A Little 1960s Inspiration....Just Because!

I have a bad habit of saving random images onto my computer without keeping track of where they came from. I saved all of these images because they are connected to the 1960s in one way or another and, well, I LOVE 1960s fashion.

When I lived in Los Angeles many many years ago, I was fortunate enough to attend a 1960s "Mods and Rockers" themed film festival at the Egyptian Theatre. I had already been long-obsessed with 1960s pop culture, but this specific event is what inspired me to teach myself how to sew with the hope that I would eventually be able to make my own 1960s style dresses. Hopefully you will find these images as inspiring as I have!

Models from the 1966 film Where Are You, Polly Maggoo?

Mia Farrow during the filming of Rosemary's Baby.

Twiggy wearing the most exquisite babydoll mini dress!

Amazing 1960s color block dress.

Lush red babydoll dress with all of the most drool-worthy details (sheer balloon sleeves, pintucked bodice, buttons and a bow!).

Linen color block dress with a keyhole peek-a-boo bodice.

Sylvie Vartan wearing a snappy Peter Pan collar dress and jacket.

I love oddly-shaped collars like this one! These were used heavily during the 1960s, especially on little girls' dresses.

Detail of a stunning layered petal petal bodice from a 1960s Vogue Couturier pattern.

Built By Wendy - Fall 2010 Collection

Probably the only contemporary designer whose designs I've followed on a regular basis throughout the years is Wendy Mullin.

She has made quite a name for herself in the home sewing community with her books on sewing, most notably her first book Sew U: The Built By Wendy Guide to Making Your Own Wardrobe. And then there are the Built By You series of sewing patterns that she designed for Simplicity (the majority of which are now sadly out of print).

Her transition from self-taught home sewer to designer is quite inspiring, and you can hear her tell the whole story in her own words at Craftsanity. It's a must-listen for anyone who loves sewing and fashion design!

The Built By Wendy Fall 2010 collection was launched online today. It's heavily inspired by traditional menswear, early 1980s New Wave fashion and preppy Ivy League collegiate styles. Here are a few of my favorite pieces:

Blue Waffleneck Shawl Collar Sweater

Klee Foral Loose Top.

Herringbone One Piece Jumpsuit.

Mies Side Button Dress.

Herringbone Loose U Top

Wool Gabardine Tap Pants.

Pattern Making Books

For years I pondered whether or not to go back to school for fashion design. When I say "go back to school", it's because I already have a degree in filmmaking (which, unfortunately for me, I got before I started sewing and - literally - could not stop thinking about sewing!). Missouri State University offers a degree in fashion design and I recently weighed the pros and cons of attending. The cons far outweighed the pros - I have a young son who deserves all of the attention I can give him, my husband is currently going to school full time, the thought of borrowing more money for school sends me into a panic and, ultimately, an official fashion degree would be worthless to me since I like working independently and making limited, one of a kind designs. I do, however, want to learn how to make my own patterns. That's where these books come in:

I got them through our public library (which is a pretty darn fabulous one!) to "preview" before actually investing in them. Patternmaking for Fashion Design is massive! It's filled with 800+ pages of detailed pattern making goodness. Draping for Apparel Design is shorter in length but just as detailed. Up until now, I've used basic vintage patterns and mixed-&-matched or altered the pieces to make my designs a reality. I want to eventually move away from commercial patterns altogether, but I know it's going to take a lot of hard work and will take a long time. I figure that I can devote at least 60 minutes per day, and will probably begin with the flat pattern drafting book. Does anyone have experience working with either of these books or have recommendations for others like it?

Fashion Icon: Diane Keaton as Annie Hall

This was inspired by a post on 70s New York Fall Style from the cool fashion blog Stars We Are.

I love 1970s fashion, especially the layered, sophisticated and liberated American style of 1970s New York. If I could swipe the wardrobe of any movie character of any era, it would be the wardrobe worn by Diane Keaton in Annie Hall which embodies this 1970s New York style.

Technically, the title of this post really should just be "Fashion Icon: Diane Keaton" because the outfits she wore in Annie Hall were all inspired by her own distinctive style. Here's a collage that I made from various photos of Diane Keaton and scenes from Annie Hall which, if you haven't already, you should find and watch immediately (click to see the full-size collage):

Here are tons of fun vintage items that I've found on Etsy that embody Diane Keaton's signature Annie Hall look:

1970s Calvin Klein wardrobe pattern

Another 1970s Annie Hall style wardrobe pattern

Late 1970s dress pattern

1970s plaid wool jumper dress, which Annie Hall would have worn with a turtleneck sweater

1970s wool tweed blazer

1970s caramel-colored corduroy blazer

1970s striped turtleneck sweater

1970s stacked heel loafers

Vintage black vest / waistcoat

Vintage 1970s lace-up leather Oxfords

Set of vintage Ralph Lauren silk neckties

Avant Garde upcycled ascot necktie

Vintage Pendleton wood fedora

1970s oversized plastic sunglasses

Love...1970s Style

Yikes! I really fell out of the habit of blogging during these past two weeks...too many things to do and way too little time, as usual. Sadly, I'm going to have to withdraw from Self-Stitched September (insert frowning emoticon here). I signed up with the best of intentions, but life with an 11 month old baby-soon-to-be-walking-toddler makes sewing and taking photos very unpredictable. There's always next year, I suppose....

Now for the new post!

I have a small collection of 1960s and 1970s "mini magazines" that were published by Simplicity, Butterick and McCall's and given away at fabric/sewing shops as a really cool marketing tool. This is one of my favorites from McCall's; there's no copyright date, but it's definitely from the early 1970s! I like the theme of this one, which seems to be "Love 1970s Style" with the oh-so-happy couples modeling butterfly collars and wide-leg pants with the usual pattern company styling and sincere enthusiasm that I find so endearing. Be sure to click on the images to see them full-size!

And since the theme of this post is "love 1970s style" I wanted to post this gem, which I found in a Redbook magazine circa 1975 which tries to sort out the complicated cross-relationships between a handful of celebrities:

And here's a collage that I made of my favorite 1970s couples (click to enlarge):

(First row from left to right): Ali Macgraw & Steve McQueen, Todd Rundgren & Bebe Buell, Sid Vicious & Nancy Spungen, Diane Keaton and Woody Allen.

(Second row): James Taylor & Carly Simon, Serge Gainsbourg and Jane Birkin, Vivienne Westwood & Malcolm McLaren, David Bowie & Angela Bowie.

(Third row): Angela Houston and Jack Nicholson, John Cazale & Meryl Streep, Maureen McCormick & Barry Williamson, Julie Christie & Warren Beatty.

Lastly, here's a new (vintage) pattern that I added to my collection last week! I've been looking for this particular pattern for a really long time and had to break my "no pattern buying" rule to get it. The 1970s John Kloss Butterick patterns are sexy, simple and amazing. Plus this particular dress pattern has only 3 pattern pieces. Yes - only 3 pattern pieces! With my extremely precious and limited sewing time, I should be able to make this within a few hours so it's going to be my next sewing project. Hopefully, the next post will be of me wearing this dress!

"Life is what happens to you when you're busy making other plans...."

I don't know which John Lennon song this quote is from ("Beautiful Boy", maybe?) but it kind of sums up my sewing activity as of late - tons of plans to sew like crazy, but no time to follow through because, well, life doesn't just conveniently pause for a moment (or several hours) just because we want to make a dress, does it?

While rummaging through a box of patterns that I have queued to put in my shop, I found a cool 1970s Vogue poncho pattern with a list that was jotted down by the original seamstress, as well as a newspaper ad for a big sale on Pendleton wool fabric:

Like myself (and many other home sewers out there), I'm sure that this person had the best of intentions to start and finish this project. She made a detailed list of notions, fabric and lining that she needed to purchase to complete the project. She even clipped out a sale ad for Pendleton fabric, (which would have been a stellar choice for a poncho, by the way). How do I know she never made the poncho? Well, the pattern is still factory folded and the list and ad were both neatly tucked inside, never to see the light of day until 40 years later. It makes me wonder what happened? Why didn't she follow through or even begin the project? Like many of us, I suspect that the answer is simply: LIFE.

Here's a scan of the Vogue poncho pattern, by the way! Isn't it lovely?

Completed Project: Burda "Marilyn" Trousers

I was able to steal a few minutes today to finally take photos of my completed Marilyn trousers (taken outside in the 100 degree heat, no less)! I used a lovely brown herringbone wool/rayon blend suiting to make them - a steal at $6.00 per yard at Jo-Ann Fabrics. This is the first time that I've used a Burda pattern and, even with the limited diagrams, the trousers were pretty simple to make and I am anxious to use Burda patterns again! I'm really pleased with these and will definitely be wearing them often this fall and winter.

The only alteration I did add was to an extra inch to the length because I think the cropped version from the original Burda photo looks quite awkward: