Easy Peasy 18th Century Headwear

March 8, 2019 notadamselindistressmegLeave a comment

I’m a day behind this week because my precious little boy, my Jesse James (he’s a cuddly outlaw, don’t worry) was sick. I was stuck at work, but I have understanding parents who helped get him into a vet last minute, get him his shots and meds and catch any infection before it got bad. Doesn’t mean this cat mom wasn’t royally freaking out and snuggling him when I got home. Alas, that meant pushing this bad a day. But it’s here! No worries.

I’m talking about another bit of historical headwear, but I promise there’s some Jessica Jones, Captain Marvel, retro Tardis love, and slow work on a big Tudor project I intend to complete by this fall, all in the pipeline.

This little headwear was thrown together last minute, we’re talking HOURS, before the event, to match my Redingote I finished the night before. Yes, it was all very last minute. And I hadn’t even thought I was going to wear anything on my head, justifying that I was indoors, but I couldn’t bring myself so the panic search for an appropriate piece to match a Redingote began. Then I found these lovelies. These are just two examples, but did enough contemporary painting searches to ensure that it was a THING. I always want to make sure there’s a slight trend when I’m making something, even the unusual somethings.

So what to do when there’s only hours to go, and you can’t get to a craft store for supplies? You go digging in your closet. Now, I will admit that I have a bit more to work with than some. I have a closet of historical and costume pieces, a trunk of fabric (that I’m working through and am determined to get down to only half by this summer), and craft bits all over. I need help. But I digress.

Remember the sun hat from last week? I also had one sitting up in my closet from a couple years ago that I did nothing with, not even wear to a beach. I pulled it down. It had the perfect rim size, and a good, light base. Done. Then I also had a bit of jewelry wire I had purchased at Walmart in the random jewelry basket for only $1. Sturdy enough for the job. I whipped the wire to the brim of hat, giving it stability, and shaping capabilities.

The harder part is the fabric covering. I had JUST enough fabric left over from the Redingote, and I mean JUST enough. So I traced the rim with a bit of seam allowance, made two donuts. Then I free hand drew a circle large enough to make a decent poof to cover the crown. Basically, that was as big as whatever piece I had left over, and then just hoped for the best. I got lucky.

I stitched that big circle with gathering stitches, attached it to one of the donuts, and fought with the sun hat to get it all in like a weird shaped pillow. Then, I just tacked the inside to the sweat band. To cover the not so pretty joining of the brim to the crown, I found a piece of ivory ribbon just long enough, pinched it in places, and called it good.

The jewelry wire came in handy when I needed to pull up the side, tack it, and dig out some flowers from my craft stash (I had some left over from a 1860s spoon bonnet). A little bow, and voila, a hat. I finished it JUST as I needed to get ready.

Just a note on the hair… yes, that is all my hair, no rat. Just my smallest soft curlers overnight, teased, and a whole pack of bobby pins to pull it up shorter and pin. My hair, at the time, was to the middle of my back, so it can be done. It’s much shorter now, so it’d actually be easier. Not so easy to brush out and wash all the hair spray.

Hats · Historical · Regency

Turban It Up

February 27, 2019 notadamselindistressmegLeave a comment

This week is a little different. I’ve talked about cosplays and different retro inspired topics, but now I’ll get into a more historical reenactment flare, and doing it on the cheap.

It’s my never-ending despair that so many reenactors insist that the hobby (regardless of era) is expensive. I’ve here to say: you can do it on a budget, and not sacrifice historical accuracy in the process. Saying otherwise is so very detrimental to the hobby, and to encouraging others to partake in history. I’m advocating for inclusivity, while educating.

So there’s just a taste of my soap box. I’ll step down now.

This week, I’m going to present a cute, little fixed turban hat for the Regency era.

Turbans were quite popular in the Regency era (what folks typically think of when we talk about Jane Austen for a reference). They varied from pieces of beautiful fabric wrapped, and tied around the head, and those that were “fixed,” or made to look wrapped, but in actuality, tacked down as a proper hat.

I had originally thought to simply cut my matching fabric and wrap around my head. There’s plenty of good tutorials on the internet for that, but then I grabbed the fabric and realized that I didn’t quite have enough. To the internet I went, and found this wonderful tutorial by one of my favorite blogs and historical seamstresses: Festive Attyre.

Conveniently, sun hats are on the cheap at places like Target and Walmart, so I picked up a cheap one from Target and cut the brim off. Warning, don’t do this on carpet with a nosy kitty. The straw bits shed and then you have to painstakingly pick up the pieces.

After, I cut a strip for the band around the printed edge of my fabric (PS. I’ll talk more about this fabric when I post about the dress itself that matches it when I wear it in a few weeks). I cut a giant oval, and went to work following the tutorial.

It was fairly easy, and I’m no milliner. In fact, that’s where I will save and spend: on hats. They’re tricky buggers. Not this one. I really enjoyed the draping, and inconsistency of the pleating. You cut your fabric, then sit and just pin and stitch. I actually did it watching television, and in the span of a movie, had it complete.

The final touches, the pulling, and folding on the access of the crown poof (though I’ve seen enough evidence of different hats that you could stop there if that’s the look you’re going for), is a trial and error, pull, tack with pins, and stare at it for a bit, experiment. I redid my pins about three times before I ended up with the final product.

In the end, it creates this cute fixed turban. Now, I haven’t decided if I’m sticking some flowers or feathers in it (probably feathers), and I still need to line it (though I just may not)…but for $5 and some left over fabric, I have a cute hat that is 100% accurate, and didn’t break my bank.

1950s · Historical · retro · Sewing · Undergarments

Pretty in Pink: a 50s Dress

February 21, 2019 notadamselindistressmegLeave a comment

Getting a little close to my Wednesday deadline, but I had to wait for this dress to arrive before I could do anything.

But it’s getting a little more complicated now. Or rather, we’re getting into how to make it all work, and do it fairly inexpensively. So here we go, with a little pink 50s dress, getting it ready for a big auto show in the next two weeks. If you follow my instagram, you’ll see some pics in its debut.

This outfit is a mix of purchase, and a little sewing. And getting lucky, let’s be honest.

The Dress. The dress I found on Amazon. You can find a lot of things on Amazon, and cheap, vintage looking dresses is one of them. This dress, arguably, isn’t usually the $20 I splurged on, but around $35. That, in itself, if you’ve looked around online at vintage/retro shops, is still a steal. And I’ll say this: the dress is really decent quality. I’ve also bought cheap retro dresses for $10, as well, with mixed quality, but hey! $10 isn’t bad.

This one happens to be really good in it’s shape for the 50s. That bodice is pretty typical, though the fabric is a brushed, stretch cotton, so that’s very modern. The lace is sweet, though the waist sits REALLY high. I’m definitely contemplating sourcing a cheap, white belt.

The Petticoat. The dress hangs a bit, and is begging for a smaller petticoat. I thought about buying one, but why spend $ when I have the supplies? Granted, I sew. A lot. So I have quite the stash to pull from, and in this case, an unfinished project. You can find some online for cheap. Had I not thought of this option, I had a $10 one in my online cart.

I had begun to reconstruct my high school homecoming dress years ago, had purchases the tulle then (you can find yardage cheap, however), and had started tearing about the petticoat tulle of that dress already. Really, I had already done the hardest part: gathering the new tulle onto the old tulle. I just had to make an easy waist band, made my serger angry and serged the cut edges, and added an elastic into it. It isn’t super pretty, but it gets the job done. And no one needs to see my petticoat anyway.

The Shoes. Another Amazon steal. I found these for a whole $11! These I bought a few weeks ago thinking I’d wear something else and spread the budget out a bit. It took forever to find them since I wear a larger size (I’m a tall Amazon). I got lucky, and gobbled them up before the sale disappeared. Now, granted, I had set aside the funds for the purpose of this purchase, so it wasn’t a spontaneous buy.

So all in all, minus accessories that I’m just going to pull from what I already have, I spent $31 on a 50s look that could easily have cost double, if not more had I not taken some time, and searched like crazy for something.

And that’s the key: patience and searching. Keep digging. It took me several days of Amazon searching to find that dress. More days to find the shoes. Get creative with your search words, and you’ll pull up some steals.

1940s · Historical · Military · WWII

Jacket Style: The Ike Jacket

February 14, 2019 notadamselindistressmegLeave a comment

I had an easy cosplay post lined up, and I’ll still get to it, but I wanted to mix it up a bit and offer up a post on an accessory that is completely findable, wearable, and historical. The Ike Jacket.

A brief history: The Eisenhower or “Ike” Jacket, was a late WWII issued jacket. It was inspired, and you could even say, directly taken from the British battle jacket. Eisenhower had requested a jacket that was cropped, but functional, like the British battle jacket. What came of this was the M-44 issued jacket. Cropped, practical, but stylish.

You see them rise in Post-War, not only by the US Army, but the US Air Force. They underwent several different adaptations, but it become one of the most popular uniform additions to not only the US Armed Forces, but police and civilian forces as well. It’s easy to wear, provides movement, and it looks good.

The women were issued a version of the Ike Jacket as well, particularly the WASPs, however, these are incredibly difficult to find. At least at a reasonable price. If you’d like to try and find one, you’ll spend a decent penny.

The men’s version, however, is fairly popular. If you attend reenactments, or browse eBay, you have find nice versions for anywhere between $17-$30. There are some, with their original pins, patches, badges, etc. that go for much higher, but if you want a simple Ike, you can find them.

I found my beauty for $10. In fact, I found a blue, which would date probably to around the 50s when the Air Force adopted them, for the same price. There are subtle differences, so if you intend to wear them for reenactments, and are subject to inspections, you’ll want to do some hefty research, but if you are looking to acquire one to keep warm, or to wear about, they are an affordable option.

I purchased mine at an air show and reenactment when the weather turned out to be a wee bit chilly (ironically, the next day, I was melting in my mechanic coveralls). It certainly kept me warm… and offered a lovely set of photos.

So if you’re looking to add some historical to your life, an Ike Jacket might be it. As always, just respect that these are historical pieces, that someone may or may not have owned, and worn with pride. Love them, respect them, and give them life.

1950s · Historical · retro · Thrift

How to: The Teddy Girl

February 7, 2019 notadamselindistressmegLeave a comment

It’s a little late on a Wednesday, but I scrapped my post idea last minute in favor of this one: The Teddy Girl. It’s a bit retro, and a bit historical, and an easy one to thrift. When you know what to look for that is…

So the Teddy Girl. It’s a very interesting little segment of the 50s style that really had a following in the UK. They were the female counterpart to the Teddy Boy movement, which got their name for “Edwardian” or “Teddy” in which men donned Edwardian fashion, a dandy-ism if you were, and mixed it with a bit of American rock-n-roll of the 50s. The Teddy Boys were infamous for trouble, gang violence, and rebellion. It was a direct response to the conservatism that spawned out of Post-War Europe. There were even bands on “Edwardian” style clothing.

Teddy Girl is a female counterpart to this movement. They were feisty, working class women who turned away from the pearls, clutches and society femininity. And it is surprisingly easy to do. The basics? A coat, turned up jeans, and a little scarf or ribbon tied around your neck. Hair was styled very Edwardian, free almost, without all that hairspray and taming a lot of the traditional female 50s hair called for.

I love it. It’s exactly who I would have been in the 50s… if I lived in the UK.

So how do we put a look together today? Easy peasy.

The Cost:
Coat: $2, thrifted
Pants: Already in my closet, $0
Scarf: From my great-grandmother, $0
Shirt: A basic tee, maybe $3
Shoes: Purchased long ago for work, $0, but you can find Keds, flats, sandals for cheap at places like Walmart, or Amazon

The Coat. I thrifted my jacket from a local re-sale shop. Mine is modern made, but is corduroy, has a longer cut, and just a wee bit oversized. It cost me a whole $2. I threw a simple t-shirt on under it, but you can see women wearing button-ups, sweaters, plain shirt, just about anything.

The Pants. I’m still looking for the perfect high-waisted jeans, but in the mean time, I have a few that work just fine. The trick is looking for something like a “mom jean” at a thrift store. Though, you will see some pics the more you look of women in slacks, or peddle pushers too. That’s why I’m wearing. I happen to own these from WAY back in college, so I’m so happy to use them again.

The Scarf. I have several from my great grandmother, but I find them all over antique shops or even re-sale for only a couple bucks. You could even get a solid color head scarf from craft stores. Or take a ribbon.

The Hair. I have never been good at hair. I have naturally curly, and I’ve chopped it short, so I could really just let it go. But as you can see, with enough bobby pins, you can get it to work.

The Shoes. I have seen a “Ked” style tennis, sandals, plain flats, loafers, anything sensible. These are working class ladies. They’re not wearing heels. No way.

So you see… You can dress historically AND retro in one go. A few other accessory options: add a cameo pin to your button up, or a thrifted men’s jacket, or a vintage styled bike (I have one, but it’s a wee bit cold for that right now). It’s such a comfy, but fun look.

Just wear it with attitude.

A nice little blurb about Teddy Girls can be found here, but the internet is littered with great articles and photos too.