Vintage Photos: Mohair Child in the Snow

Do you ever wish you knew what color things were in old black and white photographs? I desperately want to know what color this child was decked out in, head-to-toe. Vibrant fuschia? Bright blue? I'm leaning toward crayon red, myself... That's the color I'd choose for such an outfit!  

This is "Nonah", a friend of my grandmothers, lookin' pretty spiffy in her winter woolens in the early 1920s!

I'm seriously feeling this photo, today. If I had a brushed mohair snowsuit, I'd be wearing it indoors! Our water heating pipes have been frozen for four days and we've been camping in the living room next to our wood stove. Brrr!

Edit: Pipes have thawed and nary a split/break in sight. Yay!

Stay warm!

xoxo
Emily

Ellen's Vintage Fashion Inspiration for 2014

Just like Emily mentioned in her fashion inspiration post, every year around this time I get incredibly antsy for new projects, inspiration, and new fashion! Today I'm going to share with you some of my favorite pieces, looks, and styles that will certainly inspire me for the year to come.

This is a 1922 House of Lanvin French dress housed in the Met's Fashion Collection. And I am in love. The combination of contrasting fabrics and colors is the first thing that catches my eye. It looks soft and comfortable, but still airy enough (especially with the coral cut outs) to be the perfect dress for a warm summer day! I love how the coral lines the neck and arm and creates a fun, geometric pattern to define the rest of the dress.

The cut of this dress is great too - and in fairly typical 1920s tradition. It looks loose enough to be incredibly comfortable, but still with a little definition around the waist and bust. And I can't get over that full skirt, either! Unfortunately this is the only photograph available on the Met's website, but I would absolutely love to get a closer look at the front of this piece (and not to mention all the detail!).

Another dress I have been fawning over lately is this beautiful silk 1930s dress that is available for sale on Etsy. I think the cut of this dress has to be my favorite part - the fit and flare is incredibly flattering. The pleating above the bust is an excellent addition as well, it adds just the right amount of visual interest to the top of the dress. 

There isn't too much information available on this dress. It's made of a slubbed silk which makes it fairly light and comfortable - and brings out the brilliant red coloring! This dress would be incredibly easy to add into a modern wardrobe as well. It's a style that is copied quite often, but I think it is executed to a T here!

Here we have a pair of 1930s metallic gold dancing shoes (also available on Etsy!). If only my feet were a little smaller they would be mine! Unfortunately, I don't know exactly when in the 30s these were made and worn (I'm not as much of a modern history expert as Emily is!), but they sure are adorable.

They have just the right amount of heel and hold your foot in well enough to look amazingly comfortable. But I love the metallic details and the woven cage around the toes! It's a different approach to the usually closed toe t-strap heel that I feel works really well.

I could just imagine having a fantastic time dancing in these, they are definitely going to be my inspiration while I am looking to buy new heels this season!

Lastly is this robin's egg blue, fur trimmed coat from the 1960s (that is also for sale!). I don't even know where to start with this dress! It's a wool blend with genuine fur cuffs and collar and the most adorable purple buttons. I love the lining along the front and can only imagine it to be a very flattering (and warm!) coat when it is worn.

I think the color of this coat is what really gets me! I think the powder blue mixed with the light purple buttons and light grey fur that has some dark highlights is the perfect mix of pastel and darker natural fur colors.

Although coats are a hard thing to copy, this is definitely my go-to for inspiration. I try to look for jackets in eye-catching colors with nice details without forgetting the warmth factor! This coat hits all those marks and I am incredibly jealous of whomever snatches it up!

I hope you've enjoyed taking a look at some of my vintage fashion inspiration - and that it may have inspired you! Do we share any of the same tastes?

Ellen

Work In Progress: Early 20th century Skating Skirt

Emily, here!

A week ago I was invited to attend an even called "Holiday Nights" at Greenfield Village, the open-air living history museum adjacent to the Henry Ford Museum. Holiday Nights is an amazing adventure into the past. The Village itself is an amalgam of historical buildings and "places", all arranged neatly along streets to provide a literal walk through history. There are houses and workshops, and even a factory originally owned by Thomas Edison, seated comfortably next to his workshops which you can tour.

If you're a history nerd like I am, this place is heaven! Holiday Nights is their wintertime celebration during which they offer live music in various settings around the village. You can snuggle next to a bonfire and listen to fife, crowd the foyer of a 19th century manor to hear hammered dulcimer and glockenspiel, follow the traveling carolers and more! There are "street vendors" selling roasted chestnuts, hot cocoa and warm cider, as well as lanterns and wreaths. It was so beautiful. Everywhere you looked were people carrying little lights and lanterns, and people were laughing and singing all around the village (except for one of the houses. One of the houses belonged to a very conservative family, whose religion I have forgotten, who did not observe Christmas...) and the end of the night was led by a parade of noise and lights to the town hall where all of the visitors caroled as fireworks were set off over the village lake. Holy cow. I haven't had good educational fun like that in a very long time.

SO.
I've had this idea for a vintage-inspired skirt tickling the back of my head ever since that night and over the past few days I've been able to really get some work done on it. I want desperately to make one of those warm woolen skirts that you see women wearing for figure skating both in the 1910's and again in the 40s.

Ideally I'd like it to be the kind of skirt that you can pair with a fancy muff or a muck fork, depending on where you are! The biggest challenge for me was definitely coming up with something that is practical as well as elegant.

I spent an entire day pouring over my vintage/antique patterns (and Pinterest, of course) in order to come up with just the right cut. Finally I settled on one of my favorite patterns from "Past Patterns" which is a 1915, six gored skirt with a sort of "yoke belt". I used this patter as my base and altered it slightly to give it a slightly more 40's silhouette and length, and unless I'm sorely mistaken the result is going to be spectacular!

This pattern is a perfect example of how to find yourself in over your head with antique sewing! The pattern has a scant 4 lines of directions and was originally unprinted, leaving a series of perforations to be carefully deciphered by the seamstress or tailor. The "yoke belt" is nearly impossible to figure out, and in the end I decided to wing it. It was only after I finished the top of the skirt that I figured out how I should've done it, as it ended up a bit bulky, but it still looks fantastic when it's on!

The fabric that I had the pleasure of using for this was a heavy Italian wool. Don't get me wrong, I'm really not the kind of gal to go and splurge on some over-the-top luxury fabric, but last year I visited the Fabric Warehouse over in Warren, Michigan and stumbled across this amazing fabric for $12.99 a yard, when it had originally sold for $50-60 a yard in New York City fashion houses. Holy Moly, right? It's the most luxurious fabric I've ever sewn with (though I have a couple of other gems in my collection waiting to be used) so there was a lot of pressure to make it into something special. This project has proved to be the perfect excuse.

I have yet to add the buttons, hook-and-eyes and hem (which I am just realizing I've never actually done an invisible hem – maybe I can get away with hiding a plain-stitched hem in an embellishment at the bottom as pictured on the drawing...) so there will be plenty of photos of this babe when I'm finished. I'll be finishing the hem at a shorter length than was typical of the Edwardian period from which this pattern comes simply because I want it to be a working skirt, or the kind of skirt that you'd wear when skating on the local pond. It needs to be short enough that my wellies don't get caught up in it as I'm trudging out to feed the livestock, but ideally it should be long enough to allude to the modesty of the era.

Stay tuned for more photos!