Category: 1950’s

Before I planned my my early 2019 trip to Paris (which was already going to include a jaunt to Paris), the V&A Museum in London had already sold out of its tickets for its special Dior exhibition.  But then I realized something…  See, despite the museum being free to enter with special tickets only for some things, I’m a paying member. As I see it, it helps keep the museum running.  (If you can swing it, please consider a membership for the V&A.  It’ll help with ongoing expenses that the museum has.  Even when closed, there is maintenance for textiles and various artworks.  Even if you have no intention of going to London, there are perks, like their print magazine, and they do ship it internationally for no extra cost.)  And at the V&A, members not only get into those exhibits for free, but also don’t need to get tickets.  So, despite the tickets being sold, my membership let me get in anyway. 😀 I was so excited when I realized this!  That meant I would get to see one of my favorite-ever designer gowns, Dior’s Junon gown!

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This dress is made of a crisp, taffeta-like fabric. The vertical stripes are somewhat iridescent. The crystal buttons are decorative, and this dress closes with a side- zipper. Unfortunately this dress didn’t work for the actress, so wasn’t used. Still very pretty.

I managed to find a remnant of this fabric that I intend to turn into a corset at some point.  The colors are just so beautiful.  More photos are in this Facebook album.

This dress came with a specific pattern request that I ended up not using, and it demonstrates why I hate using commercial patterns.  This one is clearly for completely-flat-chested ladies (I’m not kidding, completely flat-chested), and the designer has information on her website on how to make this pattern work if you actually have a chest. While patterns usually require a little tweaking, altering several pieces to accommodate even the slightest amount of bust that most women have shouldn’t be one of them.  Altering the pieces would have taken more time than drafting from scratch.  So in the end, I decided screw it, and did my own thing to get this one to work, including leaving out the boning so it can be altered.

Hannah was lovely. After it went to the theater, they decided to add some…I’m not sure what. Glitter dots? Rhinestones? I’m not sure, but for this gown, it works well. I did make a sash out of the contrast fabric, though the same silver ribbon for the blue swirly gown ended up being used instead.

More photos are in this Facebook album.

This dress is one of five I made on very little time (one week). Since this dress is for theater, the seams are raw to make it easy to alter. Unlike the famed wrap-away dress (highly popular pattern in the 1950’s, known for needing only a couple yards of fabric and being easy enough to make that you’d cut it out in the morning and walk away with a new dress for lunch) that uses very little fabric, this one ate it up. The walk-away dress also had the outer layer close in the front. This dress is pretty simple in construction. As I said, it eats fabric like there’s no tomorrow, but it’s pretty twirly. The layer that wraps first is the back part. It closes in front under the bust. For this one, I used a piece of elastic to make that easier to adjust. The top layer is the front, which closes with ribbon. This is hard to describe. Hopefully the pictures are clearer.

More photos are in this Facebook album.

One Thursday morning, I realized I had nothing to wear for an event two days later. At that time, I had available what was in a suitcase.  So off to some local fabric stores for me!  I perused a pattern book for ideas, and based this off of a vintage Butterick.  

I used a teal and bronze shot silk shantung.  This results in the color changing depending on the angle.  Shot fabric is awesome.  I also built in a navy blue petticoat.

The raised waistband is decorated with a pretty little button.

More photos are in this Facebook album.