Monday, March 25, 2013

Sew What?! A 1930's Garden Party Dress

Wedding season has descended upon us and frankly, I couldn't be happier!  No pressure, but anyone out there who is presented with the opportunity to get married and invite me as a guest, is strongly encouraged to do so; I'd be overjoyed to attend.  Call me nutty, but even for someone so very unattached as myself, weddings give my romantic nature a boost and fill me with hope. 

You probably saw that we were fortunate enough to attend our friends' gorgeous Catalina Island wedding last weekend; this weekend, we were treated to yet another wonderful wedding for our pals, Rob and Ashley.

Rob & Ashley

Situated high atop a verdant hill in Glendale, California's renowned Forest Lawn Cemetery (the site of many celebrity nuptials and many celebrity resting places), the Church of the Recessional was ideally apropos for a couple who has long been noted for their Hollywood high style.  Because they are such a fashionable pair, it only seemed fitting that I create yet another dress for Mary that was suitable for the occasion - a church wedding with an afternoon, garden party reception.


Knowing that the prevailing style of the day would be 1930's and that I had a fittingly Depression-era budget ($0.00)/little time (a week)/an unholy amount of unused material (three hoarders' worth), I did a cannonball into my giant mountain of fabric neatly organized stash and selected a few possibilities.

I ended up choosing an all-over floral print fabric that I had earmarked for a 50's-style day dress; I was mildly hesitant to use it as I was afraid it would read as a weird pastiche of conflicting influences.  On the other hand, it went fortuitously well with the heirloom, pansy brooch from our great-grandmother and the stunning, vintage hat.

Mary's vintage hat came from our favorite, local vintage store, Swellegant Vintage.
One of the hat's beautiful bunches of pansies  - Mr. Tiny likes vintage millinery flowers more than he ought to!!!

Mary & Jennifer (last week's bride)
The dress was appropriately ladylike but still held up to all of Mary's shenanigans.

Benny (last week's groom) & Mary
Honestly, they're even more like brother and sister than Mary and I.

We were elated to see our good friends, Lauren (Wearing History
 Patterns
and blog) and her husband, Matt (a dapper groomsman).

The dress, with its eight-gored, tulip-shaped skirt, attached capelet, and neckline bow (can
 you tell that I am crazy for bows?) was finished by a self-fabric belt with a green,
 vintage buckle and green, vintage gloves.  The reception was held at the indescribably-beautiful,
home (built in 1907) of friends; if I was a better photographer, I would have captured
more of its endless charms.  Mary inspects the beautiful flowers as designed by LA Deco Flora.

 During the garden party, however,  I was able to capture all of the garden flowers in full bloom.

At the end of a lovely party, the bride bid us goodbye in her custom-made farewell frock.

Congratulations to Rob and Ashley!  We hope that you continue to find all the fun and frolic that life affords you.  Thank you for letting us celebrate your new life together as husband and wife!  And thanks for another great weekend of celebrating the only thing that truly matters, namely L-O-V-E.

"L-O-V-E" - Nat King Cole


Cheers!

Mr. Tiny

19 comments:

  1. Too much 30s gorgeousness...I swoon!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you BVV!!! Aren't all of those women just beautiful?!

      Delete
  2. What a stunning affair and good heavens but do you ever have gorgeous, well-dressed friends! Holy mackerel. And I am going to have to finally crow how lucky Mary is. I have an amazing brother but I DO wish that you were my brother too! Her dress is incredible as usual.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Unfortunately, we have five siblings in our family and there just isn't room for one more. On the other hand, I would be more than happy to swap out one of the extraneous siblings so I could call you "Sis." Hahahahaha!!! Thanks Eartha!

      Delete
  3. wow! i love that shot of all those beautiful, well dressed ladies! i LOVE going to weddings too! I have four coming up, and i'm going to be in two! i sure wish i had a personal stylist like mary to make me amazing dresses!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How fun!!! Weddings really do give me hope for humanity; you get to see people at their happiest and most hopeful states. Good luck with all of your weddings; I know that being IN a wedding can be a lot of work!

      Delete
  4. You look amazing, like the Duchess of Windsor. It looks like it was a fabulous time.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Oh. MY. GOD. Not just ONE, but TWO fab weddings with incredibly well-dressed people! I LOVE Mary's outfit, and those vintage millinery pansies are to DIE FOR. Matt and Lauren are FABULOUS, and the rest of the wedding party...well let's just say I am GREEN with envy that you have such a circle of friends!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Aren't we lucky? I don't know what I have done to deserve such cool friends, but I sure am glad! We have a millinery store in LA that still has some dead stock supplies from the last 8 decades; it is an absolute treasure trove!

      Delete
  6. You're so talented and Mary's such a lucky girl! And I'm totally green with envy that you're having an actual Spring - it's been snowing on and off in London...

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you!!! I feel guilty that we never have to worry about "weather" here - we don't seem to have any. It was a gorgeous day, perfect for a wedding. Stay warm until the thaw!!!

      Delete
  7. That does it. Im boarding up the house and moving to California, so I too can attend fabulous vintage weddings by the score full. You all look as if you've stepped right out of time. Well done! Mary's dress is fab as always. I hope some day you all will come flit around our place in fabulous frocks!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Mick! My goal in life is to be a bon vivant/professional party guest. Whatever you do, don't pack up and move to Beverly quite yet; it looks like you guys are putting your awesome stamp on TX!!!

      Delete
  8. Another day, another totally amazing Mr. Tiny original! Mary wears 30's so well. Bravo!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you!!! Making these dresses has really put me in a 30's frame of mind...I'm ready to make nothing but bias cut gowns and beach pajamas.

      Delete
  9. Such a beautiful dress, you are very talented!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Oh, this is so gorgeous! This is the most authentic 1930s-themed event I've ever seen. Your frock, hat and accessories are simply amazing. And that group picture? Simply to die for!

    ReplyDelete