New Orleans trip Day 1: Ponderosa Stomp

At long last, John and I were able to take a little break and head out to New Orleans, our favorite city.  It's our happy place--it makes me feel that this is life as it should be.  New Orleans is such a magical city, I encourage everyone to visit and experience all it has to offer.  It really has something for everyone! It doesn't feel like you're even in the US--if you've visited Europe or Latin America, you're right on track.  It feels like you're walking through the colonial part of Havana with the wrought-iron balconnades and tall louvred windows.  The city really has bounced back from Katrina 5 years ago: the business owners that were flooded have invested so much effort into refurbishing the historic restaurants and hotels.  Thankfully the major tourist area wasn't ever flooded, which helps.  This city is focused on showing you a good time, which fortunately goes hand in hand with showcasing the wonderful historic buildings, world-class unique food, and unbelievable music.  There is a spirit of "we're all in this together" there that is real.  People are really friendly and are happy that you're there.

We had intended on visiting for the Ponderosa Stomp, which I highly highly recommend if you're into classic rock and roll, soul, blues, garage, swamp pop, and country.  Check out the info on the Stomp here.  In my eyes, this puts Viva Las Vegas to shame.  The lineup featured Huelynn Duvall, The Trashmen, Thee Midnighters, Barbara Lynn, Sugar Pie DeSanto, Duane Eddy, etc etc.  This concert is a showcase for these fantastic under-represented heroes of rock and roll, and it also raises funds for older musician's healthcare and housing.  This is a feel-good town that supports their local arts.  The music was beyond amazing: 30 acts in all.  We missed the first night because I of course double-booked myself and scheduled 3 wedding cakes to deliver Sat morning; so we delivered them in the AM and hopped a plane to catch the last day.  We arrived, changed, and were greeted by our fabulous local friends Susan and Rob, who took us to the fabulous Green Goddess restaurant.  We feasted on the sublime cochon (pulled roast pork), wild mushroom and huitlacoche crepes, filo-wrapped spicy shrimp, and a wonderful Vietnamese stuffed rice crepe.

The House of Blues in NOLA actually has a mellow, friendly vibe which catches me off guard every time.  The HOB in Chicago and LA makes you feel like a criminal, looking through your bags, patting you down and making you remove your belt before entering.  Not here.  They didn't even ID me.  Or maybe I look that old now? We were greeted with friendliness and a nice welcome to the city by the doormen.  I almost fainted.  Oh, and the beers here are $4, whereas we're used to paying double that in LA.

Barbara Lynn rocked the house with one of the best soul voices we've ever heard (and she plays a mean guitar too)  Listen to Barbara's YoullLoseaGoodThing and the JAM  Oh Baby We Got a Good Thing Going.  Then Sugar Pie DeSanto stole the show.  She had opened for James Brown back in the day, and it showed.  She came out at a tiny 4'11" and had the whole House of Blues in the palm of her hand.  Check these out, I dare you not to get chills!! Sugar Pie's Rock Me Baby, Soulful dress,  Do the Whoop-ee and her amazing performance at the 2008 R&B Awards awards.  She had the band on their tippy toes, cuing each and every musician as they held their breath.  We'd never seen anything like it.  She jumped into the audience and was swinging upside down around the handrail like she was on the playground.  Then she grabbed a fellow out of the audience, pulled him onstage and jumped into his arms, wrapped her legs around him and did backbends--and not missing a note of the song.  And she's 75 years old people!!!

Lil' Buck Senegal, the premier guitarist of the South, backed up almost every act, playing for over 7 hours straight with no sign of letting up (then handed over the reins to our old friend Deke Dickerson, who is always such a great guitar man).  Buck's in his 70s also, and legend has it that his song Monkey in a Sack inspired the Meters to create their influential sound.  The Beastie Boys' biggest influence was the Meters, just as an example of their reach.  Here's another Lil' Buck jam Cat Scream.   The Relatives supposedly tore it up as the highlight of Friday night, a gospel/funk band from TX "Let's Rap" 1974.  Sorry we missed it! Last Stomp's highlight was Little Wille Littlefield, a ridiculously talented boogie woogie piano player, probably the best alive.  Watch as he plays with a spoon that fell on the piano  Little Wille Littlefield.  He now lives in the Netherlands, where apparently they appreciate talent! Duane Eddy was fabulous, Guitar Lightnin' tore it up with his blues guitar on the outside stage, Joe Clay peeked his head out for a few rockers, I could go on and on, you really have to go! I'd pay for everyone's ticket if I could.

This is the place to be, in one of the greatest music cities in the world.  Yes, there were more white gym shoes than pompadours, but this is the real deal! The only thing that matters in this town is having a good time.  You can still wear your vintage, it's ok!! They love fancy things in the South!

Evadress early 30s gown

I needed a fabulous dress to wear to a few weddings, and decided to order this wonderful number from Xandra at Evadress http://www.evadress.com/7858.html. Gosh, she has some amazing patterns! I would love to have them all. This dress features some wonderful sweeping ruffles in the back cascading down from under the bow. I decided to forgo the long-sleeved version, although it is over the top and right up my alley! I made the sleeveless version, lean and mean from the front and interesting and glam from the back.

One of the reasons I'm endlessly intrigued by sewing from vintage patterns is the mystery of it all. Dealing with these old patterns is like looking at heiroglyphics--what do they mean by these cryptic directions, or lack thereof? It's like an IKEA instruction booklet times 10. And try to unfold the directions without ripping the 80 year old paper! I'm always interested in how these repro pattern ladies present their patterns. This was one size, which was a 36 bust. I am a 38, so I was hoping to not spend any extra time re-sizing it. I don't take a lot of time to sew for myself these days, so I needed a fab dress, super fast! My brother's wedding was just a week away, and I wanted something lovely and Spanish-style as it was a Mexican theme wedding. I purchased some sheer floral fabric on closeout downtown for the dress, and had a long black slip from Victoria's Secret to wear underneath, perfect. This was my first backless dress attempt so I picked up a stick-on bra from Target for $7, and was pleasantly surprised at how easy it is to use. Thankfully my bust is teeny enough to use them. So I went to town on the construction.

The Evadress patterns are all printed on a CAD drafting manner on large pieces of sturdy bond white papper. This is a very professional take on repro patterns, as I've bought some that have wiggly marker for lines, drawn by hand. It takes a bit of time to cut everything out. She advised to make a muslin first, which would have helped me avoid some trouble. What fun is that? Takes away all the excitement. She had provided some advice on possibly needing to add some width at the hips, which I foolishly brushed off. I'm a pretty standard 38-30-38 so I thought I could go with it. Unfortunately there are no side seams on this dress, there are some lovely triangular godets at the side that fit together. It took me a LONG time to figure out how these pieces join. She provided some great notes on "join notches 2 together" and if you slow your brain down enough to pay attention, she had marked a skirt piece with notch 2 to a side panel piece with notch 2, for example. This is a definite boon above the original 1930s patterns, which pretty much assume that you are a mind reader and God's gift to sewing. I could have used a few visuals on how to piece the pieces together, but I'm sure she's a busy lady. It took forever to figure this out, and the fabric pieces are large, so I had a pile of floral confusion for a few days. But the journey of a thousand miles begins with one step. It's nice to be able to make a bunch of mistakes on my own clothes before I offer anything like this to my customers. It makes me a better sewer. At least that's what I kept telling myself as I ripped out seams. I should have started over, but I'm pretty stubborn and attempted to fix the existing dress that I had so far.

One of the ways I make my clothing fit really well is I measure a billion times while I cut out--the biggies (bust, waist, torso, hips) to know that I'm on track. It is impossible to do this with this pattern as it is a geometric tangle of triangular pieces that fit together. I had to wing it and hope for the best. I had no idea how big the waist or the hips would be as I cut the fabric.

So I finally got the body of the dress sewn and wanted to throw it on my dress form for a little satisfaction (my dress form is about my size). Uh oh, ripping sounds. This dress was meant to slip over your head, and the sash pulls in the fullness of the waist to the back. Like all the 30s patterns I've used, they run small. Xandra had graciously provided a diagram on how to resize the pattern pieces, so the next time I make this I can utilize that. But it's great to know what the base pattern will make, and now I know!

There was no way I could even put this dress on. And I measured the hips and they were too small by 2". This fabric doesn't stretch and you have to have ease for sitting or you have a problem on your hands. I had to somehow create a closure to get into and out of this number and fast, and figure out a way to add a few inches to the butt. I took a chance on romance and started cutting a slit down the back below the fantastic keyhole cutout. I couldn't put in a zipper at the side because of the godets, so that was the only place I could do it. I didn't want a zipper because of the lightweight fabric, so I made a "butt flap" with snaps and a button and loop portion above the ties, with a placket to add a few inches. This fabric is really busy, so you don't notice the butt flap at all, thank God! So all in all, I got it together in time and received a lot of compliments. And I have practice if I ever make it again, it is a terrific style! I think I would have preferred it to be floor-length, but at least I could dance and walk without worrying about catching a heel on the hem. It was a lot of work, but worth it to have something special.

Vintage buttons and their use

So I've been collecting vintage buttons for quite a while now. I pick them up on the internet, at flea markets, antique stores, you know, the usual. They are such a wonderful source of inspiration. My vintagey girlfriends and I sit for hours going through the boxes of them, dreaming up new things to make. There's bakelite of course, but also other celluloid plastics (just as cute), carved coconut, painted metal, glass, wood, bone, galalith. Whenever I'm feeling down about what I'm doing I just take a little dive through the stash and get a ton of ideas. But I always wonder about how to use them really WELL, respecting the history and the design of not only the button, but the composition of the entire garment as a whole.

I've started to understand that among all of the dear vintage collectors, button ladies are a special breed. There are soo many ladies who collect buttons, who never intend on making clothes. Why do people collect buttons? How do they even display them? You can't even put them into a coin slot to display, do they just sit in a drawer? Regardless, until recently, these little treasures have been passed around the antique universe pretty unmolested. Now we have the concept of epoxying them onto "brooches", dooming them to a crafty purgatory of bad taste.

I am always on the lookout for ways to approach reproduction clothing from the period mindset. The patterns, as well as the original vintage clothing, have been my key resource for proper application of these buttons. But I always wonder when I see a set or a button I like-- what kind of garment were they originally attached to? I am especially interested in the 1930s, but those original garments are very hard to find.

So my quandary about how to use these buttons in a respectful and beautiful manner is kind of a challenge, but it's a fun pasttime. I've contacted several button dealers on period usage of these lovelies, but I get a dumbfounded response every time. I think many collectors collect them just for their beauty. I know there are many gals out there trying to recreate these vintage looks. Has anyone found any good resources beyond those rare 1930s pattern catalogues that cost $150? I haven't been able to find a single website that specializes in vintage buttons still ATTACHED to clothing. This may be a tall order, but I'm a dreamer.

How about those adorable novelty buttons--the scotty dogs, sombreros, pineapples, clothespins? What kind of garments were these originally attached to? I don't really believe that they were all used for children's clothing like some button ladies have suggested. Ladies casual resort wear utilized a lot of novelty themes back in the day.

I would love to hear your thoughts on button application. Is there a book or site that I should know about? This is a call to arms! I've got a 1" wide coconut scotty dog that needs an outfit! I've got sombreros out the wazoo!! 40s painted wood! Amazing deco button/buckle sets dying for a new life...I want to make sure I'm doing it right!

Oh, if you're interested in checking out some inspiring sets, see my button collection at http://www.flickr.com/photos/nudeedudee/. You can pick out the ones you like, and away we go! Or I can use yours, your choice.

We're Playsuitin': Part 1

Ah, the playsuit, so adorable, yet so elusive! Along with swimwear, finding a playsuit that fits is one of the Holy Grails of vintage fashion collecting. Do we all recall the scene in "The Girl Can't Help It" where Jayne Mansfield created a lovely picnic lunch by the sea in a stunning yellow and white cotton halter dress. Then she whipped off her button-down circle skirt to reveal her playsuit/swimsuit underneath, nearly giving Tom Ewell a heart attack? These designers were thinking about practicality as well as flattering lines.

I was under the impression that a playsuit was a one-piece garment, but apparently it can be any coordinating set of summer-themed tops and bottoms. Now we've all seen the playsuit Fashion Crimes Against Humanity--typically involving some kind of car show(I'm seeing a theme here). The bumcheek peeking out of the shorts bottom--or eek! a boob from the underside of a top. Althouh the dudes get a thrill out of this, I am in full support of a well-fitted garment! The ladies of the day wore garments (from the 30s on) that were very-close fitting, yet not so much that you are hoping that those threads hang in there for dear life. I am starting to understand that ladies had many more opportunities than we do to have garments custom-made for themselves by local dressmakers. My friend Dettre is regaling me with stories of her grandmother attending fashion shows at department stores where she would simply point at a garment and have it made up in her size. What a dream come true!

For those who do not have a local seamstress at their disposal, I am happy to be of service. Here are some examples of some playsuits I have made this summer, along with a few inspirational patterns. There are infinite variations on these themes. What is a playsuit but a top with a bottom? Or a top attached to a bottom! I have even started with blouse and dress patterns as a template and shortened the bottom of the blouse to fit snugly around the bust. The trick lies in fitting it just so, as these styles are snug and there is little room for error. Gosh I wish I had a staff of talented sewers to help me whip up all of the glorious possibilities!

A Day at the Beach!

Lovely, lovely, ah Miss DecoDarling at the beach in her new summertime outfit that I made just for her! She is so fantastic, Miss Betty Grable herself would kill for those gams. The top is a 1940s NOS daisy print fabric in the loveliest, crispest cotton, trimmed with crochet lace and deco-era mottled green buttons. The shorts are linen-rayon blend and fully lined, also from a 1940s pattern.

Here's the link for her shop, featuring many lovely 1930s finds, check it out! http://www.etsy.com/shop/decodarling?ga_search_query=decodarling&ga_search_type=seller_usernames

Hanky skirt: Celebration or desecration?

OK, I've been wanting to try one of these out for YEARS. I'm sure I'm not the first one to come up with this. Oh, the lonely pile of hankies. $1, $2, maye $3 each, hanging out in their pristine pressed-ness with their crocheted doily cousins and tea towels aunties. Times are getting tough in the antique market, and though I'm not finding 6 yard pieces of 1940s rayon any longer, there the hankies sit. And sit. But they are just so sweet, begging to etch out a home in our not so delicate modern lives.

As a disclaimer, I too shudder at the scads of "jewelry" made out of epoxied bakelite buttons, permanently locked into a crafty death grip for the rest of eternity. I don't feel guilty about using vintage buttons for the clothes I make because of course they can be cut off and re-used. As for the vintage fabric, I try my very hardest to replicate the authentic garments with the original patterns and everything.

But I've always eyeballed those piles of dainty hankies at the flea markets: their adorable scalloped trimes, embroidered details, delicate flower and geometric designs and thought, darn, how can I use them to show off their wonderfulness?

This skirt has the practical pockets, the large horseshoe design that is double topstitched onto the front of the skirt. The hankies would also make darling patch pockets also, especially the children's hankies that are a bit smaller.

So what do you think, is there a possibility here, or is it offensive to cut these lovelies up and sew them onto a skirt? I would love to say that people are using them for other purposes, but I've been watching them for over 10 yrs now and I just don't think they're going to make a big comeback. I've tried to show them off as an accessory--I've actually made several garments specifically to showcase a little hanky pocket-- a black wool 40s jumpsuit and a slim pencil skirt to feature a color coordinating hanky peeking out. But permanently attaching it, am I committing a sin? They are all so unique and fabulous, I just love that.

Ric Rac Paddywhack

Hey Girls,

Burning issue here~ need your input! I've been getting a lot of requests for this style of 1940s sundress, and I FINALLY tracked down a pattern on ebay (I guess I wasn't the only one hunting), and whipped up this sample dress for myself. These dresses usually feature ric rac trim and cute pockets, and either button up the back or have a zipper. They typically have a sash. I was inspired to use the denim/feedsack combo, I think it turned out cute, what do you think? I like how the straps look with the piping. It kind of has a 70s folksy vibe, but I think that's cool! All styles are connected somehow throughout the decades anyhoo.

So should I keep it ric rac free, or use the trim, and in white, or the teal?

I'll be sure to post some final pics of me actually wearing it as soon as it's done! Thanks in advance for your advice!