BREAKING! The 1944 Outfit Project

Friends, I am very excited about my next project and I hope you will be too.  I'll be making three separate garments, all from 1944, to create a lovely WWII-era ensemble for demure Miss Cathy Lane.

The genesis:  I was perusing Etsy last week, and I stumbled upon this cute jumper and blouse pattern (above right) for only $3.  DING DING DING!!!  El Cheapo just had to have it.

I love the simple sweetness of it, and couldn't you just see a youthful Gene Tierney or Jennifer Jones -- or even somewhat more mature Eve Arden -- wearing that outfit onscreen?

Joan What's-her-name and Eve Arden in "Mildred Pierce"

Here's an ad for a somewhat similar jumper, from a September, 1944 Screen Guide magazine I own:







Now that it's fall, we couldn't have Cathy parading around in nothing but a jumper and blouse, so I decided to look for a suitable coat pattern.  And that's when I found this, also on Etsy:



It cost quite a bit more than $3, but what are you going to do?

Yesterday I went to look for fabric ideas, and here's some of what I came up with.  I don't want anything too matchy-matchy, and I want it to have a period feel.  The coat, I think, should be wool; the jumper can be velveteen, corduroy, or plaid or patterned wool tweed.  The blouse will be a very soft cotton, perhaps a soft camel and white stripe.







Last night, I remembered that Pattern Review has a Refashion contest starting November 1, which is just around the corner.  So at the flea market this morning, I picked up this huge salmon pink wool blanket.  It's not perfect -- there are some difficult-to-capture-on-film areas of fading and discoloration -- but I think it's usable.  It's darker than it looks immediately below, more of a rose beige, but I wanted to show you the blanket-stitching.





I'm fond of many of the styles of the mid-Forties and, paging through Screen Guide, part of my vintage movie magazine collection, I was reminded how lovely they are.







Oh, look what else I picked up!  I don't think it's real fur, but I love the look.



And that, readers, is what's on tap, starting soon.

What do you think?  Can you see a salmon coat, perhaps with contrasting lapels, combined with herringbone jumper and brown striped blouse?  Or should I go with textured velveteen?  Planning a new project is fun!

You can see more photos from my 1944 Screen Guide here.

Have a great day, everybody!