You may be thinking “August? What about July’s issue?” and to this I say Wow, you’re way more observant than I am, because I only noticed that July never arrived until I went to scan this issue in. Sad face.
But not for long, because this issue is all about party dresses, because it’s their 55th anniversary issue! Judging by the number of articles talking about the history of Manequim magazine and photos of old issues, I thought for sure we’d get some great vintage reprints, a’la Burda magazine, but alas, no – not a single vintage pattern here.
First up is a sweatshirt pattern, offered in a wide range of sizes, that is a pretty standard design except for the inclusion of two zippers at the hem. They don’t appear to have pockets behind them, but are instead just purely decorative.
I didn’t really like any of the styles in the cover star’s feature, but the “designer style” this month is Tom Ford, and this faux-wrap dress looks to be a classic design (and not just because it reminds me of that New Look pattern everyone was sewing in 2006!).
There’s also a long sleeved teeshirt pattern offered in a bunch of sizes. Ignoring the weird, distressed fabric, this would be a great basic pattern to use as a starting point for any number of styles…
“Is it a dreeeeeeeeeeeeesssss, or a muppet? Is it a muppet of a dress (or a very dressy muppet)?” Apologies to anyone who hasn’t seen the Muppet Movie yet and has no idea what I’m singing.
In amongst all the OTT sequins and lamé and cutout ballgowns, this top and maxi skirt stood out in their simplicity and chic – the top is just a surplice, sleeveless shell with the front gathered at the side seams and some sheer panels at the shoulders. Very nice, and easy to recreate from any number of similar cross-over neckline patterns.
The 1980s called – they want their awful, cheap, scratchy lace and peplum monstrosity back.
There’s a full section on shirts in this issue, to which I thought I might find a good pattern candidate for the Liberty lawn I bought earlier this summer, but most of the patterns are for lightweight silks or voiles, and of the ones that are for shirtings, they’re really just the basic shape you’d find anywhere. So here’s one for a silk instead, since I liked the colourblocking and casual styling.
And finally, there’s a featuring listing “55 Icons of Fashion” which provide a handful of patterns for things like a trench coat, white shirt, etc, but I particularly liked this little black dress with alternating panels of faux leather and sweatshirting.
And from the same feature, we get patterns for an A Line dress with some nice understated layering at the lower skirt (which kinda reminds me of the Truffle dress is the Colette Patterns book), and a versatile little mini skirt in a bunch of sizes.
So for me, this wasn’t the most useful of issues, and I still mourn the one that got away (I’ll never know what glories it contained, as they never have old stock leftover!). But on the upside, I made a Manequim pattern the other weekend, which I’ll show to you as soon as we get a photoshoot done!