Original 1925 Woman's Institute of Domestic Arts & Sciences Sewing Course Book No. 415: Designing and Planning Clothes.

One of the most fascinating books in the Woman's Institute sewing course, this volume moves beyond construction and teaches the principles behind successful dress design. Rather than copying fashion, students learned how to analyze proportion, balance, line, color, body type, and fabric selection to create clothing that suited the individual wearer. It offers a remarkable look at how home dressmakers were taught to think like designers during the 1920s.

Topics covered include:

• Knowledge of dress essentials
• Expressing beauty in dress
• Interest and pride in appearance
• Dressing with appropriateness
• Periods in women's dress
• The "Friendly" gown
• Intelligent expression of ideas
• Self-analysis in dress planning
• Determining your figure type
• Principles of design
• The Greek Law of proportion
• Controlling the apparent size of the figure
• Methods of planning clothes
• Giving reality to your ideas
• Designing garments for different figure types
• Athletic, tall, slender, short, round, and stout figures
• Designing for the stout figure
• Concealing extra pounds
• Slenderizing principles
• Correct foundations
• Sleeve, collar, neckline, and trim selection
• Proper skirt length and width
• Designing for the slender figure
• Varying fashion designs for your figure
• Color in clothes selection
• Advantages of a color plan
• Proper choice of fabrics
• Shopping hints
• Seasonal wardrobe suggestions
• Selecting the right hat
• Fundamental rules for the well-dressed woman
• Relation of dress to personality

This original softcover correspondence school textbook is illustrated throughout with hundreds of period fashion drawings and instructional diagrams demonstrating proportion, silhouette, garment planning, and design principles. It provides an exceptional glimpse into how women were taught to evaluate fashion critically rather than simply follow it.

A wonderful addition for collectors of Woman's Institute publications, fashion history enthusiasts, costume designers, sewing teachers, and anyone interested in the design education of the 1920s.