The Fashion In Shrouds

There's more, but I was not photogenic yesterday. Have been inexplicably exhausted today, so this is it for now - I will have a closer look at the rest of them tomorrow.



As usual, it's not completely finished yet, I'm going to add piping to the pocket flaps on the sleeves, and possibly some topstitching on the pockets themselves to keep them from bulging too much (if/when I can be bothered to remove them from the sleeves, and maybe the sleeves from the dress as well). I'm not sure I'm pleased with the cap either. Well, well.

I am pleased with the shoulder pads, though. Just needed to say that again - although I might beef them up even more.

Edit: fuck it, I'm wide awake all of a sudden. A few more (artsy-fartsy, B/W) ones ( here. )

Horrible quality. I really must set up some kind of shoot in daylight, but I'm uncomfortable around cameras and I keep putting this off until later - when it's warmer, when the days are longer... The sun doesn't set until around five in the afternoon now, but still.



( Two more. )

Now there's Tech Noir on Saturday as well as Hootchy Kootchy Club, and a couple of people I'd like to get to know better will be in Stockholm, with plans to attend From Russia With Love at KGB. The current idea is burlesque first, KGB later, which creates wardrobe complications - Hootchy Kootchy is a great place to dress up, KGB has been fairly casual every time I've been there so far. I rather wanted to wear the Carmen Miranda turban or the corset with the American Red Cross buttons, but both are a bit much for KGB, I think. The corset might work if I dress it down a bit, but there is no way I can dress down the turban, it's just not humanly possible.

So I might fall back on that dress I made around Christmas, with the plastic M/59 buttons, and make a matching cap for it while I'm at it. Crossed brims in front and buttoned in the back would be fun, but the crossed brims model looks best with contrasting piping, and I don't think I have any fabrics that would work. I might look around for some tomorrow, but grey shades are difficult. There is almost always an undertone of some sort, the grey of these buttons pulls towards green, for example, and I think that would be hard to match.





This dress would make a great background for the subdued Soviet buttons, too. Pity I haven't got any of those yet, the olive drab would be much easier to match with a fabric for piping than this odd grey-tinged-with-green in the Swedish M/59 ones.

( One more. )

Just finished a new warm winter cap, my old one is very shabby and not that warm either.
This new one is made to match the fantastic vintage jacket I got before Christmas - I don't know if I mentioned that. First time I've bought a vintage suit and been able to wear both the jacket and the skirt without alterations. I have had a hard time dating it, I'm leaning towards high quality 70's (the lining has fusible interfacing and overlocked edges, the buttons are undersewn and rounded, vaguely military-inspired in metal painted black, and the collar points are insane) but the cut might be late 40's/early 50's just as well. The tags in it look older, the zipper in the skirt is the vintage, heavy-duty metal kind, the button in the skirt is an older plastic one, and the quality of the pieces and the level of work that has gone into it is not that common in off-the-rack garments made after the 60's (the collar is stuffed with horsehair, for instance).

Not that it matters, it is beautiful, especially the jacket, which has a couple of inverted box pleats at the center back accented with two buttons, like on an old frock coat and it fits as if it was made for me, in spite of being ready-made. No lapels, just a large collar with exaggerated points. The skirt is a wide, flared model with lots of panels in that difficult mid-calf length, both of them executed in a thick, black wool coating. I have been wearing the jacket a lot the last couple of months, it's very warm and looks good with practically everything I wear. I don't love that type of wide skirt,  and the length makes me feel stumpy, but it's a very comfy skirt, so it has been in circulation a little too.

The cap is a similar fabric, as similar to the jacket as I could find. Keeping my fingers crossed that it will not wear and age dramatically differently, but it doesn't matter a lot anyway. There's enough for a pencil skirt too, hopefully with a couple of inverted box pleats in the back like the jacket.



That's how I keep them in place, by the way, huge hair pin (groß Frieda!) skewered through my bun and a clip or barrette on the inside of the cap further to the front - I can headbutt someone with one of these caps on and it won't budge.
A has the good camera, getting something remotely useful out of the bad camera in indoor light was a bit of a challenge, but it is a couple of pictures, at least - far more than I manage of most of my projects these days.

Trousers more or less finished, only lacking in trouser hook, buckle for the flaps in the back and stirrups. (That's how early-19th-century-menswear-inspired they are - stirrups, for real.)

Waistcoat is as finished as I can make it without having tried it on A, who is MIA tonight; that is, not very but could be worse - at least I've done the lapels and fake collar bit, which was hell, I tell you, hell. I hope that if I keep forcing myself to make lapels and collars I will begin to find it easy sooner or later, like I did with pockets, but it hasn't happened yet. I love having lapels, but I hate making them.

My olive drab dress now has a kick pleat, buttoned with a little piped strap that looks like ass up close, but seeing as it will be kept buttoned when worn, and is located right under my own ass, I don't think anyone else will notice - it will be overshadowed, to throw in a really dreadful pun, sorry about that. I know that it looks like ass, though, so I'll have to fix that some day when I have nothing better to do.

Also vliesofixed the matching cap a bit, and lined it semi-properly. It's much improved.

I really must go to bed now.