The Year 1940

Ok guys, today is a treat in the form of vintage Sears catalog pages! I recently discovered that Ancestry.com has archives of all the Sears catalogs from 1896 all the way to 1993!!! Of course I went and got myself a free trial to look at all the goodness, and now I will share them. Enjoy :)

There will be quite a few pictures because I am absolutely obsessed with the clothes....and don't even get me started on the shoes.

 Hooded coats...eek!

I want the ensemble from the lady on the left. So much.

Hood!

And of course you can't go without a hooded jacket!

...hooded dress. That is all

I wish I were as fancy as these ladies.

Sweater girls.

Now for accessories.

And now for the shoes. 

 I could write poetry about these shoes. I adore them.

By the way, if you love vintage shoes as much as I do, Miss L. Fire has a great line.


Favorites? :)

A Beehive... And a Gibson Girl

Recently a song that I have been playing pretty much non-stop is "Gypsy" by Shakira. It inspired my outfit, along with Jane Fonda. I also recently watched the movie, Period of Adjustment (1962) starring Jane Fonda. The whole movie takes place mostly in one day and covers what the "period of adjustment" is like for newlywed couples. She has a really awesome hairdo it in, and I love her shirt.

 

Source

I knew I had a shirt somewhat similar hiding in my closet, so I dug around and found it. It has no shirring, and buttons up the front, but the neckline and sleeves are similar. Unfortunately the top is very short, so the skirt I wanted to wear with it didn't work, but the gypsy aspect led me to a short wrap skirt that's part of a playsuit set that a friend bought for me on a cruise when we were in high school. 

I was too late for natural light again, so again I have slightly grainy photos.

 I know it's the middle of January ,but I wasn't going to need to leave the house today, so I paid no heed to the weather conditions.

 I went barefoot today because I was in the house and it fit with the whole "gypsy" vibe.You can also see Roxie made a cameo appearance.

 Now for the hair. My hair always looks better in person, but here are a few pictures to give you any idea.

 back view

 To do my hair this way, I started with curls. I just slept on yesterdays hair because my hair is naturally curly, so the curl holds overnight.I took out my "bangs" and back-combed large sections of hair until there was a ton of volume. A lot of people use lots of products in their beehives, but I only used a small spritz of hairspray at the end, so mine isn't quite as voluminous as others. Then I smoothed the top hair slightly with a comb and pinned it into place while pushing up, so I didn't lose the volume. I much prefer this looser curly version to the sleek beehives.It's much more Brigitte Bardot-y. :)

P.S.

As I was combing out my teased hair, I realized it was too good to pass up doing something to it...so I did. I did a Gibson girl style (a very loose interpretation of course) and took a few pictures. Hehehe, I kind of love it.

 It's very Anne of Green Gables, don't you think? The red hair helps the image of course.

Also, I made a chocolate cake, a generous piece of which I am enjoying right now. Enjoy your evenings everyone!

Pink Poodles!

Remember when you were a little kid and there was a certain costume that you were just dying to have? Yes? Well, for me that costume was a poodle skirt with those cute saddle shoes. A vintage "soda shop girl." I was to destined to love vintage :). Anyway all through elementary and up to middle school I wanted to have one so very very badly. But it hadn't happened by freshman year of high school, so I dropped the notion and resigned myself to never having a poodle skirt.

Until.

A few months ago, I found the absolute cutest black felt circle skirt with pink poodle appliques! I had intended to put it in my shop because the waist was 29" and my waist is a larger 33" (maybe a New Year's resolution will change that). Yesterday I got it out to list, but my love of dress up gave way to me trying it on, and color me surprised, it fit! I was absolutely thrilled. I suppose the wooly felt fabric is more forgiving than I thought.

The shirt was actually part of my Halloween costume last year. I was a pink poodle! I made cuffs for my ankles and wrists, a pink fur mini skirt, pink tights, and even made a poodle eared hat. I took a basic fitted pink t shirt and sewed the pink around the collar. It was my "ruff." I will have to post a picture of it sometime.

Sorry for the lower quality photos, but the sun had just gone to bed, so I had to work with incandescent light.

"She did what?!"

 I think this one looks rather pin-up-y.

 Back view of hair. I did "victory roll pin curl" for this set. My hair cut is really unprofessional, so it looks kind of scraggly right now, but I want it to be a little longer before I get a decent trim. I swept the sides up for a little volume and pinned the front hair for added volume as well.

 Here is a closer view of the appliques! Aren't they darling?

Petticoat!

I hope you enjoyed my pink poodles! I enjoy them immensely.They make me so very happy :). It's literally an abandoned dream come true.

Outfit

Poodle skirt- Antique Mall on High Street (Columbus)

Shirt- Thrifted, and upcycled by me

Petticoat- Etsy

Hat- Can't remember

50's Dance Shoes- Goodwill!

A New Dress From An Old Sheet

So, in my last post I talked about body shapes and talked about how great sewing was because it really gives you the chance to make something to truly fit and flatter your body. I got to thinking and thought I may as well make a dress to illustrate my point. I always buys a few patterns when they go on sale, so I have quite a few vintage reproductions and retro looking patterns in my possession. I even have a few true vintage patterns, but I am a scaredy cat when it comes to unprinted patterns. I decided to make Simplicity 1755. It's a Leanne Marshall pattern (she was on Project Runway).

I chose to make View B, but I decided to use the skirt from view A because it was longer, and I needed the length on account of being so tall. As you will see in the pictures of my dress, it really looks nothing like the picture. I will start by telling you that it was a muslin. Which, for those of you who don't know, is basically a rough draft of a pattern so you can figure out how to make it fit right. Luckily for me, the bodice fit and the waist hit in the right spot, so I didn't need to make any changes there. In the pattern, it calls for a zipper, but I just added some width to the back and sewed it up to make it slip over my head. It make the waist a little loose, but that's what belts are for :).

You might also notice that the neck line is completely different. That's because I didn't make the collar, and just tacked the edges down to create a somewhat sweetheart neckline.

So anyway, here is the result. I still need to hem it, but it's just for being around the house, so it doesn't need to be perfect. Also, I made it out of an old sheet, so you may notice some parts are more vibrant than others.


I wore a crinoline underneath it to give it a fuller look.

Snow on the ground.

See how on the sides, the print is really faint? That's the middle of the sheet.

Pockets!

So, there you have it. This really didn't take too long. I think it was a total of 3 days, but I didn't work on too long any one day. And this is just a muslin. If I decide to make it in a good fabric (I am still not sure I want too..) it will take me even less time.

Happy Sewing!

The Plight of the Oddly Shaped

Women are so vastly different. Buying clothing from stores is frustrating sometimes because it is hard to come up with shapes and styles to fit every body. Even with specialized sections like petites and talls it's still hard.

source

Fit issues, for me, have been a problem my whole life. When I was a young child (from about 3-9) I was extremely thin and a little on the tall side. My mom had to buy pants from the "slim" section, and even those would fall off. It seemed I was destined to be naturally willowy. But that all changed in 5th grade. I hit puberty early, and fast. I was the only 5th grader in my entire school who had boobs. I wore a 34 B when I was ten and eleven. Not only did that happen, but I gained quite a bit of weight in my face and tummy as well. And along with puberty came a huge growth spurt and I was towering above all the girls and boys. Good thing for me I was never the type prone to low self esteem or depression because I was quite an odd looking duck. In 5th grade I also experienced one of the worst things ever...I had to start shopping in the women's section. I was in denial at first, but I finally gave in when my pretty shirts from Limited Too started to look more like sausage casings and less like pretty shirts. 

All through middle school not much changed. I was chubby and very tall. Around freshman year of high school my weight re-positioned into more of an hourglass shape than an apple, and I had finally stopped growing at 6'1". I never really regained my thinness, I am a definite full hourglass, even though my wrists and ankles are very thin.

A lot of people say that hourglasses look good in almost everything. Well that isn't true at all. If you aren't wearing something that accentuates your waist, you can very well appear larger than you actually are. For me, not only am I an hourglass, but I am also tall. Not just tall, but unusually tall. Most girls over 5'8" consider themselves tall, and maybe they are, but that just make me extra tall. Most tall items that stores carry are still a little on the short side for me. And a lot of the styles I like (vintage/vintage reproduction) don't even have tall sizes available. *sigh*

So what's a tall, hourglass shape like me to do? Or any other non cookie-cutter size for that matter. I would say the est thing would e to make your own clothes. Now I know a lot of women don't really know how to sew, let alone own a sewing machine. But it is really not all that difficult. If you want to learn how I suggest taking a few classes at Jo-Ann's or finding someone in your area who knows how to sew and ask them to give you a few lessons. Personally, I am kind of self-taught, but having a mother and older sister who sew has helped quite a bit. And if it's an expensive sewing machine stopping you, don't let it. If you want to make a good investment a quality machine is great. But you can find great machines at thrift stores, garage sales, or estate sales. I have 2 machines. One was given to me by mother, a 60's or 70's Singer model. And my other machine is another Singer from the 50's with it's own desk. It also came with all the original attachments and accoutrements. It was $75 at a church garage sale, but since I was volunteering at the sale, they gave it to me for $10, which was so very sweet.

Or maybe you simply won't be swayed, There are plenty of seamstresses out there! Find one to make a garment for you. Some people balk at the prices, but the quality is going to be much better, last longer, and fit better than anything else you own. Definitely worth it. And really the price isn't too bad.

If it's vintage clothing you are longing for and can never find anything to fit,I highly recommend the seller on Etsy, TimeMachineVintage. I have been ogling her stuff for months! I don't have the money right now, but eventually I would like to order something from her. Her work is amazing! She can take any vintage pattern and make it to fit you to a T.

All images from TimeMachineVintage on Etsy.

Anyway, hope I have given you something to think about. I am not advertising for her or anything, I just really like her stuff :).

Happy New Year!

Well, it's officially 2013. The year really did fly by.

Most of the blogs I follow have some sort of "year in review" but being fairly new to the blogging world, I don't have a whole lot.

But here are some things I did do(that have happened) this year. These picture are not from my blog because they are before I started posting very much, but they are my pictures. Either me or my sister, Nikki took them.

Went to the Pacific Ocean for the first time.

Went to Las Vegas to visit my sister

 

Took a trip to the Hoover Dam

Went to the San Diego Zoo.

Dyed and cut my hair for the first time. First I dyed it blonder,then I dyed it red, then I got a haircut.

 

 Made my first apron.

Worked in an office.

Had a wonderful spring :).

Got my first pet, Roxie the Papillon.

Also.

 Had my first full year selling on Etsy. Had a first date (ultimately unsuccessful). Started dressing and hair styling with more of a vintage influence. Got braces. Got a new nephew.

And so many other things!

I didn't really make a New Year's Resolution this year, but I normally don't. Resolution's hold no motivation for me. I need some sort of incentive. So my incentive would probably be to be able to feel very comfortable in a swimming suit this year. And to give my incentives some tangibility, here are some suits that I love.

Technically it's a girl's size, but I love the style. From Etsy

This red polka-dot one from Modcloth

Well, I guess that will be all because I can't really figure the whole linking picture form other sites thing. Anyway, I hope y'all have a safe, happy, and healthy New Year. Here's to 2013. Cheers!