La Mode Illustrée... and Knitting Vintage Socks...

Years ago I got a big pile of an old French Fashion Magazine (or maybe similar to Life-Style Magazine nowadays) .
Not all in very goods condition..but they all come from the 19th Century.
The name of the magazine is:

And this one is from the 25th of february 1866.

La Mode Illustrée was first published in 1859 in Paris and of course was in French.   La Mode Illustrée was one of the most important French magazines of the late C19th that carried on well into the twentieth century. 

La Mode Illustrée was published weekly on Sundays, with illustrations and description of Victorian fashions and the latest must have accessories.  There was always a fashion plate.  La Mode Illustrée set the standards for a circulation of 20,000 fashion conscious stylish women.  

It showed the ladies of that time the latest:

Fashion....

How your house should look like..

How your little girl should look like...

And how your little boy should look like...

Tunes to be played on the piano...

A weekly story...about Singles living in a Manorhouse...

Don't think it is something like Sex and the City...

How to sew by hand....

How your husband should look and behave...Yes..a Man had to wear a Moustache...
(Strangely enough I found only one image from a man in my collection....)

Because I am a Knitter..
I searched for knittingpatterns...
But...strangely enough..
Hardly anything could be found....
Loads of crochet....
Loads of embroidery....

Knitting probably was not so "En Vogue" with the French ladies of that Era.
Perhaps it was not frivolous enough for their Victorian household and taste....
Or it might have been more used for items as socks..by the not so wealthy ladies...

Maybe it has to do with the French tradition, because in England beautiful lace shawls can be found from the same time..

I am not a big fan of that Victorian Era..
It is too much frills and layers for me... 
The strict rules how to look and behave...
The Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam once had a beautiful exhibition about that time with the Title: "The Ugly Era". 
That all sums it up for me..

I am more a fan of the 18th Century..with the the garments made out of chintz with all those lovely patterns...

But on the other hand : during that era many inventions were made as the sewingmachine and the knittingmachine..and many more we still use today..

Still...I found a few images about knitting.....

And an interesting way to make a rope...looks like a variation on I-cord to me...

From that same time are the patterns which can be found in my favourite book on Sock knitting...

It was the first book I bought on this topic at the Stitch & Bitch event in Rotterdam.
The patterns are based on old patterns from Weldon's Practical Needlework series. 
A monthly magazine that came out in England starting in 1886 till the 1920's.
The Weldon's magazine are now published by Interweave Press..and here is an Example..

The book tells the story behind Weldon's and 20 different sock patterns can be found inside.
Nancy Bush is in my opinion one of the best writers...on Socks and on Estonian Knitting...

I made a few over the last years...
As...
The Gentleman's Fancy Sock.... (eaten by Moths unfortunately...)

The Little Child's Sock....for a Grown Up Man...

 The Gentleman's Plain Winter Sock..

So...one can say...
The Victorians has brought a lot to us....despite it is not my taste...