· 1930s Penny Rose Dress ·

As promised, here are the details of my latest 1930s dress. :-)

As I mentioned in my pocket tutorial post for this dress, I knew I wanted to use this fabric right away when I discovered Penny Rose fabrics!  My inspiration for the dress were classic 1930s cotton print dresses made from feedsacks and the like.

I searched through Pinterest for inspiration and quickly realized that I needed to have a white organdy collar with a giant fluffy bow to finish off the look!

I knew I wanted these sleeves from VPLL T7357; so with statement sleeves and collar, the rest of the dress needed to be a basic, simple design.  I used the VPLL pattern as a base, making a few changes.

This is my second time using this pattern (first version here).  I made some fairly typical alterations for my body and since this fabric has more body, I decided to make the skirt portion fitted rather than being belted in.  That necessitated making a waist seam in the front (due to the original seaming and shaping, there isn't a waist seam) so I could have a fitted skirt and blousy bodice.

These 1980s Etienne Aigner shoes are fabulous for earlier 20th century outfits- classic enough to go from the 1910s through the 30s.  And much more afforable and easy to find on eBay! ;-)

These sleeves.  So ridiculously faddish in a 1930s sort of way!  I recently realized one of the reasons behind my passion for wearing historical styles all the time- I am naturally very cautious and practical about my purchases and I like to ensure that each and every expenditure will be well-used for years to come.

Well, the very nature of fashion is change.... so that means clothing styles can easily fall out of style.  The allure of vintage is that it either has (1) stood the test of time and is perennially classic or (2) is a "fad" style like this that is now so out-dated that being a fad is not an issue! ;-)

So there you go- with vintage, I have the freedom to embrace fads I love and the security of knowing my money and effort will still be put to practical purposes. :-)

However, faddish or not- these sleeves are so fun and unique!  They're made from what are essentially 2 circles sewn together on the outer edges with holes cut in the centers of each for the armsyce and the cuff.

(Added bonus- due to the shape, these sleeves give complete range of motion and absolutely no restriction! ;-))

The fashion nerd in me was geeking out when I saw the pattern shape, because in the 1830s, puffy sleeves were all the rage and there is an extant garment in Patterns of Fashion, 1660-1860 that features circular sleeves, too!  Fashion echoed itself exactly 100 years later.  So fun!

I am now secretly (or not-so-secretly since I just announced it to the internet...) hoping that we get a little fad in the 2030s for circular sleeves!  I might even be tempted to dabble in contemporary clothing on such an occasion, just for the fashion-history-nerdy-ness of it all. ;-) 

We found a set of 6 of these adorable little "hershey's kiss" buttons at an antique mall a few years ago, and I was thrilled to finally use them!

I love it when I can use a fabulous vintage buckle on my dress!  And I love it when it is just the perfect color.  And I really love it when it echoes the (previously decided) design lines of the dress.

In short- this buckle makes me happy. ;-)

The bow is made from a single layer of bias-cut organdy and is edged with narrow self-fabric bias tape.

The bow is held in place and given its shape by a brooch.  The collar is removable and is edged with bias tape at the neck edge and basted to the inside of the dress neckline.

This dress was a great canvas for a cute little decorative 1930s pocket.  I based mine off of this illustration (far right), and I blogged about a tutorial for making one over here.

I used the VPLL pattern for the skirt pieces, which includes V seaming at the hips and a large box pleat in the center front.  The decorative seaming gets rather lost in the print, but I know it's there- and that's really all that matters, right? ;-)

This dress fought me every step of the way, but you know what?  All the frustrations fade away when I look at how happy I am with the result that I strove and conquered so much to achieve. :-)

· Photos by Kathryn! ·