Cigarette Girl Costume

My friend Julia of Basya Berkman Vintage Fashions learned through the grapevine about a woman with a stash of vintage clothing.  This is one of the amazing items that Julia acquired.

The woman said that her mother had been a performer in her early life.  It's likely that several of her vintage things, like this outfit, were costumes worn during her mother's career before her marriage.  Her mother was most likely dancing in the 1920s.  A real find!

Not Your Basic Little Black Dress

Oh, I really like this dress!  Not for myself, mind you.  I just don't get dressed up happily.  But I love the styling and unique details.

This is another piece that I repaired for Basya Berkman Vintage Fashions.  The repairs were unremarkable, just closing a few open seams.  But look at how fun the dress is!

From the front, just basic sheath styling.  But what's that in the back?

Zig-Zag Sewing Machines

I recently posted about a blouse I repaired, dating to the 1920s or 30s.

I became curious about the dating of the blouse relative to the seam finishing techniques.  They are French seams, finished with a machine zig-zag stitch.  

outside

inside

Vintage Net Blouse

This vintage blouse is made from a netting embellished with eyelets and a lovely lace edging.  It is in remarkably good shape for its age, likely in the 1920s or 30s.  So delicate and so feminine.

Unique Vintage Dress and the Fashion Originators Guild

Here's yet another really cool vintage clothing item I have repaired for Basya Berkman Vintage Fashions.  It's a two piece outfit, a wool dress with matching wool and fur jacket, dating to the 1930s or 1940.

   

There are three stand-out facts about this outfit:

New Old Clothes

The two items I recently posted about repairing are now up at the Basya Berkman Etsy shop.  Check 'em out if you want more info.

1950's cocktail dress:  my blog Beading on a Little Black Dress , at Etsy here

1950's wedding dress:  my blog Here's A Reason to Get Married, at Etsy here

Beading on A Little Black Dress

This otherwise basic little black dress gets most of its personality from the wonderful trim at the front neckline.  

Gathered fabric strips outline some subtle beading with iridescent blue beads - bugles, seed beads, and sphericals - and tiny rhinestones.  

Here's a Reason to Get Married

Oh, such a beautiful wedding dress!  When my friend Julia brought it to me for fixing, she said, "Doesn't this dress just make you want to have another wedding?"  Yep, Julia, it sure does!

Here are the wonderful fabric roses and the beading around the skirt.

Couldn't be more gorgeous!

Quilts in Everyday Life

Quilts in Everyday Life, 1855-1955: A 100-Year-Photographic History by Janet E. Finley

(I have no connection with the author or publisher at all, just thought I'd say it's a dandy book.)

I think I heard about this book via the Quilt History List.  I took a peek at it, and was sold on it right away.  It presents items from Janet Finley's huge collection of antique photos that include people and quilts.  So cool for me!  Quilts, clothing history, and social history all combined in one handy book!  The changing ambiance of the photos over time gives such a wonderful view into the "march of history" on all sorts of levels.

Not only that, the glimpses into homes and private scenes and street scenes are all very touching as well as factual.  It feels right somehow, to look into these old, old faces, many of them now anonymous, and give these people some recognition and credit for a life well-lived.  Personalities are sometimes very apparent, from sedate to out-of-the-box.  And, some of the folks are identifiable, and do have some pretty fun stories attached.  

It's like having a little peephole into daily life of long ago.  I'm always so curious about what the past was really like.  It's something we can't ever know, unless someone does invent time travel.

There's also a lot of photography history information.  It's not a topic I know much of anything about, but I do have some old family photos, some dating back into the 1800s, and I'm inspired now to pull them out and see how they fit into the info in this book.

Here's a review, from the Denver Post.  And here's another review, from the Why Quilts Matter blog.  This one will give you a couple of sneak peaks inside the book.  (Why Quilts Matter is a documentary series produced by the Kentucky Quilt Project.  I also have no connection with W.Q.M., but would also recommend viewing the series to add to your quilt history knowledge.)

I'm so grateful that Janet Finley collected all these photos, and now is sharing them with all of us!

Let's Party, aka Shoe Repair

Here's a lovely, glitter and rhinestone shoe, just perfect for ringing in the New Year at some ritzy, glitzy party.  

The only problem with this plan is that one of the straps has got some loose rhinestones.

Lattice Sleeves

Here's a truly lovely gown.  The combination of the beautiful rose fabric and the tons of detailing makes for a very special dress.

Julia brought it to me because the netting inside the lattice sleeves was quite tattered.  It used to give the sleeve its shape, holding the lattice in a puffed sleeve shape, instead of letting it just hang down.

Black Bugle Beads

It's always a treat when I get something to repair that I really love looking at.  This dress is one of those treats.  It's a "little black dress" with extra flair - beaded trim at the neckline and the one asymmetrical pocket.  

Quite a few of the beads were missing, especially those decorating the pocket.  I bought a tube of matching bugle beads - how lovely to have such a basic bead so that I could find an exact match.

Here's the step-by-step of the bead replacement.  

Poodle Skirt!

Here's a really-truly poodle skirt, the iconic fashion item of the 1950s.  I did some repair work on it for the Basya Berkman Etsy shop.

It's a traditional felt circle skirt with appliquéd poodle.  Super simple construction - a big circle of felt plus waistband and side zipper - no hem needed since the felt doesn't ravel a bit.  No wonder they were such a popular style!  The thread attaching the waistband was wearing out, so my job was to restitch that and now it's ready to rock'n'roll again.

Canadian Couture

Here's a skirt I've repaired for Basya Berkman Vintage Fashions.  My friend Julia, who researches the clothing she sells there, told me to check out the interesting story behind this piece.  

Red-Letter Day

Many crafters collect supplies like there was no tomorrow.  And then discover that they still never have the right things for the next project and head out to the store.  Right?  

Well, this little hat proved that old adage wrong.  This is a repair job I'm doing for Basya Berkman Vintage Fashions.

more Little Women: Aunt March

Here's Aunt March wearing the vintage black lace blouse discussed in a previous post.

(And yes, the actress is really just 13 years old.....)

A Beaded Wedding Dress

Here's a vintage dress I worked on for my friend's Etsy shop, Basya Berkman Vintage Fashions - http://www.etsy.com/shop/BasyaBerkman

This beautiful, 1940s beaded wedding dress is in nearly perfect condition, save for some snags in the net yoke.  Rather than try to remove beads, replace the net, and re-bead, we decided that I should try adding new beads to cover the snags.  The rolled edge neckline was a bit tattered as well, and I decided to roll it once again.

Little Women costuming

The show is coming soon!  Shows are November 18-20, with a sneak peek promo at the main Evanston library on November 8.  http://thinicetheater.com/

I'll be posting projects as these next couple of weeks roll along.

Vintage Black Lace blouse for Aunt March

Look at how lovely this lace is!

Fashion Show

I'll be helping my friend Rare Jule with a fashion show on Friday night. She's my friend with the Etsy shop selling vintage clothing, the one I help out / learn with by repairing things as needed.  Me - at a fashion show - imagine that!  This will be especially fun for the young and hip (and I'm hoping some of both will rub off on me).