unfortunalety woman were slimmer in the 70's...[sorry the pics are really big]

[astronautine]

So I got this old Burda Magazine from the 1970's of my granny and decided to make a cute vintage-shirt.
 Usually I wear size 38/40, so I took that size, but... women in the 1970's must have been really slim.

 I could hardly get in the shirt and when I wanted to get out my mum had to help me. It took like 10 minutes and it really has hurt in the back, so in the end we had to cut it open. First I was really sad and thought that I'd have to throw it away, but then I thought about and found a solution. I've left open a large part of the back, so that it show now my beautiful back. And in the front it looks just as it should be.


Here are some views of the back.


Now, I love it. And I still got a lot of the fabric, so I'll make a really cute dress of that.

[yvonnevantpadje]

Sizes were diffrent in those days. As I believe 42 was the 'standard' size back then, while now it's 38 or something.

But this is really cute and I love the fabric you used.

[i_am_alexia]

Aw that sucks about the sizing, but at least you found a solution (which I really want to see).

And I love the fabric.

[nushybum]

I agree about the sizing changes - it's better to go by the actual finished measurements, or sometimes they have a chart which tells you the measurements  corresponding to the sizes. Your top is cute though. And I like the headlines they have - "these fashions make your life more beautiful" hehe.

[mezofoprezo]

Do you have any pictures of the back? The fabric is so pretty... I love old patterns, and I'm really curious about the back!

[lefty8881]

haha!  i love that magazine!!  i wish my grandma had old german sewing magazines!!  i love reading random german stuff!

oh yeah, the shirts really cute too! 

[i_am_alexia]

Thanks for the pics of the back! It'd be like a sexy suprise when you turn around, cos the fronts all covered up but when you turn around it's all woah! I love it so much more now I've seen the back(and I loved it alot to begin with).

[lafemmedramatique]

Yes, sizing was much much different then... take Marylin Monroe.... she was a size 12 back in her day... did she look a size 12? No... why? Because a size 12 is roughly what a size 8 is now.... so, ya....

[MissWednesday]

Just so you know, women were a lot 'smaller' back then mostly due to the fact that they all (the majority of them) wore corsets and girdles under their clothes. It's all very interesting to read about - by the late 70's, girdles etc were starting to become less common, hence why women's sizing changed.

I'ma try and find a good website that explains this a bit better for you.

Edited to add: This site is full of excellent information (and great retro pictures!): http://www.corsetiere.net/Spirella/Contents.htm