All posts tagged: 20th century

Rate the Dress: Blue & White chiffon & lace

Last week I showed you something a bit more recent than the usual Rate the Dress fare: a 1970s avante garde swimsuit.  It, uh, mostly wasn’t liked.  At all.  Which wasn’t actually a surprise.  In fact, I was surprised and delighted by those of you who did like it (and by a certain delicious rant – who doesn’t like a good rant?).  Despite a handful of enthusiastic likes, it only managed 4.3 out of 10, which is one of the lowest scores ever. In addition to not liking it, many of you thought it was just for lounging by the pool, not getting in the pool.  You’re probably technically right that it was more of a sunning suit than actual swimming suit, but I both liked it, and would like to see it in the water. There is a tradition in Hawaii of swimming in muu’muu, and there is a Hawaiian artist who paints lovely dreamy underwater images of girls in muu’muu swimming (sadly I cannot recall the name of the artist, and google searches …

Rate the Dress: 1970s high-fashion swimwear

I’m going to admit straight out that I was quite surprised by your response to last weeks 1880s  blue & brown bustle dress.  I though that you would universally denounce it for well, everything.  I thought it had potential in the materials, and potential in the design, but neither quite worked.  But many of you liked it…a lot!  Not all of you, by any means, but enough of you to bring the rating in at a quite impressive 8 out of 10 – a whole two points higher than I was expecting! Shows how good I am at predicting your reactions! I know that I usually stay pre-1960 with Rate the Dress, but sometimes I see something a bit more recent that I just think needs to be featured. Like this: What a fascinating take on a swimsuit. On the one hand, you could look at it and see an elaborate set of diaper-bloomers, with all that gathered fabric.  On the other, you could see an interesting take on the way water flows and moved: …

Tutorial: How to make a 1930s style handkerchief halter top

There was a fad in the 1930s for turning scarves of all sorts, but particularly souvenir scarves, into simple resort-wear halter tops Inspired by this fashion, I made myself a quick and easy scarf halter to wear at Napier’s Art Deco Weekend. Photographs of 1930s scarf tops show a whole range of scarf shirt styles, but I made mine with a gathered top and a fair amount of back overlap,  for maximum skin coverage, and so it can be worn over a bra. It was super easy, and very satisfying.  Here’s how to make one for yourself. You will need: – A scarf where the length of a side is at least as long as your waist measurement (or, in a pinch, a square of hemmed fabric with this measurement, with edges finished). – Thread – A meter of ribbon or cord for your neck tie. Start with your scarf: Fold it in half diagonally, right sides together: Draw a line across the corner, 20cm/8″ down each edge from the corner. Pin: And sew: Turn …