Verity Vintage Studio

Why I Love Thrift Stores - Dramatic Sweater Coat

The countryside where I live is greening up and filled with birdsong. But just an hour or so up in the mountains, there is still several feet of snow on the ground. It made a good backdrop for an outerwear photo shoot, so I have one last wintery post for the year.

 

Last fall I was on a thrift store run to the city a few hours away, and was just about to check out with a few things for the children when I spotted this sweater. It was dramatic and unusual - but it also reminded me very much of fashion ads from the 1930s. 

 

If it were worn with jeans, boots, and a modern shirt, you probably wouldn't notice the vintage style possibilities. But with a different outfit and accessories, it has a totally different feel. I paired it here with a late 1930s rayon dress I made.

 

The disappearing geometric lines and two-color play were both very popular in the 1930s. Just a quick look at black and white ads for 1930s coats and swagger coats show similar styles.

(It may have been called my "piano key" sweater by one person... :-) 

 

The sun on the snow made for less than perfect pictures, but hopefully you can see there are possibilities of keeping your eye out for vintage elements in modern garments. Sometimes it's something so classic that it hasn't changed much in style in all those years, like my brown wool jacket. Other times, you might be able to do a bit of alterations or add some details to take a piece from modern to vintage appropriate, like my swagger coat redo. 

Dramatic vintage gauntlets are just the thing to pair with a dramatic sweater like this.

 

Or it might be something more flamboyant and unusual, like this one. If you familiarize yourself with style lines and fashion ads from the eras you like, you'll find your eye trained to spot similar things when you are shopping. It's a great way to add to your vintage style closet without the expense and extra care of true vintage clothes.

 

 

A Different 1940s Rayon Dress

I was trying to get a few last winter projects off my list - or rather, one last winter project and then turn to some transitional outfits. This dress was from a new pattern that I liked the style lines of - I'm always looking for interesting button front styles. 

 

It took a while to cut out because of the extra pieces, and the construction was unusual, but not too confusing, thankfully.

I'm not sure if it was my fabric choice or just that it's not the best style for my body type (or maybe both), but I did not like it as much in person as on the illustration. I ended up topstitching the shoulder detail 3 times so that it would stand out a bit more, and that did help.

 

Despite the more complex construction, it didn't take too long to put together. I like the way the shoulder detail runs into the pockets - a very popular post-war style element, which is when this pattern is from.

 

I think it's funny that my very first project with pockets similar to this was just my last one - my Valentine's dress. Amusing how that happens unintentionally.

At least I'm not afraid of making this type of pockets now!

 

(I know this is not a house dress, but the day I wore this it was far too windy to take pictures outside, so you get a futuristic kitchen photo shoot instead.)

 

Unfortunately (as happens when you are me and don't do trials) the fit has some issues. And while I did prewash the fabric as usual, the dress did not stand up to its first laundering very well. I'll try rewashing and drying it flat, but everything taken altogether, this may be one that I lay aside as a learning experience, and not wear again.

 

Time is at a premium right now, as you might have gathered from my less prolific posts lately. In retrospect, I wish I had not spent the time to complete this dress once I realized that I wasn't going to love the finished product. But on the other hand, I thought the same thing at one point while making my Valentine's dress, and ended up loving that one! So you never know. Usually perseverance is the right choice.

All accessories except the belt are favorite true vintage pieces from the 1940s.

 

However, learning experiences aren't exactly failures, even if they don't turn out as you hoped. The thing to do is learn what you can and move on. Hopefully this time to more successful garments in the future! 

 

I have some fun early spring things planned that should turn out better, to cheer me up. Hopefully I can get to them in a timely manner once I've met some of my more pressing deadlines. There just isn't enough time in a day!

 

 

Transition to Spring: 1940s Chunky Knit Sweater

This blog post is a little different. It's not about anything I made, or even anything thrifted. Instead, I had to style a new sweater handmade by my sister, using a 1940s pattern.

 

Ever since seeing some of the lovely knits on Instagram, handmade from stunning vintage patterns, I've toyed with the idea of learning to knit so I can make some for myself. 

Well, quilting arrived and took over my new-hobby-learning-spare-time, so knitting will definitely have to wait, at least for now! But I happen to have a talented sister who knits (among other things) and actually likes to interpret old patterns (my personal dread), so I suggested she try some of the lovely vintage sweater patterns out there.

This was her first sweater, and it turned out lovely! 

 

She wanted to wet her feet with a quick and easy knit, and this pattern fit the bill - as well as having some interest in the shoulder detail to stretch her skills a bit.

 

I chose a bulky wool yarn in a lovely cornflower blue color, but I only had 3 skeins of it, so she made the sweater short sleeved instead of long sleeved. I like wearing short sleeves in the winter because I like something heavier, yet get too hot while working in long sleeves most of the time.

 

It has a crocheted finish and button band, and I found the perfect vintage buttons from my stash to finish it out.

 

The bulky weight made it a very quick knit - she made the whole thing in just a few days - and also is very size accommodating. The original pattern was quite a bit smaller size than I am, but since it has so much stretch, after adding a half inch or so onto the button band, it fits well enough. 

 

She enjoyed making it so much that she's intending to make more, in vintage-appropriate yarns and colors, to sell. You can currently find her on Instagram as @patternsofexcellence, if you want to see what she's up to. 

The shoulder detail is my favorite part!

 

I paired it for these photos with the skirt of my 2 piece summer suit from a few years ago - mix and match outfits for the win! Also my navy and white Peggy spectator pumps from Royal Vintage, which were a favorite purchase this past fall. It looks a bit more nautical-summery, but the sweater keeps it suitable for cooler weather like the early spring we are now enjoying.

 

I love how knits add texture to a vintage wardrobe - really ideal for dressing up in colder weather. It's completely accurate and period correct, yet we can enjoy the wider range of colors, fibers, and washability (not so fragile!) than actual vintage pieces.

 

There are so many lovely patterns out there, with amazing details and design elements, especially from the 1930s and 1940s when make-it-yourself creativity was at its height. I might have to take advantage of my sister's skills and order a few more in different styles, one of these days!