1940's Inspired Costume

Costumes were required for our orchestra's first fall concert. It has been many years since I had an opportunity to dress up in costume, and of course I went with a vintage look. Since the majority of my vintage and historical-inspired patterns, fabrics, and embellishments are still at my parents home, I had to be creative with thrift store finds. 

The 1940's seemed to be the easiest to duplicate with a simple plaid skirt, and blouse or sweater.

The sweater is a modern Gap brand that I found in new condition at my local thrift store. The plaid skirt is a vintage woolen from the Pendleton brand, also from the local thrift store. The shoes came from American Duchess several years ago.

While wearing fingernail polish isn't something I generally wear, some non-toxic polish was a must! I also wore some lipstick from Lancome called "simmering." 

The hat came from a antique store, and while I'm not sure of era, is seemed to work okay. 

Several people asked if I was dressing up as Queen Elizabeth, or Miss Maisel, but no, I was just going for a 1940's inspired look. 

There is a resemblance I think of my paternal grandmother when dressed up for this era though! She was such a classy lady, and though she passed away when I was barely a teenager, I remember her being firm, but kind.

 

Pretty (Unmentionable) Things

Playing dress up as a kid often required the “minor details” that help create the look your going for. The tattered crocheted blanket for a shawl, another blanket turned into an apron held up by a nearby broken jump rope or long piece of yarn. Having the right petticoat or pantalettes underneath a dress is the frosting between the layers. ;)

This set is from Kirsten Larson’s pattern for girls, put out by Pleasant Company many years ago. It took longer to put together than what should have been. Partly due to the fact that stores no longer seem to carry flat eyelet lace, and a good majority of gathered laces rarely match when spanning widths. I also didn’t calculate correctly just how much I’d need since I was ripping the the bias that gathered said laces.

Thankfully another trip to the fabric store yielded just enough lace to complete the project. Such a fun and overall easy pattern to put together. A picture of petticoat and pantalettes is below, but more pictures can be found in my Etsy shop if you wish to see more.

A Reproduction of Pleasant Company’s Felicity’s Birthday Dress

It was around the same time that I finished up Felicity’s school outfit that I was already gathering supplies for another historically inspired project.

But then December. Christmas time is one of my most favorite times of the year, but in the life of a musician, it is also the busiest and most hectic. There were rehearsals for both church and school festivities, not to mention other performances and parties to attend or host. 

Once they all came to a grand finale, then whatever spare adrenaline was left took me on a road trip out to Colorado to see my family for 10 days by spending the remaining December days there. 

Out of all of the months of school, January tends to be the quietest. A chord struck to organize the living room closet this week, but I didn’t get very far when I came across my sewing machine, fabrics, and patterns staring me in the face. They were the first to pull out if the closet, and before I knew it, the machine was in a rhythm of sewing again. 

This time I attempted to recreate Pleasant Company’s Felicity’s birthday dress and pinner apron. The actual dress is simply made from some rose cotton found at Joann Fabrics, but the apron fabric; which is nearly an identical copy to the dolls, was a little harder to find and a little pricey to purchase. But it was worth it, I think.

More pictures of the dress can be found by visiting my Etsy shop, PeasantCottage.