1940’s Utility Suit

May 2019

As the final project of my degree, I chose something with an interesting challenge in terms of pattern drafting and construction. It is a recreation of a utility suit designed and manufactured by Edward Molyneux in 1942 to be distributed under the board of trade. This suit is currently held in the V&A Clothworker’s Archives, so before undertaking this project I carried out thorough research into the extant garments.

Due to the clever pattern matching on the collar there are many elements that have been intelligently designed and produced. The collar, or lack thereof, is pattern matched in such a way that fabric use is remarkably economical and removes the need for pad-stitching or anything more than body canvas.

The blouse has been drafted using a book from the 1940s dedicated to home sewing and alterations.

Modelled by Liv Burnage