Edwardian World's Fair

Mid-January the hubs and I, along with our friends Kristen and Shelly, attended the Edwardian Worlds Fair.  The Worlds Fair is part of a weekend-long celebration of all things Edward Gorey capped off by the Edwardian Ball.  As usual I neglected to bring my camera but you can see event photos at the official website here.  (If you happen to be in Los Angeles, the Edwardian Ball is coming to you on February 19th.)

The hubs and I prefer the Worlds Fair to the ball as it is a bit more relaxed but just as fabulous.  People dress to the nines for both events and the costuming ranges from characters from Edward Gorey books, to Edwardian era styles, to steampunk, to 20s gangster/flapper, to general chappishness, to just way out and drool-worthy lush and louche fantasy ensembles.  More photos here.

The headliner was Professor Elemental and despite the sound system refusing to play his backing music with any kind of consistency, he was wonderful.  He had the crowd chanting along with Cup of Brown Joy.  "When I say Earl Grey you say, Yes Please!"  "Early Grey!" "Yes please!" etc.  Great fun.



I self-drafted a 20s-ish dress by tracing together a 1980s dress pattern and a 1950s blouse pattern and I think it worked out rather well for a first effort.





I should have graded the underarm section a little differently because it sticks out a bit and I probably should have finished the bottom of the drape instead of leaving the selvedge edge.  These are things I can fix at a later date though.



As usual it looks better on the dress form than it does on me.  Naturally I neglected to take any photos until late at night after we'd gotten home from the event.  It's really hard to pose at 1am when you are half asleep.

This Time It's Green

This 1965 pattern is a little more fitted then the last one.



I wasn't too sure about the big bow in the front.  It looks great in the drawings, but I'm not really a giant bow kind of girl.  I ended up attaching it to a pin rather than stitching it to the dress.  It doesn't lie flat which is annoying.



This dress was super easy to put together. The only thing I can't quite figure out is how to iron the collar.  I haven't been able to figure out a good way to get the wrinkles out and still maintain the curve, so it looks a little rumpled.  I will see if the dry cleaner can do anything with it.  If not, it may have to go.



Again, I can't seem to get the waist fitted enough and it's still baggy.  I've intensified the curve in the side seam and deepened the front darts.  All told, I've taken it in by about four inches and, while it does fit better,  I've messed up the way it drapes in the back.  Oh la!  A little more fiddling, I think and it will be fine.  As it is, it's fine to wear to work.

Go to the Dickens!

...and we did.

The Dickens Christmas Fair is so much fun, but I have been wearing variations on the same outfit for the past three years. I simply could NOT wear the same velvet jacket and plaid taffeta skirt again this year. I had this fantasy that I would finally sew something this year, but it didn't really pan out.

Instead, I procrastinated until the night before we went to the fair.  I decided to dig through the closet and try to come up with something different from my usual outfit.  Unfortunately there were not a lot of choices that didn't somehow involve some combination of the plaid skirt or velvet jacket. Grr!

Eventually I decided to take a page out of Barbara's book and steampunk it up a bit.  I'm so glad I did!  I was actually comfortable all day.  I love my What Katie Did corset. Win!



The husband wore his explorer ensemble. So handsome.



The fair was the fair. It's always sort of the same...and always sort of magical.  We saw wonderful performers, ate great food, chatted up the chimney sweeps, and tasted many delicious beverages.

We didn't take any photos (I didn't want to carry my camera) but here is a link to the official photo galleries.  If you want to know more about what the fair is like, here's an article from a local paper.  If you are in the Bay Area and want to check out the fair, it's running for one more weekend!

Happy Christmas!

You Are Gold

I buy 60s (and early 70s) shift dress patterns. I love them. They rarely look good on me, so I rarely sew them but they are like kryptonite or catnip or ... anyway, I can't resist them.

Lately, I've been experimenting with making the 60s shift dress work on my super curvy shape. If it works on Joan Holloway, its got to work on me. Right?

This very mod McCalls pattern from 1969 was super simple to make.



First pass of completion it was like a big shapeless goldenrod sack. I had to do a pretty intense curved side seam to follow my waist and hip curve. I also added two long darts in the back to nip in the bagging midriff. The midriff is still a bit loose, but I didn't want to add darts to the front.




The soundtrack for this dress is Gold by Spandau Ballet, of course. I can't get it out of my head.

I Wear The Pants

Despite sewing dress, after skirt, after dress, some mornings I just want no, need, to wear pants to work. Most of the time I go straight for classic, dark-wash, high-waisted jeans but I'm trying to break myself of the denim-for-work habit.

Actually, I've been trying to break this habit for years, with only moderate success. I think if I had more trousers like these, I might just be able to do it.

100% wool plaid Scottish Tartans by Corbin men's trousers. Thrifted in San Diego for a mere $7.

Baubles Bangles and Bright Shiny Beads

This past weekend the hubs and I went to the Burgundy Tops Scooter Club's 25th anniversary party in Sacramento. It was a wonderful party held on the Delta King Riverboat. ...and it gave us the chance to dress up for a change!

I wore this dress that I got at a thrift store some time ago. I love it so much! It doesn't quite fit right in the arms and shoulders, so I'm thinking of selling it, but I'm so glad I got a chance to wear it at least once. The top is a fine beige net covered in jet beads. Its crazy beautiful!



This is the back.


And the Hubs looked dapper in his creme tuxedo jacket.

It was a really fun party! All my friends are silly and stylish and I love them.

7 Things About Me

Thanks to Bea from Butterflies and Hurricanes for this Stylish Blogger Award! I got this award many months ago and for some reason it took me forever think of seven semi-interesting things about me. I don't understand why it was so difficult. But anyway, here are 7 things you don't know about me.

1. I had a tiki themed wedding and a Hawaiian honeymoon. This photo is from the Luau we went to on the last day of our honeymoon. They had a photographer that snapped your photo on the way in, and later you could buy it for $25..? I loved the way ours came out and I'm so glad I bought it. This was taken only a few years ago an I'm amazed at how young and fresh we look. I guess we were pretty relaxed after a week in the islands.





2. I'm a total vampire nerd. If there's a vampire in in it, I'll watch it. Or read it. I'm not terribly choosy. I like it all. Actually, I love pretty much anything supernatural (or Sci Fi) and the more preposterous the better. (Ghost Hunters, Stargate, etc.) Except for Zombies. Zombies scare the crap out of me.



3. I really love images of bullfighters. I even went to a bloodless (Portuguese style) bullfight once. It was thrilling and strange and beautiful. I'm not sure I could stomach a real bullfight, though. Anyway, my grandfather was from Spain so my grandparents had a lot of Spanish-y stuff scattered around their home. This relief hung over the fireplace for years. When my grandma sold her house, it ended up in my cousin's garage and when I found out she had it, I begged her for it. I'm so glad she gave it to me. I love it so much.


4. My cat had to to have a lung removed last year. Thanks to lots of time spent at the vet he is the most expensive thing we own, other than the house. (Although I suspect he really owns us, not the other way around.) Here he is after surgery in a t-shirt I made for him because he kept escaping from his Elizabethan cone. He HATED that t-shirt, but it kept him from licking his scar. He is perfectly fine and happy now. You'd never know he's only got one lung.




5. I have been wearing the same vaguely pointy 50s style bra since high school. I bought my first "old lady bra" when I was 16. It was black and had a little pink rose between the breasts. I'm not sure if I was emulating Madonna or Marilyn, but I loved that bra. I was so sad when JC Penney discontinued them. Over the years this particular style, in black, has gotten harder and harder to find. The only brand that still makes them is Hanes/Bali and for a while they discontinued them in black, and I was reduced to dying my bras. So glad they've brought the black back! (Now everyone go out and buy this bra in black so it doesn't fall out of production again. M'kay, thanks!)

(Photo: One Hanes Place)

6. I mostly listen to mid-century mood music & standards and I have a lot of old albums on vinyl. My favorites are the 60s Brazilian jazz and samba records. When I lived in a town that had seasons (unlike Fogville) I would open up all my doors and windows on warm summer mornings and play the soundtrack to Orfeu Negro at full blast. My neighbors must have loved me.



7. I don't shave under my arms. I hate the way it feels to have stubble there and I get awful razor burn and ingrown hairs if I shave every day. Plus I am an excessive sweater and shaving seems to make it worse. Instead of shaving, I bleach the hair under my arms every couple of weeks, about every time I dye my hair, and I keep it pretty short. Honestly, though, I'm not super fastidious about it. Having fur there doesn't bother ME, though it might offend other people. In my wonderfully cosmopolitan city, I have met many stylish European ladies (mostly French, for some reason) who don't shave either, so I figure I'm in good company.

For this blog award I'd like to nominate 7 bloggers who inspire me:

Fiona
Tasha
Barbara
Peter
Isis
Charlotte
Trixie