First Day on the Job!

Well my first rehearsal went great last night! No pictures of the actual rehearsal, but it wasn't really that exciting. It was just a read through for cast and crew so no one was doing anything too interesting. I did get to speak with the director about the look of the show. She wants it big, bold and colorful. She was speaking my language!

So the first step was a little research time. I wanted to start with the Original 1951 Broadway Production of Guys and Dolls. It seemed a very logical place to start. All later versions of the show will have costumes that start off the original design and character portrayals.  The play itself takes place in a 1940-ish New York-ish place. I figure the costume designers of 1951 probably remembered the 1940s fairly well.

You would not believe how hard it was to track down photos of the original 1951 production, but thanks to Life.com I did finally manage to track down a few stills of the original cast. These photos (I think) are all from a feature in the June 11, 1951 issue of Life.

Vivian Blaine is so cute! Here she is in the original "Bushel and a Peck" costume.

Here we can see the original "Save-A-Soul Mission" costumes. The general wears a hat and glasses. She looks so cute! I'm also noticing that a lot of the guys are kind of shabby looking, not the very put together "gangster" look that we see in some of the later versions of the show. I like that. These guys are just regular guys, not rich syndicate members. They're con-men and up-to-no-goods, but they're not wealthy by any means. They should be more colorful and less polished.

More of the Bushel and Peck costumes. Nathan (played by Sam Levene) sits at the front. Vivian Blaine rubs his hair affectionately. Loving Nathan's bold pin stripes. We'll have to see what I can come up with for him. Those girls in the back are very 1950s show girl. Hats like that need lots of sequins! 

General Cast here. This is the opening scene. Some very over the top characters here. You can see some of the mission girls in the back there. We're definitely going to need some flamboyant lady's hats for this production.  I'll probably be making most of them myself. 

Robert Alda, as Sky Masterson and Isabel Bigley, as Sarah the mission leader. Isabel looks so nice in that tailered shirt. Aren't you in love with those sleeves? Very vintage. Of course I also love her hair, but that's all up to the makeup department. Sarah certainly is nowhere near as flashy as the other girls in the show, but she still looks great. Wish I knew what color the original Save-A-Soul uniforms were!

Guys in the Sewer craps game. Another shot of the original men's costumes. Love!

After practice I was sent home with a car full of costumes from the theater company's costume collection. Some were vintage pieces, most were costumes from other shoes, and some were hilarious dresses from the 1990s. My guest room is going to be a bit of a mess while I sort through all those things and take stock of what I have to work with. I'll try to upload some pictures of the chaos tonight.

Weekend update

So this is as far as I got this weekend on the Ruby shorts.

Made some darts and hemmed the pocket. Still have no clue what Ruby wants its pocket seam allowances to be. I went with 3/8 as that seemed to make the pocket the right size. I think on Purple Ruby Shorts #2 I'm going to omit the back pocket. It's cute, but it is detracting from that 40s vintage vibe. Of course, Purple Ruby's fabric colors are already detracting from its vintage vibe. Purple Rubys I think will have much more of a 70-80s look, while Pink Ruby's will have a nice 1940s or 1950s feel to them. I'm already planning to pair Pink Rubys with a white button down blouse, a large brimmed hat and some white vintage sandals. I need to swing by the goodwill and my favorite consignment store before I pick any shoes up on the internet, but these are at the top of my list.

Currently they are $20.00 on etsy. I've been dying for some white vintage shoes since I saw this post by the Vintage Baroness. I, of course, was not willing to pay for any of the shoes she posted despite how glorious they were. I was, however, very inspired and went in search of something a little more reasonable. To me dressing Vintage is about having a vintage look that evokes a certain time period, but is not necessarily accurate.  I suppose you could say I lean towards the Rockabilly side of vintage fashion in that way.

Luckily for me, fashion is cyclic. What was once in style will be again and again and again. The sandals are probably from the 1960s or 1970s. The maker is Corelli. The heel is just perfect for the vintage 40s look. It wasn't very common to see different colored heels at the time. You'd be surprised at how difficult it is to find a pair of white peep toes with a solid white heel these days, but if the white heel isn't important to you etsy has a lot of white 30s and 40s looking strappy shoes from the 1970s and 80s under $20.00.

I'm also on the lookout for a sweet 40s red lipstick shade to go with the look. Besame has some great Vintage Reproduction lip colors. I'm leaning towards Merlot for my 40s look.

What do you think? The 1940s look is characterized with a flat foundation, light eyes, a dark liner over the eye (cat-eye optional), a thin highlight under the eye and a dark lip. I'm worried Merlot might be a little too dark for my pale skin, but maybe not. Here's a cosmetics ad from 1947.

Blue Red is pretty dark as you can see. Besame's Classic Enchanting Lipstick even comes in a vintage styled lipstick tube. How cute! The designer of their lipstick collects vintage lipstick tubes and designed their packaging accordingly.  Besame Classic Enchanting Lipsticks come in a large variety of colors, are quite thick, are highly pigmented and are about as close to the lipstick of the 1940s as you are going to get. The tubes sell for $15.00.

Vinspiration Anyday: 1970s Print Ads

First off. A few more Ruby Shorts look-a-likes from one of my favorite vintage stores Heyday! UK.  I will warn you that their things are not $25, but they're great for some inspiration. Of course I was ordering from this shop only before my $25 challenge. I am pleased to report that since starting this blog I have not bought one new dress, shirt or skirt. So far I'm still on the $25 handmade track, although looking at these blouses almost made me relapse into my days of store bought.

That's it. I've decided that from now on everything I make will have white buttons down the side. I never liked pants or shorts, but add some buttons and I am sold! Those $0.40 buttons I bought? Totally worth it. I may have to make myself a tie blouse like that now. Picture Ruby Shorts, cute tied blouse, hair scarf, large sunglasses, some fabulous shoes, big red lips and a devil may care attitude. Perfect for summer if I do say so myself (and I do).

Has anyone else noticed that the Brits have the best vintage reproduction stuff? Anyways, onto the item of the day, some Vinspiration! This week I picked some fabulous 1970s outfits from some Groovy 1970s magazines. Did people actually say groovy in the 70s or is that an urban legend? I'll have to ask my Mama.

I have a small fascination with the 70s, I guess because that was really my parent's era. Mom and Dad both graduated high school in the 1970s and it really was a time when clothing was fun, flashy and eclectic. Sure it doesn't have the classic, polished, elegant look of the 40s and 50s, but there's just so much charm in a 1970s print or a bell shaped pant leg. The 70s were alive and vibrant!

Farrah. Was there ever a bigger, lovelier star of fashion than Farrah? That sweater just looks so comfy and flowy. Love the bell sleeves and the great wide neck. Not quite sure what's going on with the purse hanging around her neck, but she looks comfy and stylish. She'd fit right in with the recent trending towards over-sized sweaters and cowl-necks.

I really love that plaid jacket with coordinating trousers in the background there. The turtle necks are probably not something I could ever get my Beau into, but I do love the cut of the fitted trousers and jackets. You don't see much fitted clothing for men these days. Even fitted shirts are hard to come by. I think the over-sized belt buckle is a little silly, but has a lot of charm. It's very fun.

Before anyone says anything. Climax is the name of a brand of clothing. Nyesta is a type of fabric and very Synthetic if I had to guess. But lets move past that and look at the drape of these dresses. Gorgeous! I love white over the shoulder dress with the great ruffled detail down the side. Pink is fabulous too, but probably not so much on a busty girl. The lines of the dress are great, very clean and classic. But wait... that dress is the color of my Ruby shorts... maybe they are 1970s afterall?

Another advertisement for synthetics, but who cares. I love a good pinstripe, if you can call those pants that. Mens pants in print are just so fun. The 1970s were definitely a great time for men's fashion. So many fabrics, colors and designs to chose from. Men weren't limited to jeans or the straight cut trouser. They had options! And they rolled with it. The one thing I'm not quite sure about is whether this is business casual or just casual? Is this a weekend outfit or no?

These two are just too cute. I couldn't resist adding this ad. I love the girls cute hair cut. Her collared shirt and sweater combo are super cute. So cute! 

and finally...Versace! Circa 1979. Not the most memerable of the Versace looks, but interesting. You can definitely see the beginnings of the 80s silhouette here. Particularly in that red jacket in the middle ground there. I would also guess that this and other high fashion of the late 70s is what killed that 70s look that we all associate with the era and moved us into the 80s pallet. Fashion always starts with the top designers and trickles its way down to us.

Hope that was fun for you! I had a blast. The 70s are always a good time. Hoping to get most of my work done on the Ruby Shorts tonight. I would reaaaaaaallly like to wear my Ruby shorts for Memorial Day and todays the day to make that happen. I've got lots of time to catch up from yesterday's no-sewing and to get ahead for tomorrow. I won't have sewing time tomorrow as I just found out Beau and I will be guests at an event welcoming one of our brave wounded soldiers home to GA.

So the "new new" Sew-a-Long schedule for me looks like this.
Friday: Pockets and sew everything together!
Saturday: Nothing!
Sunday: Whatever else!
I am not good at following designated time tables. Gah.

And for those of you who don't know, Jo-ann Fabrics Memorial Day Sale starts today! I'll be cruising out there after work to snatch up some good deals.

Some of the deals they're currently running are 50% off all home decor fabric, 50% off outdoor canvas, and 30% off all sewing notions. Frugal gals unite.

Lets talk Underwear!

Lets talk Underwear! 

No Really. Seriously and truly. As I've said before and I'll say it again, the first step to a great (not to mention authentic) vintage look is the foundation. Ever wonder why your vintage dress looks a little rumpled and puffs out where it's not supposed to? Having trouble getting that boxy 1920s look? Getting some rolls and muffin tops where you don't want them? If you're not wearing the proper foundation, that's your problem! 

So here's a very very brief (haha... brief) introduction to undergarments and more specifically shape. I borrowed almost all the undergarment images from Lara Corsets. You have got to check her out. She does some amazing work and has a fabulous collection of vintage corsets dating back to the 1700s. Really cool. 

Let's start with the 1910s. I know not many vintage fashionistas have vintage styled garments going back this far in time, but it's always nice to see the progression of style. I've tried to place a relevant pattern under each image of unmentionables so you can see how the undergarment determines the shape of the dress and not the other way around. 

This shape is achieved with corseting. Steel bones were most common until the beginning of world war I.. You can see that the corset is used to shape the body into a very unnatural shape. The hips are flattened, making the silhouette quite top heavy. The butt is also reduced giving the whole shape an off-balance forward leaning look. I would guess it was not easy to sit down in this type of undergarment. I've never worn one myself, but from wearing other long line corsets I'll just go ahead and say sitting was probably close to impossible and if you did manage to sit you weren't doing so comfortably.  

One WWI begins many women turn in their corsets to be used for metal for the war effort. The general shape of dresses and undergarments become much more natural (aka, less ridiculously smooshed). Corsets begin to shorten, hips are given a fuller shape. There's a short period where more emphasis is given to the waist than earlier in the decade. 

The 1920s arrive and dresses start to take on a much boxier shape. Boned corsets are thrown aside, hems are shortened, busts are bound! There's a real emphasis on a boxy look that de-emphasizes the overly cinched waist of the past century. Unboned shapers and girdles begin to be used to flatten out the whole body and give a nice smooth straight line under the garment. This is also the time of the mainstream appearance of the brassiere (not shown here) though it was little more than a camisole and offered no support. The 1920s brassieres worked the same as shapers, mainly serving to de-emphasize the breast and flatten the chest.

The 1930s are the dawn of the breast my friends. Woman are no longer flattening their chests and we see the introduction of cup sizes for brassieres. Breasts become more natural and curved. Brassieres are still very primitive and not very supportive. They do nothing to "push up" but rather they are used to "fill out" a woman's chest. The shape is a bit pointy compared to our modern standards.  Hips are still constricted with shapers, but the idea is to smooth rather than to reshape. Dresses still mostly have straight lines. The stomach down is still boxy. Undergarments keep this line flat.  From what I've seen one piece shapers and brassiere/waist down girdle combos seem to be equally popular, but the one piece shaper definitely gives you a cleaner line.

The 1940s give us better fitted bras and cups. The shape of breast becomes a little more pointy, but nothing near the bullet bra of the 1950s. In all honesty undergarments don't change much in this period. With a war on and fabric rationing in full effect I guess there wasn't as much room to experiment. Bra technology continues to improve, but at a slower pace than the decade before and after. Waist shapers are still used, but again mostly to smooth lines. By now the look for is natural feminine curves and a far cry from the forced shape look of 30 years prior. We really start to see more and more of the A line skirt and the idea of slimming the waist. 

The 1950s gives birth to a rise top the idea of lifting the "girls" up as high as possible. The bullet bra was born. Circular stitching around the cups formed the pointed shape. Not all bras were padded bullet bras. There were many styles with more rounded cups, but almost all still had the pointed 50s shape. Women are still wearing girdles and shapers. This is in a continued effort to smooth lines. However the overall shape of the 50s is all about curves. Curvy hips, well lifted bust, and a tiny waist. Va-va-voom. The bigger the better.

 

And the 1960s. Undergarments start going under some massive changes with the addition of Lycra and flexible underwire. Some bras at the time were actually coated with a layer of foam latex rubber. They held their shape well and could stand up on their own. They make for a very unique look let me tell you. As the 60s progress cups begin to soften out. The shape becomes rounder. The extremely pointed bullet bra falls out of fashion and the Girdles of the last twenty years start to disappear. They are replaced by power elastic foundation garments. Some of this is a result of the times. Bra burning comes through during the 60s and though not many women participate, the idea causes some big changes. By the end of the 1960s and early 1970s our modern undergarment shape has been mostly formed. The idea that clothing should fit the woman and not that the woman should fit in the clothing seems to be the general consensus. Viva la liberte!