Monday, May 21, 2012

1920s Pink and Gold Satin Dress

For Costume Con, I decided I wanted to wear 1920s on Saturday. In part, at least, because my tennis dress took up a suitcase of its own. I had a dilemma though--I wanted to wear a tiara on Saturday night, and neither of my evening style dresses worked with a tiara! So, with 11 days to go and a corset yet to make, I found Ida Frances Pobliner Parker's wedding dress at the Center for Jewish History. I'd directly link, but the links just expire.

I had stash fabric--meant for a pink Tudor dress, which is very fortunate as I cut the overskirt out upside down--and patterns so similar I wouldn't really need to do any fitting, so went for it.

Pink and gold 20s Pink and gold 1923 dress

The dress is fairly straightforward. The most interesting part of the construction is the waist. On the right side, there's an extension of the bodice that wraps around the back. It took quite a bit of staring to figure out what was going on there, since there wasn't a good side view of the dress. It was obvious that the waist decoration didn't end on the side, but not instantly obvious why!

Pink and gold 1923 dress Pink and gold 1923 dress

It's a very good thing the fabric had been bought for a Tudor dress! The overskirt is huge!

It's really quite simple. Except for the waist extension, it's a sheath dress. The overskirt is sewn on over that, and then the waist extension and decoration hides the overskirt join.

The flowers are made with the opposite side of the fabric, and how I made them will be the subject of another post.

Pink and Gold 1920s Pink and Gold 1920s

And some side views without arms in the way!

Construction

Construction

Construction

Construction, showing the overskirt, side extension, and four little tucks I made under the waist decoration to bring it in in back a bit. It initially hung more like a 1960s dress. Oops :)

The waist extension was gathered on the bottom edge, drawn to fit, and sewn right sides together. The top edge was gathered over a cord and then sewn wrong side to right side.

5 comments:

  1. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  2. It's lovely! Looks just like the original.
    One of these days I'm going to go to Costume Con. :)
    -Emily

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  3. I recently found your blog. Your costumes are stunning. I especially love the Poiret sorbet dress. You did an amazing job paying tribute to Poiret, but making it not quite so fru-fru as the original. you have inspired me to make my own version of this beautiful dress. Thanks for the photos and info. I will keep reading to see what else you come up with.

    Susan

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  4. A. I love that you dress according to your need to wear a tiara. It just makes me so happy.
    B. I hear you on the luggage issue. My Cindy Lou Who needed a massive case all to herself...

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  5. Dear Katherine,

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    Cheers,

    Bobby Ying
    WVE
    www.workvanequipment.com
    (800)533-7722
    MATT 22:37-40

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