1940's Swing Dress Photo's and Details

After my post about Vintage Aircraft Weekend I wanted to dedicate a specific post to the dress I made and wore to the dinner dance. As I mentioned in my previous post, I used Simplicity Pattern 1587 to make my 1940's swing dress.

After reading some reviews online I opted to only use the pattern for the top half of the dress since the reviews I read (and the pictures proved) that the skirt looked really frumpy and more 90's than 40's, so I made a few modifications.

Changes I made from the pattern:

• I used my own 6 gore skirt pattern in place of the skirt that was included with the pattern.
• I cut the sides of the bodice front and back 3 sizes smaller to fit better and to remove the gathers at the waist.
• Instead of doing a keyhole opening with an interfacing in the back, I put in an invisible zipper in the back.

I also decided to make a matching belt, which was a quick and easy addition and really completed the look.

The fabric I used is a Rayon-Challis blend from Fabric.com. It's a beautiful pink/purple/plum color, and looked like a perfect color for the era. While I was searching for fabric I looked at a lot of fabric swatches, which Vintage Dancer has a very helpful article with lots of examples, which I used for reference to select an appropriate color.

1940's  fabric samples, via Vintage Dancer

I'm so happy with how my hair turned out! I have naturally straight hair that is hard to curl, but I did a practice run a few days before the event, which helped me figure a few things out. I made sure to put extra curlers in the back section to make sure it was just as curly as the front, and I also added some curl defining hair gel when I set the curls.

I'd like to do a tutorial sometime since I learned a bit about setting and curling hair for a 1940's look.

For the accessories, I wore a pearl necklace and matching bracelet, a vintage velvet cap, a matching belt, and seamed stockings. The shoes are a modern pair with a vintage flair I bought several years ago. Eventually I want to get a pair that's more accurate, but they're pretty comfortable and easy to dance in and work for now.

Vintage Aircraft Weekend 2017

I hope you all are enjoying Labor Day! This weekend was Vintage Aircraft Weekend, which is an event I've been going to and volunteering at for the last 5+ years. The weekend always kicks off with a big band dinner dance on Friday night, which has a live swing band, fantastic food, and of course lots of vintage dresses and uniforms. On Saturday there's an air show and more live music. This year we had a Bob Hope impersonator as well as an Andrew Sisters tribute group perform Friday and Saturday.

For the dinner dance on Friday night I wore my new 1940's dress, which I finished up the day before. Whew! I'm usually one who tries to have everything ready to go at least a week before an event, but with my busy schedule I wasn't able to to get the materials I needed for the final piece (a matching belt) until a few days before. The dress itself came together pretty quickly, and I had it done in a couple of days. I'll write up a post with more details soon.

I paired my dress with a pearl necklace and bracelet, and also wore a vintage velvet cap I've had for several years now. I'm not sure if it's more 40's or 50's, but it's a dark chocolate brown and matched the outfit so perfectly I had to wear it.

On Saturday I wore my 1930's Aviatrix outfit, but since the weather was so hot I opted to leave off the sweater and coat. Even so, it was a little too hot to be comfortable. I styled it in a slightly more 1940's fashion with my hair and makeup since my hair was already curled from the night before. Which works, because this style of outfit was pretty much the same from the 1920's-50's.

I didn't bring my good camera with my to the dinner dance on Friday night; I was determined to look as period correct as I could, and I didn't want a giant camera hanging around my neck all night. But I did make sure to bring it out a little bit on Saturday.

From the dinner dance on Friday night.

From the dinner dance on Friday night.

From the dinner dance on Friday night. My dad (to the left of me) with the "Andrew Sisters" and "Bob Hope". 

  

  

 At the end of the day one of the pilots took me out to his bi-plane to take some pictures.

  

  

How did you spend your holiday weekend?

1940's Swing Dress Inspiration

Vintage Aircraft Weekend is quickly approaching , which means its time for a new dress! This is my big event of the year, with a dinner dance on Friday night, and the airshow the next day; it's a great weekend.

I love dressing up and every year I tell myself I should make a dress, but somehow I never end up actually making one and end up wearing something either authentic vintage or vintage inspired. But not this year. I'm determined to actually make my dress this year even though my schedule has been crazier than ever. But it's 1940's, it should be simple enough, right?

While I'm busy scrambling around sewing, I thought I'd share some of my inspiration for the dress I'm making this year.

Before I decided on doing a 1940's swing dress, I threw around several different idea's and era's. I really love the elegant beauty of the 1930's and the full skirts of the 50's, so I was open to any of those era's as well. For a while I was throwing around the idea of a 1950's cotton lawn dress after I found the perfect pink lawn online. But I decided I really wanted to do a 40's swing dress since I usually ended up doing 50's.

Late 30's, early 40's Fashion.

1940's Day Wear

Early 1940's Fashion

c. 1942 Via

I cam across the below picture and I loved the bow neckline but I knew it would be too time consuming to draft up a pattern. But I loved the dress so much, so I kept it in mind.

c. 1942 via

Then I came across Katherine's dress on Mode de Lis and fell in love with the similar design to the one above, and I realized she had used a Simplicity pattern that I've had in my stash for several years now.

Katherine's dress

Like Katherine, I'm using Simplicity pattern 1587 for the bodice and drafting my own skirt pattern. I'll be sure to write more about that in a future post. But for now, it's time to get sewing!