Fancy Hat Sunday

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Today is fancy hat Sunday via the Hometown Victory Girls so here is my contribution for this week.  My son likes to put this put on his sailor hat and cape and call himself barnacle boy and since he decided to be barnacle boy this morning I decided to just go with it.

Dreams of Skirts

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Well summer finally visited us in the Minnesota.  We had some 90 degree days that had me shuffle through my wardrobe look for some cool but classy (I was doing some workshops for my job this week).  I think every vintage loving girl needs to have an array of skirts to wear for all seasons but summer is when I really like to wear skirts.  I now have a bug to sew some skirts.  Here  are some options.

Dirndl

I love Gerties dirndl skirt above and I have a few border print fabrics I have been wanting to use so I have been looking at dirndl skirts as they work well with a border print.  There are lots of online tutorials on these skirts as your pattern is basically a rectangle at the length you want your skirt to hang plus hem.  Although one this I was wondering about with these skirts and border prints is the hem.  One tutorial I looked at recommended a 4" in hem to add weight which will help the skirt hand nicer.  With some of my border print fabrics.  I don't really have that much fabric to spare, In fact I may even have less than two inches.  Is there some way to add weight with out the excessive hem?

Oh and by the way Gertie has both an online tutorial for this skirt linked above to the source and one in her book if you have that also.

Aline

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Aline skirts were very popular in the 1940s. I like this 4 gore example above by Jitterbuggin.  I love these for work as well as pleasure they give you room to move around but don't have too with out the over abundance of fabric that sometimes can be too billowing depending on how active you need to be. Right now I feel like I have more time and fabric so I think I will do what I can to make my own this summer.

Circle Skirts

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Circle skirts are the classic skirt of the fifties.  I love the vintage Mexican circle skirts with their vibrant colors and beautiful art work.  While these can be found on ebay and etsy but they also are easy to make and you can make your own pattern easily.  

Pencil Skirts

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Pencil skirts are the ultimate in sexy skirts.  The one above is by the retro clothing company Mode Merr and if you aren't familiar with them you should definitely go check them out they do make some adorable vintage inspired clothes.  Pencil skirts seem more easily attainable as they are still popular today.  Patterns are very easy to find.  

Well that is my thought on skirts for now I know there other varieties of skirts out there but these are the ones I am the most fond of so I will stop here.  What are your favorite skirts?

Why Blog? Inspiration?

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thanks for the inspiration Snoodlebug

Why do we blog?  I love to read blogs but I am no great writer.  I admit that visuals are more my thing (ok I guess that is why I am a visual art teacher).  I often scan pictures before I read the blog, I know judge a book by its cover and all that.  So maybe the question is why haven't I blogged?  Busy, tired,  out of inspiration?  Well not really I am inspired all the time but taking the time to write is sometimes more than I can do.  This week I was inspired by the lovely Lisa at Snoodlebug.  She posted about why she hadn't blogged in while.  If you haven't seen her blog you should really check it out she did a great tutorial series on Hollywood hair that I highly recommend.

Another post that inspired me this week was from Gertie about summer shoes and practical vs impractical.  I have recently been suffering from both foot and ankle problems.  I sprained my ankle this spring which then brought on a bought of plantar fasciitis.   Which means that I need shoes with low heals and really good arch support.  doesn't that sound like I should be wearing orthopedic shoes.  And while I probably should I think there might be some cuter options out there.  I was looking as some Dansko's here are a couple that I liked.

Anyone have any other shoe suggestions for me?