The wide felt skirt, gaily decorated with anything from families of fur poodles to rhinestone phone numbers, is referred to in the garment trade as "a conversation circle" because it gets its wearer talked to or about at cocktail parties. This year (1953) the felt skirt decoration has been put to a new and different use by Bettie Morrie, a young New York designer who is also a practiced backgammon player. As she hopefully sees it, purchasers of her new designs will sit on the floor, spread their skirts out around them and passersby will sit down beside then, for a hemside round of their favorite game.
The skirts are made from felt, cut in a complete circle, with facsimile gameboards of colored felt patched on near the border. Pieces and markers for use in the various games are contained in a decorative pocket. Designer Murrie has already produced skirts adapted for bingo (with three partners) and for backgammon. Her plans for the near future envisage skirts for all intellectual levels, from chess to parcheesi.
(from LIFE Magazine, November 2, 1953)
The skirts are made from felt, cut in a complete circle, with facsimile gameboards of colored felt patched on near the border. Pieces and markers for use in the various games are contained in a decorative pocket. Designer Murrie has already produced skirts adapted for bingo (with three partners) and for backgammon. Her plans for the near future envisage skirts for all intellectual levels, from chess to parcheesi.
(from LIFE Magazine, November 2, 1953)
this is awesome, thank you for sharing! just wanted to give a quick correction to the source, it's actually from the Oct 19, 1953 issue of LIFE
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