Pattern for Smartness

I ran across this little gem recently and just have to share it with you! This hokey yet fabulous little film, Pattern for Smartness, is basically a 1940s Simplicity Pattern Company advertisement for some of the wonderful patterns of the time. I search You Tube and the Internet Archive now and again to find old Coronet and other instructional films of the 40s and 50s about beauty, home economics, etiquette, and fashion for teens. A lot of these short films were shown in public schools as part of the curriculum, and they fascinate me from a social history, gender roles, and fashion perspective.

This was probably an instructional film shown in home economic classes, as it is aimed at the teenaged sewist and is quite a bit longer (about 18 1/2 minutes) than the usual advertisement or news reel shown in movie theaters at the time. (I guess product placement in schools may not be such a new idea!).  The acting and dialogue are awful, so ignore Johnny's whining about how Betty is "always thinking about clothes," and wait just four minutes for the interesting look at how Simplicity patterns were designed.  Next is a sewing lesson using Simplicity patterns, and finally there is a cute fashion show near the end. Lesson learned: with the right pattern, we all can have Betty's "know how" look!