SNEAK PREVIEW - The 1944 jumper!

Friends, at long last, I have finished the jumper...I think.  This garment was a major pain, primarily because the fabric is unstable, and let's face it, I'm not terribly stable myself.  It's also a plaid.

Here it is with the blouse, but before hemming.  The pattern is Hollywood 1321.



The jumper's not perfect but it's not bad either and Cathy will definitely fill it out better than I do.  That center pleat has been giving me agita however; it doesn't seem to want to hang exactly the way I press it.  How to do I capture the way it hangs so that I can press it correctly?  Pins?  I may need Michael to help me since if you bend to pin with the garment on, the pleat opens.   Or should I just give up on a sharp pleat entirely?  Are you supposed to tack the underpart of the pleat anywhere?  

Readers, do you ever reach that a point in a project when you just have to say, Enough!?  I'm at the point now.  I need to put this one away for a while and revisit it later in the week.  In the meantime I have a vintage Butterick coat to make out of an old wool blanket.

Cross your fingers.





Happy Sunday, everybody!

$5.49 for THIS? + blouse update

Friends, have you ever made your own shoulder pads?  I have, and while it's not difficult, who wants to bother?  Well, after picking up a pair of Dritz pads for $5.49 at Fashion Design Books on 27th Street, I think I'm going to go back to making my own.

You really have to see and touch these in person to get an idea of exactly how cheap and flimsy they are.  I'm sure they didn't cost more than a nickle to make.  And do they really have to come in a hard plastic box?  What, are they going to break?  I hate packaging that's just about making it easier to hang something on a display rack or to discourage shoplifting.  There are many more shoulder pad options available in the Garment District, of course, but I was too lazy to go there just for these, so I guess I shouldn't complain.  But still...

Anyway, I tacked them into my blouse, and they really make a difference.





Let me tell you about the finishing touches I made to Hollywood 1321, my band collar blouse pattern.  I chose vintage gray plastic buttons; I don't even remember where I got them but they're cute.



I ended up serging my armscye seam allowances.



Buttonholes were no problem.  I used my Singer buttonholer on my 15-91.  Always works.



I added two narrow tucks below the waist in front, roughly 1/2" wide, just for shaping.

And, voila!

Doesn't this blouse make you want to take a letter or fix coffee or something?  It's so Eve Arden!



Dear Customer Service Representative:

Please cancel my order for the two suits and a pair of shoes (dated September 18).  

You recently notified me that the clothes were on back order and that you could not guarantee shipment until December.  Because I need the clothes for a trip in November, neither outfit will be of use to me.

Please credit my account for the total amount ($413.56) immediately.  

Sincerely, 

Mr. Peter Lappin

Male Pattern Boldness Industries, Incorporated

(Sample letter courtesy of Great Personal Letters for Busy People by Dianna Booher)




 
Will that be all, Mr. Lappin?



OK, kids, it's time to make the jumper.  And how about those overpriced notions?  Don't they make you crazy?

Happy Saturday, everybody!

BREAKING! The 1944 Outfit Project

Friends, I am very excited about my next project and I hope you will be too.  I'll be making three separate garments, all from 1944, to create a lovely WWII-era ensemble for demure Miss Cathy Lane.

The genesis:  I was perusing Etsy last week, and I stumbled upon this cute jumper and blouse pattern (above right) for only $3.  DING DING DING!!!  El Cheapo just had to have it.

I love the simple sweetness of it, and couldn't you just see a youthful Gene Tierney or Jennifer Jones -- or even somewhat more mature Eve Arden -- wearing that outfit onscreen?

Joan What's-her-name and Eve Arden in "Mildred Pierce"

Here's an ad for a somewhat similar jumper, from a September, 1944 Screen Guide magazine I own:







Now that it's fall, we couldn't have Cathy parading around in nothing but a jumper and blouse, so I decided to look for a suitable coat pattern.  And that's when I found this, also on Etsy:



It cost quite a bit more than $3, but what are you going to do?

Yesterday I went to look for fabric ideas, and here's some of what I came up with.  I don't want anything too matchy-matchy, and I want it to have a period feel.  The coat, I think, should be wool; the jumper can be velveteen, corduroy, or plaid or patterned wool tweed.  The blouse will be a very soft cotton, perhaps a soft camel and white stripe.







Last night, I remembered that Pattern Review has a Refashion contest starting November 1, which is just around the corner.  So at the flea market this morning, I picked up this huge salmon pink wool blanket.  It's not perfect -- there are some difficult-to-capture-on-film areas of fading and discoloration -- but I think it's usable.  It's darker than it looks immediately below, more of a rose beige, but I wanted to show you the blanket-stitching.





I'm fond of many of the styles of the mid-Forties and, paging through Screen Guide, part of my vintage movie magazine collection, I was reminded how lovely they are.







Oh, look what else I picked up!  I don't think it's real fur, but I love the look.



And that, readers, is what's on tap, starting soon.

What do you think?  Can you see a salmon coat, perhaps with contrasting lapels, combined with herringbone jumper and brown striped blouse?  Or should I go with textured velveteen?  Planning a new project is fun!

You can see more photos from my 1944 Screen Guide here.

Have a great day, everybody!

Hurray for Hollywood!

Friends, we're off on another journey today!

I'm the biggest old movie fan ever -- as if you didn't already know -- and one of my treasures is a small collection of vintage movie magazines in fantastic condition which I bought many years ago, for something like $1 each, on the street from some guy who must have found them in a dumpster and just wanted to move them fast.  (Longest MPB sentence ever.)

I don't look at them often these days, but I thought now might be a good time to take another peek and share one with you.



So let's go back to September 1940.  War was in the air, though the United States hadn't been drawn directly into the conflict yet.  But these were anxious times both politically and economically.  For most Americans, the Depression lingered.

This was Hollywood's Golden Era, as audiences -- largely but not exclusively women -- sought escapist entertainment, and Hollywood delivered.  This was also the heyday of the movie magazine.  There's nothing tacky about this 1940 Photoplay; it's more like Vogue than The National Enquirer.  While most of the content is focused on films and film stars, the advertising (aside from film ads) is primarily for fashion and grooming products.

Nail polish was big...





As was fur.



New stretch synthetics were coming on the market and changing the look of underwear!





There's less advertising than in magazines of the Fifties and Sixties, but there was also less to buy -- and less to buy it with. 

Tailored suits were popular, for both the young and the not-so-young.

The youthful ideal was to dress like Deanna Durbin, Bonita Granville, or starlet Linda Darnell.   Can you believe these modest fashions were for teenagers (though the term had yet to enter the vernacular)?!

Needless to say, nobody ever flashed anything, ever.  Or if they did, we didn't hear about it.  As for tattoos and piercings...fuggitaboutit.  Pleats and tucks, however, were everywhere.



 



As you can see, fashion in 1940 was largely about looking elegant and "well-bred."  Styles were dictated by major fashion houses who took their inspiration from Paris.  Even for the young, the ideal was a mature look: glamorous but grounded in reality (as opposed to the mid-century "Populuxe" perfect housewife fantasy).  

Here's dancer Eleanor Powell...



skater Sonja Henie...



actress Myrna Loy (very much the ideal wife type).



Evening wear was more glamorous, of course.  Here's Loretta Young...



and luscious Hedy Lamarr, who was at her peak at this time.





This was also the peak era of Ginger Rogers (who won her Oscar in 1940).   Ginger personified the ideal woman of the period: an earthy but glamorous girl next door.  Ginger was accessible and all-American -- and brunette: her brassier blonde days were over (for now).



There's definitely an air of sobriety in 1940, with much more to come in the next few years. 

I love the designs of this period and the tailored details of the clothes.  Fit in the bodice is largely carried out through soft gathers and yokes.





Women's fashions of the period don't fetishize tiny waists, curvy hips, or prominent bosoms.  The strong V-shape, with its exaggerated shoulders, starts showing up, though the late-Thirties, milkmaid-style puffy sleeve is still popular.

 
 



Friends, what do you think?  Are these not the most elegant women's fashions of the last century?

You can see more photos of my 1940 Photoplay here.

Thanks for traveling with me and have a great day, everybody!