Summer Deco Dress #2: The 1930's Heart Dress beginnings

     So, remember that heart and stripe fabric of amazingness that I ended up not using that I mentioned in an earlier post? Here's a refresher:

Amazingness.

     I decided not to use the New England dress pattern and instead use the 1930's Button Dress pattern, ALSO by Decades of Style. I decided to change patterns for a few reasons:

1. Boyfriend thought the 30's one was better

2. It's so much easier to match the stripes on the 30's rather than the New England

3. I want to wear it to the Gatsby picnic this year (and Gatsby is usually 20's and 30's)

4. I like the lines of this pattern! Kinda sexy...

     I've had this Button Dress pattern lying around for ages and actually used it once before long ago for my first ever 1930's dress. With that one I made certain alterations to the pattern and this time around I am doing some more alterations, just a bit different. 

     I am not a fan of the top tie in the back. It just seems weird to have a nicely tailored front and then funny ties at the back. Maybe ONE tie at the waist. But not two. So, I scrapped the top tie and raised the back. Next, I remember the waist seam not being at high when made up than it looks in the illustration, so I cut it a bit higher. Lastly, the bottom of the sleeves was a little too short to make a tidy hem, so I lengthened them. 

I made my mock-up from old bed sheets.

Cutting out the pieces.

     I don't know much about pattern matching, so I just aimed to get the front panels to line up with the stripes as I was cutting my fabric. Right now, I'm done with the cutting and I'm just sewing all my pieces together. Here's a picture of all the supplies for the dress together:

Woo hoo!

The Gatsby Picnic 2013

     What a good time it was! Hotter than it ever should be, though!! Boiling... But such a good time. I was working the Auto Team in the morning (directing the vintage cars), so my shift was luckily over by the time the heat got legit. My home base picnicking group was so lovely. They set up such a wonderful picnic and were so kind to have me with them. Just lovely, lovely folks. You'll see a bit of their set up later in the post.
     I knew MANY more people this year than I did last year. Which was a bit of a shocker. And I met many more just from wandering around.
     There was this awesome French picnic that I ended up spending a lot of time around. Paul, Francis, Tullia, and Tara (the brains behind their set up). They had a big French flag flying high above vintage French board games, saucy French postcards, and a perfect French lunch (with Ratatouille! Yummy!) I think most of them knew a fair amount of French, even though they were all American. They were jabbering away in it, sounding very elegant and classy. I think I heard a few lines of La Marseillaise! That was fabulous...
Paul was dressed in his own reproduction of a 1920's French police officer's uniform, with original buttons and badges! SO COOL. He and Tara won Best Dressed Couple in the Costume Contest! They totally deserved it. Hands down. 
      Not to be vain as heck, but my outfit was great. It pulled together so nice. Looking at the photos now, I realize that my dress looks a lot more early 40's. I think the picnic was supposed to be 20's/30's, but I don't really care. My dress was Deco-era and that's what matters. I wore Boyfriend's vintage boater, pearl tear drop earrings, "Repeal the 18th Amendment" pin, and an original Air Core sweetheart pin (WWII era). Another gift from the boy. 

With Kathy and Tasia- ladies in blue!
photo credit Kim Y.

With Yuri at her perfect picnic.
photo credit Alan D.

We went climbing around the broken down swimming pool.

American Duchess shoe pic!!!
 I ran into three local costumers: green is Vivian, brown is Natalie, ivory is Elizabeth, and spectator is me.
photo credit Natalie W.

Natalie and Elizabeth looked just smashing! Both dresses sewn by their wearer.
Natalie said she made hers from an original pattern and Elizabeth said she took an old 60's dress to
pieces to make hers. I love both of them!
photo credit Natalie W.

     Natalie's blog: http://frolickingfrocks.blogspot.com/ (I hope to see her details soon. I want that dress!!)
     Vivian's blog: http://freshfrippery.com/ (she's got a great post up of her outfit)

The Gatsby Picnic: What to Wear...

     Every early September, the Art Deco Society of California holds its Gatsby Summer Afternoon picnic. It's basically a re-creation of an afternoon party that Jay Gatsby would have thrown. It's happening this Sunday. Tomorrow. Check out the deets and the site: http://www.artdecosociety.org/index.htm
     I will be volunteering with the AutoTeam. We direct the vintage cars and such. I realized I would be running about a bit. It got me started on thoughts of what I should wear. I need something stable, simple, relatively comfortable, and....Deco. It should fit into the 20's, 30's, or VERY early 40's.
     I was originally going to borrow some clothes from Boyfriend (he's a Deco-era fiend). But I found I liked most of the clothes on him better. I just can't top that sexiness. Still, I stole his straw Boater. I love it!!!
     Not long ago, he gifted me a dark blue, white-polka dotted dress with a little matching belt. It's beautiful. It's vintage and we're thinking early 40's. The silhouette looks kind of late 30's, though, so I figured it would work just fine.
     I searched for some images to help me date the style:

Shows the basic silhouette of my dress.
via erasoffashion

It's similar to those two navy polka dot dresses, but with a shorter skirt. This image is from '32.

This one is from '39. Similar skirt style to mine, but the sleeves on mine are more relaxed.

     So, I  guess I'll say my dress is late 1930's. Seems roughly accurate.
The PLAN!:

     -polka dot dress

     -Boyfriend's boater

     -American Duchess "23 Skidoo" spectator shoes 

     -waved hair pulled into simple Deco-ish style

     -red lipstick

     -pearl earrings