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December 29, 2014

The Vivienne-Satine Dress: Part One

Source: www.WENN.com
Anyone who is a fan of Dita Von Teese may have seen her wear this dress. It's a Vivienne Westwood dress, and that was about all I could figure out. My best guess is that it's not longer sold, if it ever was. Which is a shame, because I couldn't adore that dress more. Between the gorgeous toile print and 1700's inspiration, it's the kind of dress I NEED to have in my closet. So, rather than sit around pining over it, I decided to make one myself. After all, if I could make my own bunny suit, this couldn't be too hard. Right?

After some thinking (and some hard perusing for toile-print fabrics), I realized I didn't want a knock-off. At least, not a complete one. My favorite part about the dress (although the print is to die for) is the shape. If I could pick an era that came before the 1900s, it would be the 1700s. Strictly for the fashion, if nothing else. So, with my fabric horizons expanded, I began looking for the perfect one. Sometime between deciding to make the dress and having to halt everything to make my Halloween costume, I got around to finally watching Moulin Rouge. And it sort of smashed the fixed mentality I had about disliking romance movies. Now don't get me wrong, I still really don't like romance films, but Moulin Rouge blew me away. To be honest, I hated it the first time I watched it, but upon delving into my costuming, I found myself yearning to watch it again, and after about 3 replays in a matter of days, I was head-over-heels in love with it. To further prove my point, I only just sent it back to Netflix (I got it in late September/early October), and only at the behest of my other family members who share in the movie-renting capabilities.

With the exception of Christian (of course!), my favorite character was Satine. And even on the first time of watching, when I hated it, I still adored the dress Satine wore. I think we all know which dress that is.
Source: Pinterest
That's right. The Smoldering Temptress gown. Even though (for some strange reason) she doesn't wear it for long, it still easily became my favorite outfit of hers in the film. It was for this reason that I decided I'd found my perfect fabric. I went searching and ended up on Fabric.com, where I found a stunning red charmeuse satin. It's now sitting in a bag in my sewing room, waiting to be used.

This is a quick sketch I did of the proposed dress, when I was still experimenting with fabric choices. After I decided on red satin, I changed the color from the original plum it had been to see what it would look like. That was about when I bought the fabric. And thus began the precarious and slightly anxiety-inducing journey to what I've dubbed the Vivienne-Satine Dress. I've never sewed anything using a pattern before and the pattern I'm going to use to recreate this dress is the Simplicity 4092 pattern, which is an Elizabeth Swann and Marie Antoinette pattern. For historical accuracy, I've heard that the pattern is iffy, but fortunately, I'm not trying to be historically accurate! I'm just using it to get the basic shape down, which it appears to have. I'm going to forgo the sleeves, as the Vivienne Westwood dress doesn't have any, and sew the skirt as one piece, as opposed to the overskirt with the opening to display the petticoat.

The Vivienne dress appears to have some pretty serious hip-roll action going on there (no, not the dance move), so I may consider making a pair of hip pads, after I sew the dress, if there's room to allow it. The size of them will definitely hinge on the excess fabric around the upper skirt. It seems like there might be enough, but pattern photos, in my experience, can often be misleading. I'll make a final judgement call after sewing is complete.

I'm not the fastest seamstress ever, but I'm going to be overly-optimistic and aim to start and finish the dress within two days. If I can get it done by December 30th (tomorrow!), I'll wear it for my birthday (hooray for being too fancy for dinner!). If not, I aim to finish by December 31st, and then I'll wear it for New Year's Eve.

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December 25, 2014

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas!

Whether you celebrate Christmas, Boxing Day, Kwanzaa, or nothing at all, have a happy holiday! This have been a little hectic on this side of the 'net, what with Christmas parties and last-minute shopping to attend to, but now that everything's finally coming to a standstill, I should be able to get back on the blogging bandwagon, starting with a hopeful sewing progress post as I begin a Vivienne Westwood "knock-off" project. I got some beautiful presents for Christmas and can't wait to get something for my upcoming birthday (December 30th!), so I'll also be getting around to a review of everything I got (new sunglasses! Cigarette pants! A Jenny skirt!).

Stay safe and stay sane the rest of this holiday season! New Years is almost upon us.

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November 29, 2014

Christmas List to Me!

Christmas List to Me!


White dress / Pinup Couture red and black sunglasses / Pink Faux Fur Coat – The Oblong Box Shop / Vintage Bustier | Bustiers by What Katie Did |What Katie Did / Black & Lace Full Corset with Garter Belt | Unique Vintage / Double Steel Boned Underbust Corset in Satin (CS-411) / Silver and Gold Seamed Stockings, $16 / Unique Vintage 1930s Style Black Satin Harlow Gown | Unique Vintage / Laura Byrnes California - The Laura Byrnes Gilda Gown in Olive Velvet...

I love Christmas. It's my favorite season. December is actually my favorite month: cold weather, hot drinks, fires, getting to wear lots of clothes, and my birthday! With Christmas coming up, there's nothing I love doing more than fantasizing about all the things I wish I could have. So, instead of just daydreaming, I put together a little Christmas list for myself, just in case I decide to loosen the purse strings.

Orchard Corset CS-411 in Satin -- For a few months now I've been eyeballing this corset. Corsetry is always something that's fascinated me, and I think I might be ready to give waist training a try. This will be the corset I go with, I think.
The Oblong Box Shop Faux Fur Coat -- I got an email about this a couple weeks ago and I stared at it for a full few minutes before clinking through the link. I'm not one for gaudy things (okay, not completely), but this coat is stunning. And with no coat and winter coming, this would be perfect.
Pinup Girl Clothing Sunglasses -- After my other pair of gorgeous PUG sunglasses vanished and then mysteriously turned up broken on my vanity, I need another pair. Since cat eye is my preferred shape, these look like a pretty alternative. (Side note: PUG sunglasses = excellent quality! I never had a sturdier pair of sunglasses. Well, at least until they mysteriously broke.)
Pinup Girl Clothing 'The Lauren Byrnes Gilda Gown' in Olive Velvet -- I have to say, I was torn between this color and the red color, but since I'm still in the process of searching for a red that will play nicely with my strawberry blonde hair, I decided to just stick it out with this stunning olive green. The Gilda Gown in Olive sort of reminds me of a dress Joan Holloway wore in Mad Men, although this one is probably a more formal and sexier version. This dress might be a little too fancy for, say, attending a Christmas party with family, but hey, I'm not known for my practicality.
What Katie Did Silver Seamed Stockings -- It wouldn't be a Christmas list without a pair of stockings. I'm in the process of growing my collection (stocking junkie in the making!) and these little beauties stuck out to me. Silver seams? Yes please. And they're metallic. Must have them. I need a pair of black stockings anyway. All of mine are nude...
What Katie Did Bustier -- So, I have this thing about bra straps. I can't stand them. But the thing about strapless bras is that they never stay up, and there's nothing more uncomfortable than having to reach down one's dress to pull it back up. I've always wanted to try a strapless bustier, just to see if it makes a difference, and this one from What Katie Did is so pretty it might as well be my tester. And I know WKD won't let me down on quality. Everything I've owned is flawless.
Unique Vintage 1930s Harlow Gown -- As you'll see, when I go on Unique Vintage, I tend to get a little overzealous. There's just so many pretty things! It was a struggle to restrain myself to only three things, but since I have a tendency to make five page long wish lists (not even kidding here), I managed to stop myself before it got out of control. This was one of the last things I picked, right before I started to lose my nuts. I've been slowly warming up to the 1930s and gowns like this are one of the reasons. Look at it! I want to parade around the house in this. Forget about going out anywhere. I'll wear it just to sit at my desk and type up blog posts. I'll wear it just to eat breakfast. See that impracticality everyone knows me for? This is nothing compared to wearing heels at Disneyland.
Unique Vintage Full Corset with Garters -- This reminds me of something that, again, Joan Holloway would wear. If you couldn't tell already, Joan happens to be my favorite character on Mad Men. After having a semi-unfortunate fitting experience with a WKD corsolette, I'm a little hesitant to get a shapewear corset again, but this is calling to me, so I might have to make an exception. I'm not sure how well the black would stay hidden under clothes, but I'd be willing to try it out anyway, even if I could only wear it once it a great while.
Unique Vintage Blue Satin Dress -- Last but most definitely not least, this dress. I've been struggling with the thought of what to wear (ah, hello old friend...) to my Christmas party. Do I sew a dress? Would that be too fancy? What's too fancy when everyone wears jeans and an old t-shirt? And then I saw this and said 'to hell with it!'. I'm being fancy (again) this year. If I were to wear any dress, one that wasn't an evening gown, this would be it. I. ADORE. this. dress. Full skirts are a weakness of mine. The fluffier the better, in my opinion. And I've always been an advocate of wearing the color blue with strawberry blonde hair. As I have absolutely no blue in a similar shade, this is a perfect dress.

I suppose I'll see what I end up with, if anything at all. I have a tendency to be a scrooge. At least this is something nice to look at, haha.

Take care and stay warm!

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November 27, 2014

Informal Welcome

This will be 'TSB's informal welcome, as it's still currently undergoing some (albeit, minor) alterations. I will, however, be opening up for public reading, as I think it's currently in a somewhat readable state. The formal opening still won't likely be until January, though possibly mid-December. I'll have to see about that.

Anyway, welcome! This is The Strawberry Blondeshell, a vintage-retro blog full of pinup, glamour, and sewing. With this blog, I'll be writing about clothing, makeup, retro things, home decorating, DIY and crafts, and just being an ordinary modern day pinup. Strap in and I hope to see you soon!

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