Ward's Spring/Summer 1947 // Cataloging Catalogs

A quick flip through Montgomery Wards Spring/Summer 1947 catalog! This one didn't have quite as many covetable dresses as I had expected, but the handbags and hats were as fabulous as ever ✨
Check out the scans on Pinterest : / montgomery-wards-sprin...
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But wait there's more! A PO BOX finally wahoo!
First, a disclaimer: So many of you have kindly offered to send me things, including vintage items you may have inherited, and I am so honored you would think of me and of course I do adore vintage treasures, however, unfortunately I only have so much storage space currently! So there is a chance that if something just wont work for me, or doesn't fit me etc, that I may not be able to keep all of your lovely things. Please only send things if you are okay with the possibility that I may donate items I just cannot keep. If you would prefer I put things that I can't keep into the TCH Etsy shop to help raise funds for me and the channel, please specify this in a note or letter in your parcel. Thank you so much!
Bianca Esposito
PO Box 632177
Highlands Ranch, CO 80163
Thank you for watching!

[@TheClosetHistorian]

Did Pinterest time me out for uploading too many pages in a row? Yes! The rest of the scans will coming throughout the day, as they allow, since they fear I am a robot.

[@kathyjohnson2043]

They saw some of your creations (blade runner, etc)

[@NoDecaf7]

My favorite part of these videos is how you point out the different ways these items are constructed. It isn't just flipping through the pages and ogling the pretty clothes, it's learning how to look at these items and break them down into pieces. The graphic at 7:53 is so valuable. Thank you!

[@suno8911]

I did the quickest screenshot in my my life!

[@JessicasCreativeSpot]

Yes, I love this! And I've been noticing that I've started deconstructing things I see in real life 😂

[@JessicasCreativeSpot]

​@suno8911 I like to pause the video, Tap to remove the menu stuff then take a screenshot 😊

[@KlingonPrincess]

Oh, yes, please! More catalog videos. I imagine the whole process including pinning is time consuming, but so very valuable to us all. 🌻🍄

[@ChociMilki]

Wooohooo! Love hearing Professor B reverse engineer these beautiful pieces of history, perhaps the spirits of unsung tailors past appreciate your remembrance of their stylish work! Wishing you the best with the house hunting! Xoxo

[@gadgetgirl02]

In addition to the styles,I wish all those marvellous fabric patterns would come back (especially those geometrics at the beginning). I'm known for hating on patterns, but these are wonderful.

[@chaeburger]

I love Cataloging Catalogs. I'm both nosy and I love a good catalog. They are so nice as little time capsules of fashion 💚

[@jeanboden8198]

What a treasure! Thank you for sharing.

[@sydneybell5017]

I so adore these catalogue videos. More 40s is always appreciated! God I wish we could buy those hats today. ❤️

[@cambriasvintagehobby8123]

I have several vintage 1940s/1950s shirt dresses with the “fly” opening below the waist and they either have no closure (if small enough to not gap) or a snap to hold it closed. Makes it easier to get in and out of for sure😏. Thanks for the video! I love when you go through a catalog!

[@Hippiechick11]

I had some of these dresses in the 80s.

[@blackmirrorprisoners]

for some reason your video didn't show up in my feed. I just need to say that you do so much for the fashion community in not just teaching us about fashion but also archiving history. that's something I'm really passionate about and I'm glad other people are too!

[@pattim9617]

I love watching your catalog videos, would love to see more, and your sewing ones as well. This one was especially fun. My parents were married in 1947, tells you how old I am :-). I worked in my brothers vintage clothing store in Michigan years ago and have a few 1940’s suits, shoes, hats, jewelry etc, loved that era. I would take one of each in that catalog also.

[@danielled403]

The style, yes, but THE FABRIC. 😍

[@daedubois9428]

I love a Hat. I vote we bring back fashion Hats!! 😁

[@julietokumaru3855]

I enjoy the cataloging catalogs very much

[@SandraL489]

Oh, a new catalogue video, hooray!!! I alway love these, especially when you're explaining how the dresses are done in the voiceover - I learn so much from that! In the past year and a half I've made some threescore garments die to your encouraging videos and I love being able to do my own designs thanks to what I learned here. How about a extended version for your Patreon?

[@saracyclesandsews]

I LOVE these videos and always watch them! Please continue them as your schedule allows. 🥰

[@TheClosetHistorian]

Thank you Sara!

[@Colin.Smith.Pianist]

I absolutely love these!! I'm dying to see more, and obviously want one of my own.

[@dyanalayng5507]

Love these proofs of past dress styles!

[@bellaadoraa]

Oh YES, I have been very excited to see one of these videos again !

[@paintingwithnicole]

oooh!!! what a delight to look through

[@belindacoba5158]

i love your catalogues videos!!! I loved on of the pink dresess de one with like an asymetric peplum that goes all the way to the hem in on side, I think you have done a similar skirt...

[@laurajones4088]

Love your cataloging catalog videos!

[@Siansonea]

Always love the catalog videos!

[@MommaRose956]

No lie. I had a dress very much like one of the blue 80’s dresses. In the 80’s. 😂😂😂

[@zvezdoblyat]

I love these so so much!

[@joannaerhardt7294]

I NEEEED that pink rooster dress! 😍 🐓

[@obsidianrosestudio2663]

The 30s and 40s hats really are the best, especially for some of their utter rediculousness. My collection is starving to rival yours😄.

[@bonnielundholm5535]

I just can not get over how similar these styles are to when I was in high school in the early 80s. The shoulder pads are bigger, but the styles are the same.

[@dipeshagrawal4675]

80s does 40s , a lot of mid to late 40s is referenced in 80s designs

[@suno8911]

Peep show + commentary= heaven. Thank you for the time you take showing and explaining. I rewatch these over and over, plus I love your sense of humour.

[@joiedevivre2005]

I had to watch this video while lying on my sofa because I kept SWOONING from all the GORGEOUSNESS!!! So much inspiration! Thank you for sharing!

[@emmayoung330]

These catalogue tours are gold!!! Thank you for the effort and time you put into them!

[@arvettadelashmit9337]

Every time I watch an old "I Love Lucy" show, I love looking at those dresses on Lucy and Ethel. Their house dresses were beautiful. We hardly see a woman in a dress today. Yes. More please. It makes me happy.

[@AndreaIris86]

Yes please, more catalogues! Also, I, for one, would love to hear your commentary on catalogues from outside of US, if you'd ever manage to acquire some

[@marathorne6821]

Oh, excellent! 🎉 I adore these catalogue videos 😍 So much gorgeousness in less than 30 minutes is a rare treat! Thank you, Bianca 🙏

[@kellymartin2603]

Your 'Cataloging Catalogs' series are my favorite videos to listen to while typing up chapters. I tend to zone out when I type up up chapters (which is a good thing, because it's very tedious) but because of that, I don't like to listen to videos where I have to pay close attention (like your sewing/project videos), which is why 'Cataloging Catalogs' is the best, because to me it's just fun chat time with Bianca. You keep me company as I type, and when I'm NOT zoned out, I get to hear all about the pretty clothes/hats/shoes/etc. So, yes- to me, they will always be desirable, but also, I completely understand that there isn't an unending supply of these things, not to mention the strain it puts on you to make them (whether you have to buy them, or if you already have one, then the mental capacity and time sink in order to actually make one of these videos and put in the work to make it enjoyable), so I will never be disappointed if you feel like you have to discontinue the series, either because of a lack of interest on your audience's part, or a lack of resources (time, energy, catalogs) on your part. It's always nice spending time with you Bianca, no matter what the project is.

[@Sonicsandsoundwaves]

Always YES to more catalog videos! I love getting to look at the pretty, but the information about construction and styling is really helpful too.

[@vincentbriggs1780]

That fish print at 4:19 is so cute! Edit: Ohh there are SO many cute prints! Man, it's been way too long since I've drawn repeating patterns. I like these cataloguing videos, would you ever consider also looking at the menswear pages? It's so far from my era that I have no idea what sort of things they're wearing, but I assume they must have at least a few fun printed shirts.

[@amb163]

OMG!! I got into your videos about 1.5-2 years ago with your Cataloging Catalogs series, and I've been hoping you'd do more! THANK YOU :D

[@beckymiller1840]

We will mostly definitely like to see more cataloging catalogs!!!!!

[@TheBmweed]

These are some of my fave videos that you do! I love the little notes you make and pointing out the style lines - it's great!

[@robintheparttimesewer6798]

Oh that was fun. Definitely reminded me of the 80's! I so enjoy looking through the old catalogues.

[@bethliebman8169]

Yay. A catalogue video. More please.

[@rmorine6394]

I really enjoyed this! It made me imagine my grandmother, born 1910 in Arkansas, poring over this catalog, maybe wishing she could save up enough for a pretty hat or some shoes.

[@FinnishMetalFanatic]

I would definitely like to see how to draft the gathered dress pattern 12:15! It caught my eye immediately.

[@haileyleon4794]

Me too!!

[@karengoldie6801]

How fun and educational. Those heels! I thought heels that high came much later!

[@suemeonyoutube]

No patent leather? No problem. Any pair of decent leather shoes can be spit-shined (mirror-shined, parade-shined) up to a very convincing dupe of patent leather - and in less than half an hour. Fully reversible, too. There are scores of videos on KZbin showing how to do it - just check out the channels catering to 'dapper gents' or shoe repair and restoration. 😊

[@belindagritter1572]

Watched with interest as that’s when I was born, summer of 1947. So much fun to imagine back to that time. I always love the catalogue shows.

[@michellecornum5856]

Yay! We haven't cataloged a catalog in a long time and I'm in hunt mode. Some of these are very Marion Martin or Anne Adams pattern looking. LOVE THIS!! And YES!!! Of course do a pattern making video on these.

[@ghostsandcoffee126]

I would love to see a tutorial on that lovely gathered to almost swiss waist dress! I saw that one and hoped it would be the focus of that page and it was! Love this series 💜 It gives me so many ideas!

[@lesleyharris525]

Yes please, more monologues on fabulous fashion. Thanks ❤

[@jennasilver94]

You should've seen how I rushed home to watch this 😂 I love these videos!

[@TheVioletWolf]

LOOVVVVVVVVE THIS!! I do live for your cataloging catalogs.

[@persephonebasilissa5109]

Those suit jackets also feel very '80s. Only we'd pair them with shorter skirts.

[@roecocoa]

13:27 The boy's a ⏰💣

[@AuthenticWe]

Oh yes 8:10 in and that fabulous jacket in middle I have a modern pattern of that’ll modify well for that tulip 🌷 cut on waistline

[@bohemiansusan2897]

That was a lot of fun thanks! Now think of the average middle class wardrobe size; 3-4 each of dresses, blouses, skirts and sweaters. Even that is way too little for my minimalist wardrobe. The waist you discussed immediately brought Wallis Simpson's wedding dress to mind. It is straight across the top and made by Mainbocher.

[@lizcademy4809]

That's about what I have for office clothing - 3-4 dresses, a couple skirts, a couple pairs of woman's dress trousers, and 4-6 tops. And 3 indoor jackets. Some of the pieces are very seasonal, so I don't wear them year round. [A beige extended cap sleeve linen shirtdress just doesn't work in a Minneapolis winter, with warm tights and boots.] It's enough clothing so I don't look boring, but not too much for my old closet (my home was built in 1900).

[@bohemiansusan2897]

@@lizcademy4809 mine is 6-8 of blouses, skirts, trousers, sweaters, dresses and four pairs of jeans. Plus an insane amount of blazers. My clothes go from professional to Goth/Punk and I dress it up or down for what I want. I have three Hanboks to wear to formal events and a white raw silk or for Korean funerals.

[@beatricenowell8207]

Love this catalog!♥ Many of these dresses look similar to "Claire McCardell's" design, located at the MET. Maybe this design was popular like the wrap dress Diane Von Furstenberg's designed in the mid-1970's. Whatever the case, I'm in love with this collection. I want to try to create most of the looks, and especially one with a pleated peplum since I don't like the gathered fullness of most peplums. BTW, I loved the peplum Bianca did on the blue all in one top with the matching pleated skirt - maybe 3-4 years ago. I wonder if I could add pleats in an A-line skirt block to get the shape of the peplum right....???🤔🧐🤨

[@lizcademy4809]

I really like that you show current prices ... I'm an old lady and my mind is stuck on the prices I paid for nice clothing in the 1980s. "That dress ... $50? No! $170." Makes me feel better about paying what seems like a lot of money for clothing. Also ... back in the 1970s and 80s, Ward's did not sell high quality clothing ... seeing that they sold pure wool suits with lots of handwork means they changed their target market at some point ... when?

[@laurelnolen2056]

I’m sure these videos take a lot more effort than one might expect, but they’re always a treat, so please keep making them! Love the print on the dress at 0:47.

[@dawsie]

Boy that brought back memories, we use to get the yearly catalog in the UK can’t remember the name of it, but Mom and I would spend hours going through it and leaving bookmarks on all the items that we would love to buy if we had the money. lol Mom bought her ever first vacuum from the catalog, now that’s when things were made to really last, she bought it in 1971, when I moved into my own apartment Mom upgraded her vacuum and I got to take the old 1971 vacuum it was still working in 2011 but the fittings were so worn lose by then I was wrapping them with bandages so they would still suck up the dirt and dust 😹😹 the motor was a workhorse Dad repurposed the motor once the body of the vacuum finally died. That darn motor is still working to this day just doing a new job, I’m sure it’s going to out live me😹😹😹 It’s a shame that we can’t get catalogs like these today. I loved going through them, I hate going out to the shops it’s just too exhausting and it’s just not as much fun as sitting all curled up with a good cup of coffee and a packet of post-it-notes to bookmark dream items lol

[@baricala]

God, I love shoulder pads. When I dressed up as Joan Crawford for Halloween I had to make a 5 inches thick shoulder pad for my costume 🤣

[@soniamartin3753]

I love love love ❤❤❤ catalogue videos!! Especially because you explain so much about the construction. It's really inspiring and I feel like attending a lecture (in a good way haha)

[@persephonebasilissa5109]

Polka dots and gingham are still my favorite prints here in the mid '20s.

[@tiredoftrolls2629]

The suits would be too expensive for me, being just under $700, but the cost for the hats in 2024 are cheaper than hats I see sold now, with the 1940s being less than $60.00

[@CeliaCase-q6z]

Lovin' your commentary Bianca! Pinterest here I come. Oh how many of these catalogs did my Mom throw away... Oh if we could only place our orders! So fun to look and dream and enjoy.

[@mollyn03]

Oh, I LOVE the Catalog tours - not just the catalogs themselves (which would be fascinating on their own) but you always explain them so well.

[@amilan409]

Love those hats ... ij, so I may be a lil crazy .. BUT ... could I make a pillbox hat out of netting bath sponge stuff, or is that just too crazy ?

[@emilyweaver]

i would LOVE to see a video about that juniors gathered dress with the pointed waist panel!! I'm always trying to find dresses and skirts with that diamond or V shaped waist!

[@Mari-rx1ei]

Oh thank you so so much Bianca ! I absolutely adore these sessions. Pure Eyecandy combined with your enlightening & amusing comments. Bliss 💗

[@petapendlebury9024]

I too am not a gathered skirt girl but I am most definitely a few sewn down pleats skirt one! It was one of the first patterns I drafted and I think some of those shirtwaists may be on my to make list now. Those 80s dresses - tbh the hair isn't too far off either if you think about the P Diana long pageboy. I definitely avoided that one! Although the huge perm......😂

[@Beth-ch7pj]

I would love to see more catalogue videos! That weather vane print dress with the little arrow belt was so pretty and unique! Im a little surprised to see it in a catalogue from the 40's, i always associate that kind of novelty wear with the 50's. I know ladies in the 40's went nuts with their hats but im used to seeing less of that with the rest of the outfits, so that was very interesting to me 🤔. Im with you on the heels though omg i wish shops still made shoes like that! (I know some repro brands do but i have narrow feet and a modern fit is too wide for me to wear safely w/o multiple straps and its the strapless shoes i like the best!😭) I hope you're doing ok and life is being kind to you ❤

[@princesssparkle529]

Finally somebody gets it. The 80s is just the 40s rebranded. And the 80s evening dresses are just the 20s with shoulder pads

[@cherylrosbak4092]

I really want to try that princess-into-raglan/bishop sleeve. I've got some lovely light wools that might do, and I adore an intricate jacket

[@pinkkitten00]

Wow! I'm so glad you shared this! The blue and white striped dress in the center of one of the color pages looks just like the first vintage dress I ever made a pattern from. The one I had was grey and yellow though. It was given to me by a coworker and in really rough shape, so I carefully took it apart and made a pattern, its still one of my favorite dresses to sew, its so comfortable! its so cool to see it in a catalogue like this!

[@MeMe-Moi]

I love those shoulder tucks on the all in one bodices. I have been trying to figure those out for ages, ever since I "borrowed" a dress from my grandmother that had that style element.

[@Jane-cr9bp]

Thanks for sharing Bianca - so informative - all the better with your wonderful sense of humour! 🦘🐨

[@janetmaffy5375]

As many cataloging catalogs videos as you want to do, I'll watch! Wheels turning with plans...

[@catherinerw1]

I remember my mum having Grattan caalogues in the 70s, wonder if they are now also a vintage collectable thing?

[@LOLokBuddy]

YAY! I love your videos on these catalogues so much, it's so fascinating to see the changing fashions through the different catalogue years

[@MariaFrancesca]

"I'll have one of each!" - and that's how I came to have a Maximalist home 😅 Ack, these catalogues teases us with their lost treasures 🙂

[@JessicasCreativeSpot]

4:46 do you have any suggestions for making your own gloves? Info from you or suggestions for people you see teaching how to do the gloves?

[@MelanieMartinCreates]

Just realised that all the dresses my grandma ever made were based on that style. She essentially never “outgrew” the style she wore in her 20ies. Made me a bit nostalgic.

[@marcco44]

i have to investigate, but one of those blonde models looks like a young Grace Kelly

[@ShakespeareDoomsday]

I bet it would be totally possible to hide pockets under the pleats to the dress on the left at 9:40! I love the house coat on the right at 17:09!

[@coreygilles847]

I love these! It is like a window to the past ❤

[@pennydreadfull]

Love❤❤ my Mom's Jr yr. Wish I had a ton of those prints, hats and shoes

[@esranuryazar564]

More of these videos please! They are my absolute favorites, you do them so well

[@lindsaystratis4192]

I actually have this catalog!! I can follow along with you as you go through it ❤

[@isaacssproutedsourdough1613]

The cataloging videos are wonderful!

[@kathyjohnson2043]

Love the peep-toe shoes with ankle straps! Add a tee strap and I'm in heaven

[@gemimalondon]

Wow, thanks for this, it's great!

[@pinkporcupineknits]

I love this series. I'd like to see more into the 50s - New Look style.

[@YumYumTinkerbell]

I love these videos! Thx for sharing ❤🎉

[@Kera.S.]

Wow! I want at least 1 of everything! 💙

[@jaded_gerManic]

Love these catalogue videos! 💜👾💜

[@carlamorris4549]

@TheClosetHistorian - Thank you!! Please can you let us know what book the graphic of the page full of dart examples came from? Was super helpful, was there more at the top?

[@TheClosetHistorian]

It's from Mabel Erwin's Practical Dress Design: Principles of Fitting and Pattern Making ✨

[@anonymousperson4214]

I adore this series! I'm so glad there's an update! Incidentally, the Blue Patterning Table of Doom is grey now?

[@TheClosetHistorian]

Thank you! I promise the wood stain color is called "Worn Navy", as I stained it myself 😅 It's dull blue, but it counts, also the wood cover on the table top is a loooong story.

[@JessicasCreativeSpot]

Yes please show how you would make the dress!

[@alisalarsen9163]

Yay!!!!!!! I’ve missed these videos 🤩