Dress and hat - 1950s vintage (Simplicityisbliss and HaremofPeacocks on Etsy)
Shoes - Deichmann | Bolero - Old, bought from a shop somewhere in Germany
Coat - Primark | Bag - Marks & Spencer
Saturday of Easter weekend I went out for lunch with my family and wore a hat for the first time in ages that was decorative rather than designed to keep me warm. I haven't taken outfit pictures for a while, it's amazing how quickly I get out of the habit of knowing how to pose without looking awkward! Also, I see a big difference in quality between my old and new cameras.
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Recently I won a giveaway along with several other ladies on Dividing Vintage Moments. Joanna had several vintage hair nets to give away, on the condition that the winners blogged about their experiences of using them.
My package arrived just after I got back from my recent trip to France, and I was excited to try out the hair net as soon as possible.
I wasn't quite sure what colour I would need, but Joanna had a spare one and was kind enough to send me both light and medium brown.
Here are what the packages look like from the outside. Aren't they beautiful?
And here is the back of the paper envelope. I love the perfect satisfaction guarantee!
Inside, the hair net is wrapped in tissue. I will be using the medium brown one as it matches my hair perfectly.
And here is how I decided to style my hair today - Victory rolls with my hair at the back tucked into the hair net.
I actually found it pretty fiddly to get my hair into the hair net. The net is a different shape to the modern ones I'm used to - sort of like a pouch that sits at the back of the head in a sort of snood shape, rather than a round one which can be made to cover your whole head. At least, having fiddled with it rather a lot this morning, I think that is how they are supposed to work!
(The modern "dinner lady" style ones are perfect for covering sets overnight though!)
Here is my hair from the back... after I had wrestled it into the hair net. I found that getting it into the hair net caused my hair to kind of flatten and separate a lot compared to how I had originally styled it, so I will try to work on improving that during future wears. If you look closely, you can just about make out the hair net, but it's practically invisible.
Here is a close up so you can see how invisible the hair net actually is when worn. (sorry about being so up close and personal with my ear!)
Overall I am really impressed with this hair net. The hair it's made from is really strong and not at all brittle; it stood up really well to me fighting with it to get it on. It might break if you were too rough with it though, so I will try to avoid that. I also find it a little scratchy on the back of my neck compared to the modern one I am used to, which is made of what I think is probably nylon.
It's much more glamorous for daytime wear than the modern ones I'm used to and I will definitely be using it again.
Thank you Joanna for the lovely giveaway!
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Following up on my previous post about Sew For Victory, I can now show you the progress I have made.
I seem to have been getting on okay, to a point. Here is what the dress looks like so far:
I seem to have been getting on okay, to a point. Here is what the dress looks like so far:
I am having a problem at the moment in getting the dress to fit me (I am standing inside the dress in the photo) - the pattern seems to suggest that inserting a row of shirring at the top, middle and bottom of the bodice will allow you to fit the dress to your body. After studying a number of online tutorials I decided to put several rows of elastic in, but it still doesn't seem to be working. It's still huge!
Actually the pattern has turned out to be a lot harder than I anticipated as it turns out that the instructions are a bit patchy and assume that you can manage to fill in the gaps yourself, which I gather is a common thing with vintage patterns. I did read through the pattern a couple of times before choosing it and buying the materials, and I somehow didn't notice until I started trying to assemble everything that the instructions were a little less instructive than I had hoped. The pattern can be found here.
So the question is, what have I done wrong, and what should I do next? I've considered continuing to add shirring in the hopes it will do what I want, or removing the shirring that I've added and restitching it so I can try to pull it to gather the fabric more, and I've also considered abandoning it altogether and maybe using the fabric for something else.
If anyone knows what I might have done wrong or how I might be able to go about fixing it, please do let me know! I'd love to rescue this if at all possible as it's the biggest sewing project I've ever attempted.
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Here are a few more photos from my recent shoot with Kevin from retro-images.com and Jac from Tip Top Hair Design. Thank you all for the lovely response to my last set of photos - I hope you enjoy these ones too. They are in more of a 50s style compared to the last ones - I have tried to replicate the hairstyle a few times as it's so pretty and great for everyday, but also easy to dress up for more formal events. I can't do it like Jac can do it, though!
Please check out retro-images.com for more of Kevin's work, and see the Vintage at Tip Top Hair Design Facebook page for more examples of Jac's hairstyling as well as some information and dates for events she will be attending with her pop-up vintage salon.
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Some of you may remember that I participated in the Knit For Victory knit-a-long hosted in January by Tasha from By Gum, By Golly!
Although I had one or two hitches with the project, I consider it an overall success. You can see some pictures and read more about the pattern I chose here. However, the finished article is shown off to best advantage in the lovely photos taken by Kevin when I modelled for him and Jac at Tip Top Hair Design a few weeks ago.
Although I had one or two hitches with the project, I consider it an overall success. You can see some pictures and read more about the pattern I chose here. However, the finished article is shown off to best advantage in the lovely photos taken by Kevin when I modelled for him and Jac at Tip Top Hair Design a few weeks ago.
When I found out that there was going to be a sew-a-long entitled Sew For Victory and hosted by Rochelle at Lucky Lucille, I knew I had to participate.
I am not a very experienced knitter, but I am basically a complete novice at sewing (apart from sewing a petticoat which I wore for my cousin's wedding and attending a beginner sewing class last year). I'm also really busy at the moment, mostly due to my heavy load of uni coursework.
For these reasons I have selected a really simple pattern which I hope I can sew in my spare time in the evenings and not mess up too badly. I might even get it done all in one go, as according to the pattern it should only take 3 1/2 hours to complete.
Here is the pattern I have chosen:
I will be sewing the lovely 1940s sundress on the right. Both these patterns as well as some others can be found for free here.
I have chosen to make it in this peach coloured polycotton:
I hope I can soon show you the completed article, or at least some progress! How about you - are you participating in the sew-a-long? If so then please share your project ideas or link my to any relevant blog posts etc, I'd love to know what you have chosen.
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