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

Sew What?! A 1950's Starlet Ensemble

Do you ever crash parties?  Do you ever plan to crash a party and then realize the day prior to the event that you were actually invited to the party and now you have to plan something to wear because the pressure increase in the paradigm shift between party crasher and party guest is like that of being thrust from the crest of wave to the very depths of the ocean floor?  Why, when it comes to the same exact party, is it so refreshingly simple to be a party crasher and so stressful being formally included?  For Mr. Tiny, the answer to that question can best be answered by his sponsor at Neurotics Anonymous - for which he has yet to find a regular group due to the problematic design schemes/chair arrangements and snack options at the meetings.

The above situation, as described in question number two, happened during our recent seasonal celebrations and left me scrambling for something to wear that was appropriate for a formal, adult, cocktail party.  It easy easy to see why we would have missed the invitation; we never drink cocktails, we rarely act like adults, and our usual concerns lean most definitely toward the informal.  If you're Mr. Tiny, options are decidedly limited.

Amber & Mr. Tiny
You can see that left with little time and precious few options, Mr. Tiny was forced
 down the Lifestyles of the Rich & Famous route - silk ascot and navy blazer.
Formal? Not really - unless it's for shipboard drinks on Thurston Howell's yacht.

If you're Mary, on the other hand, you will no doubt have an ideal ensemble (handcrafted by Mr. Tiny several years ago that you have NEVER worn before).  I guess it's true; what's old is new again - for the sartorially spoiled!

Mary & Amber
I like to think of this as an All About Eve moment...hahahaha!
It seemed to me that Mary's outfit was fitting of a young starlet
with aspirations.

Mary's party ensemble consists of a pencil skirt with
asymmetrical peplum and matching, lined bolero.
The vintage material for the skirt and bolero was inherited from
our centenarian neighbor; it has an ivory ground with slubs of
metallic threads.  Her blouse was purchased at the 99 Cents
Only Store - no joke!  Her matching brooch and earrings are
heirloom jewelry that belonged to our great-grandmother

While I was a little disappointed that Mary waited years to wear this outfit, I am glad that she remembered to bring it out of moth balls for the occasion (she actually got a chance to wear it again when she played a few songs in an opening set for Wanda Jackson!!!).  To be perfectly honest, even I had forgotten that I had ever made the darned thing.  The party was lovely, the host and hostess were gracious, and the guests were quite clever and extremely talented.  Now that I think about it, I am still not entirely sure that we were invited to a party of that caliber...

Now that we have begun a new year, it might seem regressive to reflect on the festivities of last year.  Nevertheless, we ask, did you crash any awesome parties?  More importantly, does a formal invitation change your attitude of dress?  However you party, we hope you did it in haute wacky tacky style!

Cheers!

Mr. Tiny