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Sunday, August 16, 2009

For Gertie

Oh, about the wiggle dress/overskirt photos; I couldn't find any pictures on the web (I'm not done looking!) but here are some of my favorite patterns of the concept.

From my personal pattern wish list:

Simplicity 1812 Hostess outfit over pants!

Simplicity 3035 (1959) My favorite!

Gretchen, see how similar this dress is to the "Joan Holloway" dresses you've made? You could just make the overskirt for one of them. Just a suggestion though because you don't really seem like the type to take shortcuts.

More:

Simplicity 2602 Simplicity 4499

McCall's 9434 Butterick 9168

Looking at these, I kind of wonder if Simplicity Patterns was behind the whole movement? They had quite a few similar patterns and don't forget Simplicity 2370.

I think, of the ones above, that the most successful is Butterick 9168, because one could believe that it was a completely new dress. Though I think the tulle/net overskirt concept is charming, I think I would rather make the overskirt opaque; either matching the dress or coordinating with it like the top-left image on Simplicity 2602. But the thing about these patterns that I like so much...the wiggle dresses alone are spectacular. Check out those bodices and necklines? All beautiful.

McCall's 9278

This one I don't think works at all. What were they thinking with that sheer purple overlay?!

So, what do you think about the wiggle dress/overskirt combination? Would you wear this today, career dress by day, cocktail dress by night?

2 comments:

  1. Oooh! Fantastic! You've really found some amazing ones. That last one is strange . . . it has a 40s look to it. Was it an earlier pattern? And interesting, too, to note how many of these came out of Simplicity! Must have been some kind of overskirt conspiracy . . .

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  2. Nice selection. I am particularly fond of M9434 and I agree, S3035 is great as well. S1812 looks like a costume Lana Turner wore in Imitation of Life. Love it!

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