Girls in White Dresses and Blue Satin Sashes

Sometimes, my mother is absolutely sweet as cane syrup to me. She has known for a looooong time that I have craved a dress or three (or a closet full) that makes me look like I stepped out of the 50s. I've always had a fascination with the fashion of the era, but the blatant sexism of the era kind of burnt my britches. To be absolutely honest, I've always had a fascination with the hippie side of the 60s too.

Why have I been slightly obsessed over the fashion of the 50s? Well for one thing, I think that the styles were flattering to a lot of body types and shapes. That really appeals to my sense of fairness, believe it or not. If you can make a woman feel good about what she's wearing no matter what she thinks her body looks like, I like it.

And then there's the fact that I have a dreadful time fitting into anything store bought. The bodice fits just right up top and is too loose in the waist, or the skirt fits just right in the waist and doesn't fit anywhere else... you get the idea. I've only found one or two dresses from the store that fit very well right off the rack.

Three days ago, Mom found this amazing pattern that will look good with or without a crinoline (I'm a little obsessed over crinolines and full skirts, because I think flouncy things look awesome). It minimizes the things that I want minimized, and emphasizes the things I want emphasized, and it's a simpler pattern so she won't get all bent out of shape when she sets to the sewing bit.

Yesterday, we picked out fabric. We decided to go with a two-tone look. The skirt will be made with a sage and beige polka dot, and the bodice will be made with an off-white and brown and sage polka dot, both cotton. The belt will be made out of an off-white stiff ruffle made out of polyester, because have you TRIED to iron a cotton ruffle back into shape?!

My great-grandmother was a seamstress and my mom spent a lot of time at her house, so she learned how to make quite a lot of her own clothes — before I was born — so she feels somewhat confident that we can make this work. My paternal grandmother also made quite a few of my clothes when I was a wee bit of nothing, though she stopped once I hit puberty, so maybe it'll be genetic and I'll innately just know what to do? I'll (gasp!) be learning how to use a sewing machine, so I'll be able to try to make my own. However, knowing me, I'll stitch a fingernail to the hem.

If I can, I'll update this post with pictures of the raw fabric and you can tell me what you think! Have I mentioned how excited I AM for this to happen?!