New Video : Some Current Favorites

Have a good weekend everyone!

Cataloging Catalogs: Spring/Summer 1950 (Montgomery Ward's)

More dresses today, some maternity dresses even, and house dresses for the "fastidious homemaker". I find "house frocks" such and odd concept really, because it always seems to me they are just as cute as the "real" dresses to be worn out and about! Plus, I don't care if it's 1950 or 2018, I'm not gonna look cute when I'm cleaning the house, I'm just not. Twas' a different time indeed.

It took me ages to scan these pages and stitch them together today because I kept getting distracted and typing a few lines of dialog that came to me, or outlining the general plot line for a few chapters, or thinking of how I could keep that one character involved and jotting that down, all in an open Word document I keep by my side (as it were) like a notepad. My brain couldn't focus! Which doesn't mean these dresses aren't delightful of course, but obviously I need to go work on writing instead for the rest of the night. Too many interests, too many projects, not enough time. Not a bad problem to have really :)

Raffia Refuge

A bare midriff? Clearly I was feeling daring. It took me ages to become comfortable in my body as an adult, but I still don't often go as far as actually showing it! Everyone has insecurities of course, and for me (like many I know) it's usually my upper arms. You don't see me in strappy dresses or sleeveless tops often that's for sure. Yet, here I am with my blouse tied casually as if unconcerned. You won't be seeing me in a bikini any time soon though I promise! Well, baby steps on confident days I suppose.

Mostly I just wanted to wear my new shoes, and can you blame me? Look at the rainbow raffia goodness. They are from Betsey Johnson and I picked them up from DSW online recently. I fell for this similar pair from J.Crew which were a bit above my price range, so when I saw these I snapped for them! I just thought the rainbow party decoration like "bow" was so perfectly summery, and since I didn't have a pair of wedges or espadrilles in my closet, these filled the need for a comfortable but still fun pair of heels for this season. I finally picked up one of these fun raffia embellished straw clutch handbags too. I could never decide what color or style of embellishment to go for, but I finally chose aqua and green to pair with these shoes. These clutches can be found very inexpensively on Etsy, and though most are from the later half of the 20th century, I have 1940's catalogs with the same style for sale!

The rest of the outfit is super simple in all black of course. The silk blouse is from Banana Republic, the black circle skirt is made from Joanns cotton sateen (and could use an iron), and the black petticoat is from Malco Modes of course! A rainbow layered petticoat would be even better though, anyone know of where I can get one?

And speaking of rainbows, thank you all so much for the wonderful response on my last video! It just means the world to me that the response has been so positive and the comments so encouraging and kind. I've got a busy week ahead, but for now I'm off to work on editing the manuscript again for a few hours, and there is nothing better really ;) I love editing almost as I much writing it all in the first place!

Skirt: Made by me
Blouse: Banana Republic
Shoes: Betsey Johnson (DSW)
Clutch & Bracelet: Vintage
Earrings: Luxulite
Petticoat: Malco Modes

New Video: A Pride Month Inspired Chat

Well, here is something you all don't know about me yet. I swear it just never comes up, and it's not the easiest thing to slip into an outfit post or sewing tutorial. I am asexual, and seeing as it is Pride month, I felt like it was important to make this video. I was especially motivated to speak up since asexuality has so little visibility and representation. 

Some people don't think asexuals belong in the LGBT+ community, and I can understand that it may seem like aces may not face the same level of discrimination and push back from society that other queer identities do. Asexuals do face different and perhaps less harmful or historically damning issues in general. Still, being ace is similar to being LGBT+ in many ways, or in my case, and for many others-- overlapping ones (being bi/pan-romantic myself). Asexuals get told "it's just a phase", and that "we will grow out of it", that "we just haven't found the right person yet", or that our identity is wrong, just a medical or mental health issue, or doesn't even exist at all. Like many within the queer community we are told we are not valid, and hey-- that's just not true.

So I am happy to share a little bit more about myself with all of you this Pride month, and I hope you don't mind this little detour from vintage fashion today. I promise I'll be back with more retro goodness soon :)

Tendency Toward Tropical

This tropical print cotton and linen blend fabric ended up jumping in my cart when I placed an order from Fabric.com last month. The colors just captured my fancy and since it was inexpensive I picked up two yards. I was able to make this simple A-line dress to wear in the summer heat and I'm really happy with how it came out! 

This time I wore it with red coral jewelry and tan leather accessories, but in the future I think I could wear it with navy or green just as easily. Perhaps I could even pull out the pink to use an accent, though it can be difficult to find truly matching pink colored accessories. I recently did pick up a light pink 1950's/60's purse though, so light pink is certainly on my collecting agenda! I keep telling myself to save some money so I can get a new tattoo this summer, but that kinda thing never seems to work out for me as I'm always falling for lovely vintage things on Etsy...oops!

Today has been full of  prepping for filming and filming a videos. I really need to force myself to get to bed earlier tonight though because I have been staying up much too late the past few nights and it's catching up to me! Tomorrow will be a day full of video editing, and the one I'm working on this weekend is certainly going to be a bit different than I have done before topic wise. Its got me nervous, but there really is nothing to be nervous about! You'll all see what I mean soon. For now I've got to get back to it, so I'll see you all again soon :)

Dress & Jewelry: Made by me
Shoes: Chelsea Crew
Clutch & Parasol: Vintage
Belt: Target

Summer Sateen

The last time I wore this dress was in Paris, so it's hard not to feel a bit jealous of past me and that truly quite exciting day. We started at the Musée d'Orsay, went to Laduree for tea, and then did some shopping at Deyrolle. It is rather hard to top all that here at home! On this occasion I was bound for a mere stroll around Denver's Botanical Gardens, but gardens are lovely too, even when they aren't Parisienne.

It was unreasonably hot out unfortunately, but that is to be expected at this time of year. In Colorado it can still be snowing in May, but when the heat arrives it does so with vigor. Stretch cotton sateen like that of this dress is useful in hot weather, no one wants to be wearing polyester in the summer now do they? I paired the dress with a tan snakeskin belt, my Remix sandal heels, some tropical leaf brooches, and a new bamboo box purse that I acquired recently. I may have already had a few wicker handbags in my closet, but I wanted one in bamboo as well, truly--I cannot be stopped. If only I could find some nice bamboo themed jewelry too, but I have yet to fully fall in love with any set I have seen.

My last week has been full of researching the publishing industry, making a list of literary agents to look into further, and refining my query letter. I have noticed several agencies want a synopsis too, so now I have a whole new blurb to research and write! It's funny, they say "query 100 agents before you even think about giving up", but then they also want you to thoroughly research each agent and know exactly why they are the best fit for your novel. Where am I supposed to find all of this time you guys? I need a time turner like Hermione.

My relief from the publishing research induced stress has been watching the anime Mushi-Shi, which is quite excellent and calming even if the stories are often at least somewhat sad. Give it a go even if you aren't usually an anime fan, it's quiet, different than most, and can be found for free on YouTube. Watching an episode before bed has been a recent ritual. Self care can take many forms you guys ;)

Dress: Made by me
Shoes: Remix
Handbag, Belt, & Jewelry: Vintage
Fishnets: Amazon
Sunglasses: Sunglasses Museum (Etsy)

Video: Advice for Starting to Sew Vintage Style Clothing

It's always a bit of a bummer when someone gets excited about what I'm wearing only for me to tell them I made the dress myself and therefore can't tell them where to get one for themselves! Well, a let down for them, and equally a slight ego boost and bummer for me I guess. I wish I could tell everyone where they could pick up a similar dress, or skirt, or blouse, but really what I want to tell everyone is-- learn to sew! It is 100% the best way to get the vintage inspired wardrobe of your dreams. 

Then of course seamstresses will ask me which pattern I used and then I have to let people down again because I make my own patterns and can't recommend any of those either! I can recommend learning to pattern draft though. Honestly, I'm no help at all am I?

Well, while I hope to have a fashion label one day so anyone can buy my designs should they like to, and I'm also hoping to grade my patterns so that everyone can at least make a copy of my dresses if they'd like to do that, I'm just not there yet sadly. So here are my tips for starting to sew vintage style clothing yourself. It's a journey to get to the point where you can see a 1950's dress on Pinterest and can immediately make a copy for yourself that weekend, but I'd love to help as many people as I can reach that point someday! 

Remember, no one can play a perfect sonata on day one, and no one can create a flawless couture garment on day one either. Practice and patience make progress, and perfection is irrelevant ;) Happy sewing!

Black & White - Summer Style Inspiration 2018

I like to pull images together that have been inspiring my wardrobe and sewing choices each season, and this time I noticed just how many were in black and white. Narrowing down to colorless images, I think many of these photographs are extra powerful for their lack of color. Fresh and crisp, antique and soft, candids or otherwise, these images evoke the kind of summer chic and breezy style anyone, vintage or not, would love to live in all summer long. 

So linger over these photographs and dream. I'll join you.

Countryside Checks

Ahh gingham, it just can't be beat in the summertime. Apparently it is still technically spring according to the calendar, but the temperatures here are skewed otherwise. In this heat a lightweight dress is about all I can handle! Thank goodness for big sun hats too, though I could use some more neutral colored vintage style sunglasses...

As usual I'd like to make about a dozen more gingham projects in just about every color and size of check, but I don't currently have any gingham in my fabric stash, and I do have about a million other projects I already need to finish first before I add another. So in the end I probably won't be adding any new gingham to my summer wardrobe this year. Though I have seen some very cute gingham heels around that are very tempting! This time I paired my long serving navy and white gingham dress with classic retro red for the ultimate Americana look, even if of course I'm not exactly proud and patriotic to be an American these days. Lets not talk about that though right?

I have to say I didn't get as much done sewing/video/or otherwise this weekend, as our household got torn apart and spring cleaned on Saturday since we had carpet cleaning done, which of course threw everything into a whirlwind of dusting and moving furniture around. I did finish another edit through the ye ol' book on Friday night though! It's odd, if I don't read it/work on it for a few days, I start getting down on myself about the book "oh there's no way it's any good", but then once I read it again, I always discover that I really love the darn thing and get excited again! I guess that means I should never stop working on writing and I will always feel better that way. Today I'm starting work on my query letter in earnest. Pray for me kids!

Dress: Made by me
Shoes: Bait Footwear
Hat, Clutch, Belt, Gloves, Jewelry: Vintage