Emily's Vintage Visions: Plaid

Showing posts with label Plaid. Show all posts

Monday, October 5, 2015

Fall Photo Contest - Our Inspirational Outfits

Hello everyone! I am so excited about today's post!! If you have been following along you will know all about my vintage fall photo contest. If you are just joining us, you can view this post will all the details on how to enter. There is still plenty of time! The contest, which is open to everyone worldwide, is open until October 18th.

Lauren of Wearing History and Jessica of Chronically Vintage have graciously agreed to help me judge the photos for this contest. Not only that, the three of us will be offering the winner and runner up each a fantastic prize package. Here is a look at what you could win!

THE PRIZES!!

Winner Will Receive the Following Prize Package
Vintage Related Goodies Bag Plus $30 in Store Credit from Emily's Vintage Visions
Beautiful Collection of Autumn Themed Accessories from Chronically Vintage
Vintage Sewing Goodies Bag Plus $30 in Store Credit from Wearing History

Runner Up Will Receive the Following Prize Package
Vintage Related Goodies Bag Plus $25 in Store Credit from Emily's Vintage Visions
$20 in Store Credit from Wearing History
$30 in Store Credit from Chronically Vintage

To help inspire you Lauren, Jessica, and I have put together our own vintage outfits inspired by the contest newspaper articles. (Read the articles here.)

Emily of Emily's Vintage Visions, Jessica of Chronically Vintage and Lauren of Wearing History

My Outfit
While I did not intend to recreate an exact outfit from the newspaper articles, I found that I was able to get really close. Brown was one of the colors mentioned over and over in the articles - brown suits and accessories such as hats, alligator bags and shoes. Brown can often be a blah color but happens to be a color I really like. It can be worn so many different ways and paired with an endless variety of other colors.

Brown appeared again and again in both accessories, suits and coats. One noteworthy ensemble included an imported tweed suit in a soft cinnamon brown shade worn with dark brown accessories and a nutria fur coat. - From the Dallas Morning News, July 25, 1940

I wore my brown 1940s wool suit, first blogged about here, and paired it with a variety of orange and pink accessories. The turban I made using a vintage sewing pattern and fabric from my stash. (I plan to post a turban tutorial soon!) I chose orange as it fits the fall theme so well. My pink leaf pin may seem a bit out place but I thought the color made an interesting contrast to the brown and orange. You can read more about my outfit here.

Jessica's Outfit
I really like the selection of colors and accessories that Jessica picked! Her blue jacket brings to mind the blue Schiaparelli jacket mentioned in one of the articles. You can read more about Jessica's outfit here, as well as view the prizes she will be providing here.

Here is what Jessica said about her outfit.
"I really didn't have a lot of pieces in the specific colours mentioned, so instead I focused more on the colours themselves and went with a look that struck me as someone that could have been worn to cheer on a football game or the like back in the day. The articles talked about brown, red, green, and blue, so I included all those along with a coat, which was another frequently discussed piece."

That all important question of what to wear while cheering on the favored eleven ...
all designed to take the attention away from the football field and put it on milady in the stands. Come football weather, the quarterbacks will have to look to their laurels to get the crowd looking their way. From the Dallas Morning News, September 18, 1940

photo 1940s denim jacket red and brown fall outfit 3_zpszouu03bv.jpg

Photography by Tony Cangiano

Lauren's Outfit
Plaids and tweeds are mentioned several times in the newspaper articles. The color green was mentioned many times as well. I really enjoy plaids but somehow my vintage wardrobe is lacking, something I think I will need to remedy. Lauren's lovely plaid jacket and green knit dress - knitted items were very popular in the 30s and 40s! - fit the bill for this contest perfectly don't you think? The yellow hat and shoes are a nice complement to the green dress and plaid jacket! Lauren's hat, purse, jacket and pretty brooches are all vintage. Her earrings are from the lovely shop Dames a la Mode. Lauren's shoes are from Remix Vintage. You can read more about Lauren's outfit, the prizes she is providing here.

Green took a curtain call in a brighter shade ... Black and pale blue, black with benedictine brown and black with vivid greens were outstanding in the daytime ensembles both in suits and dresses. - From the Dallas Morning News, September 18, 1940

A striking coat for casual wear was made of imported tweed in huge plaids with fuchsia and red on a gray background ... A two-piece suit of hound's-tooth check in silver and gray ... green and electric blue check woolen cape. ... a three-peice affair, with swagger length coat over a trim two-piece suit, ... A striking coat for casual wear was made of imported tweed in huge plaids with fuchsia and red on a gray background. This was worn, too, with dark brown accessories, and the brown felt hat had a sweeping profile brim. From the Dallas Morning News, July 25, 1940

Photos by Wearing History

I hope this post gives you some ideas of how to put together your own outfit inspired by the newspaper articles. As you can see we all used a mix of original vintage as well as reproduction and vintage style items. We certainly had fun with our outfits, I hope you do too!

Photos for the contest must be submitted by October 18th. Don't miss out!! Contest rules and how to enter here.

Sunday, June 21, 2015

The Dorr Mill Plaid Hoodie

At long last I present to you my late 1930s Dorr Mill Plaid Hoodie! I actually finished this earlier in the spring but it wasn't until recently that I was able to get some decent photos. This jacket counts towards my 2015 personal vintage pattern sewing pledge. In these pictures the jacket is worn over the blouse (Hollywood 1530) and slacks (Simplicity 1306) that I made last year for the Reading Air Show. It was very warm at the airshow this year but around 7:30 in the morning it was just cool enough and comfortable to wear the jacket. The first day of the airshow I wore my new yellow Du Barry suit.

Several years ago, probably ten now, I purchased this wonderful wool plaid from the Dorr Mill Store. They sell a lot of supplies for rug hooking and rug braiding but you can also purchase their lovely wools by the yard. If you like working with natural fibers like I do, a trip to their physical store is a real treat. The wool for this jacket was originally intended for a cold weather Civil War era dress. The fabric was from the remnants bin so I had to purchase three separate pieces to get the yardage I wanted. I got as far as making a simple petticoat, which I wore a few times for 18th century and Civil War era events, but that's about it. That's a good thing because a) I almost never get to wear my 1860s stuff any more (sad face) and b) if I had cut into the fabric to make a bodice of any kind I most likely would not have been able to use the fabric for another project. Fortunately when I made the petticoat I simply seamed together two panels of the wool and pleated them to a fitted waistband. The third unused panel was left untouched. I was able to cut all the jacket pieces except the sleeves out of one panel. Because I wanted to be able to match up the plaid I had to take apart the petticoat to cut the sleeves.

Yep, early spring in New England! You can see the mountain of snow outside my kitchen widow, a chilly contrast to the bright red tulips and tea pot on the table. That particular evening was spent drinking tea and eating brownies while putting the finishing touches on the jacket.

The cutest tea pot ever!

The sleeves are cut with an upper and lower sleeve section and are slightly gathered at shoulders. The jacket back is cut in one piece on the fold. The jacket fronts are made from two pieces each. And of course the hood, also cut on the fold. Hooray hood! The whole jacket is lined with cotton muslin. I was hoping to use white flannel as a lining to make the jacket a little warmer but couldn't put my hands on it in the stash. I know it's around somewhere, probably hiding with the red and black check flannel I picked up at the same time for another project, boo.

The hood on this jacket is HUGE! And I love it! :)

The whole jacket is gathered slightly to a wide fitted waistband and closes with buttons up the front. The buttons appear to be shell. I added a snap to the very bottom of the jacket. One of my favorite things about this jacket, aside from the hood that is, is the way the front is constructed. It was a little fiddly but I'm happy with the result. I did restitch one front section because the fabric shifted causing the plaid stripes to be off set. I flat felled the seams for a neater finish.

And here is proof that my friend Jason and I were at the same event! Jason is the man behind those awesome Greater Boston Vintage Society events like the White Lightning Ball (see my posts here and here) and the Roaring 20s Lawn Party (see my posts here and here.)

Summary of the Pattern
Fabric: 100% wool from the Dorr Mill Store, cotton lining
Pattern: Simplicity 2823
Year: late 1930s
Notions: Buttons, thread, one snap
How historically accurate is it? Very. Plaids were pretty popular in the 30s and 40s for outerwear.
Any tricky parts to the pattern? Fitting the gathered front sections to the waistband and jacket front. Not too difficult just a little fiddly.
Did you change anything? I reduced the size just a touch and added a snap to the bottom front.
Time to complete: About a week, I'm guessing 8ish hours? I'm back at keep track.
First worn: Earlier this spring, first good pictures taken June 7 at the Reading Air Show.
Total cost: I can't remember what I paid for the fabric because I bought it so long ago. I'd guess with the pattern the cost for this project would be in the $30 to $40 range.
Notes: The jacket fits great over a dress as intended and works well with 40s high waisted pants. If I were to make this again for modern wear I would lengthen it a little bit.

Monday, March 18, 2013

Where do these crazy ideas come from?

As I mentioned in Friday's post, I'm planning a trip to Gettysburg, PA later this week. (Thank you to Cassidy at A Most Beguiling Accomplishment for sharing her 1864 hair images Also, to Isabella of All The Pretty Dresses who has some lovely 1860s gowns posted on her site.) Over the weekend I got this crazy notion that not only did I need a new 1860s dress to wear, I could some how finish one before I left. Ha! Where do these crazy ideas come from? I don't really know but I started working on a new dress all the same.

First off, I'm being good and using fabric from the stash. The fabric is a light weight plaid cotton that I bought several years ago for the purpose of make a Civil War era gown. I don't have any pictures to share just yet, will take some tonight. The plaid is a nice combo of a brownish orange, blue, green, and white. Plaids were very popular in the 1860s and at $2.50 a yard it was hard to say no.

The inspiration for my new dress. Source- Possibly Ebay, I can't remember

So far I have the bodice fabric and lining cut and sewn together, minus the sleeves which I still need to cut. I cut three panels of my 45" wide fabric for the skirt. I stitched them together last night and started gauging them. Gauging is a form of controlled pleating which is commonly found in mid 19th century gowns, particularly washable everyday cottons. A gauged skirt is whip stitched to a waistband making it less bulky then a pleated skirt. Need to dig out my hoop and corset tonight so I can make sure everything fits. It's been quiet awhile since my last Civil War gown but I'm using an almost fail prove pattern drafted from one of my originals.

Update 3/19/2013 - Just found this image which is a pretty good match for my plaid fabric. :)

Source

On another sewing note ... I finished my blouse for the Sew for Victory sew along using a 1940s mail order pattern. I used a dark blue cotton with white polka dots. Pictures soon!

Saturday, March 31, 2012

March Maddness - Mad for Plaid

I can't believe March is over. Where did the month go?

Looking back over my posts this month I realized I never did a “color of the month” for March. So here it is! Ok, so plaid really isn't a color but I've decided to highlight it this month anyway instead of a single color. Plaids are great because they are a combination of many colors! Here are a few lovely examples for you to enjoy!

Men's clothing.