Dutiful housewife
Role Model Mindset: Follow the rules
Vintage pattern (1965), vintage fabric (1970s), remnant button
“Doris was a sweet woman, who was born in the 1920s and grew up in the Great Depression. Her parents were English, working class folk, who moved to Australia early in the century.
Her father died when Doris was young, and her mother remarried, because she needed someone to provide for her and her children. ”
Design
Time ticked by and I was becoming more panicked. As a last resort, I put the Googled the pattern number from my inspiration image — et voila — a second hand version of the original pattern turned up on eBay.
A week later, it was in my hot little hands. When I opened it, terrified it would be incomplete or beyond repair, the thin tissue paper had been carefully cut and refolded perfectly. The pattern was in pristine condition and was ready to be re-used to summon the spirit of Aunty Doris as the dutiful housewife she was.
There are codes of dress in each era that are considered ‘proper,’ and new ways of dressing that emerge to reflect changes in the way we live. The brunch coat belonged to my childhood in the 1960s. It came as a matching set: nightie and brunch coat. Even now it makes me laugh, because nobody I knew actually ever went to brunch in those days.
It was an “ensemble” that somehow made a person more sophisticated and dressed up in their own home. For this story, I had the memory of a brunch coat but no clear details. I went looking for a similar pattern in the standard contemporary pattern books, but could find nothing.
Fabric
The story of Aunty Doris was told to me by her niece. As well as sharing her Aunt’s story, she described Doris’ brunch coat and spent some time with me, looking at photos that matched her description. .
We looked at some vintage pattern pictures, and she described the kind of fabric pattern that Aunty Doris used to wear. We found a crisp vintage cotton that fit her description well. The colours are clear and bright, and the daisy design has a simple outline, suggesting a quick sketch of a home flower garden, cheerful but informal.
