Vintage or just plain OLD?

I've made up my mind: my next project will be Simplicity 3873, a two-piece dress pattern from 1941.  (Sorry, Maria -- it's back to the convent for now.)

I mentioned this pattern on Monday; I'd ordered it on Etsy and received it last week.  I wanted something classic Forties, but simple.  It cost only $5.99 with shipping; the somewhat ragged envelope no doubt kept the price low.

I'll be honest: I have some trepidation about this project.  Maybe it's those bound buttonholes, which I may not even bother with.  I've never sewn anything this old.  Frankly, I think this crosses the border between vintage and antique.

I hunted for the right fabric but didn't find anything that felt appropriate to the period. 

I've had this in my stash since the fall and badly want to use it:



It's cotton and definitely has a vintage feel but I don't think it would work.  For one thing, the skirt has twelve separate panels and I don't think those roses would look good broken up that way.  I'll save this  for something more flowing (I think both Gertie and Elaine have picked up rose prints too -- spooky, huh?).

I tend to honor the pattern artwork: if a dress is shown in a solid, I'll go with solids.   I did get some fabric on Monday -- four yards in fact -- of a purplish-blue cotton with a vertical stripe in the weave, but when I got it home I realized it was too heavy.  I'd been thinking of this as a suit -- it looks like a suit -- but it's a dress.  The skirt has to move and the cotton is too stiff.  It would make a great summer men's suit and maybe that's what I'll do with it.

I've decided to use sheets again -- clean sheets.  I'm going to use this yellow one for the top...



...and the black one pictured here with the yellow for the skirt:

I don't know; maybe if I have enough fabric, I'll do the whole thing in yellow.  We'll see.

Yesterday I started to prepare my pattern pieces and imagine my surprise when I saw this:



This pattern pre-dates seam allowances printed on the pattern pieces!  I recalled reading something about this on somebody's blog, I don't remember whose.  The patterns of this period had no printed markings, but rather only different size punched holes.  Here's how individual pieces are labeled:



Cool, right?

This marking is for a dart in the top of the sleeve:



I should mention that straight out of the envelope, the pieces looked like wadded up Kleenex:



I managed to inventory and press everything yesterday and am happy to report that all the pieces are accounted for.  Today I'll start cutting and we'll see how far I get.



My goal is to make this version:



Readers, have you ever sewn from one of these old unmarked patterns?  Would you?  What's the oldest pattern you've sewn?

Do you prefer contemporary vintage patterns to authentic ones?  Is there a difference?

I'm in uncharted waters here.  Wish me luck!