The Quiet History of Adjustable Clothing [from a non-historian] 

"I don't use patterns, I just wing it" *me, who is currently winging an entire blouse from memory, quietly hits subscribe* "yep, found my people" 😂

If you haven't already, a lot of libraries allow you to "rent a librarian." You get a time slot where you tell them what you're working on and they'll help you research it. Librarians are fantastic at helping you find the information you want, and asking the questions you didn't consider.

In the late 1950's my parents and I visited Mexico where, among other things, they bought a skirt for me. It is a circle skirt, open on both sides from waist to about mid hip. The waist band from the back came around and hooks in front on tabs long enough to replace the hooks as I grew. The front waist band comes to tie in the back. It was long enough to grow with me for six full summers. It grew up with my daughter and again with my granddaughters. It is awaiting the next generation.

In terms of big weight fluctuations - V. Birchwood did an interview on how pregnancy was handled, back in the day, and that definitely was a significant factor in why European *women's* clothing in particular was fairly adjustable (even in periods where menswear really was not). A person could basically handle *most* of a pregnancy in just their normal clothing, all the way through the end of the 1830s. Basically, people were pregnant often enough - and clothing was expensive enough - that having a separate maternity wardrobe really wasn't a viable option for most people.

Having worn wrap pants (not hakama) almost regularly in my teens, I can tell you there's a very practical reason skirts tie on back first, but pants tie on front first. Saves having to completely remove a garment to use the bathroom

Yes, the reason why clothing manufacturers don't make adjustable clothing is obvious, but, the fabric they use is so flimsy their garments wouldn't last more than a couple of years anyway. That's one of the many reasons I sew my own - because I sew with much better fabric, the trousers I made 12 years ago are still in good condition even with weekly wearing & washing. My mother made adjustable clothing for herself so she could get through all 8 pregnancies without buying special 'maternity' clothing - but then she was a child of the Great Depression and WWII, could look at a picture of a dress and chalk out the pattern pieces on the fabric (paper was precious) and a few hours later be wearing a great frock, because that was what her family did to get by. We all wore adjustable clothing as children through the 60's & 70's because hand-me-downs didn't always work - children even in the same family have different shapes and grow at different rates. Our clothes were adjusted mostly by clever folds or sets of pleats held in place by buttons & buttonholes that were moved further apart as we expanded, and triple thickness hems that were lowered as we shot up. My mother was also knitting top-down way back then - it is so much easier to lengthen the pullover of a growing child if you just need to unravel the ribbed hem and sleeves, add in a few rows, and reknit the ribbing. It's also an opportunity to replace worn yarn. As always, the current generation is rediscovering the wisdom and ingenuity their parents discarded in favour of the new technology 😊

"wrap skirts and dresses aren't really that adjustable" THANK YOU. I (used to have) a pronounced hourglass figure, and a wrap skirt or dress that fit my waist would often open up all the way up my leg if I sat or crouched. So many of the retail ones (and patterns) have very little overlap. Ditto for surplice tops -- it's not really adjustable if the neckline ends below your navel 😊

tbh i clicked on this video because of the pollera (the typical panamanian dress) on the thumbnail. since i was a kid i've worn this dress, mostly the skirt in school while learning about my my culture and never thought about how genius it was. Thank you for changing my perspective, now i want to make one for the daily in my style honoring long lasting clothes!

I love that when you discuss history you didn't just refer to European dress history, fantastic

You might also be interested in the traditional Chinese skirt style called Mǎmiànqún. They tie around the waist, but the splits in the skirt are in the front and back! Pleats at the sides and overlapping panels in front and back ensures that you stay covered. This skirt style allows for for example horseback riding 😄

That is one of the most surprising things i have found in the seamstress and marker industry. The lack of real creativity. A pattern gives you a base for what you have in mind to create. Take that base pattern (any pattern that comes closest) then tweak is the way you want. People forget that they can mix patterns pieces to help with your creativity. A friend of mine had a child with a strong OCD for fabric labels (the loop kind). He wore out a small blanket with one. I made him a blanket with his favorite theme then added trim. Fabric Label loops all the way around it. He LOVE IT! He never wore it out and you couldn’t tell the loops were heavily worked because he had so many to choose from. And kept it with him for years. They moved away some years ago and don’t know if he still has it.

The maternity clothing from the 40’s and 50’s really struck a note with me. A while ago I was chatting with my Gran (who is now 96) and we got onto the topic of my cousin’s pregnancy. She told us how she was shocked our cousin had shown off her belly as ‘that just wasn’t the done thing and quite unseemly’ when she was younger. She did go on to acknowledge that the way fashion and attitudes changed over the years baffled her in places. But that memory will always stick because it was interesting to see how society has such an impact on the people within it to the point where ingrained world views can’t be left behind. My gran didn’t mean anything nasty about her comments, but her views on maternity clothing really are a product of the world she grew up in.

A family story from my grandma about those open front maternity skirts with the tie above the belly: when my great grandma was in one of her pregnancies, she wore one of those to a basketball game that one of her older kids was playing in. When she stood up to cheer, the little lace came untied and the skirt stayed behind.

I didn't know Mexican folkloric skirts were side split style before elastic, and I live here! 😂 The super full skirt is that expensive because it's for traditional dances at festivities and professional shows, the daily wear ones our traditional communities wear are not that full, and frequently default to prints instead of embroidery. They're also mostly elasticated now.

I used to have a historic sewing business and everyone loved the 18th c. split side petticoats. Not everyone loved all the ties that go into them, especially once you layer all the various bits & bobs. This is what made the stays (not a corset, different garment, similar function) so important. The stays hold the weight of the skirts. This is what makes that wide laced panel so fantastic, plus getting rid of the ties for the pockets - it's fabulous. I can tell you as a former professional costume researcher & historic seamstress, who has looked at well-researched examples from dozens of museums, extant garments, documentation in ads and dressmakers shops, the ties were either self-fabric tubes (rarely) or twill tape (common) for the waistbands. The fabric was folded over to suit the height of the person with the band stitched on and replaced as needed. The reason the focus is on the pleating is because that's what changed in fashion; sometimes it's gathered then pleated, sometimes it's box pleats, sometimes knife pleats, sometimes big, sometimes small. We just called it a 2 panel petticoat, or 18th c. style petticoat. If you call it a skirt nothing is going to come up in Google (which is good & broken now anyway), because that's a much more modern term, and not applied to that garment until much later. Yes, adjustability was critically important in the 18th c. because a person may only own 2 or 3 outfits. Women spent large parts of their lives pregnant, weight fluctuated with the seasons & gains and losses were common. Even the highly fitted garments are deceptively adjustable with hidden laced panels, drawstrings, overlaps, etc. Just about the only thing that got fitted were the sleeves, and boy were they tailored to within an inch of your life. The men's garments even had lace-up panels to make them fitted when they weren't truly fitted.

"Workwoman's Guide” (1838) says ”Skirts are generally made with the opening behind, but for elderly persons or servants, it is at the sides, the seams being left unsewed for about four nails from the top sometimes they are furnished with pockets on one or both sides ...”. (A nail is 1/16th of a yard.)

I remember my Mom telling me that her doctors told her not to gain more than 14 lbs while pregnant and as a secretary she had to wear a girdle the entire pregnancy. I still find it mind boggling that me and my brothers survived. This was why the pregnancy patterns at the time did not show visibly pregnant women.

The hakama pants were also commonly worn by women back in the Heian era. many noble women held positions in court working and managing everything on a day to day basis. The fashion of the time was layers and the Junihutoe 十二単 (literal translation : twelve layers) was an outfit constructed from a un-dyed hitoe which is like a kimono robe and the hakama pants as the undergarment, the uchigi robes (apparently the maximum was ten layers), the uchiginu which was a stiffer robe to support all the layers, the uwagi which was shorter than the other robes, the mo a train skirt and the karaginu which was a jacket. The women expressed their style by the way they layered colors and patterns and their blend of incense perfume. The Junihutoe went out of style after the Heian (peaceful) era and after 400+ years of civil war the fashion changed so much that only the people in the little bubble that was the imperial court dressed the same

This old lady didn't understand all the fuss over the Coquelicot skirt - just thought it was a more complicated wrap skirt- and while I still don't think it's the most amazing thing ever, at least now I understand the fascination and the architecture. The most brilliant piece of adjustable clothing I ever owned is also hard to find info about on the internet - at least when I looked in the past. In the late 80s or early 90s, there was a line of clothes by Richard Simmons, the fitness guru. Pleated dress trousers were a popular look, and his brilliant design not only included these buttonable extension tabs on the sides, but there was a stretchy lining panel (lycra? spandex?) running from side seam (behind pockets) to zipper placket, so you had the smoothest tummy and perfect pleats. Nothing makes pleated plants look worse than having your tummy bulge out and expand them. Yes, these were made out of horrible polyester that I vowed as a child to never wear, and pleated trousers probably haven't been stylish since then, but I'd still buy them today if I found them lol.

I got to visit Panama many years ago on an exchange program and my insight into their polleras as a traditional garment is it's definitely viewed as a right of passage. Every woman would love to have her own pollera, unique to her with its embroidered motifs and the coordinating adornments that complete the costume, but these articles can be prohibitively expensive to commission: Moreso it's common within the community to see private collections and a mix of the socially privileged and benevolent matriarchs who want to honour tradition and may give or lease the opportunity for their pieces to be worn for an event or simply for the opportunity that a woman can say I too have worn my country's dress. Therefore, as a costume, it's utterly practical that a piece should be adjustable to many altered sizes. Compared to many of the women I met in the country I was bigger and taller and I met a grand old señora whose collection included maybe 14 complete pollera skirts and bodices, not to mention the coordinating ties and innumerable beaded and gold plated hair pins to style your hair just so!... She graciously offered for me to wear one of her dresses as an experience and all of my friends were gathered as I was paraded on foot from the señora's house to my host's grandmother's house (a very long, hot walk beneath all the material of the skirt)!... This act alone brought a lot of pride to my host family who could not have afforded this experience for me... So ultimately, there's a quiet genius and dignity in the dress's adjustable construction to extend the life of these amazing pieces to many wearers as a matter of national pride and preservation of their connection to deep and rich roots.

I know they do not have pockets, but I absolutely love my Sari wrap skirts as they are highly adjustable and can be worn many ways. I've also been completely converted to wearing corsets as they are also very adjustable, even on a day to day basis such as wearing it a bit looser if feeling a bit bloated or tighter for back and diaphragm support if you need it. Its really nice to see how there are enough of us now that are looking at and preferring adjustable clothing to the demands of the ever changing fast fashion world.

My mother and sister need adaptive clothing due to handicaps. I’m always trying to figure out how to close things without zippers, velcro (which messes up while washing), snaps, etc. I loved all of your information! I love research, too, but hit a wall. Thank you so much!

A RU-vidr: Abbie Cox, is a fashion historian, and she has explained, shown and worn these garments a number of times on her channel.

I feel like when we talk about fashion history, it's only fancy party dresses. I wish I could find a book that was exclusively work/day wear. its like if someone wrote a book on fashion 2000-2020 and only used clothing articles from MET galas and Golden globe awards.

I cosplayed as Rurouni Kenshin in February, and I can tell you that hakama are some of the most comfortable trouser-type garments out there.

My Navy Uncle sent my Mom and I skirts from Mexico. They were open on both sides, with attached pockets, but the slit on either side could access secondary pockets if they were needed. Loved that skirt to the end, and have based many skirts like her since.

This has been a recent area of research for me as well as no waste sewing. I've done historical re-enactment for 27 years so I had some familiarity with split sided petticoats and drawstring petticoats. I've also done Viking age tunics(bog coats) with square cut construction. I wore my Viking age tunics through my pregnancy, although the hem hiked up in the front as I got hugely pregnant (my son was almost nine pounds when he was born). I was also able to breastfeed relatively easily in them as well. I do a lot of sewing without a pattern or by drafting my own. My old Vogue sewing book has a chart of wearing ease to write into the patterns so it fits comfortably. I can remember a few years ago I lost 55 pounds in six months (divorce and single parenting) and even though I couldn't even afford thrift shop prices I had to get all new clothes and it wasn't easy. I had two pairs of pants for the longest time and a bunch of my old, now baggy t-shirts to wear. I would have killed to have clothes that would have adjusted and saved me the expense. I've been looking at gradually replacing my wardrobe with items made of natural fabrics (durability and compostability at the end of useable life) with as little waste as possible and as multisized as possible. I have seen some really awful zero waste designs and I know from my own sewing that it doesn't have to be that way.

This video somehow stung a note with me, especially the final question. I do know a culture that wears a kind of split skirt - though it's actually two apron-style skirts worn one in the back and another one in the front, neither one reaching around the whole body. I was born and grew up inancient Czechoslovakia, in the part that's now the Czech Republic but close to the Slovakian border (the region is sometimes called Moravian Slovakia in English). The traditional costume in my Mum's native village, that I have worn myself on special occasions, consists of a sheath-like underdress, covered on top by a short ("cropped" would be the modern term) shirt, basically puff sleaves tied in the front worn under an embroidered waistcoat or vest. The mid-section of the underdress was usually exposed, and had an embroidered band. On the bottom you'd wear two apron-like skirts, one in the back tied in the front, usually single-colour (mostly yellow or orange) and pleated, and another one in the front tied all around the waist with decorative ribbons, the skit was usually white and heavily embroidered. It might look like an apron worn over a pleated skirt, but it wasn't that. The under-dress was usually longer and had an embroidered band at the bottom that was seen. When you walked normally the skirts would remain "closed" but if you danced and spun around the underskirt would be seen. I had one such costume made when I was around five. We also had two full adult-sized costumes that I would wear when I grew up. The size wouldn't matter, the only problem would be the underdress and the waistcoat that closed by hooks (it was always too loose for me, I was skinny), but the rest was tied on and hence adjustable and people would actually borrow it from neighbours ("I need this part for a village festivity, do you have one?") and I have NEVER heard anyone comment on the size! I haven't had the costume on since I was maybe 15, but my parents keep them. I should try them on, I guess the waistcoat will fit me snuggly now, which is the right look ;-) www.google.com/search?client=tablet-android-huawei&sxsrf=AB5stBiI4wGm0S-lXdwGg6N9ENcSlmQz7Q:1688310807621&q=velk%C3%A1+nad+velickou+kroj&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwj4o9Xvp_D_AhVq9rsIHW5UDgEQ0pQJegQIEhAB&biw=962&bih=601&dpr=1.33#imgrc=uKIaZc61dIgZ-M&imgdii=6XoPZ92CkeOrfM

Also, you should totally reach out to Bernadette Banner and Nicole Rudolph for their input!

"its just bad business, but i love bad business" is a quote i never thought id be so delighted to hear

A lot of polleras and skirts for baile folclórico are also shared amongst dancers in a company. Imagine having to alter them every single time.

I actually got a little bit into historical fashion some time ago and was on to something because I thought "omg, I HAVE to make skirts (and dresses) inspired by this, because I'm always gaining weight and this would be perfect!" but then the Coquelicot Skirt came around and I am SO happy that someone just did this and I don't have to wing it myself. I immediately bought the pattern even tho I never used a pattern before, but sometimes it's just nice to be a little bit lazy. xD Love this pattern!

I made this skirt but had an unforeseen problem. With 2.5 yards of fabric and 39” length, it is heavy. So when tied on it sat above my hips and back but over time the front sagged. Becoming a tripping hazard. This is what corsets were for. I now wear this black skirt when I play in orchestra with my corset and a loose black blouse. I received compliments!

Once upon a time I had a skirt pattern which fastened at the side pocket. It was adjustable over a couple of sizes as the pocket hid the changed size - up to a point. In the 80s and 90s Maternity pants had a row of snaps at the side pocket in the same way, only they were also elastic-waisted and ugly. Megan Nielsen Patterns has both a trouser and a skirt with a side-pocket closure. Also, Folkwear patterns have a number of wrap/tie garments from all over the world. Simplicity also made a "wrap pant" pattern maybe in the late 1970s which was reprinted recently.

This is amazing for me I'm so glad this kind of skirt is trending right now. I bloat like a dead whale the moment I eat anything at all and elastic waistbands are the devil. Forget about years, I need a different size hour by hour!

Holy crap! Listening with ear bud while doing housework. I heard the magical words… adjustable, huge pockets and optimum swoosh. I had to stop working, restart the video and yes, have my mind blown. Then I was watching alone (except for my dogs) exclaiming out loud … holy crap! WTF! What kinda of witchery is this!!! Now I love you. I’m starting my skirt this afternoon and using up some of my stash of yards of fabric for quilting and yes… my repurchasing goodwill vintage tablecloths etc. THANK YOU!!!

Late to the party (as always), but a great over-view. I did have to chuckle a bit when you talked about the wrap skirts, though. You see, when I was ... I think it was in my early teens (late '70s) I had a wrap skirt that A) was reversible, B) had functional pockets, C) was adjustable to a point, and D) didn't threaten to expose me with the slightest of breezes. Needless to say, it was quite a shock when, many years later, my next wrap skirt had _none_ of those things. The trick with it was partly in the piecing, and in how it was fastened. To look at the pattern (no, I don't think Mom still has that pattern, more's the pity), it looked like just about any A-line skirt... just with two identical fronts. You could possibly have removed one and made it into a standard A-line with a side fastening... once you changed method of doing so. The pockets were sewn into the side seams. The fastening was a long, maybe inch wide band that went the length of the waist plus a decent amount on each side to wrap and tie with. The key was, in essence, a button hole set in the band lined up with the skirt seam. To put the skirt on, you would wrap the back and "under" front on, feed the tie through the button hole, then bring up the "over" front and fasten the ties at the back. The ties were long enough that if you needed a little extra room, you would just tie it looser. The full under-panel allowed for a bit of expansion before being dangerous in a breeze... Thinking about it now, I do see one flaw with it. It was adjustable for an increasing size, but would be a bit bunchy for a decreasing size. The benefit of having a full under-panel means that there would always be a minimum size limitation. Of course, having just typed that, my brain is now shoving possible fixes that while not being perfect, could at least be less awkward... like moderately (2 inch?) "belt" loops spaced along the back half of the skirt, to help slightly gather any extra waistline while keeping the look fairly clean. And now I have to at least make a mini-mock-up, or the silly brain will not shut up. =chuckles=

I do historical reenactment and my Californio enaguas ( petticoat) are made with panels sewn to a waistband ties and I love it. When I made it I was 20 pounds lighter and it still fits fine. It never occurred to me to make every day skirts that way. Facepalm moment.

I am a huge Kimono Nerd, and have been for quite some time. Think about it: Japan is an *island.* An island about the size of California. Maybe 1/3 is habitable by humans, and less is farm-able. You want "sustainable?" lol look at Japan. Every single thing gets used, all the time, before Meiji era (American industrialization era.) Fabric was often woven by hand in middle classes from hemp, or eventually there was this New fabric from India: cotton! Silks were labour intensive and made in different grades. All dyes were also made by hand, an extremely intensive process. These different industries meant everyone working together (for the most part) because everyone needed this stuff. And fabric wasn't wasted. You couldn't just go to Jo-Ann's and get more fabric that was made 80" wide in a factory in China, which took 20 minutes to produce and a few hours to fly to America. Depending on fabric, including yarn thickness, weaving type, weaving materials, dye, etc, you might wait months or a YEAR to get new fabric. Wasting fabric seems to be a European thing probably because we had land to be able to make so much of it. In Japan, it's costly to import. It isn't even "new" to kimono construction to make them adjustable. Just the opposite! Yukata (cotton ultra casual kimono, like for saunas and summer festivals) are NOW made "to size." Before, everything is rectangles. Making a kimono means sewing seams to width you want and folding flat excess fabric. Like felling, but without cutting anything extra. *Duh?* When it gets washed, it's taken apart and sewn together in a bolt again for washing. Then it is resewn to the new measurement needs. This way, fabric doesn't get too worn from seams only in one side of the fabric, and it fits again. It can be passed on endlessly. I own kimono that are wearable, which are 100 years old. Taisho era. Fabric that is weak can be broken down for anything you like: cushions, decor, towels, toys, eventually ranru or blankets and eventually, burning for fuel. The phrase here is "mottanai": waste nothing. It just makes ~sense.~ Comparatively British-area culture had this attitude of waste. Carried out into America, where we again have SO MUCH LAND, waste. We don't tie rough mats made of the cut down palm fronds here around trees in winter, so that bugs burrow into the mats instead of in trunks, but then we complain of our trees being insect-infested. We dump clothing straight to landfills or to Ghana, killing the people and wildlife there, because we won't use tie-on waistbands or sew a button back on. And here in the city, it's culturally unacceptable and unfeasable because of people-decided regulations that we can't have composting here. There are CLOSED compost bins, even! They don't hold much, but nope. Even though many, many people rent instead of own here, can't have those. So throw everything away. ... why do we have so many problems with landfills? I just don't understand. (sarcasm)

Ah, at last I found someone researching clothing not requiring modern fasteners. Thank you for the hours you put in for us.

Saris technically could fall into adjustable clothing? Other than blouses which only really got introduced during British empire the underskirts when worn are uni size and the sari itself is draped to fit any body

Late to the party, but this is a fantastic video. I noted that you commented that there weren't non-satirical drawings earlier than Harper's. As a reenactor of the American War for Independence, I can tell you that there are a plethora of them! These illustrations are called" Fashion Plates" and were all the rage! Another excellent source for 18th century everyday clothing is the engravings by William Hogarth. I love that you included this concept in other cultures. Thank-you so much!

In the UK it was once possible to buy maternity trousers which had a flap at the front which was adjustable on each side, at the waist. I suspect it would have been a slider as seen on children's school skirts. This would have been around the seventies. Having put on weight during Covid and not losing it afterwards has left me very interested in adjustable waistbands. Loved the video, thank you.

Happy to have found you. Yes, the first time I saw this, I immediately thought about Colonial Williamsburg and 18th Century skirts and petticoats. A new take on 18th C skirts. With integrated pockets! (BRILLIANT!!) Nothing is ever really new, it just recurs. Love your take on it. (Oh, and don't believe the article that says that people had to get completely naked just to access their pockets. Such rediculousness.) So, yeah, maybe come join us over here on the Historical CosTubing side of things. We have research, and grand balls, and delightful food. AND YES! I can TOTALLY relate to You can't research a thing because you don't have the name of the thing because, apparently, it was such a non-thing that no one even mentions it AND yet! there it is cuz every one uses the blasted thing and I really need to find a pattern or a clue or a hint other than this very vague picture! I was very specifically looking for patterns from 1882 to 1884. The Natural Form Dress era was certainly a thing, but good luck trying to find the name "underskirt." Yes, it was that simple and yet, so frustratingly hard. It took me weeks of hunting, only to stumble across the term quite by accident. And when I did -- VOILA! Patterns! The Natural Form Era was a moment when everything changed drastically, but the world just seems to gloss over it because it snapped back from those years with sassier bustles.

Saris and salwar chemise are adjustable, and when your host's in-house tailor gets it back from pressing he will take the liberty of adding stitching inseam for larger sizes so all you have to do if something is too snug some day is rip out enough seam for the item to be the next size up. It's wonderful to have clothing that fits you for decades despite multiple pregnancies. Also, wrap skirts work if you keep a separate "pocket belt" to wear under your skirt that has slideable pockets on it.

Also the word petticoat in the 1700s referred both to the undershirt and to the actual skirt of an outfit--the under-petticoat and outer-petticoat.

YES!!!! FINALLY!!!!!! I have gotten SO SICK of cycling through my whole wardrobe as my weight fluctuates, and being constantly uncomfortable in clothes that don't fit. Clothing options for fat trans guys with texture sensory issues are few and far between, but I've been hesitant to sew my own clothes that fit my tastes because I didn't want weight fluctuations to take out half my wardrobe. I've been wanting adjustable clothing for ages, this is such a great jumping off point for my research, I'm off to make my own pants with a waistband that fits! thank you!!!

My opinion: The S American cultures you mention and the clothing are based on historical clothing from the "conquering" Western cultures that dominated from the 1700's on, and eventually synchronized with the native cultures. It's a given that those skirts reflect the fact that these split side skirts were in fact a common item for women's clothing. Ballet Foklorico's female costumes are in fact a fossilized version of 1860's women's fashion. They just don't wear the crinolines and many layers under the skirts to bloom them out. They are quite beautiful.

When I was growing up in my family my Mom made many of our clothes. I remember that Mom paid 10 cents a yard for the fabrics that she made a couple of outfits that she made for my sister and I. When anyone outgrew clothes they we be handed down to another family member or friend. Nothing was wasted. My Mom's best friend would remake her own clothes and clothes that were given to her to make clothes for her young daughter. Nothing was wasted.

The concept of demanding the courtesy of functional pockets is extremely appealing.

I don't know that Abby Cox has done a video specifically about the petticoats with splits for pockets, but she is a costume historian and she frequently focuses on the 18th century. So she might be able to weigh in on how common the apron closure vs the drawstring closure was.

I was watching a lot of RU-vid videos on historical fashion, one of them mentioned the split side skirt, it blew my mind and I ended up taking a sewing course, and a circle skirt inspired by that method of closure was my first project. Its freaking adorable and quincidentally, I wore it to work today 😊

I recognized the word coquelicot. I read it about 30 years ago in a romance novel by Georgette Heyer. The novel was set in the 1800's and a mother was showing her almost grown daughter a chest of her own clothing from young aculthood that she had saved. One was a couquelicot in stripes.

Traditional clothing from the Netherlands (klederdracht) also included skirts with side tie closures, at least the underskirts. The traditional clothing differed from village to village, and with it dying out over the past 80 years it’s difficult to find good media about it. I know the two main reasons people used side closures is because you can 1) close it yourself without the help of others, and 2) you can reach your pocket through multiple skirts layered over each other. Here’s two videos that kinda show the dresses (as part of the video) “Klederdracht sterft uit, maar zo houd Staphorst de traditie in ere - RTV Oost” (automatically English generated subtitles are semi decent) “Docu - pride of the dress 1993 - Amerikaanse blik on West-Friese klederdracht” (all in English, you can see the pocket)

A note to remember the farther back you go, ALL women's cloths are maternity clothing, since most women would have been pregnant, breastfeeding, or getting pregnant , and especially since displaying pregnancy was uncouth having pregnancy explicit clothing would have been avoided for the most part

May i refer you to a video "500 years of maternity clothes" by V. birchwood. basically. for 500 years, in western culture, men's clothing buttoned. and women's clothing laced and was adjustable. Not just for monthly weight changed, or weight gain loss. but also, pregnancy. if you might spend up to half your adult life pregnant, your clothes still needed to be wearable then. Now, this is awesome to draw on for other reasons, but there's a reason everyone assumed women's clothing needed to be size adjustable.

Probably one of those things where people went; 'everyone has them, so obvious, why bother mentioning them'. And then all of a sudden they where just not the standard anymore, forgotten by the general public. I have been thinking of them as hakama style skirt or petticoat style skirt. I first saw the closure style with hakama.

I sew appreciate the fact that you not only were honest about your credentials, but gave links and credit where credit was due. It's frustrating when others try and act like they haven't watched Any videos on what they are doing; even more so when they act like they came up with it! Sew good on you sewing string sister! Subscribed, thumbed up and belled! 👍🏻🙏🏼✌🏼❤️

When viewing those fabulous pictures of South American dancers, it occurred to me that a dance troupe might desire an adjustable skirt. Not necessarily for handing down to the next generation, but just to make them interchangeable between dancers. Backstage is a chaotic place, finding "your" skirt can be difficult. Having multiples of the same style, adjustable for size makes sense.

My aunt had a 1950s formal skirt, taffeta with stacked pleats (impossible to alter!) that had an eyelet and laces inner waistband to carry the weight and a sash or flap to hide the closure. There was a bodice and jacket to match. It was moderately adjustable, but I think the real reason for the closure style was because a zipper would have been ugly, and a bazillion yards of taffeta is heavy.

Adaptive clothing is another thing to look into. It's not all adjustable, but a lot of it is for putting it on and off, and I think more could be made to adjust more.

OMG!!!! I’m born and raised Colombian and holy smokes when you said Polleras I screamed!!!!!! 😂😂😂😂😂😂 yasssss hunny! I’m here for all this content. Also, I’ve been dying to learn how to make a decent pollera 🥲🥲🥲

Your example of a natural form petticoat with buttons on the side makes sense for a period when the garment was to look very sleek and smooth, without a gathered waist in the front and sides.

Part of the problem of finding specific pieces or sources these days is that google has been rendered almost useless by SEO and other changes. Time was you could google "apron skirt" with the quotes and find exactly what you needed.

Thank you so much for making this video! I bought the coquelicot skirt pattern a few weeks back, so I am so excited to hear that you're doing a process video! Fascinating to hear about all the clever people who have utilized this style across history and geography, and I'm glad it's getting a mini-revival. You make such a good point about fast fashion's anti-adaptive nature. I've been excited about adaptive clothing in general recently and I think the recently trending paper bag pants also allow for size changes across a lifetime, and I've seen them with a fairly wide tie that echoes the comfort of the wide waistband. (A pair of paper back work slacks might be my next project...)

Very interesting. Much of what you said about adjustability, practicality, and longevity make great sense. Needs to come back.

In the past I have designed and made costumes for local theater guilds and in my humble opinion as a twin Reversible/adjustable clothing is EVERYTHING so everything I make incorporates this concept and takes up way less space in the closet

I want to add an additional skirt: from Mexico--c. 1950's cotton circle skirt with painted or stenciled print. These usually have hook & eye fastening in front for back waistband, and tie back for the front waistband. Pockets seem to be optional. Also, in the 1980s and 1990s loose fitting pleated or gathered pants and skirts with open-pocket sides were very popular (I have an example in my collection). The sides were buttoned, sometimes with several buttons to choose that changed the fit. This concept is related to sailor pants with the drop front closure (although in women's apparel only the waistband is buttoned). As a seasoned fashion design instructor, it was my observation that side pocket closures went out of use when garments lost fullness and true waistband styles were phased out in favor of hip level and lower waistlines in the late 90s/early 2000. The added bulk of side openings weren't desirable. Elastic backs and flat front waistbands were less bulky and became more common. There was never an industry plot to increase sales by not creating adjustable sized waistbands (you imply a sense of organization and leadership that does not exist in the apparel industry). Open side closures are simply a fashion option that went out of consumer favor in preference for close fitting lower garments without waistbands at the true waistline, especially pants which out-sold skirts within a few years. (I have continued to make side pocket closures, as have other experienced seamstresses when faced with a more vintage styled skirt that needs to have a well fit waistband, even after eating)

I used the Coquelicot skirt pattern - I rarely use patterns but this was fun and I wanted to support her. It was worth it. It's great! I made the fuller version *8 panels!! and it's full on swoosh! It's in insanely comfortable and I think the yoke version of the waistband is pure genius.

I’ve saved all of my Mom’s patterns and my patterns. 1940, 1950, 1960,1970, 1980. After that I bought my clothes. I’ve always bought classic styles and maintained my weight most of the time.

One year my button club had to host the yearly convention for the 4 clubs in our state. I pushed the theme Fads, Fashions and Fasteners. I did only a bit of research, and found quite a big area of fasteners , zippers, pins, buttons, ties , etc. we Had a fashion show of all the clothing we had or could find. One elderly woman brought her grandmothers dress, and one woman brought her graduation dress from the 1940s. I found dresses from the 60s, 70sand of course the great 1980s! But the most surprising garment was a straight skirt and a ‘tent top’ from the 1950s and the cut out and tie waist for the belly. I was shocked.

I’ve seen maternity pants with this kind of closure from the 50’s. Also, I think this side split kind of skirt is the traditional folk costume skirt (made in a woolen cloth and massively pleated) in Sweden, with the side split feature there for easy maternity dress accommodation (and also for wearing throughout your life, with the body changes it entails).

I am so looking forward to the tutorial! I know I'm going to have to make a few! I mentioned to my daughter (13) about the style and how it has huge pockets, and she got very excited. As someone who has dealt with fluctuating weight, this is genius!

I think this comes out in fashion every few years or decades? Back in the early 90's my most favorite pants pattern for work (systems analyst) was open side seam pants. I still have that old pattern someplace in storage. It was easy to make, nice deep pockets, and slip on. I think the waist closed with a button. ;)

Before you mentioned it was based on 18th century designs, I thought "wow, that looks like an 18th century apron front gown front." And dude...18th c pockets? Total game changer. I was (am? can't do it often) a 1770s living historian and pockets are AMAZING. So much stuff can be crammed in those babies and no one will notice, and no damn bag to worry about!

The first design you show is very similar to a Kenzo of J.A.P. for Butterick 3660 pattern I had back in the late ’70s. It buttoned rather than laced, but otherwise nearly the same, including drop front and pockets. I’m pretty sure Butterick recycles designs. In 1979 I made a dress from a Betsy Johnson designed pattern. About 25 years later I bought a pattern in the same design sans the Betsy Johnson label in my new size.

Apron skirt makes sense to me, I am not sure because i haven't started looking at the patterns yet, just the embroidery but this is how the Norwegian bunad (national dress) is constructed. These are super expensive and the one you get at 16(?) Is meant to last your lifetime with minimal alterations (as far as I can tell).

I’ve watched this set of your videos a few times now as I really enjoy them, and I keep forgetting to tell you these things, so here goes: Apparently, 18th century skirts and petticoats were both called petticoats, hence some of the confusion. An excellent source of information is Ash LG, they have produced a couple of videos on both the ‘skirts’, and the pockets. The choice between making attached pockets for each skirt, or making ornate sets of pockets on their own waistband (I’ve taken to calling it a sash as it goes with the swoosh 😂) to go with several skirts is of particular interest to me. Some of them are incredibly beautiful! Delving a little deeper, I found a thing called a pocket swap, which involved several of these talented costumers etcetera making each other pockets. They could choose between a set of 18th century pockets, or utility pockets. I think you’ll find it all fascinating, and may follow me down the rabbit hole I’m currently in of making these zero waste split side skirts/petticoats, and pocket bags. I’m incredibly excited by it all atm, some may say obsessed 😂 and I really think you’ll love it all too. I’d suggest you start with Ashley LG as they’re very straightforward and clear in their instructions. I really hope you find it all as amazing as I do! ❤❤❤

I love your skirt, and the Coquelicot pattern! I think historically many clothes were not adjustable for size changes, but (hand)sewing was something women spent much more time on. If a dress needed to be adjusted for a different size, there were deep hems and ample seam allowances, and it could be altered, which I consider a kind of adjustability. The clothes weren't disposable, or fast fashion, but were well made of quality fabrics and would be repaired, restyled, altered, handed down and eventually cut down to make children's clothing and finally used to make scrap quilts.

The work you put into this video is so appreciated. I love history research and I am also super lazy 🙌🏻 I don't think I'll ever wear another skirt again 😂 the pocket size, the adjustability and the pure amount of swoosh you can get fills me with a power no woman should have 😂 Thank you for bringing this style to my attention!

This is a very interesting video! The sort of ties they have on folklorico adjustable skirts are also seen in some older style lengas/lehengas from Pakistan (I'm Pakistani-American, and my mom has some old tailored pieces). More often, in Pakistan you'd see (and still do) see the lehenga skirts have adjustable fabric slit panels with a big hook--makes an expensive outfit far more reusable over time, and they look rather sleek and elegant, too! I do those types of adjustable fabric panels on many skirts I sew because I saw them on tailored Pakistani clothes--it's the only place I ever saw them, and I sure am grateful my mom introduced me to them!

Two days ago my friend and I agreed that leotard and wraparound skirt [pref from India] were the most comfortable clothes ever [at least until hospital greens came along]. And here we are! I'm a bit of a sewist and I used to make a pocket to put into the side seam to go forward or back of a skirt. I adore this video - and the clothes. Street clothes were so cosmopolitan in the 50s - 60s. I can even remember when ladies put on a hat and gloves to go downtown. I can't stop babbling - see you soon. Got to pull out the fabric box.

I'm so happy to hear i am not the only sewist who struggles with patterns.

Look into 'walk away dress', such as 1952 Butternick, or Vogue 5033. They were very popular in the 50s and definitely adjustable to a degree

Hi, I'm not a historian either, but I would have guessed that the reason for adjustable clothing for women, was origionally, that they would be expecting to have many and frequent pregnancies, so would almost constantly be changing size. Thanks for the video, IM going to wathc the tutorial now. I had been thinking of making somethin like this but with buttons on the central piece that you have laced.

I was born in the early 60's, the youngest daughter. Our clothes were always handed down and I remember petticoats and skirts that had tie closures. It extended the wear time of the garment. In our family, it was to save money. :)

Something to remember about historical research. Often times things are NOT mentioned because they are so common. It is assumed that everyone knows about it already. If you think about recipes today the type of egg is never mentioned because everyone knows that the default is chicken eggs. In some distant future that might not be know and we have someone trying to make a cake. Wondering if it is a quail egg or an Ostridge egg. The lack of evidence of side split petticoats may be because of their popularity.

Great video. It is interesting that most Third World clothing is adaptable for both pregnancy and non-pregnancy. I wear Boho and ethnic clothing with elastic and drawstring waists. My weight has fluctuated massively in recent years, losing nearly 70 lb and the only clothes I got rid of were the closely fitting ones. I have ethnic dresses with ties at the back, and skirts and trousers that are 30 years old and I never stopped wearing them.

I wanted to add in on the discussion, specifically around the Hakama, as someone who has about 85% completed mostly hand-sewing a bifurcated hakama for myself (one day I will complete it, i swear), I just wanted to point out that the traditional styling of a woman's hakama with kimono actually does diminish the ability for one's kimono to function as basically one giant pocket. the reason I say this is because it covers up the obi, which is these days often used as a pocket depending on how the tie is fashioned at the back (or occasionally front) of the outfit. I have seen people demonstrate the ability to use various parts of the kimono as a pocket, including specific obi knots being used to enclose purses etc, which i think is just really damn cool! that being said, Hakama definitely is great for walking like a badass.

Planned obsolescence is also why the wool industry recommends Woolite. When my ma took up spinning in the 1980s, she passed on to me what she learned from other fiber nuts: Woolite's alkalinity is destructive to wool . Protein fibers last longer if they share your shampoo. I recall 1970s shampoo ads carrying on about low pH. I figured describing a HABA as acidic was bad marketing. For a load of silks and wools, Mom even poured a circle of cheap shampoo right around the agitator in the washing machine! I had been hand washing those in sinks and buckets when care tags and fashion mags touted doing so instead of dry cleaning, but they weren't ready to wear again as fast as machine washed garments! When Mom told me they could survive cold and gentle cycles, it took some digesting. Silks can be tossed in with mixed loads, but wool needs protection from agitation more than heat or it shrinks by felting. Also, cotton will do it's shrinking and find a stopping point, but wool will never stop shrinking, as the scales of the fibers grab each other like ratchets.

In the 17th century, maternity clothes looked quite similar to what you're referencing here with the pollera, but longer, with a bedjacket, something close to a modern bathrobe, but shorter. The images I saw showed an underbust gather in the bed jacket. I'll come back with the book reference!

Thank you! That was so much fun to hear about all your research and experience. On the adjustable clothing friend front I didn't do it on purpose but many years ago I made an elastic waisted skirt with a bias-cut yoke at the top and gathered skirt starting just above the hip line. I loved it because the bias yoke and elastic waist easily grew and shrank with me over the years, and lasting in a way none of my more modern knit clothes ever have.

Thank you to the algorithm for showing me this channel! Just subscribed! Loving all these examples of adjustable clothing from history. I don't think the reason these aren't sold anymore is because people would have to 'buy fewer clothes', but that the aesthetic has changed significantly. It's much harder to do adjustable clothing for weight gain if the aesthetic is more skintight, or slim, or 'snatched'. The examples shown are quite voluminous, and sort of lock you into either a flowy style or an a-line style. In any case, fashion companies love selling people things with elastic and drawstrings and other forms of adjustability in them. I think they would just compensate by saying "buy 10 of our adjustable skirts, in all these different colors and styles." I also suspect these are much harder to manufacture and sew (and therefore more expensive) than stuff that's elastic-y. It's still a great project for home sewists, though, and it's lovely to see that there are both skirt and pant variations available for the lower body. I love your enthusiasm, and I look forward to your future videos!

The side-split style also kind of reminds me a little of the ancient Greek chiton -- that being more of a full-body garment than a lower-body skirt, of course. In its most basic form, you have two rectangular panels that pin together at the shoulders and then wrap around the body, overlapping at the sides, and are held closed by a belt. Obviously, super adjustable.

Women spent their lives bearing 8-12 children from age 15-45 and thus in constant state of body transition. Split sides only makes sense. Good video.

Hiya, Hakama is pronounced Hak - a - ma, rather than Ha - kama. It is more commonly used in Japanese martial arts these days, such as Aikido, Ninjitsu, or Kendo....they are quite particular as you say in how they are tied up, also once taken off, there is a method to how you fold all the pleats and then the whole garment. Quite a ritual. Thanks for the video, very interesting 👍

You are stinking adorable and super entertaining! I’m not one for many RU-vid videos, but this held my attention the entire time. I don’t sew well, but I am looking forward to a tutorial so I can make one of these for myself!

I ended up buying one size fits all expensive thick material, natural fabrics only boho dresses. They'll come with ties and if the clothing is still falling off you, you can always stitch more ties in. Now I can gain and lose weight freely - my garb will always fit me.

I wear one (own 3) when i dress to portray a 1780s working woman. I have a handmade soap business called Colonial Soap Works and I am the Colonial Soap Lady! I now live in Idaho and this is very novel. Welcome to my century!

Loved this video. Fun fact: “pollera” is also the generic term for a skirt in Argentina. Also, one of the reasons for tied closures is they were less likely to get damaged on the laundry process.