All posts tagged: 1930s

Wearing History's Nanette Blouse thedreamstress.com

The Wearing History Nanette Blouse

I was super excited when Wearing History announced the 1930s Nanette Blouse Pattern, because: 1) it’s adorable, and; 2) I’ve been looking for a ‘girlie’ take on a formal shirt to wear with tails (well, waistcoat and trousers, I usually abandon the tails after 3 minutes), for AGES, and the Nanette Blouse was the perfect design. I was even more excited when Lauren offered me a review copy. Yay! Free vintage pattern goodness! So I got the pattern for free. However my opinions on the pattern are totally my own, and not influenced by the free-ness of the pattern. The Fabric: My sewing goal was for my blouse to be ultra-feminine, but also to clearly reference the idea of a formal shirt. I absolutely love the white blouse shown on the cover of the pattern. I wanted to replicate its sheer-sleeve and opaque body effect. A rummage in my fabric stash unearthed a white silk tissue with a slightly crepe thread, and a subtle stripe effect. It wasn’t an absolutely ideal fabric, but it was …

Rate the Dress: 1930s Lame Glamour

Published by The Dreamstress

Last week I showed a smocked 1890s Liberty of London dress in black china silk. Half of you loved, loved, loved it, the other half of you thought it incredibly blah. However, even those who loved it had small reservations. The display wasn’t ideal (granted, not the dresses fault), and you couldn’t decide if the back asymmetry was real or an illusion created by the display. Some of you thought that while good, it wasn’t as good as most other Liberty dresses made from the same basic pattern. And quite a few of you didn’t like the sleeves (which, ironically, were my favourite part, as I felt they made the dress more interesting than other similar Liberty gowns, and kept it from twee-ness). Despite potential blah-ness and not-quite-perfection ratings, it managed an overall rating of 8.3 out of 10. Pretty good! (Though it ought to win bonus points for inspiring only two #.5 ratings, making my tallying up much easier 😉 ) This week, I’m celebrating the launch of the Ngaio Blouse with a 1930s …

Rate the Dress: 1930s Tangerine lace

Published by The Dreamstress

Whether or not you liked last week’s 1890s Rate the Dress ensemble hinged very much on how you feel about three things: bright cherry red, big lace dickey-collars, and BIG sleeves. For most of you, even if you really liked one or the other, all three were a bit much, bringing the rating down to 7.5 out of 10. This week I’m toning things down a little: going from red to orange, and from enormous sleeves to sleek 1930s. This dress, which was sold by Whitaker Auctions in their Spring 2013 sale, combines demure and assertive, with delicate floral lace in bold tangerine orange, and a figure-hugging silhouette with sweet ruffled collar and an optional jacket. Without the jacket the dress is sleeveless, with a ruffled bib collar, and a slim skirt that flares at the hem. The back of the dress plunges in a deep, spine-revealing V. For a bit of coverage, the ensemble includes a matching jacket with cut-on sleeves and a sparkling button to fasten. What do you think? Do you like …