Dress: Vogue 2960 (Blogged here)

Shrug: Thrifted

Shoes: Kensie Girl

Pin: Vintage, belonged to my grandma

There are several things that I quite enjoy about the me-made challenges.  First of all, they inspire me to take care in how I put together an outfit (and June was looking to be a pretty dull month otherwise, with half my friends out of town and my performing groups on summer break.)

But I also like the glimpse they give into the actual wearability of patterns that we make.  After all, anything can look great on the day you’ve made it, but how do they hold up?  So this month I’m going to be giving the report on the fates of some of my me-made items.

I had a heck of a time making this dress.  Upon reflection, it was way too hard for my skills at the time, but I did it – I even underlined the whole thing in silk organza.  The organza makes the dress stand out nicely, but it is a bit scratchy around the waist seam.

I don’t wear this dress much, to be honest.  The last time was at a wedding almost a year ago.  Why don’t I wear it?  There are… issues with the shoulders.  This pattern has the usual 1950s issue of an overly large bust (to make room for undergarments of the period.)  I cut a size 6 in the bust and shoulders to make up the difference.  I would never do that now – I know that I can’t stand too narrow shoulders, and I always need at least an 8.   It would fit better in an 8 with a small bust adjustment.The shoulders, oddly, also tend to slide down, which is weird since they feel so tight!  I’ve actually pinned the dress to the cardigan (with the vintage pin) in order to keep them in place today.

This dress, more than any other, provokes “why are you so dressed up?” comments.  I’m always surprised when I get them – I dress up every day, but I guess the flowers take it over the top.

What have I learned since making this dress?

1. I have broad-ish shoulders for my size, and I have to watch out for that.

2. Underlining… I hate it.  It takes so long, and I’d rather wear a slip!

3. Low backs make me self-conscious.

4. The 1950s silhouette is great for me, but the actual vintage patterns of that era require too many adjustments for me to bother with… I prefer to take a modern pattern and make it look vintage.

So that’s the first day of the month – back tomorrow with another wearability report!