Dating Fabric & History

Much of my love of sewing vintage is derived from imagining the history behind the fabrics, patterns and notions I use for my garments. Very rarely will I use a pattern and not imagine who used it before me, what they created and whatever happened to them. I absolutely love finding handwritten markings on the patterns or torn out pictures from catalogs tucked into the envelopes. 

That's the personal side I love. There's also the historical context that's also incredibly interesting to discover. When you find a piece of vintage fabric in a bin at an estate sale or a shop, there's not much to go by with regard to date and history. Educated guesses will help narrow down the era but unless you're a textile historian, you're pretty much guesstimating. 

End of long preamble. 

All that in mind, you can imagine my excitement as I read this blog post and came upon this photo of Twiggy from a December 1967 issue of Bazaar. The fabric of Twiggy's dress is the exact same fabric I picked up two weekends ago at the East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse. While I'd probably be more excited if I saw a photo of an everyday woman wearing the fabric, this dating helps me give my clothes context. If I weighed 91 pounds (Twiggy's weight in 1967) and 31-22-32 (her measurements), I'd probably endeavor to create a replica dress. But given that my thigh is probably the only thing that would fit in that waistline, I'll stick to some 1967 sundress in a hearty 38 bust.