Vintage pattern search: The teddy and where it came from

With women's jumpsuits becoming a 'thing' again in the last few years, I thought I'd look into the history (Western, at least) of the undergarment of similar shape. I've included lots of links here; bolded ones lead to patterns that are in (re)print at time of writing. Many of the others lead to the Vintage Patterns Wiki, which may have its own links if anyone happens to be selling that particular pattern.

There are two sorts of under-jumpsuits I'm not covering in detail here, for the reason that there were/are far fewer sewing patterns for them. Often they would be made of knitted fabrics and more easily produced in factories than at home. One is the long-sleeved, long-legged union suit, which started off associated with the dress reform movement and, to the best of my knowledge, was eventually sold mainly as menswear and/or thermal underwear, before it was largely replaced by two-piece long underwear. The second is women's shapewear that is currently being made in stretch fabrics like powernet.

Combinations, 1870s-1920s

Starting around the mid-1870s, there were fashionable 'combinations'. There had been pantalettes and drawers prior to these; this just combined them with the corset cover to reduce bulk under the fitted fashions of the mid- to late 1870s. A problem with jumpsuits in general is how you'd use the toilet; these early combinations solved it by not having a closed crotch seam. As they were buttoned and rather fitted, I would guess they were worn over the corset. I don't have any images of my own of these, but for the costumer, Truly Victorian and Mantua Maker sell patterns for the earliest silhouettes. They had relatively built-up necklines and sometimes even little sleeves.

For the purposes of this post, I'll use 'combinations' to refer to this relatively substantial, complicated type with longish, bloomer-like legs, cut on the straight grain. However, the term continued to be used at least until the 30s, sometimes on rather different styles, and by the 1920s or so, combinations were sometimes described as 'cami-knickers' or 'cami-bockers', or just an 'undergarment'. (I'm not sure just how long those terms were used, but the first seems to have been used in the UK at least through the 80s, judging by Style patterns like this one.)

Combinations of this sort continued to exist for several decades, just changing silhouette to match the fashions. Here are two examples from Past Patterns, from the Edwardian era and the early teens, the latter having interesting princess seaming. Slightly later on, you start to see ones with the option of shoulder straps instead of the built-up neckline:

 Butterick 6209, mid teens (at a guess). As this one is described as a combination chemise and drawers, maybe it was worn under the corset rather than over.

Ideal 8172, ca. mid to late teens (this was a Montgomery Ward house brand)

Past Patterns 501, which interestingly has its own overskirt, dispenses with the gathered neckline entirely. I tried this pattern myself years ago. As I recall, it was nicely constructed, although the perfectly straight bodice with no darts was not capable of fitting gracefully on me. I wish I'd kept it, since I'd have no problem adding darts now.

Butterick 1871 (ca. late 20s): This pattern's fitted bodice could be self-lined for more structure in some fabrics; as that pattern piece is called the 'brassiere', it seems it was meant to act as such—though what we'd recognize as anything like a modern bra didn't come along until the 30s.

Envelope chemises, 1910s-20s

A second general approach starting in the teens or so was the envelope chemise. Based on the name, I suspect it was worn under the corset.* It did have a closure, which is made rather obvious in the illustration of this pattern reproduced by the Vintage Pattern Lending Library — a flat tab connecting back to front. The style seems ungainly to me, but it would have the advantage of being easily ironed. Still, as far as I can tell, the very flat, unshaped style was mostly limited to the late teens and twenties; it just might not have worked very well with the shapelier fashions before and after. 

Nonetheless, the flat tab closure did continue into the early 30s at least; Ladies' Home Journal 6424 has a rather different shape but still the same tab closure, though it's called a step-in and may have been worn over rather than under a girdle or corset (if any).

(* Many overviews of fashion history imply that corsets were abruptly discarded by almost everyone, either on the say-so of Paul Poiret in the teens, or because of the flapper look in the twenties. Well, Ivy Leaf is here (possibly NSFW, depending on your W) to tell you that they were not—unless by 'corset' you're thinking only of the Victorian wasp-waisted shape, corsets in the 1910s being still quite formidable, though not as narrow in the waist. I suspect what happened was that the women who did stop wearing them then were the newsworthy ones, unlike those who continued wearing them as they always had done, if only in different shapes and materials. In fairness, there certainly was a trend toward more elastic, lighter fabrics, and less steel over time.)

A smoother fit, 1930s-40s

As the fashionable silhouette became less tubular at the end of the 20s, the step-in (as I'll call it here) followed suit. McCall 5818 and Vintage Pattern Lending Library T6629 are probably only a couple years apart in age (I suspect a date of 1932 for the latter) but the progression in waist shaping is noticeable. By the mid-to-late 30s, we start to have something that looks pretty much like what we'd call a teddy. Folkwear calls it this in their Intimacies pattern, which I've made, but that's probably an anachronism. In vintage patterns you'll still see 'combination', 'cami-knickers', or 'step-in', as on McCall 4022, which has the same sort of closure — similar to the envelope chemise in that it's still a tab connecting back to front, but with more shaping and therefore less bulk. (Mrs Depew appears to do a reprint of that pattern.)

The step-in with raised, often diagonal, waist seaming was evidently common in the 30s into the 40s, if we can judge by what's on the Vintage Patterns Wiki. Just two other examples are Advance 1939 and Practical 3279. These were often bias-cut, but that may have ended as of the 40s, perhaps to save fabric. Anne Adams A4852 of 1944 has fisheye darts, and Du Barry 5409 (1942) has a whole lot of darting in the bodice front—the most fitted teddy bodice I've seen in what I assume is meant to be a woven fabric.

Disappearance (?) and gradual reappearance, 1950s-70s

Then, for the 50s and most of the 60s, I find nothing of teddy shape in vintage patterns, nor in old ads. Why is that? Unless they're there and I've just missed them, I can only speculate. Maybe they were considered not sufficiently ladylike, too much a continuation of the styles worn during the depression and the war, and/or too hard to fit to the wasp-waist silhouette (though they had managed it in the 1870s). They also seem much less workable as maternity wear than most any other lingerie I can think of—among other things, they could very quickly cease to fit lengthwise if not widthwise—which could have been a major consideration during the baby boom.

At any rate, as far as I know, the first teddy to reappear on the Vintage Patterns Wiki is McCall's 9776, described as a 'bra-pant-slip'. Then there is Kwik-Sew 940, which I presume is from the 70s — and bingo, we have the word 'teddy'. Both of these look somewhat similar in cut to the 1930s-40s styles, though the first seems intended to be more supportive. I also doubt either is bias-cut, though I can't say for sure without seeing the backs of the patterns. Judging from the other Kwik-Sew patterns of similar age that I do have, it seems likely that 940 is intended for nylon tricot.

Resurgence and stretch fabrics, 1980s-90s

In the 80s teddies seem to have returned with a vengeance. Any number of them can be found on the Vintage Patterns Wiki. Some are still rather reminiscent of the 30s, such as Vogue 8219, though it has an even more fitted bra-style bodice.

A new style coming out around this time is the bodysuit, essentially the same in cut as a modern one-piece bathing suit. One example I have that is still available, though only from Sewingpatterns.com, is Neue Mode 21092; as it has a West German address on the back I presume it can be dated to no later than 1990.

A variation on this cut is the addition of a flounce or ruffle on each hip, as on Simplicity 8946—reprehensible, IMO, and there were several others like it.

Poofy blousons and sleepwear, 1980s-90s

Not all 80s teddies were so fitted. Neue Mode 22011, a bit newer than 21092 but not in print, has a bathing-suit-like but looser cut with an elasticized waist. The teddies in Kwik-Sew's Beautiful Lingerie have a similar look, a bit bulky perhaps, but they would fit just fine under some of the very loose tops of the 80s. Some have waist seams and short-style bottoms, while some are closer to the bathing-suit shape in the legs.

Then there are the even baggier and/or frillier ones that are clearly meant as sleepwear. Examples include the rather obnoxious Kwik-Sew 1790, along with the more tolerable Kwik-Sew 1327 and Butterick 3195. 

The present

I don't get the impression the teddy is quite as popular now, or at least so pushed by the pattern companies, as it seems to have been as recently as the 80s. Though I haven't kept up with all the indie pattern brands, you can find stretch bodysuit patterns from Merckwaerdigh, some with nice lace detailing. Kwik-Sew did put out a woven teddy pattern somewhat recently, but it's now out of print, except as a download on Sewingpatterns.com.

Conclusion

The teddy as we know it now seems more decorative than practical, so I thought it might be interesting to look back to old styles that were quite different. If we're due for a revival, my favorite of the past styles is probably the 30s bias cut, since it can be relatively smooth and comfortable if fitted well. Some of the modern stretch-fabric-and-lace types can look nice as well, though they might be too hot for summer, and really high-quality lightweight laces can be difficult to find (more on that later).