 |
| The dress in question - Vogue 2787 |
Then yesterday I was helping a friend with costumes for a photoshoot, and he asked me how I got into vintage.
 |
| I was wearing this, Vogue 5215, when he asked |
And all this got me thinking, how did all this happen? I was in my teens when the late-1970s 1940s revival arrived and, while I loved the styles, I wore and made contemporary versions rather than seeking out original pieces. I did start to wear true vintage as a student, but it was more 1950s styles. Then once I started work in an office, in a very male-dominated industry, the clothing I made was very much of its time. This continued to be case for over two decades, and when I started this blog in 2012 my dressmaking was all contemporary, historical, or dance-related.
Looking through the blog for clues, I think that the change may have started when I visited the Off The Peg exhibition about Horrockses in autumn 2012. This inspired me to draft and make a 1950s dress for a Christmas night out, I started to seek out patterns at vintage fairs - and I was off!
Personal events in 2013 limited my vintage sewing to two Vogue reissues: 8686, which was an abject failure; and my first version of 2787, which after a few initial tweaks is still going strong.
 |
| Bad and good |
The next year saw me draft and make my first CC41 dress. Looking back, I can only wonder at my decision to abandon commercial designs and launch into pattern drafting at a time of such stress, but I do recall that losing myself in the work involved did give me a temporary respite from the grief.
 |
| CC41 dress, a useful distraction |
Judging from the blog, 2015 appears to have been the year when my vintage sewing really took off, aided and abetted by the Vintage Sewing Pattern Pledge. Vintage sewing became popular in general, with lots of pattern reissues to choose from. Then of course, in 2020 there wasn't a lot to do but stay at home and sew.
 |
| 2020 dresses |
However, all of this really only explains how I acquired my vintage wardrobe, and not really why. I've been thinking about this all day, and have come to the conclusion that it's largely due to aging. I was 50 when I was widowed and made the CC41 dress. I'm aware that as a middle-aged woman I am largely invisible in society and, like many others, I've chosen to embrace this and wear whatever the heck I want. Which in my case, is the forties and fifties styles which I loved in my youth. Plus, vintage styles are another way of stepping off the fashion treadmill and making clothes which can be worn and worn. I'm lucky in that being able to sew gives me so much choice in how I dress, and I'm happy to take full advantage of it.
Love the first dress with the red shoes! I agree with you about feeling invisible at an older age and wearing whatever I like. People I work with are all extremely casual in their outfits and I am mainly the reverse, and about 90% of it thrifted. Handmade and vintage clothing are generally far better quality and more interesting!
ReplyDeleteIndeed they are!
DeleteVery much enjoyed the the history of your vintage sewing life; you've made some very nice dresses and I applaud your bringing your favorite eras into your modern life.
ReplyDeleteIn our town I don't feel invisible, particularly, as an older woman, perhaps as it's of a size that I'm likely to meet an acquaintance most anywhere, at least close by. That has its good and less good aspects, so is and qs are generally in order, unless am fresh from the gym, and then pooh about anyone who judges. :)
Funny about poorer finishes on older clothing. I have found wool suits and coats to be wonderfully finished, and better-quality 60s clothing, but have an early 60s shrtwaist dress that is atrocious, and wonder how it stayed together.
The Horrockses post linked was wonderful...would you consider them rather like a Boden today?
Very best,
Natalie across the pond
I know many people think all clothes were better made in the past but then, as now, clothing was produced at different qualities and price points. As you say, very little of the poorly made stuff has survived.
DeleteIt's a running joke with one of my friends that people can meet me and have no clue who I am just days later. In fact, it's reached the stage where I find being recognised quite alarming!