All posts filed under: 20th Century

Anchor’s Aweigh: Windy Lindy 2011

Saturday night was Windy Lindy 2011, the big event of Wellington’s annual swing calender. The theme this year was ‘Anything Goes’, as in the Cole Porter musical, where anything (and everything) goes on on the SS American. It’s the fourth year I’ve attended Windy Lindy, and every year I’ve shown you my costume, from my saucy Dorothy Gale costume for ‘Pin Ups and Poster Boys’, to my human chicken costume for ‘Freaks’, to last year’s glamourous satin number for ‘Puttin on the Ritz‘. Unfortunately, every year my costume planning seems to happen more and more last minute.  Eek! This year I didn’t really thing about it at all until the night before.  Double eek! But with some help from the Army Surplus store, my long time obsession with collecting images of nautically inspired fashions, a mad pattern draping and sewing spree, a jacket I made almost a decade ago, and a few random accessories in my dress up box, I pulled together a rather cute outfit (if I do say so myself). I made a …

A corset for Emily: draping the pattern

I haven’t blogged much about Emily’s dress lately because I have been focused on my 17th and 18th century sewing, but I have been plugging away on it. Obviously the thing that I really need to make a the dress fit right is a 1903ish straight fronted corset. Based on period advertising, the most common straight fronted corset imported and sold in New Zealand in the first five years of the 20th century was the famous W.B. Erect Form Corset. For my 1903 corset, I used images of the WB erect form, and Norah Waugh’s ca. 1901 straight fronted corset pattern. The patterning on these things is insane.  The panels are ridiculously curved, and the seaming has no relation to the bone placement. I’m draping my pattern on Isabelle.  I’m not sure if this will really work.  The 1903 silhouette is so extreme that it’s really hard to fit and figure out from anything that remotely matches a normal body shape.  I’m just going to try my best, and hope!  

Rate the Dress: Adrian in real life

Last week half of you thought the 1913 blue and green ensemble was absolutely perfect, but the other half all had some complaint – you didn’t like the beading, or the mix of symmetry and asymmetry, or the beige lace, or the flower, or…  So picky!  Or so discerning!  Despite the tiny bits you didn’t like, it rated a very solid 8.8 out of 10 This week we are staying in the 20th century, but returning to stripes.  Adrian is most famous as a movie costumer: he dressed Garbo as Camille (not that you liked that much – it rated a 4 out of 10), and Shearer as Marie Antoinette, as well as Judy Garland as Dorothy.  He also did modern dresses in films, and in 1941 he launched his own fashion house, so ordinary women could dress like movie stars. Or not.  This 1944 frock with its puffed sleeves and peasant influence is more girly sweet than Hollywood glamour, but there is a place for girly sweet – if it’s done well. What do …