vintage shopping

Two weeks ago, I ran down to a "going out of business" sale for a Dallas vintage clothing shop.  I could have spent days looking through all their clothes, but I only had an hour or so to spare, so I sped-shopped and came away with with 5 fabulous new vintage dresses... for $60 total!  Woohoo!

This weekend, there was a new Vintage Clothing and Jewelry Show that I was very interested in checking out, so I picked one of my new vintage dressed and headed out for more shopping.  There were a ton of amazing clothes there, but I didn't buy anything this time.  It seemed silly to buy even more dresses when I'm not even sure when I'll get a chance to wear the ones that I just bought.  But I still had a blast at the show and I saw a lot of other ladies wearing fabulous vintage attire, which was a lot of fun.  I'm going to cross my fingers and hope that it comes back again next year!

 And I really enjoyed wearing my new dress. I think it has a very classic shape that doesn't look too terribly "costumey", so I think that this dress this will get a good bit of regular use in my modern wardrobe.  I don't wear dressy outfits very often, but when I do, I LOVE wearing vintage!

1918 dress

So before I got eaten alive by my cutwork skirt project (BTW, I just found out that I won 1st place!  Woohoo!), I promised that I'd post more about my new 1918 dress that I made for the Chestnut Square fashion show.  Well, I added a page on my website where you can see some more pictures of this outfit, and I thought I would talk a little more about how I made it here on my blog.




The dress is made out of two wool fabrics that I picked up at estate sales.  The colors are so funky that I never thought I'd use them for anything other than mockups or linings, but I was surprised as how much more I liked them when they were put together.  
I never could find an exact pattern for this outfit, so I combined several late-1910's patterns and did a bit of improvising to create my dress.  The bodice is based on this similar 1918 New Idea pattern that I found on ebay.  I changed the sleeves to be tight fitting at the forearms, and I used an antique collar that I found at an estate sale instead of the collar style shown in the illustration.  The text that accompanied my original fashion plate told me that this was actually a skirt and bodice and not a full dress, so I decided to keep mine separate as well.  The only problem with that is that my blouse has a tendency to pull out when I move around a lot, so I added a drawstring at the waist (which is a very period practice) to try and keep it tucked in.  This helped some, so I probably will add some hooks or snaps as well to keep everything neat and tidy.  
The skirt was a little bit more difficult to make up since I never could find a good pattern match for the style I was trying to recreate.  But I looked at enough period patterns to figure out the basic shapes (mostly rectangular or very slightly flared), and then I draped the yoke at the top of the skirt on my own.  The first time I made the skirt, it had too much fullness, so I took it all apart, cut off some width on both the tunic and underskirt, and then tried again.  The underskirt closes on one side with hooks and eyes, and there are vintage buttons and loops on both side seams of tunic to add a decorative element.  Both layers of skirt are joined together at the waistline.  

I think the dresses from this particular era are totally made by the accessories, so I considered myself very lucky to already own some key pieces to put the finishing touches on it.  I bought a pair of fabulous spool heel oxfords several years ago on ebay.  They are from the 80's or 90's, but they are in wonderful shape, and they are a near perfect match for the style of shoe shown in the illustration.  I didn't even know what I would do with them when I bought them, but they were just so cool that I knew they had to be mine!  I bought the Edwardian purse last year at the Antique Elegance show.  It is made of silk moire with a crocheted top and silk ribbons, and the condition is amazingly good.  The little "Votes for Women" button was another fun little accessory that was given to me by a friend.  And of course, I've already talked a bit about my hat.  I love being able to mix in some real antique pieces in a historical costume, and the good thing about this period is that a lot of vintage accessories like buttons, lace, and purses are still around if you just do a bit of digging.  

Fabulous 50's fun!

Yesterday, I got together with two of my costuming friends and we went to a "Fabulous 50's" fashion show at a local antique mall/tea room.  It was even better because Christy and I used it as an excuse to dress up in our new vintage 50's outfits. Girly outings are always more fun when you are wearing gloves, pearls, and fur!





I tried to pincurl my hair, but the back refused to cooperate, so into a chignon it went. *bah* I also didn't have a hat that I really liked for this outfit, but that problem was solved beautifully when I picked up this little $7 beauty at the antique mall after the fashion show.



The fashion show itself was fun too, but I was surprised by how "normal" a lot of the dresses looked without 50's hair, makeup, and undergarments. It's amazing how much those finishing touches matter when capturing the look of a period. My favorite part of the fashion show was the evening wear. Most of the gowns were so timeless that they looked more like something from this year's Academy Awards red carpet vs. something your grandma once wore!



I got pictures of nearly every gown in the show, and you can see them all in my Flickr album. There will also be a repeat of this show, plus even more 50's fashions, at the Antique Elegance Show next Saturday at 9:00.

finds

My "look what I found at the estate sale!!!!" posts are probably boring as all get out for you guys to read, but I love playing show and tell, and it helps me remember what I bought and when and how much it cost.  So anyhoo... after a bit of a dry spell, I've had some really good luck estate shopping these past two weeks.  Wanna see what I got?

First of all, I picked up 17 new old patterns from the late 60's through the 70's.  This isn't my favorite era of retro fashions, but I have to admit, they are starting to grow on me - mostly because I can see great possibilities for garments that could work in my everyday wardrobe. For example, I love the clean lines in these 2 patterns from 1970.  With the right fabrics, they would look so chic and modern!

All the patterns were $.50, which made them cheap enough that I could buy a few just to marvel at how hideous 70's fashions could be!

I also picked up some fabric yardage for $.50 a cut.  In addition to a few basics, I found these fabulous prints that I can't wait to use with my vintage patterns.  My favorite is the green and white daisies on terrycloth.  I have no idea what I'll ever do with it, but it is so over the top crazy that I'm determined to make something fabulous someday!  I also love the small scale print on blue, and although there isn't a lot of it, I think it would make a sweet little 40's blouse, or maybe trim on a dress.

At another sale, I picked up some great lace and collars for $1 apiece.  There is 10 yards of the wide eyelet trim, so I am already daydreaming about pretty Victorian or Edwardian undies.

Next, I got a few women's magazines dating from 1900 - 1924.  They have some nice fashion plates, but the articles and embroidery diagrams are the best part.  My favorite article teaches you how to make fabric flowers.  I plan on scanning and posting the instructions for anybody who wants to give them a try (as soon as I can unearth my scanner). 

And saving the best for last, here is my super-fab $2 coat.  I lovelovelove this coat, and it has a real fur collar and is in perfect condition!  I love it so much, I've been wearing it around the house on this 100 degree summer day!

I've been having a blast searching for estate sale treasures lately, and I am going to be SO sad when I have to go back to work again and miss out on all the early sales!  If any of you in the DFW area are interested in estate sale shopping, you might want to join the 24/7 Estate Sale mailing list.  Just be sure that you leave some of the good stuff for me!  ;)

  

vintage finds

I stumbled across 3 great vintage dresses in my size while wandering through an antique shop yesterday.  At only $25 apiece, I thought they were quite an amazing find!  I need to get a few minor spots out, but other than that they are in great shape.  Wanna see what I got?

I need to make a proper slip for this one since it is so sheer! It's hard to see in the picture, but the fabric has dainty brown scribbles all over it - very suitable for an artist, I thought!  I probably won't wear this dress with my oxfords unless I'm doing a reenactment event, but I just wanted to see how it would look with "sensible" 40's shoes.  I think it would be cuter with ballet flats though.

I almost didn't get this one since crazy zebra stripes aren't really my thing, but now I'm so glad I did!  I think it looks much cuter on me that it did in the hanger.  I think this dress will get the most wear of any of them since the style is so timeless.

This one has the most amazing detailing with pintucks covering the top and sleeves and a few down the skirt.  It makes me wanna go swing dancing!!

Estate Sale finds

I stopped by an estate sale after work today, and while I didn't come home with the amazing haul that I found last month, it was still pretty decent. I got about 10 yards of heavy linen and silk/linen blend for under a buck a yard. I have no idea what I'll use it for, but you can never have too much linen! Plus I founds some vintage blue and tan small-scale plaid that is begging to be a retro shirt for the boy. I picked up few more sewing patterns from the late 50's-70's as well. I usually turn up my nose at anything post-1960, but all the fabulous projects on sewretro have me looking at this era in a completely different light lately. They might not be that useful for costuming stuff, but those simple shapes make some really cool modern garments when done up in fun fabrics, and I'm feeling the urge to do more stuff like that lately. Plus, I LUV me some A-line skirts!

I also picked up a $16 black mink fur collar (probably to recycle somehow) and a few little boy items. The children's garments are in pretty bad condition, but I'm going to see if I can make patterns from them and do repros for E. My favorite is this peacoat. Isn't it adorable?!? For those of you who know anything about vintage children's clothing, when do you think it would date from? The construction and buttons and fabrics look exactly like the Edwardian items in my collection, but those little military style boy's outfits were popular forever, so I just don't know. What do you think?