1930's Aviatrix | Costume Photo's

Paine Field Aviation Day

May 20th, 2017

Earlier this year I posted some of my inspiration of women's aviation wear from the early 20th century. Since then I've put together a 1930's Aviatrix ensemble consisting of a pair of jodhpurs, leather flight helmet, and knee high lace up boots, which I premiered at Paine Field Aviation Day in May. This outfit was really popular and it was so comfortable. 

Usually this event has terrible weather. It's always rainy, windy and freezing, so I was excited to finally have an outfit I could wear that would be warm and still fit the era. However, this was the first time I think in the history of this event that it was actually warm. Go figure. But this outfit was still surprisingly comfortable, even in the warm weather.

The event itself was fun, as usual, and it was a great day of volunteering and hanging out. At the end of the day I was able to get some pictures with one of the biplanes. The sun was really bright, so I'm squinting in most of the pictures, but they still turned out pretty nice.

I had a lot of people tell me I looked like Amelia Earhart throughout the day. As I walked by parents would point to me and tell their kids "look, there's Amelia Earhart, the first female pilot!" She wasn't the first, but she's one of the most famous. It was fun being Amelia for a day though.

Details about this costume:

• The jodhpurs/pants - made by me using Butterick pattern B6340. This pattern fit right out of the bag (which never happens), but it was a beast to put together. The instructions were so confusing and it has a lot of pieces and pockets. The mockup nearly drove me insane.
• The helmet and goggles - these are authentic British issued from WWII that I found at a local antique store. It was a great find and it even came with a picture and name of the man who originally owned them.
• The jacket - this is a modern jacket I found in a lucky stop at my local Goodwill.
• The boots - the boots are modern, purchased from Amazon and I love them!
• The rest of the items are modern pieces I either found at local stores or purchased from ThredUp. I was very specific in the modern pieces I used because I wanted to make sure they looked authentic. The piece I was most specific with was the sweater though. It was a little challenging to find something with the right knitted pattern and neckline that fit the vintage look I needed.

My plan is to replace most if not all of the modern pieces with authentic vintage pieces as I'm able to find them. But for now I'm happy with what I have.

Hangin' with Grumpy, the B-25 Bomber.

Not the greatest photo, but it's the only one I have without the helmet on.

I'm so proud of my hair. I set it in foam curlers the night before and that morning when I was trying to style it I just couldn't get it to look good, so I put in in a low ponytail and tucked it up underneath to create a faux-bob and it actually worked. It looked pretty good, if I do say so myself, and I got a ton of compliments on it.