Girdles and corsets and the right shape, oh my

Let’s stay in the same time frame as in the post about fashionable figures, the early 20th century to the 1950’s, but remove the clothes and see what was worn underneath. The origins of corsets or stays are very hazy, the first known examples dates to around 1600, but those are already fully developed garments, two layers of fabric stiffened with reeds or whalebone. A piece of clothing designed to change the female body so it conforms to the ideals of the time. And ideals change- just during the first decades of the 20th century it went from super curvy, to super straight.

The swing dress in action

Here is a few pictures of Sense & Sensibility's swing dress that I reviewed here. To be truthful, I have been more pleased with other sewing projects. I strongly suspect the polyester in the wool blend is to blame for the skirt not draping nicely. I really need a brooch at the neckline as it gapes much too much left as it is. The dress isn't fancy, but it will work nicely for everyday and I'm sure I will wear it, even if I'm not 100% satisfied.

50 years of fashionable female figures

Even if this blog is about the 1940’s you may have notice that I sometimes go outside the decade. Nothing exists in a vacuum and sometimes I feel the need to reach outside to give a little perspective. Something it’s much too easy to look at something and isolate it from the before and after, but I think it’s important to see the larger picture. The forties isn’t my sole interest either, even if it’s a big one. This post began as a tie in after my posts on the ideal body shape, found here and here , but if grow to include 50 years of body ideal. I hope you will find it interesting and not distracting.




Consider these two pictures, taken about 50 years apart and still, the figures of the both women are not that different. Granted, both Camille Clifford and Jayne Mansfield had exaggerated figures, even for their times, but even so they represent the ideal of the time. The Edwardians beauty is all curves, a youthful, but mature woman with ample, but rather low bosom, a narrow waist and wide hips. Miss Mansfield’s breasts are placed higher, but she is also very curvy. If you didn’t know more about the fashion changes of the 20th century, it would be easy enough to think that this body ideal went on interrupted for 50 years. I think we all know that this is not the case.

A review on Simplicity 15c Pattern #3474

It seem like Simplicity re-used pattern numbers because when I googled I found a 60's pattern with the same one. This review is for a dress with a pointed yoke from 1940.

The envelope says "Simple to Make" and I agree. It may look a bit complicated when you look at the pattern as it has a yoke and no shoulder seam, but if you have your basic sewing skill in pat, then I don't think this one is hard to make at all. It's unprinted, which I have never used before, which means that all indications on the patterns are made by tiny holes and not lines. When I got used to that I found it very easy to work with. The pattern has two sleeve options and though I really like the short sleeves, i opted to make the long ones as this is meant to be a winter dress. I choose thin black wool crepe for it, a fabric I haven't worked with before. It's beautiful but somewhat slippery, but I basted all seams before sewing. Somewhat more time-consuming, but so worth it.

A photographic question

My darling announced that his New Year resolution is to dress sharp every day. Not that he doesn't do that already... Now I don't do resolutions, but really, I will have to think of what I throw on or I will hae to walk three steps behind. :) Since I started this blog I have become much better in planning my outfits, but I'm thinking of becoming better in making outfit posts. Hopefully you will enjoy them and I will get a "photo album" of my wardrobe.

There's a few reasons for the lack of those posts. Some easy to solve, like getting a tripod and learn how to take photos of myself so I don't have to depend on my darling taking photos. Not that he mind, but it would be nice to be able by myself as daylight and being home at the same time as my darling is sometimes a bit hard to achieve. But I also feel very self-concious when I'm photographed. Like most of us I have parts of me that I like less and I get very critical when watching photos of myself. And I'm not naturally photogenic at all and I would really love to learn to pose better. So what I'm asking you is if you know any good tutorials for making good outfit photos or just plain posing? I have googled, but it's a bit hard to know which ones are any good. If you have any favourite tutorials or website, I would love to hear about them.

The "Popover dress"

I was given 100 dresses for Christmas and fell instantly in love with this dress, the "Popover dress" by the American designer Claire McCardell from 1942.



I love clothes that are both practical and beautiful and this one is a perfect example. I'm not sure if it is in cotton or linen- I have found it credited to both fabrics, but I'm apt to think that it was made in cotton, as the Metropolitan website says. It looks very stylish with its buttons and top-stitched details, but also very comfortable and truly something you can wear around the house without being afraid to open the door.



I don't think the pattern is too complicated either. I'm lazy so I rarely draft patterns by myself, but I do know how to do it and I think I will have a go and try to re-create this one.





I think you should pop over to the Metropolitan Museum website and fo a seach for Claire McCardell. I think she had a wonderful knack for everyday clothes that looked great too. She seems to have had a penchant for wraparpund dresses, even if I like the "Popover" the best.





(Picture sources: http://www.metmuseum.org/)

Giveaway winners

I hope you all had a great New Years Eve! We had planned to go to a good friend, but I have got the flu so we had no choice but to stay home. But my darling cooked me a dinner from Last Dinner On the Titanic by Rick Archbold and Dana McCauley. Consommé Olga, Chicken Lionesse and chocolate ice cream (we bought that), so it was quite nice anyway. I also tried to watch the latest version of King Kong, but lost my taste when it came to the portrayal of the inhabitants of King Kong's island- more like orcs than human being. The racial treatments isn't great in the old movie either, but really, couldn't one think of a better way in 2005. It's a corny story, I know, with virgin sacrifice, but perhaps one could have described a population ruled by fear and not sadistic pleasure? And why has King Kong torn the former poor virgin's into shreds if he is a vegetarian? Well, I looked as far as Kong's fight with the dinosaur, only it wasn't one, but three Tyrannosaurs that he fought with just one hand (holding the damsel in distress in the other hand, instead of the more sensible choice of placing her in an old tree while fighting). Like in the original movie:



But I digress and I guess you want to know who won. Well, the first prize, 3 perfume samples of her choice + one sample of Shocking goes to: