A Lilli Ann Lady

I mentioned in my latest Lilli Ann post  that I would share with you a Lilli Ann lady in her element in 1956.  I found this image just randomly looking at some 50s photographs on ebay.  I know this sounds totally bazaar but I'm telling you it's true:)  I was saying to myself while looking at 1950s snap shots, "Wouldn't it be nice if I found a vintage lady wearing a Lilli Ann suit?"


She wasn't listed as wearing a Lilli Ann suit but once I saw her, I  immediately knew she was wearing a Lilli Ann suit.  She is quite chic in her Lilli Ann suit, accessories, and I'm sure wearing a nice tint of lipstick.  I wonder the event that she might be going to.  I'd love to see more vintage ladies wearing Lilli Ann, as I'm sure it was very popular during this period too.

Here is an ad of this suit from January 1956.  Via Flicker.

A True Step In the Past With the Hair Net Winners

I was so very pleased with the response from the hair net giveaway and so excited to see all the wonderful images of the lovely ladies who blogged about their hair net experiences.  They actually exceeded my expectations.  It was so nice to see how these hair nets would look.  I think for a nice curl look that lasts for hours these are great.    Thank you ladies!

There certainly was a reason our vintage counterparts used these. These lovely ladies below are so inspiring in their hair nets that I thought I'd share a recap with links to their reviews.

In no particular order:)

The lovely Francis of Polka Polish.   How perfect are these curls nestled in this hair net?  Beautiful lighting and wonderful set.

The lovely Emily of  Emily's VintageVisions.   How perfect is this hair net and hat combination.  Looks so professional!

The lovely Helen of  Lovebirds Vintage.  How wonderful is this 40s set in a hair net?  A lovely model:)

The lovely Emileigh of Flashback Summer.  How cute is this set?  Wish (hope) mine would come up half as nice.  So inspiring.

All these lovely ladies have really inspired me to learn to set my hair in a better way.  And, just to have but one of these styles for one day, I'd be terribly happy.  I really do see a benefit to using hair nets.   Thank you so very much for participating in this contest.   And, I know that there are a couple other winners who will be posting in the future, no rush:)  Thank you ladies!!!  These types of contests are so much fun.

The 30s? The 40s? The 50s?

I was thinking I might take a vote to see what outfit you might like to see in an upcoming post.

Would you like to see something from the 1930s?


the 1940s?


the 1950s?


Cast your vote below.


Also, check out this very lovely pinking machine from the 1930s.  I got this in the mail yesterday.  I was intrigued by this idea.   It is from Singer.   It's a total vintage gadget but so fun to use.   You almost feel like a kid turning the wheel as the fabric is pinked.  Based on the instruction manual, I'm thinking this is from 1935.   They say that the blade also never needs sharpening.  It has a measuring gauge on the side so you can get pretty close pinking and it clamps to a table for stability.

A fun experiment and I can see how it is more precise than using sheers.  Have any of you used one of these before?

Polka Dots

Yesterday, I broke out a spring dress.   Finally, the weather is getting warmer.   This is the first time I have worn this dress.  I bought it off of ebay awhile back and I remember it being quite cheap.   It's made from silk from the 1950s.  As I was wearing the dress through the afternoon, I thought it's an okay dress, not extremely special.  Then it dawned on me that the thing I wished was better was the skirt length, so then I pulled back the dress and noticed around 4 inches of length had been taken up.  I was happy to know that the dress had not been cut but only hemmed up.

Outfit details:

Dress:  50s from ebay, Miss Elynn Original

Bracelets:  Bakelite variety of sources, light green polished by BrighterBakelite

Necklace: ebay

Hairclip: Etsy

Ring:  50s mosaic vintage shop Michigan

Shoes:  Naturalizer

When I got home, I undid the hem and voila, I like it much better.   Here's a picture of the dress before I hem it up slightly.  It looks so much better at its original length.  Now off to hem the dress to it's "correct" length:)

Stripes and Deco, It's In The Details.

I thought I'd start out this post with fabric I bought a few months ago that is truly a work of art and will be very difficult to cut up, once I find the right project.  Here is why…

Isn't it grand fabric?  What makes this fabric remarkable is many things.  It's pre-war!  It's in amazing condition and it's deco silk.  I'm dating it to the early to mid-1930s due to advertising ads I've seen.  Isn't this just fascinating that this fabric could still remain as an uncut piece during the war years?  I'm quite sure this was a treasured piece of silk fabric.   The fabric really is quality.

Maybe I'll just play drape the dress form as this fabric really is a gem.  It has the label still attached and I was able to find an ad in an old newspaper advertising Empire Fabric.

Source:

Daytona Beach Newspaper Ad 1936.  I've also seen advertisements from 1934.  So, I'm dating this fabric to the early to mid-1930s.

PART II - The Wallis Project

Yes, dear readers, who I know are waiting in anticipation to see if I achieved my goal and found the striped fabric I sought:),  I found a beauty of a fabric.

In my next post, I'll show the remainder of my fabric purchases from Mood and B & J.    Although slightly off a mild tone (I was searching for light blue.), it is a magnificent soft green/blue silk striped fabric none the less.   This is where going into the city was well worth it.   I could not find what I wanted over the internet and I searched high and low.  You would think silk striped blue fabric would be easy to find.

Remember the dress from WE that I wrote about here?   I've been keeping an eye open for a similar pattern and fabric.   The Balenciaga designs on which this dress is inspired are just amazing.

I, honestly, have no idea how this dress might turn out as lining up stripes is very tricky and on top of this, it's silk fabric.  It may just be a frustrating event but it certainly is worth a try.

Can I say how worth it this silk fabric was?  This fabric was $16 a yard, a worthy purchase in my opinion.  It's pure silk and not cheapo quality like I tried to buy on ebay (see last image in post).  I bought what remained which was around 5 yards.   I think this will be a project that I tinker with in-between other projects. It is kind of a puzzle to get the stripes to line up.   It's going to be tricky to cut given the slippery nature and I don't think I'll be able to layer the cut to create the chevron panels.  I think each piece will have to be cut out individually but it will also have to be precise.  This is going to be tricky.   I have enjoyed the treasure hunt of being able to find a very similar fabric to this dress.

To refresh all of your memories, here is the lovely dress below and a link back to the post about it.  I originally first thought this dress was cotton but it's actually silk and I can see why silk would be so much more grand.

Source







Fabric purchase with pattern inspiration.


Original Balenciaga 1938/39 dresses:

Isn't the play on horizontal and vertical lines amazing in this dress?  Pure art. Stunning.  It looks to have chevron type panels on the bottom then a line of vertical, then a line of horizontal.  I could look at this dress all day.  If anyone has seen one on a museum website in full color, please let me know.

Source

Source

Source

Thought you might like to see an attempt at trying to find silk stripe fabric on ebay:P   Not even very usable. It wasn't worth sending it back as I bought it from an overseas vendor but you can see the cheap nature.  Won't do this again:)  Good thing is I bought the least amount I could to sample it.


It kind of makes me laugh to see even the stripes off in thickness.  It's really poor quality.  But, it makes me appreciate having the resource of fabric selection in NYC all the more.

Confessions of A Fabricaholic

Today welcomed a somewhat impromptu morning trip into the city to visit the infamous Mood and B&J Fabrics.  I thought about it yesterday and figured this was an opportunity that I don't get too often, so off I went.   I cannot begin to explain the amount and types of fabrics available in NYC.  It seriously is one of those things that you have to see to believe.  The main reason for me going into the city is that I have been searching high and low for silk blue and stripe fabric (more on this in my next post).  You would think this wouldn't be so difficult to find.  But, I have scoured the internet and not found one good source.  I am so glad I went into the city to visit these shops.   They can be quite pricey but the quality is amazing and to touch and feel all these selections in person, just amazing.   I have been to Mood once before but it has been many years.  

In this post, I will share images of the the shops and the next post show and tell. 

First stop B&J fabrics,  this shop is wonderfully organized.

Yep, one of my purchases, now how could I not get this wonderful red wool crepe fabric?

Marilyn in Italian silk, this fabric is amazing!

Can you guess the inspiration from this piece of silk below?

On to Mood, I don't think you can walk out of this place without something:

Mood actually had some very reasonably priced fabrics too.  There was a great selection of silks around $14-16 a yard for silk!

Trip back to the train station.  Lovely day at Bryant Park..

How cool is this a shop devoted to spandex?

My haul...