All posts tagged: 1950s

Finished project: Love at First Flight dress

I’ve been sewing like mad for all sorts of clients, and I’ll show you images of those soon. As a little treat for myself I took some time to whip up something for me. This is my Love at First Flight Dress: The inspiration for the dress was the amazing Echino fabric by Etsuko Furuya for Kokka. Steph took me to a fabric store while I was in Australia, and I saw this fabric and I had to have it. It was love at first sight. How could I not? It’s pink and blue and red and green and turquoise and mustard. And it’s linen cotton. And it looks like Christmas in the Antipodes: all sunshine and ocean and brilliant red pohutukawa flowers. And it has birds on it! Just look at the full width of it: And then I saw the Au$32 a metre price tag. Ahem. I bought everything that was left on the bolt anyway: just about 3 metres. Did I mention that it has birds on it? This is now …

Rate the Dress: Evening ensemble of 1958

Published by The Dreamstress

Last week you did NOT appreciate our 17th century allegory and her very festive frock. You found the colours garish, the headdress decidedly odd, and the neckline, well, just a little too festive (if you take my meaning). Poor astrology needs to do a better job at aligning her wardrobe elements, as she came in at a pitiful 3.2 out of 10, making it the first pre-20th century outfit to rate below a 4. This week I’m sticking with the metallic and red holiday colour scheme, but moving it up three centuries. Are you thinking of holiday parties? Why don’t we rate a holiday party-worthy frock? This silver evening gown comes with its own matching red velvet satin evening coat (good catch Sarah!), lined in the same textured silver fabric as the dress (click through twice on the image to see a large version) What do you think? Just the thing to make a statement, or too matchy matchy? And is the textured dress fabric just divine, or just a bit much? Rate the Dress …

A confession

Published by The Dreamstress

I have a confession based on last week’s Liz Taylor Rate the Dress. I don’t think Liz Taylor is particularly attractive. And I really don’t think that she did the clothes she wore any favours, particularly the nipped-waist body-conscious frocks they put her in in her heyday. There, it’s said. You can now gasp in horror and question my taste forevermore. Or rush to the comment function to add that you feel the same way and have never been brave enough to say it before! So what’s this about? Well, first I feel that when she was quite young, she was generically pretty, but never interestingly or memorially beautiful. There was always something too round and bland about her face for it to be really striking or notable. And then she aged so quickly. At 17 she looked, 25, and at 25 she looked 35, and by the time she was 30 she looked like she was in her mid 40s. And her face always reminds me of those chicken breasts that the pump water …