Verity Vintage Studio

Item of the Week - Spring Accent Pillow

This blue lace covered accent pillow is Item of the Week in my Etsy shop, half price for one week only - slashed from $15.

Vintage Inspired - Coral Pink 1950s Style Sweater

I have been doing a lot of sewing lately and will soon have several maternity outfits to share with you, but for now here's something a little different.

This outfit is what I call vintage inspired, not close enough to the real thing for a vintage reproduction. 

 

I had posted about it a few years ago when I first bought and altered the skirt, but this is the first time I've gotten photos of it when worn.

 

I've been thinking a lot lately about vintage knit and crochet wear, especially inspired by Vintage Gal and her gorgeous 1930s knitted jumpers. It's such a great way to dress authentically, there's an endless amount of garment and accessory options for any decade you wish, and is more portable than a sewing project. It adds versatility to a vintage wardrobe, especially for fall and winter months. Plus you might have just the right color of yarn for a badly needed wardrobe piece, and not have the right fabric!

 

This sweater is not quite close enough to 1950s for me to call it that, but it definitely fits the right general overall style. I am in the process of making a second version with some alterations to make it closer to authentic. Also a better fit, since this one was made when I was several sizes larger - hence the belt, which still works because belts were occasionally worn with sweater blouses. 

 

I will say that comfort is a big plus with knitted and crocheted vintage garments, since they are easier to move around in than a snug-fitting similar garment in fabric and usually were not worn with belts. So especially now when I am growing and changing in size, I'm thinking more about adding some crochet pieces to my wardrobe. If I knew how to knit, I would totally want to make some knitted ones, but there's a large crochet spectrum to keep me busy at the moment without repining (too much) for those amazing knitted garments.

 

There are many patterns in existence from vintage magazines so with patience you can make exact replicas of what they would have made and worn then, but the patterns back then were much more sketchy, general, and hard to follow, often with a single fuzzy or distant photo to illustrate. Challenging, to say the least.

In fact, the difficulties associated with vintage patterns have given me the idea to do my own line of pattern reproduction crochet designs for authentic garments and accessories but that are written with modern terminology, photos, and pattern details. More on that next month, hopefully.

 

The skirt has a lovely border print similar to 1950s novelty skirts, with lots of color in it to choose for accents. And it fits me comfortably just now. One benefit of changing sizes is that some my favorite clothes that used to fit and were too big for me, now fit again...at least temporarily.

 

 

So while it's a combination of modern garments (other than the undershirt, which I made from a 1940s blouse pattern), it still has the classic femininity of vintage styles...and is about as modern as I get! :-)

 

Item of the Week - Raspberry Lace Vest

This raspberry tweed lace vest, size S-M, is Item of the Week in my Etsy shop at half price for one week only - slashed from $25.

Why I Like Thrift Stores - Late 1940s Style Tiered Skirt

A local thrift store was having a half-off-all-clothing sale, so I stopped in to see if I could find anything. I wasn't looking for a particular piece, although I did want to check if they had skirts with elastic in the waist - that being more comfortable at this point than a skirt band, and I don't like sewing with elastic.

I quickly spotted this skirt on the rack and took it home with me, even though I usually don't like tiered skirts and the print was quite...unusual for me, since it was an abstract Mexican style sort of print.

 

Often modern tiered skirts are maxi length, and have a drawstring at the waist - neither of which are flattering on me or period correct. But this one struck me right away as the right length and print for late 1940s, and it was even 100% rayon so that was period correct too!

 

After the fabric rationing of WWII came to an end, skirts quickly became fuller (though not much longer initially) than the war styles, and for a casual outfit peasant blouses and full skirts were very popular. I've seen multiple patterns and photos of women of all ages (though teens particularly favored this trend) in similar outfits: a white blouse, often with embroidery or ruffles and off the shoulder options, and a full skirt with a ruffle at the bottom, or with gathered tiers. 

The one in this photo looks to be all one piece with wide embroidery, but the styling is very similar.

 

So this skirt promptly came home with me, and I tried my own version of a peasant outfit. I dressed it up a bit for church by using a black belt, daisy-covered hat, and small formal bag.

It would have looked great with red or black pumps, but my Miss L Fire heels went so well with the colors and patterning that I had to wear them together.

 

Then to show the picnic-casual side of this style, I swapped out accessories for this photo shoot and went with a brightly embroidered straw clutch, stacked bangles, woven belt, and sunglasses. 

 

The heels work for this kind of outfit as well, although more casual wedges or espadrilles would have also been appropriate, depending on the occasion.

 

Once again, I can accessorize with a surprising range of colors - red, black, straw or beige, white, tan...it's ideal for new combinations with each wearing.

 

The elastic waist is comfortable for my growing belly, too!

 

The blouse I paired with it was one I'd made several years ago from a 1940s pattern. The gathered neck and sleeves and tiny bows are ideal for a simple-casual-dressy style.

 

While I immediately envisioned 1940s with this skirt, I think it could work as a 1950s novelty print skirt as well, worn with a crinoline and a nipped-waist sweater blouse in one of the coordinating colors. I'll have to try that sometime and see if it works! Nothing like era versatility to make things handy.

 

It's always fun to add a vintage style piece to your wardrobe when you don't have to make it yourself and it only costs a few dollars! That's why I love thrift stores - you never know what you'll find when you're looking at modern things through an Officially Filtering Vintage brain. :-)

 

Item of the Week - Heirloom Afghan Pattern PDF

This crochet pattern PDF download for an heirloom-worthy afghan is Item of the Week in my Etsy shop - half price for one week only, slashed from $7.

1940s Summer Fashion Inspiration

I happened across this picture on Pinterest the other day and loved it. It encapsulates everything I like best about 1940s styles done right. This is quintessential classy vintage summer fashion. A simple but stylish dress, face-framing but off the neck hairdo (I think that's a snood back there), wide shady hat, elegant sandals. In the summer, the last thing I want is a fussy dress with pieces that constantly need attention to keep straight or smooth. On hottest days I prefer one piece, belt-less cotton dresses that I can put on and forget about.

This particular dress is lovely, though for myself I have yet to find a wrap dress that stays shut, and those wide arm holes - though cooling and very 1940s - are not quite my style either. But I can still gain inspiration from it for the coming summer, with simple dresses with waist ties and feminine detailing, accessorized perfectly. I would wear the entire outfit to a costume party or event, omit the gloves and wear a smaller hat to church, and for everyday just do the dress and hairdo with more casual shoes. Practical and ladylike - classy doesn't have to be difficult! 

1940s Blue Striped Dress

Some time ago I got two colors of the same print of cotton. I liked the blue one best, so I used the pink one first to make sure I could do a good job with matching stripes before I cut into the blue fabric. The result was my pink striped dress made last summer, which turned out beautifully and very matchy-matchy. It took a lot of the scariness out of working with stripes for me. Time for the blue version!

 

Now, I have a large collection of vintage women's magazines, and I love looking and sighing over the mail order ads, wishing I could have my pick of "crisp spring frocks" for "$1.38", and choose which color I wanted to have a dress made up and delivered to my door.  The only trouble is I'd want one of each! And that's what gave me the idea to do a replica second dress from the same pattern as the pink striped, in the blue fabric. I could have one of each, as if I'd ordered them from a magazine! Plus this pattern is my favorite I've used so far, for striped fabric. 

 

And I was certainly in the mood to use a pretty spring-colored cotton again after all the winter fabric and dark colors of previous projects.

 

The only difference between the two dresses was the pearl buttons I had to space farther apart due to a limited amount...otherwise the dresses are identical. As expected, the 2nd one was super easy to make since I knew exactly what I was doing.

 

The stripes matched up nicely for me once more. I don't know if I'll make it more than twice, but I'd love to try this pattern with a large plaid fabric sometime, with the bias-cut skirt to add interest.

 

I used the same fabric as before for the contrasting collar and cuffs and really like how they emphasize the olive-green-gold circles in the print.

 

It's my only recent non-maternity project and it won't fit me long, but I hope to wear it next fall when I need easy-to-wear, comfortable dresses that button up the front and have a little bit of flattering tummy-hiding pleats at the waist! :-)

Item of the Week - Teal Crocheted Earrings

These vibrant summer earrings are Item of the Week in my Etsy shop, half price for one week only - slashed from $10.