Cathy Models the 1959 McCall's Luis Estevez Dress!

I know many of you never thought you'd see the day when my cousin Cathy Lane returned to modeling.

Cathy's Comeback Dress?

Big news, readers!

My identical cousin Cathy, who hasn't been seen on this blog since 2014, is planning her return, tentatively scheduled for mid-August.

Back to the 1950's!

Readers, as you know, I adore vintage magazines, especially women's fashion and home magazines of the 1950's.

Inspiration Post: Harper's Bazaar, June 1955

I may be on a temporary sewing hiatus, but I'm certainly not on an inspiration hiatus.

Little? (No); Black? (Sort of); Dress? (Definitely!)

I know I sound like an old fart, but sometimes I look at photographs of today's celebrities and I think, Who are these people?

Silk Chiffon LOVE + Vogue Winner!

Readers, do you ever wonder what the neighbors are thinking when they look into your windows or do you generally draw the shades?

Oh, the joys of silk chiffon.  But wait: first, our Vogue Patterns Magazine Giveaway winner is....

Hone Your Vintage Styling Skills: a Resource Guide!

One of the challenges of putting Cathy in vintage outfits from different eras is accessorizing them correctly and giving her the right period look.

Whatever Happened to the BIG FLOUNCE?

Friends, on this final day of 2012, many of you are no doubt dressing for glamorous New Year's Eve parties.  Are any of you planning to wear something with a big taffeta flounce?  (A little taffeta flounce?)

"I Love Lucy" Fashion Love

When it came to fashion, my mother's interest stopped at lipstick and cologne.  A widowed elementary school librarian with two kids to raise, she didn't aspire to be a stylish woman.

When I think back on how I became interested in glamorous women's clothes, I know it came via our black and white Zenith television set.  My boyhood idea of high fashion came from three women:  Lisa ("The stores!") Douglas (Eva Gabor) on Green Acres, Ginger Grant (Tina Louise) on Gilligan's Island, and first and foremost, Lucy Ricardo (Lucille Ball) on I Love Lucy.

The (Confusing) World of Vintage Pattern Reissues

Readers, do you ever lie?  I mean, do you ever say something without really thinking and then, later, realize that what you said doesn't reflect your honest opinion?

On this blog, from time to time, I've opined that such-and-such pattern company should reissue this-or-that pattern.  Usually I say this because I think it would make good business sense for them to do so.  But my true opinion is that I find vintage pattern repros about as compelling as a faux-limestone Nefertiti bust for sale at the Metropolitan Museum of Art gift shop. 

Haute Couture: "J'Adore" or "Bore"?

Confession: sometimes I feel about haute couture the way I feel about those magnificent Gilded Age mansions in Newport, Rhode Island.  Yes, they're beautiful, but you don't need to study them to build yourself a perfectly lovely split-level ranch house.

Fashion and Surrealism + John Rawlings!

Readers, it's hard to imagine today, but there was a time when putting a lobster on a dress was seen as pretty out there. 

You've probably heard about Schiaparelli's famous dress (pictured up top), and perhaps know that there's a big show at the Metropolitan Museum of Art here in New York comparing Schiaparelli and Miuccia Prada, which I haven't seen yet.  Today, you could wear an actual lobster and I don't think it would raise too many eyebrows, but such is the world we live in.

Vintage Swimsuits-a-go-go!

Readers, you know how I am: once I get an idea in my head I can't let it go.  My new obsession is the swimsuit pattern above, McCall's 3165, which I bought yesterday on Etsy for $12 (mine comes in a slightly more beaten up envelope) -- quite cheap for this type of thing.

Matchy-matchy style -- YEA OR NAY?

Readers, today I challenge you to dig a little deeper than usual.  In fact, you might want to lie down on your couch, close your eyes, and free associate.  I want to know how you feel about matchy-matchy dressing.

More Maternity Madness + Vogue WINNER!

Hello, readers, and welcome to my second half century.  I have so many fun things planned for us while I'm still lucid (and continent).  First, to announce the winner of the June/July issue of Vogue Patterns!

Inside Cathy's Opera Coat

 

First off, readers, let me say how very touched Cathy was with your response to her maternity ensemble photo shoot.  Over breakfast yesterday morning, she couldn't stop beaming.  She later threw up but such is pregnancy.

Cathy Models the 1950's Maternity Ensemble!

Friends, the big day has finally arrived!

No, not Cathy's due date (sometime this summer, I believe).  I mean the day of our 1950's maternity ensemble photo shoot!

50's Glam Alert -- The Opera Coat

Friends, I hope you agree that the zenith of 50's glam fashion was the opera coat.  Alternatively known as the swing coat, this is a long, voluminous, tent-like garment you see all the time in 50's fashion magazines, 50's movies, and 50's sewing patterns.  It lived well into the 1960's, but like so many glamorous styles of the mid-century, it died in the era of mini skirts and jeans.

The Maternity Scoop-Front Skirt -- Strange but true!

Readers, I'm undecided. Is the maternity scoop-front skirt a bizarre garment or merely an unusual one?  I think it's fair to say that this style is gone, kaput, finis. Blame it on stretch fabrics, more casual fashion, or simply a dislike of drafts, the scoop-front skirt has gone the way of the dodo bird, rubber girdles, and high button shoes.

SMOCK it to me!

Speechless, right?

Readers, the maternity smock is finished and yes, I do have clothes on underneath it.   Quick: separated at birth?