Cathy Models the 1944 Topper!

Friends, with the 1944 Outfit Project completed, Cathy and I took advantage of the Thanksgiving holiday to undertake our photo shoot, complete with Macy's Thanksgiving Day parade floats!

Cathy breaks new ground yet again, this time with a new hair color, coiffure, and love interest!  I hope you'll find all three to your liking.  As with any fashion icon, the public can be reluctant to accept changes, yet change we must to keep up with the times.  Or in this case, to recreate the past.

With no further delay, I present our photo shoot.

As always, to see these photos full-size, please click on any image and in Picasa, choose the album name, and then, in the upper left hand corner, "Slideshow."



Of course we want to hear what you think of Cathy's glamorous new look.

Move over, Lana Turner?

Enjoy!

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Happy Thanksgiving, Big-Shouldered Gals (and Guys)!

Friends, this morning we're busy peroxiding Cathy's hair, rouging her cheeks, and adjusting her attitude.  On photo shoot day, everything must be perfection!

To get into the right mood, last night I watched 1944's Cover Girl, starring Rita Hayworth.  Along with lavish technicolor musical numbers, the film boasts some gorgeous mid-Forties street clothes.  Have you seen it?

Second banana Eve Arden is particularly well-accessorized, with marvelous hats.





We celebrate Thanksgiving in the late afternoon in my family, so I have most of the day free to spend with my cousin, who never gets invited to Thanksgiving anymore, since that unfortunate incident with the turkey stuffing.

Oh dear, friends, I must sign off: it's time to hoist Cathy's shoulders into place -- a two-person job.

Cathy or Joan: you decide!

I hope those of you who are celebrating Thanksgiving have a very happy holiday, and those who aren't enjoy the day doing whatever brings you joy.

Gobble, Gobble!

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Big Shoulders, Big Heart

Readers, is there any question that big shoulders ruled in the early Nineteen-Forties?  It wasn't just a Joan Crawford thing, but she was definitely ahead of the trend.  Apparently her shoulders were already so broad that MGM costume designer Adrian decided he would exaggerate them further rather than try to disguise them.   After wire hangers, aren't big shoulders what Joan is best remembered for? 

"Now where did I put that cabbage...?"

The broad WWII-era shoulder might also have symbolized women's filling traditionally male roles in society, while so many men were at war.  They were also a handy place to temporarily rest a teacup, powder compact, or telephone book.

My 1944 Butterick coat has plenty of room for big shoulder pads and I went for broke, adding two large pads in each shoulder.  As you can see from the envelope art, the line of shoulder is essentially at a right angle to the head.

I'd used shoulder pads before, of course, but strictly human size.



My Daytona Trim pads were triple-layer molded batting, so each shoulder has six layers, which I then covered with muslin to keep them secure.  They're like big ravioli, though they're wider on the shoulder end.







I stitched them into the shoulder along the armscye, and tacked them in place near the neck.  Voila!



These are statement shoulders, and I think the statement is Get out of this house before I kill you, Veda! (Anybody know what I'm talking about?)

Anyway, snood or no snood, blonde or brunette, these shoulders are here to stay.  You'll have to wrestle me to the ground to take them away from me.

Before...

After...

I also made my lining.  I still have to hem the bottom and tack it to those side vents.





In closing, friends, do you generally insert shoulder pads in your clothes?

Do you go for big, bigger, or Joan Crawford-with-a-gun size?  They do give one a sense of confidence, and I suspect they make your ankles look thinner too.

Have a great day, everybody, and safe holiday travels!

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Snoods - Yea or Nay?

Friends, let's cut to the chase.  What do you think of the snood?

As my 1944 Outfit Project draws to a close, and with our photo shoot tentatively scheduled for Thursday (yes, Thanksgiving) morning -- where my cousin will be channeling Maureen O'Hara in Miracle on 34th Street -- I've been busy trying to assemble Cathy's period look on a dime.

I think you've already seen my muff, and why does that sound dirty?  The consensus seems to be that this little $3 hand warmer is shaved rabbit, or shaved something -- real fur.



My original intention had been to make my own shoulder pads for the coat, but I was up at Daytona Trim on 39th Street yesterday, and they had an entire canvas rolling cart full of these molded pads of thick, layered batting for just $1 a pair.  They're not covered -- I'll likely do that myself with muslin -- but they're huge.  To get the effect I'm going for, I'll be putting a pair in each shoulder!



I also picked up a yard and a half of crepe-backed satin for lining at Chic Fabrics.  I was originally going to use Bemberg rayon, but it didn't look heavy enough plus that's kind of fancy, don't you think?  I like the look of the satin better, it's cheap, doesn't wrinkle easily, and I think the weight will enhance the drape of the coat.



Then there was the question of hats/hair.  The Forties had a very particular look and I wasn't sure how to recreate it.  I looked at hats at the flea market, but the colors were all wrong (I needed brown or a muted green), or the shape, or the price.  I was hoping to find something like this, but no such luck.

So on my way home from the fabric store yesterday, I passed one of those ginormous beauty supply/wig/hair extension stores one often finds in New York City, Beauty 35, and I poked my head in to see what kind of accessories they might offer.  Friends, Lady Luck smiled on me once again: I found a wide assortment of snoods -- just $1.99 each!  I bought two: one brown, one burgundy.

I experimented with them, and I must get your opinion, both of Cathy in a snood and of snoods in general.  To me, this type of hair covering treads dangerously into Orthodox Jewish territory.  (I have two orthodox first cousins -- daughters of my Aunt Florence with the aqua toilet that looks like a Pintastic pin dispenser -- so it's a look I know well.)

OK, brace yourself:

1) With the bangs, I am a dead ringer for my cousin Ellen (who no longer goes by the name Ellen, of course).



2) This is a combination of Cathy's new hairdo, with Cathy's old hairdo in the snood.  Rest assured, she'll be clean-shaven and won't have swim goggle imprints around her eyes.  (Flower courtesy of Beauty 35 @ $1.)



3) Then last night I had an epiphany.  Some of the most famous Forties pin-ups were blondes.  I combined my vintage Eva Gabor wig (I didn't tell you about that $5 eBay purchase) with my Peter and the Parrot blonde wig in the snood, and came up with this:





Friends, Michael likes the blonde!

Anyway, back to today's topic.  I'm too lazy to delve deeply into the history of snoods, which have apparently been around since Medieval times, but you can read more about them at the Adore Cherie blog, where you can also catch a photo of Casey looking a little Amish if you ask me.  Snoods were popular during World War II and then fell out of fashion, though they've seen a resurgence in popularity among the vintage-loving crowd.

Are snoods simply too costumey for today, in your opinion?   Have you ever worn one?  Do they make you want to say One ringy dingy and snort through your nose?

In short: Snoods, yea or nay?  

(....and which Cathy hairstyle, please)

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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!

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$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!

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