Category: Clothing

Wearing History Patterns

I like to sew. I may not be great at it but there is something very satisfying about sewing a garment yourself from scratch. And I really love making reproduction clothing of the 30s and 40s from original or vintage repro patterns.  This means you can have authentic looking garments from the era that are easy to care for and that can be thrown in the washing machine, unlike like original vintage pieces.

Seems that sewing is becoming a dying art amongst the young ladies of today, which is why I love to keep my hand in. I have taught myself over the years and you can only really learn by doing. It’s also nice to have a bunch friends in the vintage scene that sew and a few that even have their own line of patterns for sale. One my favourite lines comes from Wearing History, which is run by my friend Lauren Maringola. She is an amazing seamstress and you can see many of the pieces in her line made up on her site.

I have made several garments from her patterns and they fit like a dream and are very easy to put together in most cases. I am an intermediate sewer so haven’t tried the more advanced ones yet. My next project is a pair of 1930s beach pajamas to take to Thailand with me. The thing I love about WH patterns is that they are based on original patterns with some tweaking to make them easier to make. They also come in many sizes which is a real bonus. She even has hat patterns 🙂

You can check out Wearing History Patterns here: http://wearinghistorypatterns.com

Necks Tuesday…fine bow ties

I ran across an article about the vendors at the Jazz Age Lawn Party on Governor’s Island and found a write up about Necks Tuesday. What a great name for a tie store!! Necks Tuesday are a New York maker of hand finished bow ties which come in silk, fine wools, cotton and cashmere and have a very sharp vintage look, unlike many modern bow ties.

I also like the fact that they are not too loud and come in more muted shades, which allows them to be worn with most of the suit and shirt colours you find in a modern man’s wardrobe. Great to see some nice vintage repro being made for men. Here are some of the ties available.

 

You can find them at http://neckstuesday.com/

 

 

Speaking of Wallis Simpson…

On the theme of Wallis Simpson, one of my favourite portayals of her was by Gillian Anderson in the UK series, ‘Any Human Heart’. Gillian captured her beautifully and the clothing she wore was exquisite. Just thought I’d share a few shots of that too, as Wallis had an amazing style that was copied by women the world over at the time. Edward was also a trendsetter is day. The ultimate stylish couple. The casual sports wear is to die for!

The 70s BBC series, ‘Edward and Mrs Simpson’ was also very good. The clothing was stunning and Edward Fox was quite uncanny as Edward. Check it out along with ‘Any Human Heart.’  Her sportwear is to die for in the last pic.


Golden Gowns

Cheryl Cole

I stumbled across this photo of Cheryl Cole in a golden gown on the X-Factor. It reminded me of some photos of vintage starlets in metallic gowns I have set aside over the years. Amongst the beauties here we have Ginger Rogers, Jean Harlow, Baba Beaton, Rita Hayworth, Eleanor Powell, Nancy Coleman, Veronica Lake, Myrna Loy, Carol Hughes and Delores Del Rio. Wow, I need something like this…