27 comments

  2. Haha interesting! I still have a collection of my mum’s old pattern books (1970s/80s) which I used in the early uni days for pattern cutting ideas.
    The books are still in good condition but stink of odours :S

  5. Hello Susie, is it possible to buy these books nowadays? if yes, where?
    Thanks for your answers,
    Kisses,
    Ji.

  6. OHMAHGAWD. is that beautiful or what. I am SOO going to learn how to sew dresses now! <3 The beauty is overwhelming! This makes me miss the days of no department stores, just people with a sewing machine and creativity. Sigh, my grandmammy's mom made all of her clothes for her when she was younger, and they are amazing.

  7. I was really intrigued by the link and I know my cyrillic isn’t that good, but that Russian site is ODD. I couldn’t figure out how to download anything, never mind get to the point where I could convert it to other file formats. Give me a good ol’ book ANY day!

  8. I don’t know what you’re laughing at, Susie. These are very nice old Soviet-time books. If you can’t read Russian, well, how do you expect to understand the drawings which just illustrate the text?
    to Phyllisa:
    there are links below the description of the books (like depositfiles.com, rapidshare.com and many Russian file-sharing websites) to download. Some of them are in PDF format, some in DJVU, and some in JPEG.

  11. Great post! I just bought a book, a huge one, from 1908. It’s actually consists of 12 issues of the French fashion magazine Femina. One could spend hours browsing through it. Still have a lot of scaning to do . . .

  13. Anya: I’m not LAUGHING at anything… I was pointing out the resource in my own odd way… that’s all… and yes, I am a dumbass for not knowing how to read Russian, but I just found it diverting looking through the images which sounds like I’m taking the piss but I’m really not… it is a fantastic resource for those that love delving into out-of-print books… it wasn’t meant to offend!
    Ji: No need to buy…just d/l all the books in the links below the cover…. some of them are those ‘timed’ d/loads but you can get to them all eventually…

  14. im from russia…its so weird to see this book here, i have the same)))))

  18. What a lovely couple of books. That hat one especially appeals to me. I love a good aviator hat! I have some old leather knocking about too.
    Clare x

  22. I have the first book too)) I am a kind of fashion designer in Russia. This book is still very helpful,and pattern-making is not so obsolete – I have made one of that 100 dresses)) and it looks quite good.

  24. ohhhhhhh)))))))that’s so sweet)she is my tutor actually)Clare is adorable)

  25. I know your weaknesses and enter them freely. I know your burdens and carry them gladly. I cannot love you more than I already do and I will never love you less. My desire is for you and I greatly delight in you.

  26. Well I can’t find the down loads! Wahhh! Maybe it is just the iPhone tiny screen coupled with my old eyes? In any event I live old books!

  27. Never mind it was my eyes crossing with something in my brains! I figured it out.

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