Baby Doll, or Baby Due? McCalls 8755 from 1967

As fashion in the 1960s swerved away from the the iconic hour-glass silhouette of the 1950s run into some strange territory. A-line or exaggerated A-line dress shapes showed up. But that shape resembled traditional little girl’s clothing which often had dresses that flared from the shoulders with mid-thigh hemlines and matching bloomers. These looks allowed tots to run and play without putting them into pants. When Mary Quant actually sent models for women’s fashion down the runway with baby bonnets and pacifiers, the toddler look ran right off the road and into sheer absurdity.

But there was another way that an exaggerated A-line silhouette has shown up in women’s clothing: in maternity wear. In that case, instead of accommodating play, the clothing makes room for a changing shape. 

This pattern from 1967 re-minded me of the many signals that particular silhouettes can send to our minds depending on their connotations. A woman’s natural curves are completely lost in the flare of the dress which reaches about two yards around at its hemline. Does that make it childish or promising of children? Other than color-blocking, the dress is very simple like many dresses of the 1960s when Young and Youthful styles completely crowded out Sophisticated styles. Notice too it came in Misses sizes for grown women, and for Junior sizes, another nod to the idea that grown women wanted to look like big children.

The dress has no sleeves and no collar, only patch pockets, which are lined, and a zipper up the back. They call it an “Easy” pattern which indicates they assumed more skill on the part of dressmakers as today when a pattern is noted “easy” it usually has no zipper, much less a lined pocket.

They suggest you may want to underline it; that is to add a stiffer fabric underneath your fashion fabric. An interesting suggestion as it makes a simple dress much more time-consuming in the making, and indicates the importance of keeping the fabric well away from the body when worn. Clearly, the flared silhouette was key to the look.