I was beyond excited when I found out this month's theme day at school was 1950's. Totally up my alley and I'd just been waiting for my day to shine. :p I mentally examined my 'vintage' wardrobe. Nothing popped out as something I would be interested wearing. lol Yeah that's me....
I recalled this adorable dress I'd found on pinterest some months ago. After some voting and digging I decided to go ahead and try my hand at it and found the perfect springy/summerish material.
Cute right?!
I used a very simple bodice pattern - Simplicity 1873. Size 12 fit almost perfect I did have to take like 2 inches out on the side seams, but the rest fit.. lol I hate that I have to make such big sizes these days. Lawd.
The front "scarf" detail is just 4 ish inch wide strips cut on the bias. And the ends are angled. It doesn't cap my shoulder quite` like the original seems to be, but alas I am happy.
The skirt was 3 panels the full width of my fabric so probably around 125" circumference. Simply gathered at the waist.
The back collar was a bit trickier just because I was careless and got one point way longer then the other. Making the piece itself wasn't to bad - just made angled lines and away we went.
I whipped the dress out in about a day. The crinoline however took a tad longer mainly due to cutting and procuring the materials.
I set my hair in sponge rollers the night before. I was extremely pleased with the result. All I did was unroll them on the way to school and ruffle the crown of my head up a bit to be rid of any disturbing partings and threw on bit of firm hold hair spray. These pictures were taken after a full day of wear. So needless to say the curls stayed in fabulously.
The crinoline is 3 layers. 3 tiers each. The bottom tier is 8 yards in circumference, the 2nd 4 yards and the top 2 yards. I was unsure if it was full enough - mainly at the top. I wanted a nice feminine bell shape rather then a triangle. After seeing it all together I think its satisfactory. Its obviously very simple in design. This is the original I was aiming for. And this tutorial is very very similar... Certainly wasn't my favorite thing to work on. So monotonous and the amount of ribbon & thread I used was unbelievable!
My beloved Aris Allen dance shoes! Love them bad boys - makes me so happy everytime I get the opportunity to break them out.
Pearls of course. They seem so cliche, but totally completed the ensemble if you ask me.
I took a very simplistic approach with my make up. Super light blush, 2 different shades of light brown eyeshadows, and Rimmel gel eyeliner which is the best thing ever for wings and such. I did fill my brows a bit believe it or not. I'm apparently not capable of having high arches tho. Which is rather dissapointing. lol I somehow managed to loose my red lipstick during the night so I was forced to improvise alittle till I could get my hands on some. And then I walked out with 3 different ones cause I couldn't decide which shade I like best. lol Girls problems...I swear.
Anyhow this is super helpful for someone who wishes to achieve something similar.
And that's that. I now have a cute, fluffy little 50's dress to wear anytime I please!!!!! It was a great success at school as well. Yay for a victory!
Love,
Brooke
