Showing posts with label Clothes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Clothes. Show all posts
Friday, March 29, 2013
Pointy toes
There is currently a male fashion for shoes – usually high-gloss lace-ups in black or tan – with a very extended toe. Not sharply pointed, as on a 1950s Teddy Boy winkle picker, but more rounded, sometimes even squared off.
I do not find them at all attractive, & if the aim is to make small feet look longer, then they fail; they merely make the proportions look very odd.
This oddity was highlighted for me as I followed a young man down the hill last Friday evening. Snow had just begun to fall again, so leaving a clear sharp print of every step on the pavement. From this perspective it looks as though the wearer has but a single toe (a big one) growing perfectly centred at the front of the foot – not exactly designed for efficient locomotion in someone trying to stand upright on two feet.
Tuesday, March 05, 2013
Spring day
Spring has sprung – at least for today. Blue sky, sunshine, no wind of which to speak.
By mid-afternoon I was carrying, rather than wearing, my padded jacket & quilted waistcoat, wearing only jumper & t shirt.
The jumper is a new acquisition, a beautiful pale grey with a cowl neck & cable stitching up the front, 80% acrylic, 20% wool. It is very lightweight light but deliciously warm. A totally accidental find in British Home Stores, whose Sale rail I thought worth investigating as I was just cutting through one bitter day earlier in the week.
By mid-afternoon I was carrying, rather than wearing, my padded jacket & quilted waistcoat, wearing only jumper & t shirt.
The jumper is a new acquisition, a beautiful pale grey with a cowl neck & cable stitching up the front, 80% acrylic, 20% wool. It is very lightweight light but deliciously warm. A totally accidental find in British Home Stores, whose Sale rail I thought worth investigating as I was just cutting through one bitter day earlier in the week.
Tuesday, January 22, 2013
Gussie Moran
I can remember all the fuss about the way she dressed at Wimbledon, which ‘introduced vulgarity & sin into tennis’ according to the Committee of the All England Lawn Tennis Club, which knows about such things.
Looked at through eyes which are now more than 60 years older she just looks like a normal healthy young girl who liked to wear pretty – but demure - dresses.
Although I can also remember that the frilly knickers she wore one time reminded me horribly of the plastic-lined panties you put over the towelling nappies of your baby daughter.
Fovent accessories
One retailer who did well over Christmas was the upmarket purveyor of mens shoes & accessories, Oliver Sweeney.
I was intrigued to see that, just like Primark, they are doing well out of gloves which can be used with touch screens – an accessory we all need badly in this weather.
Sweeney’s however will cost you about 100 times as much as Primark’s humble offering, & yet they are doing so well that they are not included in the sale.
Links
Oliver Sweeney
Amery Capital Ltd
Related post
Things you didn't know you need
Wednesday, November 07, 2012
Colourably at the best
Bernat Klein turned 90 yesterday – another case of I had no idea he was still alive
A real hero of mine in the 1960s because of his beautiful woollen cloth, soft, high quality & available in an entirely new & exciting range of co-ordinating colours. Affordable even for a teenaged home dress maker. I particularly remember a turquoise blue which I used to make a smart skirt suit, & a wonderful clear red which I chose for my first (& only) foray into haute couture – a Dior pattern from the Vogue Designer range, a simple, waistless shift dress in the latest figure-skimming fashion. Should be an easy project for a beginner, I thought.
Well I certainly learned to respect the amount of workmanship involved – there were darts & tucks everywhere to make sure it fitted just so, around the neck, shoulders, even the elbows to make the sleeves work well (all of course needing to be adapted to my own unique form).
I believe that Bernat Klein was also responsible, as design consultant, for the new range of office furniture for the civil service which was introduced in the 1970s – filing cabinets in a choice of avocado, mustard, tomato or blue made a change from battleship grey. Less popular were the removable washable chair covers, in jungle-print combinations of two of the colours (mustard + blue, avocado+ tomato) which, to those in the know, enabled you to spot a government building anywhere you went. I have not, however been able to find any confirmation of this.
Even stranger, I do not think I ever knew that Bernat Klein had set up his business in the Scottish borders after studying textile technology at the University of Leeds. We all firmly believed that he was French (he is Serbian by birth), presumably because he first came to our attention after his textiles were taken up by Coco Chanel, Dior, Balenciaga, Pierre Cardin and Saint Laurent. I think we thought that nobody British could be that clever with colour, & even felt slightly guilty about not supporting home industry.
A real hero of mine in the 1960s because of his beautiful woollen cloth, soft, high quality & available in an entirely new & exciting range of co-ordinating colours. Affordable even for a teenaged home dress maker. I particularly remember a turquoise blue which I used to make a smart skirt suit, & a wonderful clear red which I chose for my first (& only) foray into haute couture – a Dior pattern from the Vogue Designer range, a simple, waistless shift dress in the latest figure-skimming fashion. Should be an easy project for a beginner, I thought.
Well I certainly learned to respect the amount of workmanship involved – there were darts & tucks everywhere to make sure it fitted just so, around the neck, shoulders, even the elbows to make the sleeves work well (all of course needing to be adapted to my own unique form).
I believe that Bernat Klein was also responsible, as design consultant, for the new range of office furniture for the civil service which was introduced in the 1970s – filing cabinets in a choice of avocado, mustard, tomato or blue made a change from battleship grey. Less popular were the removable washable chair covers, in jungle-print combinations of two of the colours (mustard + blue, avocado+ tomato) which, to those in the know, enabled you to spot a government building anywhere you went. I have not, however been able to find any confirmation of this.
Even stranger, I do not think I ever knew that Bernat Klein had set up his business in the Scottish borders after studying textile technology at the University of Leeds. We all firmly believed that he was French (he is Serbian by birth), presumably because he first came to our attention after his textiles were taken up by Coco Chanel, Dior, Balenciaga, Pierre Cardin and Saint Laurent. I think we thought that nobody British could be that clever with colour, & even felt slightly guilty about not supporting home industry.
Links
Related post
Tuesday, March 13, 2012
Shirt sleeve order
Revisiting my (minor) obsession with sloping shoulders made me realise that it looked like an obsession merely with the female form.
In fact my fascination began with the male form, at a time (the 1970s) when social rules of all kinds were being relaxed in favour of greater informality.
And so, in Whitehall at least, it began to be OK for a man to remove his jacket in the office, to work in shirt-sleeve order, even when ladies were present. No doubt the spread of central heating helped encourage this relaxation.
One thing that constantly amused me was that a man would always put his jacket on when receiving a summons to go to the office of a higher authority.
Even at the end of the decade men would always wear their jackets to formal meetings; chairmen of the more old-fashioned kind would, on an especially hot day, in a non-air-conditioned room, announce that ‘Gentlemen, you may remove your jackets.’
In my childhood police officers had always to wear their full uniform when on duty – this extended to wearing their heavy serge tunics while directing traffic during a heatwave. If the sun blasted down for more than a day or two the Chief Constable would magnanimously announce shirt-sleeve orders, & we used to marvel at the sight of the constabulary’s linen.
But the thing that most took me aback about the men in the office was that some of them had really sloping shoulders – something men’s tailoring was always very careful to disguise.
Perhaps it should come as no surprise that shoulder pads became such an essential weapon in the wardrobe of women who stormed the workplace in such numbers in the 1980s.
Or that sloping shoulders continue to be just so OUT.
Checking the OED for the origin of shirt sleeve order, I came across the phrase shirtsleeve(s) diplomacy: management of political affairs which is characterized by lack of formality or sophistication.
These days the phrase is sofa government.
In fact my fascination began with the male form, at a time (the 1970s) when social rules of all kinds were being relaxed in favour of greater informality.
And so, in Whitehall at least, it began to be OK for a man to remove his jacket in the office, to work in shirt-sleeve order, even when ladies were present. No doubt the spread of central heating helped encourage this relaxation.
One thing that constantly amused me was that a man would always put his jacket on when receiving a summons to go to the office of a higher authority.
Even at the end of the decade men would always wear their jackets to formal meetings; chairmen of the more old-fashioned kind would, on an especially hot day, in a non-air-conditioned room, announce that ‘Gentlemen, you may remove your jackets.’
In my childhood police officers had always to wear their full uniform when on duty – this extended to wearing their heavy serge tunics while directing traffic during a heatwave. If the sun blasted down for more than a day or two the Chief Constable would magnanimously announce shirt-sleeve orders, & we used to marvel at the sight of the constabulary’s linen.
But the thing that most took me aback about the men in the office was that some of them had really sloping shoulders – something men’s tailoring was always very careful to disguise.
Perhaps it should come as no surprise that shoulder pads became such an essential weapon in the wardrobe of women who stormed the workplace in such numbers in the 1980s.
Or that sloping shoulders continue to be just so OUT.
Checking the OED for the origin of shirt sleeve order, I came across the phrase shirtsleeve(s) diplomacy: management of political affairs which is characterized by lack of formality or sophistication.
These days the phrase is sofa government.
Monday, March 12, 2012
Professor Daphne Brooker
Daphne Brooker, fashion teacher, died in February aged 84. I must admit I had never heard of her until I read her obituary on the same page as that of Araminta, Lady Aldington.
For 30 years she taught at [what is now the University of] Kingston, stressing the need for teachers to give as much emphasis to the doing, making & organising, and to the skills of craftsmanship, manufacturing & marketing of goods, as to analysis, criticism & the acquisition of knowledge.
A true heroine for feminists.
What really caught my eye however was a photo taken in the early 1950s when she had a brief & personally unfulfilling career as a model, which included a front cover of Vogue.
Sloping shoulders!
Wednesday, January 18, 2012
Nesh nellies
Preliminary results from the Met Office OPAL survey about what winter cold really feels like produced something of a surprise. There is no strong evidence to support the myth that northerners are hardier than softie southerners, but there is a big difference between how country folk respond to cold compared to city slickers.
Climate scientists speculate that this may be due to the warmer microclimates in areas which are densely packed with buildings & vibrating traffic.
A quick glance at the survey form reveals that they are not collecting any information about how people travel. Anyone who lives in a rural area& uses public transport will be much more exposed to the elements; bus stops & railway stations provide at best only minimal cover from wind & rain. In town you rarely have to be outside for very long as you scurry from one building to another.
Climate scientists speculate that this may be due to the warmer microclimates in areas which are densely packed with buildings & vibrating traffic.
A quick glance at the survey form reveals that they are not collecting any information about how people travel. Anyone who lives in a rural area& uses public transport will be much more exposed to the elements; bus stops & railway stations provide at best only minimal cover from wind & rain. In town you rarely have to be outside for very long as you scurry from one building to another.
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
Permanent pleats
Permanent pleats are back in fashion.
Not sure if anyone of my generation will actually want to take this one up – just too reminiscent of school uniform in navy blue polyester.
Today’s school teachers however have probably got their fingers crossed that a new generation will see them as the absolute must-have, for they would certainly put an end to the modern school-girls belief that skirt waistbands must be rolled over to raise the hem to a dangerously distracting level of shortness. The amount of material in the pleats would have the result of producing a very ugly thick bulge around the waist.
Pictures showing us how to put the look together even include one of a model wearing sensible flat shoes & white ankle socks.
Not sure if anyone of my generation will actually want to take this one up – just too reminiscent of school uniform in navy blue polyester.
Today’s school teachers however have probably got their fingers crossed that a new generation will see them as the absolute must-have, for they would certainly put an end to the modern school-girls belief that skirt waistbands must be rolled over to raise the hem to a dangerously distracting level of shortness. The amount of material in the pleats would have the result of producing a very ugly thick bulge around the waist.
Pictures showing us how to put the look together even include one of a model wearing sensible flat shoes & white ankle socks.
Thursday, September 29, 2011
Sometimes I'd like to be young again
A picture of a very pretty dress from the new Prada ready-to-wear collection (#25 on the Vogue website) caught my eye – unusually because I haven’t often found Prada pretty, or even desirable, in the past.
Off-white with pale blue hem with tadpole/teardrop or flame pattern in subtle orange round the lower skirt. Bracelet length sleeves, bodice subtly gathered to the slightly squared-off plain high neck, shirred midriff, made out of what looks like chiffon.
Deceptively demure.
Looks simple – but not at all easy to make – will it be possible to reproduce for the cheaper end of the High Street? Answer, YES of course, in some form.
The fashion writers say there is a 50s influence to this collection – but very definitely 60s too, especially in those teardrops.
Off-white with pale blue hem with tadpole/teardrop or flame pattern in subtle orange round the lower skirt. Bracelet length sleeves, bodice subtly gathered to the slightly squared-off plain high neck, shirred midriff, made out of what looks like chiffon.
Deceptively demure.
Looks simple – but not at all easy to make – will it be possible to reproduce for the cheaper end of the High Street? Answer, YES of course, in some form.
The fashion writers say there is a 50s influence to this collection – but very definitely 60s too, especially in those teardrops.
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
Seasonal shopping
Yesterday brought weather so sunny & warm I thought it a good idea to go & buy a new winter fleece – if I wait till it starts to get cold the shops will have only spring clothes on offer.
One would have thought that the relentless fashion cycle would have gone the way of other old fashioned retail practices, but it seems not.
Quite a long number of years ago I found myself in need of a new swimsuit in January; I was bemoaning the fact that the only ones available were in the expensive Cruisewear sections of the upmarket department stores, when a colleague suggested that I try asking in Marks & Spencer: ‘They’ll probably have some from last summer in the stock room which they are waiting to bring out again.’ And so it proved.
In these days of just in time stockrooms stay on on the move. Instead of occupying chunks of high-priced space on high street or in shopping centre they cruise the high seas or the motorways, the goods coming to rest for the shortest possible time in vast hangar like distribution centres on less expensive real estate. And if they are not sold quickly enough then they are on the move again – turned into rags to go round the circle again or dispatched to the vast Third World or Eastern European jumble sale.
Let us hope that the effect of economic hard times will not be to reduce the velocity of circulation of goods without bringing back the stockroom, or the effect will be that if you choose the wrong day or time to go shopping – well tough, you’ll just have to go without.
One would have thought that the relentless fashion cycle would have gone the way of other old fashioned retail practices, but it seems not.
Quite a long number of years ago I found myself in need of a new swimsuit in January; I was bemoaning the fact that the only ones available were in the expensive Cruisewear sections of the upmarket department stores, when a colleague suggested that I try asking in Marks & Spencer: ‘They’ll probably have some from last summer in the stock room which they are waiting to bring out again.’ And so it proved.
In these days of just in time stockrooms stay on on the move. Instead of occupying chunks of high-priced space on high street or in shopping centre they cruise the high seas or the motorways, the goods coming to rest for the shortest possible time in vast hangar like distribution centres on less expensive real estate. And if they are not sold quickly enough then they are on the move again – turned into rags to go round the circle again or dispatched to the vast Third World or Eastern European jumble sale.
Let us hope that the effect of economic hard times will not be to reduce the velocity of circulation of goods without bringing back the stockroom, or the effect will be that if you choose the wrong day or time to go shopping – well tough, you’ll just have to go without.
Related post
Call of the running tide
Call of the running tide
Still Ireland & the Queen
We continue to hear comment & reminiscence about the significance of the Queen’s recent visit to Ireland.
Prince William is quoted as having said in an interview with Robert Hardman for his new book Our Queen that ‘She was so excited about it & was really looking forward to it. It was quite sweet … this was like a big door opening up to her that had been locked for so long.’
And on Desert Island Discs veteran Royal photographer for The Sun, Arthur Edwards, settled on Danny Boy as his final selection, partly for intensely personal reasons but also because, he said, he had never seen the Queen so moved as by the joint performance of the song by childrens choirs from north & south of the Border.
Her Majesty’s enduring sense of Royal protocol & propriety was illustrated by another anecdote from that same Prince William interview, which told how his grandmother had made it plain that he had no choice over which uniform he should wear at The Wedding; that was dictated by his Royal role as Colonel of the Irish Guards
Prince William is quoted as having said in an interview with Robert Hardman for his new book Our Queen that ‘She was so excited about it & was really looking forward to it. It was quite sweet … this was like a big door opening up to her that had been locked for so long.’
And on Desert Island Discs veteran Royal photographer for The Sun, Arthur Edwards, settled on Danny Boy as his final selection, partly for intensely personal reasons but also because, he said, he had never seen the Queen so moved as by the joint performance of the song by childrens choirs from north & south of the Border.
Her Majesty’s enduring sense of Royal protocol & propriety was illustrated by another anecdote from that same Prince William interview, which told how his grandmother had made it plain that he had no choice over which uniform he should wear at The Wedding; that was dictated by his Royal role as Colonel of the Irish Guards
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
Moaning about the weather
Friday’s promise was followed by a rather cruel let down on Saturday – dark skies, stiff breeze &, from mid afternoon, constant drizzle. The one & only jumper I was wearing wasn’t enough & shopping became an unlooked for disappointment as I needed to rush past any chilled cabinets ASAP.
On the bright side it is going to be easier than it has been for some years to find attractive new winter clothes: colours are far more to my taste & everybody seems to want to be more covered up – V-neck fronts, bracelet length sleeves, tops that don’t even cover your midriff, let alone kidneys - all gone in favour of longer lengths & higher necks. Bliss.
And there is a very distinct return to acrylic in place of wool. Perhaps it is just price, perhaps fashion gurus have had second thoughts about the green credentials of wool – but we are now spoilt for choice when it comes to lightweight but warm jumpers in colours which can be mixed & matched in as many layers as you need.
The Times carried an, in parts, rather odd article about the health problems which come with autumn (your hair might fall out because it grew thicker in the summer?), but I fell on the contribution from a rheumatologist who talked about all-over joint aches which may be a particular trial for Raynaud sufferers – I had not heard that before, thought it affected just hands & feet (plus ear lobes & nose tips for a few real unfortunates), & that it was just old age that made it such a relief to get home & replace clothes which now seem heavy or stiff with a soft warm dressing gown which places no burden on shoulder & other joints – that is why light weight, anything-but stiff acrylic is such a boon, one which does not need the care demanded by cashmere, mohair or angora.
What a selfish, least pain in my little finger moan about not very much – even our weather would be welcomed by those in Pakistan or Japan right now. Tokyo suffered another big disruption from a typhoon last week, as if they have not had enough this year. But there was very little space for this in the press when the world seems so terribly upside down in so many ways.
I shall however try to get more ginger in my cooking because, according to the Times rheumatologist, that may help relieve the joints.
There is probably no proper 'evidence' for this, but then 'proper' medicine is silent on both the cause & the cure for Raynauds.
On the bright side it is going to be easier than it has been for some years to find attractive new winter clothes: colours are far more to my taste & everybody seems to want to be more covered up – V-neck fronts, bracelet length sleeves, tops that don’t even cover your midriff, let alone kidneys - all gone in favour of longer lengths & higher necks. Bliss.
And there is a very distinct return to acrylic in place of wool. Perhaps it is just price, perhaps fashion gurus have had second thoughts about the green credentials of wool – but we are now spoilt for choice when it comes to lightweight but warm jumpers in colours which can be mixed & matched in as many layers as you need.
The Times carried an, in parts, rather odd article about the health problems which come with autumn (your hair might fall out because it grew thicker in the summer?), but I fell on the contribution from a rheumatologist who talked about all-over joint aches which may be a particular trial for Raynaud sufferers – I had not heard that before, thought it affected just hands & feet (plus ear lobes & nose tips for a few real unfortunates), & that it was just old age that made it such a relief to get home & replace clothes which now seem heavy or stiff with a soft warm dressing gown which places no burden on shoulder & other joints – that is why light weight, anything-but stiff acrylic is such a boon, one which does not need the care demanded by cashmere, mohair or angora.
What a selfish, least pain in my little finger moan about not very much – even our weather would be welcomed by those in Pakistan or Japan right now. Tokyo suffered another big disruption from a typhoon last week, as if they have not had enough this year. But there was very little space for this in the press when the world seems so terribly upside down in so many ways.
I shall however try to get more ginger in my cooking because, according to the Times rheumatologist, that may help relieve the joints.
There is probably no proper 'evidence' for this, but then 'proper' medicine is silent on both the cause & the cure for Raynauds.
Link
Powerful Typhoon Roke hits Japan
Kiho wave picture
Related post
Fingers crossed
Powerful Typhoon Roke hits Japan
Kiho wave picture
Related post
Fingers crossed
Saturday, July 30, 2011
Pendulum ties
Public relations expert Peter Bingle has lost his membership of an exclusive London club – on the grounds that, rather than adhere to the club’s strict code of dress casual, he turned up for lunch at the achingly hip & trendy Soho House – wearing a suit & tie.Oh the shame & horror.
However, another style guru, Mr Mansel Fletcher, has leapt to the defence, by pointing out that ‘The idea that there’s something inherently uncool about wearing a suit is embarrassingly dated.’
Would it be enough for a member wishing to remain in good standing to take a partial Rolling Stones solution – and simply remove the tie & jacket?
Fact: The Managing Director of Soho House is married to Kirsty Young, the heroine of Desert Island Discs
Wednesday, June 08, 2011
A recipe for ants in the pants
I have found that I was not suffering from false memory syndrome when I thought I could remember putting sugar water on my petticoat.
Since my Chambers had no record of paper nylon I tried the OED
There I found a quote from the Independent of 19 March 1999*:
The funny thing is though, that I certainly have no recollection of using sugar water on paper nylon – we must have known that it would be impossible to sit down on that. My memory tells me that it was only nylon net that got the treatment
* Even better, the article is available on line at Helene Wiggin: Historical Notes: The relentless tyranny of the sink
Since my Chambers had no record of paper nylon I tried the OED
There I found a quote from the Independent of 19 March 1999*:
Each generation found natural means to improve their fabrics; a strained potato water to clean silk, a tealeaf rinse for linens, sugar and water to stiffen paper nylon petticoats.
The funny thing is though, that I certainly have no recollection of using sugar water on paper nylon – we must have known that it would be impossible to sit down on that. My memory tells me that it was only nylon net that got the treatment
* Even better, the article is available on line at Helene Wiggin: Historical Notes: The relentless tyranny of the sink
Tuesday, June 07, 2011
Cane & paper nylon
Perhaps because of the problem of not being able to starch a 1950s nylon net petticoat to a stiffness which would show off your very full skirt to full advantage, there was a brief vogue for another method, one which borrowed from the Victorian crinoline.
This technique was particularly popular for petticoats made of paper nylon – a fabric whose name is not considered worthy of record in my 1993 edition of Chambers Dictionary.
Which is not really surprising, since its disadvantages considerably outweighed the benefits claimed for it – quick swish in the wash tub, then hang on the line where it will literally drip dry creaselessly, so there is no need to iron. A major selling point, supposedly, for hubbie’s shirts.
These were so vile that they are, I believe, entirely & solely responsible for the continuing, wrong-headed notion that man-made fibres are to be regarded with horror, spurned by all right-thinking people in favour of something natural, & preferably organic.
There were three main problems.
The first was that it didn’t absorb moisture – an advantage in the sense that dirt & stains were only on the surface, so easily removed by gentle washing, but unpleasant in the way the material just clung to any patch of even slightly moist skin. Totally impossible in summer, even as a short sleeved sports shirt worn loose over the waistband, not tucked into the trousers.
The second was that it quickly went yellow or grey, partly or mainly I think because of a photochemical reaction which could not be counteracted by old-fashioned laundry soap powders. In an age when a woman’s whole moral character was judged by the whiteness of her whites hanging on the line, this was disadvantage indeed.
The third was that they generally came only in white – it took time for the dyers to find dyes that would work. Nothing more subtle than royal blue, scarlet or black was available as an alternative to this so-called white.
But – no ironing! That was a real attraction for one of those multi-layered petticoats with yards of fiddly gathered frills to be pressed free of creases.
They still needed to be stiffened to do their job of holding out your skirt, however.
There was, as it happened, a 1950s fashion for cane or basket weaving as a home based craft or hobby for all ages, all the family. Plant pot holders, small handbags, even lampshades. Thin cane was easily available in all lengths.
It was also the age of the hula hoop.
Inspiration struck somebody.
An ingenious binding along the inside seam of each frilled layer made a channel pocket into which you could fit a piece of cane cut to the required length – cane to be removed for washing or to allow your petticoat to be folded into a drawer if you did not have space to hang it.
I made myself one in royal blue.
Soon there was an alternative to cane on the market – thin plastic strip, very similar to the kind that, in much shorter strips of course, was used to make the stiffeners in the collars of mens shirts.
But fashion changes – thank heavens. The skirt was fine for dancing or parading around town, but you really did not want to sit down too much, partly because of the problem of sweating but also because if you were not careful the act of sitting would push the front of the hoop to lift your skirt to an altogether too revealing height in front of your nose.
Saturday, June 04, 2011
Sugar water
A sort of memory came back when I was thinking about the very full net petticoats we used to wear under our 1950s dresses. But surely it must be a false one?
We cannot really have used sugar water as a starch. Can we?
The problem was that old fashioned Robin starch would not work on the latest miracle fabric – nylon - but the net still went limp after its first wash, so perhaps needs must , at least until DIP was invented for man made fibres. Perhaps drastic measures were needed
I am sure that we used to use sugar water on our hair before hair lacquer was invented or at least became cheap & widely available. It was particularly suited for kiss curls, which were in vogue in the late fifties & early sixties, at first on the forehead & later in the place where men had sideburns.
Dissolve a teaspoonful of sugar in half a cup of water, comb through the strand of hair; curl round carefully in position & anchor with a hair grip until the solution has dried.
There is a nice piece about petticoats on the Vintage Vixen blog
Monday, May 30, 2011
Cherchez-pas une belle-mère
While I am on the topic of 1950s home dressmaking, I can pass on a tip to help avoid those embarrassing revelations whipped up by the wind.
Frocks are back in fashion & frocks mean full skirts – reminiscent of those of the New Look, jazzed up in the age of jive& gingham by voluminous net petticoats. One dressed demurely in those days – not much flesh on display, & certainly not underwear, which was supposed to remain a part of the mystery of woman.
I am trying desperately to remember the English phrase that a schoolmate (or even a kindly stranger, discreetly, on the street) would use to warn you that your petticoat was dipping below the hem of your skirt; the French version was ‘tu cherches une belle-mere’
And even Marilyn Monroe did not want her skirt to blow right up to reveal petticoat, stocking tops & suspenders.
The dressmaker’s trick to avoid this was – lead in the hem.
You could buy special lead pellets in the haberdashery department. Of course it was a tremendous fiddly chore to sew them all the way round, but better than getting yourself a reputation.
I don’t suppose you would be allowed to use lead these days*.
But I expect that the Queen, who has had 60 years of avoiding this problem, was able to pass on some grandmotherly professional advice to Mrs Obama when the two of them stayed behind in Buckingham Palace for a cosy cup of tea after the ceremony in the garden.
You are - at least for use in the hems of curtains
Pippa passes
I can record my reaction to the wedding dresses now that the over-excitement has died down. Comments based mainly from viewing, on the Buckingham Palace website, the arrival at the Abbey.
Slight disappointment in the bride’s dress – concept fine, but there was too much of a hint of one of Madonna’s coned bras about the fit of the bodice. Difficult to say whether this was the designer’s intent, or a slight failure in the dressmaker’s art.
In my day, when the bride’s dress would most likely be made by the bride’s mother, auntie or neighbour or the local dressmaker, the sewer would almost always be present when the bride dressed, in order to make last minute adjustments to cater for the bride’s inevitable loss of weight.
We could not have anything like the modern affordable clothing industry if dresses still had to fit in the style of the New Look – snug & close, apparently, to the woman’s own contours. Fortuny pleats, elastic shirring or rouching might sometimes be employed to perform the function that lycra performs today, but the major change, since the 60s, in modern design has been a relaxation of silhouette, to cover a multitude of sins & allow a relatively small range of sizes to fit huge numbers of women.
Back-to-basics in dressmaking requires skills in cutting & sewing that overlap with those of the tailor, a combination of bespoke fit & disguising imperfections such as asymmetry or inconvenient folds of flesh.
Even amateur dressmakers learned the rudimentary skills of adjusting a mass-market paper pattern to fit. If you could afford it you had a dressmakers dummy as an aid otherwise you had to have someone else to help with the intricate pinning, pinching & tacking adjustments.
And the simpler the dress- fewer frills, plainer fabric, less to hide the multitude of sins - the more crucial it was to have a perfect fit.
The royal maid of honour’s dress could hardly have been simpler – except for the draped décolletage. And it took a genius to design that all-important view from the back
And more genius to adjust all the darts & seams to give it that perfect silky satin fit – which makes the illusion of a perfect body underneath, even though there are of course limits to illusion, silk purses & sows ears.
The final touch of genius – that row of buttons – depended on minute attention to size & placement to avoid vulgarity.
Demure can truly be dynamite
Slight disappointment in the bride’s dress – concept fine, but there was too much of a hint of one of Madonna’s coned bras about the fit of the bodice. Difficult to say whether this was the designer’s intent, or a slight failure in the dressmaker’s art.
In my day, when the bride’s dress would most likely be made by the bride’s mother, auntie or neighbour or the local dressmaker, the sewer would almost always be present when the bride dressed, in order to make last minute adjustments to cater for the bride’s inevitable loss of weight.
We could not have anything like the modern affordable clothing industry if dresses still had to fit in the style of the New Look – snug & close, apparently, to the woman’s own contours. Fortuny pleats, elastic shirring or rouching might sometimes be employed to perform the function that lycra performs today, but the major change, since the 60s, in modern design has been a relaxation of silhouette, to cover a multitude of sins & allow a relatively small range of sizes to fit huge numbers of women.
Back-to-basics in dressmaking requires skills in cutting & sewing that overlap with those of the tailor, a combination of bespoke fit & disguising imperfections such as asymmetry or inconvenient folds of flesh.
Even amateur dressmakers learned the rudimentary skills of adjusting a mass-market paper pattern to fit. If you could afford it you had a dressmakers dummy as an aid otherwise you had to have someone else to help with the intricate pinning, pinching & tacking adjustments.
And the simpler the dress- fewer frills, plainer fabric, less to hide the multitude of sins - the more crucial it was to have a perfect fit.
The royal maid of honour’s dress could hardly have been simpler – except for the draped décolletage. And it took a genius to design that all-important view from the back
And more genius to adjust all the darts & seams to give it that perfect silky satin fit – which makes the illusion of a perfect body underneath, even though there are of course limits to illusion, silk purses & sows ears.
The final touch of genius – that row of buttons – depended on minute attention to size & placement to avoid vulgarity.
Demure can truly be dynamite
Sunday, May 29, 2011
The Queen’s hat
Too much royalty perhaps recently, but I must just record that the Queen really does seem to be doing a bit of a Jenny Joseph with her hats these days, kicking over the traces just a little.
On a visit to the Chelsea Flower Show she wore a particularly fetching creation of bows & black lace – a very clever combination of the very girlish & something her great great grandmother Queen Victoria might have worn (at home) in her old age.
Wearing hats is what royals do. It’s what differentiates them from US presidents & Hollywood - Lisa Armstrong Times magazine 28 May 2011
Related post
Pushing the boat out
Pushing the boat out
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