Sew What?! A 1930's Catalina Gown

Hiya!  Our recent radio silence was due to an exciting, overseas, wacky tacky voyage.  Alright, "overseas voyage" might be a bit of an overstatement, but we did have to pack our suitcases and board a boat.  Our pals Benny & Jenn decided to make it official, and we celebrated their nuptials on sunny, scenic Santa Catalina Island!  Catalina Island is one of my favorite places in California.  Slightly lost in time, it reminds me to slow down and realize that the sun is shining and the ocean breeze is blowing for me to enjoy.  Seriously folks, if you ever get a chance to go, I highly recommend it.  It's so choice...

The wedding reception was held in the world-famous Avalon Casino Ballroom.
I love this picture of the Casino; I took it on the way home as the
 fog was rolling in and the lights were still shimmering on the water.

Finished in 1929, the Casino Ballroom has been host to the biggest jazz and big band legends the world has ever known.  Thankfully, Mary and I were included on the bill with an all-star line up of musicians for the evening's entertainment.  I am still trying to process that I played the same room as Benny Goodman (not nearly as well, as long, or to as much ovation, but it was a thrill!). 

Every detail of the Art Deco, island wedding was pitch perfect...especially these awesome fish-shaped cream puffs.

A gratuitous shot of one of my favorite foods on Earth!!!

The ballroom's, amazing, Tiffany-glass light fixture and vented, Art Deco ceiling.
  I have been to the ballroom many times but have successfully fought the urge
to lie in the middle of the dance floor and just stare at the ceiling.

Of course, a vintage wedding called for a new dress for Mary, so I got to work!  Most of my sewing decisions come from a near-lethal combination of economy, procrastination, and foolishness - this dress being no exception.  I have never sewn chiffon before.  In general I am too lazy to match plaids perfectly.  And I have never made a floor-length, bias-cut gown.  So what did I do one week before the wedding?  I decided to dive right into a bias-cut, plaid/check, chiffon gown - figuratively speaking, of course.

This dress makes me believe that everything should be cut on the bias.
Okay, maybe not chiffon (particularly plaid chiffon) ever again...but everything else.
I am pretty pleased with the way that the dress turned out; it even had
a few expert eyes fooled into thinking that it was "real."
The scarf at the neckline was looped into a draped bow through
a vintage, rhinestone belt buckle from our grandmother.

Who knew how frustratingly fiddly chiffon can be?  I guess everyone before me who has ever sewn with chiffon.  In all honesty, I think it took me longer to cut it out and match the plaid than it did to sew the whole darned thing!  The beauty of this bias-cut gown is that I had to put in absolutely no closures whatsoever.  The gauzy chiffon (bought on discount at JoAnn of all places) had enough give to slip right over Mary's head and cascade to the floor.  Glory, Hallelujah!

I am, however, going to give it to you straight (the warts and all version).
Finances have been better in the past and, wanting to be frugal, the best
 I could do for the belt buckle (having used the real one for the bow) was this
 ring/clip gizmo that somehow made it into the wacky tacky sewing stash.
 It looked a little odd in just the bare metal...so I bedazzled it.
Is it a stunning reproduction of an Art Deco-era belt buckle?  No.
Did it fool anyone into believing that it was a piece of priceless, heirloom
 jewelry?  Also no.  Did it work in a pinch, reflect/refract light,
 and get mostly covered by the bow at the neckline?  Yes, indeedy! 

Given the black/orange/yellow/white color scheme, I was surprised that the gown did not read too Halloween-y (if it did, don't tell me).  

It was actually an ideal color scheme and Mary ended up
coordinating perfectly with the wedding favors; the
couple's last name is Reese and each guest was treated
 to an organza bag filled with Reese's Pieces!

It was a beautiful wedding and an fun chance to get dressed up, spend a relaxing weekend with good friends, meet new friends, and listen to some incredible music.  Mary's new gown had plenty of fun fluttering around the floor too!

Emily, Mary, and Jesse
We got to spend the whole weekend with our pals but they
looked way too good to have Mr. Tiny muddle up the picture.

Mes amis - Laurence, Mary, et Sylvain
These fine folks flew in from France for the wedding!
My vote for "Best Dressed" of the weekend definitely goes to them.
You can see more of their incredible wardrobes and follow their
adventures at Laurence's blog, Lost in the 50's.

Meine freunde - Katharina, Mary, und Eva
This wedding was practically a UN Summit with Germany well represented.
I guess they're afraid of giants...

The food, fun, and friends were great, but the entertainment was unparalleled.  The amount of talent in the rooms was unbelievable and I only wish I hadn't been too busy dancing to capture all of the amazing performers as directed by our pal, and saxophone all-star, Marco.

The incomparable Carl Sonny Leyland

Vicki Tafoya & The Redondos (not pictured)

Sax legend, Big Jay McNeely

Amber Foxx & Big Sandy

French piano-phenom Raffi.

Mary

They even let Mr. Tiny get up and embarrass himself.
(photo by Kat of GoForKat)

The real stars of the show were the bride and groom, Jennifer and Benny.  We are so honored to have been a small part of their big day.  I couldn't be happier for them and even though they don't need it, I wish them all the luck and happiness that life can afford them.  I am grateful to have had such a wonderful excuse to visit one of my favorite places and, yes, even to make a new dress for Mary.

The happy couple.
Congratulations you two!
You really did make Santa Catalina the "Island of Romance."

"26 Miles (Santa Catalina)" - The Four Preps

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny

Sew What?! wacky tacky Goes to the Prom!!

"Gee, thanks Skip!"

Prom season is upon us!  At this point in my life, I feel much closer to the type of "senior" prom where octogenarians are given a corsage/boutonniere and wheeled out to the multi-purpose room to listen to a Glenn Miller CD.  Despite the disturbing feeling that on the best of days I have the emotional maturity of a 12-year-old, I have recently reached the 30-year mark and realized that I have crossed the threshold into being "old."  Any rationally-thinking person over my age would scoff at the notion that thirty is old.  I quite agree but "old" has been thrust upon me by a younger generation who, out of sheer obstinacy in my opinion,  refuses to understand any of my pop culture references.  Moreover, when they are aware of said references, they insist on thinking of them as novelties of a simpler time.  Only a short time ago while driving, my teenaged sister's teenaged friend asked if I had ever heard of a particular "old" (there's that word again) band.  Who, I wondered.  Herman's Hermits?  No.  Buddy Holly and the Crickets?  Guess again.  The Paul Whiteman Orchestra?  Not even close.  My horror when he uttered the words Stone Temple Pilots was disguised only by the tissue-thin veil of my own uncomfortable laughter.  As I righted the steering wheel to keep the car from swerving off the road, I thought "Was it so long ago that 'Plush' was in regular rotation on the radio?"  Without my permission, I had become the old guy in the car (only magnified by my desperate search to find a station playing an STP song). Without my knowledge, I had jumped from youthful to elderly simply by my overwhelming desire to shout "Slow down you hot rodder!" at passing cars and "Do we all have to listen to that?" 

Again, aside from the occasional complaint about my ability to feel barometric changes in my knee, I don't feel old.  Nevertheless, I am reminded of my unavoidable march toward AARP qualification by these kids.  Mary, a high school senior who challenges my references to Who's the Boss? and Mr. Belvedere with a completely-genuine blank stare, needed a prom dress.   The very fact that my thoughts about her attending her senior prom included "Wow, it seems like she was just in kindergarten," really cement the fact that maybe I have become old.  Her dream dress - one of those frothy, draped-chiffon numbers that epitomize 1950's formals.  I appreciate dresses of that sort but I had to be perfectly honest with myself; draping and chiffon are well beyond my skill-level.  In contemplating design ideas for her dress, I decided that I would share a few photos of prom seasons past as well as my finished product. 

The Promenade

Fifties Formals

A charming couple

Apart from the fact that this photo makes me laugh, I really
like that white dinner jackets seemed to be the order of the day.

Wishing I was there.

I shouldn't say this, but is there anything better than the solo Prom photo?

Perfect

Where are they now?

This appears to be an ad more than
a candid photo but it sure looks good.

I'm sure at some point in history, home-sewing was a far more economical option than purchasing ready-to-wear garments.  Now, I suppose, the value in home sewing is determined by custom fit and unique style.  Even though I am overwhelmed by a mountain range (yes it has gotten that bad) of material, thread and notions, it still seems that no matter what project I undertake,  I still spend lots of money on finding exactly what I need to finish.  This prom dress was no exception.  I already owned the lace but due to my forgetful nature, it took at least three expensive trips to the fabric store to get everything I needed.  Overall, I like the way this wacky tacky dress turned out.  It has the distinctive flavor of a 50's prom dress and suits Mary to a tee!

Mary and Chris look lovely surrounded by a field of yellow wild flowers.

Our talented sister-in-law made Mary's wrist corsage and Chris' boutonniere
and did Mary's make-up.

Gettin' the party started early!!

Mary wore her vintage crinoline.

I really like this one.

The under dress was made of ice-blue taffeta with boning in the bodice and the overdress was made of dusty-blue lace.  The gathered, two-tiered skirt was supported by Mary's vintage crinoline and horsehair trim.  I made a corsage of satin ribbon, a lace remnant and miniature blue roses.  The shawl was of the same lace and I cut away the excess material around the flowers to create a "fringed" edge.  Mary wore a combination of heirloom/costume and contemporary jewelry.  Chris wore a vintage 1950's suit and tie.

The backside of Prom.

All I know is that my prom photos didn't look this good!!  All of the modern prom photos are courtesy of super-talented photographer Jessie Stopnik at jessicastopnik.blogspot.com - be sure to check out her blog and contact her for all of your professional photography needs.

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny