I've had this dress in my shop for a few months now and it hasn't sold. I've tried it on and it fits me perfectly, but I'm not a late-60's kind of girl. I much prefer the 30's, some 40's, all of the 50's and the early 60's (think Mad Men seasons 1 & 2.) My struggle with this dress is this...I love, love, love the green fabric. Here's a close-up detail of all it's green and black swirly floral loveliness.
Now this is my dilemma...the skirt of the dress is lovely but the blouse? Well, it's just not my taste and judging by the fact that it's still in the shop, I'm not alone in that (although it does have 2 admirers...) What I would like to do (if I could get past the destruction of a vintage garment) is to use the skirt fabric and make this:
The green dress is simple and sweet and the black option has adorable little ruffles on the shoulders and neckline.
I think either of these would be amazing in the green and black fabric and the fact that the fabric and the pattern are vintage from the 60's satisfies that little OCD piece of myself that prefers to sew vintage garments out of vintage fabrics. Precisely the reason I sew on four Singers, the oldest dating to the late 1800's and the newest one is my Grandmother's from the late 60's, but that is a post for another day.
As a collector and seller of vintage clothing, I'm really struggling with remaking a 50 year old dress. Should I preserve it for the buyer who absolutely loves it (I'm sure they're out there somewhere) or should I just throw caution and conscience to the wind and accept the fact that I already love the fabric and should therefore make it into a garment I'll love, that's still period authentic to the fabric? Hmmm...I best sleep on it...
Happy sewing!
xox Elle
