pattern junkie

We Have A Winner!

Congratulations to Bratling, who provided a great alternative story to Simplicity 1617 and thus wins the first Pattern Junkie contest:

"...I think that stripes has the golf club as protection from squinty eyed white pajama man. There is obviously something sinister about white pajama man's book. Perhaps it is a manual on how to take over the world, and Stripes' golf club is the only thing that can stop it! Perhaps the golf club is a Bond-esque weapon that will stop White Pajama man from enacting his nefarious plan!... The golf club blends in for camouflage! So when Stripes attacks to stop Squinty-eyed White Pajama Man, he won't know where it's coming from!"

 

Bratling, the pattern is yours!  Just email me your address (my email is at the upper left) and Stripes and Squinty will come home to you. 

Sometimes A Cigar is Just a Cigar and Two Men in PJs are Just...

Remember just last week when I suggested that Simplicity 1617 here was a prime example of The Pajama Problem?  That the poor illustrator, perplexed at having to visually explain why two men were in PJs together, made it into a virtual horror movie -- what with Stripes and his missing eye and different colored hands?

Lo and behold, a few days ago I was going through patterns to list in my etsy shop and I found this very same pattern!  It was then that I discovered that some of my conclusions were quite wrong -- the mismatched hands and missing eye are the result of aged paper, not illustrator madness  See?  Here's my copy:

Stripes isn't missing an eye -- both of his eyes are closed.  And I can't believe that I missed the golf club in his right hand!  For some reason the stripes on his pajamas show through it -- is it clear?  Invisible?

So, dear readers, I must revise my earlier interpretation.  White isn't in the middle of performing horrible medical experiments on Stripes.  And, of course, there's a perfectly logical reason why these men are in pajamas together.  Stripes is sleepwalking (hence the closed eyes) and has wandered into White's house, disturbing him as he's reading.  Furthermore, I'm pretty sure Stripes is dreaming about golf -- that's why the club blends so perfectly with his pajamas.

This mixup of mine calls for a mea culpa in the form of a PATTERN GIVEAWAY, so let me know what you think!  Is there another explanation for what's going on here?  Leave your answer in the comments -- you have until Sunday night, 2/21/10, midnight PST, and the pajama pattern is yours!

When The Pajama Problem is Just Too Much

Welcome to Men's Week, Day 3!

Yesterday I presented the Pajama Problem faced by illustrators of the past: what to do when a men's nightwear pattern had two views?  How to explain two men in PJs together?  Usually an array of props -- golf clubs, memos, etc -- presented the event as an odd nighttime business meeting.

But sometimes, the Pajama Problem was just too much.  Here in Simplicity 2289 (circa 1930s), I can feel the illustrator's terror rising right off the page.  "No!  No!  Just because it's two men in pajamas doesn't mean they have to look (whispered voice) gay."  And yet in trying so hard NOT to do that, the artist came up with something that seemed to betray his or her worst fears.  Stripes has shoulders so wide he makes Tan look femme by comparison, and Tan clutches the clock as if he's washing dishes.  In fact, Tan's lips are almost red:

 

The illustrator for Simplicity 1617 (late 1930s), on the other hand, seems to have suffered a nervous breakdown at the prospect of showing (gasp!) two men in pajamas together.  Take a look:

 

It's as if his or her neurons just misfired all at once.  "Two men in pajamas -- does not compute!  Too bizarre to contemplate!"  Green Trim with his villainous mustache clutches a book (with that freakishly long finger!) in one hand, but what's he hiding behind his back?  And what's happened to poor Stripes?  Dear God, his hands are different colors and he's MISSING AN EYE!  But he's better off than Back View, who is not only missing a right forearm but his entire head.  This isn't a pattern illustration, nor is it simply two men in pajamas -- it's a scene from a horror movie!

You may think there's an obvious solution to the Pajama Problem: throw a woman or two into the mix.  Nope, that presents its own problems.  Two men, one woman?  Two men, two women?  Why are all of them in PJs together?  As far as I can tell, pattern illustrators didn't try this one out until the advent of the sexual revolution, with some particularly humorous results.

Here's McCall's 2218 from 1969.  Three Hefner-esque guys and one woman -- and they actually wrote "Quickie" on the pattern?

 

Even better: Butterick 4158 from the early 1970s.  Looks like Mustache lost out tonight -- and don't tell me the illustrator didn't know there was a suggestion of that!

Do you have any examples of The Pajama Problem?  Send 'em to me, I'd love to post them!

Two Men in Robes = Panic!

Day Two of Men's Week brings us to...The Pajama Problem.

Look through vintage pajama and robe patterns for men and one thing becomes clear: pattern illustrators of the past got very nervous when they had to illustrate more than one view of a male nightwear pattern.  Because that meant...that meant...

...that meant they'd be showing two or more men in nightclothes TOGETHER.  And that raised the question...WHY were these men in pajamas together?  Hmmm?  Hmmm?!

The most common solution to The Pajama Problem?  Give the men objects to show they were DOING something.  Because if they were doing something, they couldn't, you know, be doing something else...

In Simplicity 5039, it's quite simple.  Shorts is golfing (golfing?!) while Nightshirt and Blue discuss Important Business:

 

The "sheaf of papers in hand" in Blue's hand is a favorite solution.  Men, you see, just can't stop Meeting About Memos, even if it's time for beddy bye.

Advance 5878:

 

McCall's 4186:

 
Even in the 70s, that sheaf of papers came in handy.  In Simplicity 7080, Yellow may be getting a little friendly with Plaid, who just stepped out of the shower, but Red has a TPS Report that needs discussing, stat!

Another favorite remedy (as shown in McCall's 4816 above), was to show the robe worn over a tie, pants and dress shoes.  Here's another example, Simplicity 4349:

 
And yet another, Vogue 8753.  Little Mr. No Pants in the back there may be going to bed, but Red and Gray are wheeling, dealing and trading stocks even though the market is closed:

Truth be told, I found so many examples of robes over ties that I have to ask my readers who've studied fashion and costume history: was there a time when men came home and doffed their suit jackets for robes?

Tomorrow: When the Pajama Problem is just too much...