In my own little Cocoon

Well, I've been considering this sewing challenge for a while now - one of the legendary designer Poiret's designs, the Cocoon coat.  

Yes, I do some sewing. And knitting. And lace making. I've yet to master the art of crochet, as I need
to find someone in the know to show me. I learned my knitting skills from an elderly next door neighbour lady years back, sadly she is no longer with us.

After much research on the style of the 1910s and Edwardian era, though I cannot remember what got me started on this, I found a website which sells period and vintage patterns, probably for theatre and TV costume departments, but sells to the general public as well.

Imagining that the pattern would be very complicated, I was pleased to discover that the coat is a three piece pattern and the style comes mainly from the draping.  Included in the pattern is a small evening bag called a "reticule".    This garment doesn't seem too complicated to make,  however, the luxuriant fabrics suitable for this design, e.g. Velvet, etc, are difficult to work with.

I'll give it a go.   I did purchase another pattern at the same time, an Edwardian day dress, which I will also try. The picture above shows a similar dress and, of course, the Cocoon.

One thing I did notice, especially about the dress, is the similarity in style to a 70's maxi I came across on another blog. What goes around comes around..........

I'll post the result here, once I have it. 

Saturday Night at The Movies

This film I have seen many times before, it is my "go to" flick if I want to binge on Fifties glamour.

The tale involves Ingrid Bergman as an actress who falls for Cary Grant's character, even though he's married.

 The story line is enjoyable enough (needless to say, good old Cary turns out to single) but the main focus for me is the out and out high life of it all, not a kitchen sink in sight.

The costumes the ladies get to wear, utterly fabulous.  The excellent grooming of the men.  They wear suits! Three piece ones, usually,  now when does THAT ever happen these days?  In the evenings, of course, its dinner jackets and black ties.

The sets - Ingid Bergman's character's apartment, with its fully serviced and staffed building is of an irreplaceable, largely bygone, era.

Cary Grant is my all time favourite movie actor. Sure, not the best actor ever, IMO, however, in terms of style and charisma, for me, he cannot be surpassed.  Suave, well dressed, charming, always, (his on-screen and public persona was, at least).

Very, very,vintage. Very, very  glamourous. (Very, very  envious...........)

A Few Do's and Don'ts

No I'm not giving instructions; rather, I'm stating what, in terms of  internet, I do and don't.

Do: this new blog!
Some very limited FaceBook, in that I am a member of a closed group devoted to Go Pod caravans, this is because I'm considering purchasing one, perhaps later this year.
Pinterest: for the ideas it gives me.

Don't:  Instagram
Twitter
Social media in general
A wide and comprehensive FaceBook involvement.


Do I need to give reasons for the apathy toward this aspect of internet life?  Well, ok, here goes.
Mainly, I'm not that sociable!  I'm certainly not so interesting that that others need to share every aspect of my daily life, this would be rather dull for them, as well as time consuming for me.  From what I can gather, some folk out there post almost hourly.

So there we have it, in a nutshell, as it were.  Concise and without frills and unnecessary verbiage.

The Handbags and The Gladrags ...........

Yep, clothes. I love 'em.

And I have a lot of them. I love dressing up, I'm not ashamed to say and get fairly dismayed by today's penchant for " dress down".

I, frankly, enjoy spending time getting outfits and "looks" together, I do dress in some vintage  but these days I'm a much larger lady than I was, therefore find it a bit more difficult to find vintage that fits me.  I  use mainly modern take offs. and repro.  Still, I have some nice vintage clothing pieces and, of course, vintage accessories and jewellery are one size only! (And fit me just fine).

And vintage accessories and jewellery rock!

I'll have a go at all eras, anything before the age of the jogging bottom, puffa jacket and shell suit, really and before effort and decorum became deeply unfashionable.

 My current favourite is  the Mod look, Pattie Boyd, Marianne and Anita, of course, Jean Shrimpton,  Cathy McGowan, in their Sixties heyday.

Inevitably, I get digs and snipes and comments, which, equally inevitably, I ignore.  Sure, if people want to wander about ungroomed that's ok by me, after all, we all have our own circumstances, but just don't expect me to do the same.

So, this leads to one of my resolutions for New Year - pack as much style in as I can before 31 December 2019!

Happy New Year and (hopefully) Happy New Blog!

Quite what has prompted me to start to dabble in the ways of blogland is not clear even to me, but here goes.

When I look at the histories of some of the blogs I've taken to following, the realisation is that, typically for me, I'm about ten years behind the rest of the world!

Still, better late than never, as the saying goes.

And I am the woman who once said, out loud, that computers would never catch on! (I've never lived that one down),  the internet endures, along with the 40 million or so live blogs, despite my hilarious prediction.

I may decide to give myself a year at this blog, then reflect, lol, - the challenge being whether I can get Oatcakes to catch on ........................