Recent Vintage Clothing Adventures

There's always something new and interesting when repairing vintage clothes for Rare Jule Vintage! I'm sharing some highlights of the last few months of creative repairing.  From buttons (of course there will be buttons!) to darning to alteration to a fun accessory. 

   

That's One Magnificent Button!

For me, buttons are just about the coolest things in the world.  I am constantly amazed by how many kinds of buttons people have managed to design and produce over the course of time.  Absolutely amazed.

Well, this one stands out from the crowd.  This one is magnificent. 

It resides on this lovely suit.  Just one button.  Demanding all the attention.  But there's more than just this button to appreciate.

 

Stylish: Jeanie and Barbie

My mother-in-law Jeanie knew how to dress well and properly.  All the time.  All occasions. 

This photo was taken in 1961.  She is standing with my husband, at 13 years old, on the day of his Bar Mitzvah.  There are two more photos of Jeanie's style at the end of this post.  (Oooops, the white smear is a glare on the photo, not a smear on Larry's suit.) 

Jeanie also loved handwork, including crocheting and knitting.

She put these two loves together and designed and crocheted dresses and gowns for Barbie dolls.

 

Fun With a Hat

So!  Tonight I get to celebrate!  My blog readership statistics clicked over a big milestone number today!

To celebrate, I'm sharing a selfie - a rare occurrence!   Here's me, enjoying a great vintage hat that I mended a couple of weeks ago.  (Simple repair, the veil had come unattached in a couple of places.)

Isn't it such a sweet hat?!  Its full pedigree is:  "1940s Ivory Straw Hat with Black Veil, Flowers, and Feathers by Edythe of Evanston."  Too my eyes, it's quite whimsical - so I had to try it on.  And better yet, it was made right here in my home town. 

This is one of the perks of doing these repairs, for sure.  I get to play around with all sorts of fashion that otherwise would never be on my radar.  I am far from a clothes horse.  I like what I like, tend to the grey-haired hippie look.  Julia is always finding new wardrobe treats for me while she's doing her sleuthing and shopping for her shop.  She really helps me look more presentable. 

To top it all off, I picked just the right fashion pose to show it off.  Here's the photo Julia took of the hat on her lovely model Rada.  Seems to me that Rada can wear any kind of hat and look just perfect!

Beaded 1940s Hat

Here's another vintage clothing repair tale.

I've talked several times before about my button collection, what fun it is, and how one can never have enough buttons.  There is always, always the chance of having just the perfect replacement for a missing button!

It's exactly the same story for beads!  I also buy these at estate sales. 

Vintage Clothing Tidbits

So, I thought I'd follow up the previous post, about a lovely 1920s beaded purse, with some more vintage clothing repair highlights.

The first tidbit is a photo of "how we do it".  I don't know if we've ever had a photo together like this before.  This is Julia, proprietress of Basya Berkman Vintage Fashion, and me sitting at my living room worktable.  I am gradually taking over the whole house with my repair work, supplies, and storage.  The living room has a wall-size window, which gives lovely light for handwork, so the table is nearly always up.  Julia had brought over a pile of  "broken" clothes, and here we are, going over each piece and I'm taking notes on what each one will need.  From the way we are dressed, you can tell what kind of winter we had this year in the Chicago area! 

Vintage 1920s Beaded Purse

I haven't posted anything about vintage clothing repair in a long time.  Here comes an absolutely lovely item - a 1920s vintage beaded purse.

It's a Wedding Dress!

------->

My daughter Katrina came to me last spring, asking me to be an advisor for a wedding dress one of her best friends had asked her to make.  Of course I would!  We have known Hannah, the bride, and her family since the grade school years. 

What ended up happening was two long and intense and super fun weekends of dress planning and construction.  And after that, a most wonderful wedding! 

Look at These Cool Buttons!

I did a tiny bit of repair on this jacket, and fell in love with the buttons.  It's a cropped polar fleece jacket from the late 1980s or early 90s.  (And for sale, if you're interested, at my friend Julia's Etsy shop.)  The jacket is by Spanish designer Celia Tejada.  And let me tell you, she had quite an eye for choosing buttons!

Has anyone out there ever seen a button styled like this?  I haven't!  I mean really, how fun is this?!

There are appliquéd red rectangles at the buttonholes, so when the jacket is closed, these clever buttons get the spotlight they deserve!

Here's to those who step out of the box!

A Glimpse of the Past

Today I've been mending vintage clothes for Basya Berkman Vintage Fashion.

One of my "patients" is a 1960s-70s dress that needed a new hem.  I found a nice coral hem tape in amongst my stash of vintage sewing supplies.

The reason I'm telling you this, really, is because of the label on the package.

It's Mend It May!

The other day, I discovered via Instagram that there's a tag for #menditmay where people share their mending adventures!  So, I'm taking this moment to pass along the links about mending that I've been coming across.

Mending used to be much more the norm back when many things were made by hand and were much more precious.

   

I love investigating old repairs.  Here's some old darning on a lovely Edwardian day dress.

Feedsack Fabric Bonanza

What a gift!

Not long ago I was the happy recipient of a cardboard box labeled "old fabric."  

The story:

Family Feedsacks Quilt

This little quilt showcases a collection of feedsack fabrics, some purchased and some family heirloom fabrics.  These make such a cheerful quilt!

The printed feedsack idea blossomed during the Depression, and lasted through the fabric shortages during World War II and beyond.  Frugal living doesn't go out of style!  The Quilt History website has an overview of feedsack history.  Another article has loads of resources and some great vintage photos.  This article has some entertaining vintage ads from companies proud of selling their wares in such useful bags. 

These fabrics are guaranteed to bring a smile to even the grumpiest of days!

(See lots more feedsack fabrics in the following post!)

A 1920s Beaded Velvet Gown - An Absolute Work of Art

Welcome to vintage clothing heaven!

The pedigree of this dress is:
- dates to the 1920s
- made by the Nemser Original Model label, a super high-end designer in New York City
- silk velvet
- heavily, heavily beaded with glass beads
- in near perfect condition, significantly better condition than some of the other Nemser dresses that have appeared online

Edwardian Bodice, Embroidery and Fine Detailing - Addendum

A short while ago, I posted photos and described a wonderful piece of vintage clothing.  You can see more photos and my description of the bodice there.

My friend Martha Spark responded with more info about the embroidered panels.  She wrote:

Edwardian Bodice, Embroidery and Fine Detailing

My friend Julia, proprietress of Basya Berkman Vintage Fashion, comes across some really marvelous old pieces during her search for marvelous old clothing.  This one is a super marvelous, old, old piece that is too delicate and troubled to be mended and worn.  It will be lovely as a decorative piece, just to marvel over.  And I also get to share it here with you.

It is a silk Victorian era shirtwaist, to be worn with a skirt.  There is a cream-colored blouse attached inside the black shirtwaist with an embroidered panel tucked inside the lower half of the opening.  Each layer closes with its own set of hooks and eyes. 

The center edges of the black silk are decorated with a double silk trim with delicate edge stitching, attached with a faggoted seam.

A Tale of Two Dresses

My buddy Julia over at Basya Berkman Vintage finds the best stuff!  In the last couple of weeks, she's given me two really delightful dresses to mend.  They are from different decades even though they are similar in style.  Both prints are great, and they are really what inspired me to share the dresses here.

The older one is rayon, probably 1940s.  I absolutely love the color combo in the print!  The dress has shoulder pads, self-covered buttons, and - my favorite detail - velvet covered piping at the collar and sleeves.

Seminole Patchwork

 

 

Here is my good friend Julia of Basya Berkman Vintage.  She usually is behind the camera photographing her models, but this time, I took the camera and photographed her in this great Seminole skirt.   As an anthropology major way back when who long ago became a quilter and then much more recently took on vintage clothing, mending this skirt was a real treat!

This is a patchwork style created and stitched by the Seminole Indians of Florida.  After the sewing machine and cotton fabrics were introduced to the Seminoles in the late 1800s, they developed their own patchwork technique by the 1920s.

100-Year-Old Christening Gown

      

This christening gown is a family heirloom with a full pedigree.  The left photo is the front, right photo is the back, third photo is the matching slip.  Here's what the current caretaker knows about the gown:

Dressing Downton

 

My friend Mary and I had the absolutely best day at the Dressing Downton exhibit.  We saw costumes from the series on display at the Driehaus Museum.  The Driehaus is in a huge stone mansion just off the Magnificent Mile in Chicago.  It provided the wonderful, wonderful clothing with the perfect setting - an American counterpart of the upper-upper crust life that was showcased on the series.  Mary and I treated ourselves to the scrumptious high tea served in a most amazing hall within the mansion.  I just can't find enough superlative adjectives for the day we had!  Honestly, I just can't stop looking at these photos.  Wooooo!!

The gowns on the left and right in this photo were worn when the Downton ladies went to court and curtsied to the King.  There were strict rules about what was to be worn, such a headdress with three white Prince of Wales plumes and a short train.