Let's Talk About Bras!

This is not a sponsored post - I just really love this product!

On New Year's Eve, while wearing this dress, I was approached by a very glamorous lady with the enquiry 'Are you wearing a Doreen?' 

For those of you not in the know, this is a Doreen: 

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I didn't really know how to react - partly flattered, partly embarrassed that my bosoms were being scrutinised, and also happy to meet another fan of this fab bra. Made by Triumph, it was launched in 1967 and is apparently the world's best selling bra. 

I'm a HUGE fan of this bra! All the lacy panels and thick straps give it a granny-ish look - your partner may give you a puzzled look when they see you in it - but it gives the best shape, especially if you wear vintage clothes. Of course there are other great brands of bullet bra available, such as the 'Maitresse' from What Katie Did, but I haven't found one with the firm support of the Doreen.  

Modern underwired bras rely on wiring and padding to support the bust, and give a very rounded, 'cupped' shape to the bust, with little seperation to the breasts. Since the popularity of the Wonderbra, the cut of modern bras increasingly tend towards a squashed together look, to give a deeper cleavage. The Doreen lifts the bust quite a lot when compared to modern bras, and seperates the breasts, giving the 'bullet bra' sillhouette popular in the 50's. I spent years fiddling around with outfits, trying to get them to sit properly over the bust; it turned out all I needed to do was get the right bra. As well as this, the firm construction of the Doreen supports differently to underwired bras - I swear I stand up straighter, and don't experience as much back ache when wearing this bra. And the bras straps almost never fall down.

The only draw back - the front of the bra sits very high, meaning you can't wear it with any deep-v or scooped necklines. 

Enough of my descriptions - pictures speak a 1,000 words - so here are some compare and contrast photos. All in a lovely striped top for emphasis!

On the right is the Doreen - the silhouette is more 'pointy', and the bust is higher. I think it even makes my waist look smaller! In this picture I'm wearing a flesh coloured version in a 34DD (they run a bit small compared to other brands; I'm usually a 32)

 Next, the modern underwired on the left - my bust is more rounded and less seperated, and despite fiddling around with straps it still sits lower. In this picture I'm wearing a Fantasie 32EE.

Side view - underwire

Side view - Doreen

 If you're a fan of vintage clothes a bra like this is definitely worth the investment, and this particular one is easy to find -try John Lewis, House of Fraser, and Triumph's own website. I purchased mine from Figleaves, where they currently retail for £29.00.

It's Always More Fun Playing the Bad Guy (or Girl)

I happened to catch this film a few months ago on BBC2 - 'The Falcon in San Francisco' (1945). 

 I wasn't previously aware of it, but it seems to have been part of a series of 'Falcon' movies, starring Tom Conway (brother of George Sanders) as the Falcon, a private detective who gets into hot water, usually involving a girl in peril who he has to save from some baddies. This particular episode was also directed by Joseph H. Lewis, of 'Gun Crazy' and 'The Big Combo' fame.

I was attracted to this one because it was set in my beloved San Francisco, but also because the hair and costumes were great. The villain of the piece - Doreen Temple as played by Fay Helm (thank you, IMDB!) - had some fabulous outfits: 

Total badass!(source)

 In particular, I became obsessed with the neckline on this dress:

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 I love its unusual shape, the way it's deep yet narrow, then rises at the neck. Also, notice the way the fullness of the bust is folded into the neckline - so unusual! I could not stop thinking about this neckline and resolved to re-create it. I figured if I combined this pattern:

With part of the neckline of this one:

I'd come up with something similar.

And here it is!

The neckline isn't exactly the same, but it's a pretty good attempt; if I made it again, I'd bring it closer together at the front and tighter around the neck. The fabric is a lightweight rayon with a soft feel and drape, like a washed silk.

 I added the black cord around the neck to give more emphasis to the shape and add a touch of 1940's detailing:

And to add an extra touch of 1940's, I've worn it with my new Miss LFire shoes, a lovely Christmas present from Mr Needles:

'Bonnie' shoes by Miss L Fire

 And that was my Christmas sewing - a dress inspired by a villain. I'm off to hatch some dastardly plans......

Goodbye to 2012 and all that...

I didn't really feel the Xmas spirit as much as usual this year. My Christmas mostly looked like this:

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I made more effort for New Year's, resulting in this:

But I did get up to some festive sewing and knitting.Here's a sneak preview of some partially finished sleeves which will eventually become a jumper for Mr. Needles:

Flaming sleeves!

The colour work got me completely tangled up, as you can see on the reverse:

Back view

And here's a sneak preview of my Christmas dress, the details of which will be in a post to follow:

New dress accessorised with essential wonky party hat!

That's enough for now - I'm off to finish off the last of the mulled wine!

The 'Less Haste, More Speed' Dress

 'Less haste, more speed' - I never really understood that saying until I made this dress. I don't know what was wrong with me when I cut this dress out (maybe I was in a post-flu medication haze), but for some reason I looked at the measurements on the back of the packet and assumed they would work for me.

I made version B, on the left

 How wrong I was...

The finished product's not bad, but it's full of little faults and mistakes the distract me when I wear it.

Here I am in my festive dining room - NOT! It's a recreation of a Georgian room at the Victoria and Albert Museum

I think this pattern was cut for a person with no curves and a lot less height than me. There's no room at all in the bust, so much so that leaving the waist dart in gave me a really unattractive 'squashed' effect in the chest area. So I left it out altogether. As for the height issue, the waist seems to sit much higher then it should. All of these issues could have been avoided if I had just done a few measurements and a few easy adjustments. Lesson learned!

On top of this, the pattern seems to have been drafted a bit strangely. Now I'm no couture seamstress and I've been known to cut corners, but I ain't bad at sewing even if I say so myself. But there were some things on this dress I just couldn't make happen. For example, the sleeve:

Frustrating, unwanted gathers!

 Try as I might, I couldn't avoid a few tiny gathers at the sleeve head. It just wouldn't fit! AAARRRGGGHHH!


Next, the collar and the facing:

Pleat at center back - sheer laziness on my part

No amount of clipping, stretching, easing, and all the other sewing tricks I was aware of would make them go together easily. It was as if they were cut for an enirely different size, or another dress altogether. In the end, I was really lazy and just added a pleat at the center back of the collar - it doesn't look too bad, does it?

I approach every project as a learning experience, and I always finish them knowing there are little bits and pieces I would like to change, or that could have worked out better. Then I take these bits of knowledge to the next project, and hopefully improve on them. But with this one, I think I was momentarily crazy and just went at it like a looney seamstress, and without any of my usual care. And you know what - it's actually not bad! Every time I wear it some of the faults kind of bother me, but several people have commented on it positively, and Mr Needles says it's one of his favourite dresses on me. 

Maybe I just need to relax with all the perfection stuff. 

See you soon!

Fever Induced Knitting and Sewing

The last 2 weeks of my life have mostly consisted of this:

Get me, mixing my medications - living on the edge!

 Yup, as is so often the case at this time of year, I have succumbed to flu, like 90% of the rest of the nation. Hacking cough, aches and pains, exhaustion, sweating alternating with shivering - the whole gamut of general illness. I've generally felt like this:

Resting on my deathbed...

Besides watching re-runs of 'Poirot' and 'Murder She Wrote', the only thing I've been able to manage is knitting. I've started on this project from an American copy of The Vogue Knitting Book from Autumn/Winter 1951:

With all this time on my hands recuperating, I've wizzed through this - only the sleeves left to do!

I've also started this:

Le-Roy Pattern, early 1970's (I think...)

 
I've always loved the 1940's via the 1970's - I love the way they've styled it with wedges and a hair snood. And the black and pink floral cotton sateen I pulled out of my stash is just perfect for view B.

Anyway, I think the worst of my illness has gone, so normal service is about to be resumed!