Fall Garden Party

Last Sunday was a perfect Indian Summer day to have a garden party celebrating the beginning of Kansas City Fashion Week. We mingled at the beautiful Van Noy mansion in Kansas City, MO, for brunch and cocktails.

I wore an oval vest that I picked up about four years ago at the Vero Beach Museum of Art in Vero Beach, FL. My sister and I were there to see the Katherine Hepburn: Dress for Stage and Screen exhibit. Afterwards, of course, we had to visit the museum gift shop where I spied this beautiful floral oval vest. Frankly, I was on the fence about getting it but my sister really pushed me into it. I'm glad she did because it is a delight to wear and it is a great piece because it would work with any body shape. 

This vest can be worn a few ways. Last Sunday, I chose to close it with a simple safety pin which can't be seen at all.

Again, I have relied on my black column. My 100% silk pants are old (six years maybe?) Charter Clubs from Macy's that I altered to reflect my changing taste. Originally, they were very wide-legged and baggy. 

The long sleeve layering shell from Chi Chi is the piece that finally made this look possible. I now have two Chi Chi shells (the other color I have is burgundy 3/4 sleeve) and wish they carried a dark brown one.

Now to the ever important accessories.  My clutch is a black patent leather by Alfani (eBay). The ring is (as described by the seller): NATURAL EMERALD,CHROME DIOPSIDE,W CZ STERLING 925 SILVER and is from the eBay store Gemsporium out of Thailand. This store is highly rated and their quality is excellent and delivery is within one week. Gemsporium's jewelry is very popular and you will have to work hard to win a auction. I will also add that this store has an amazing community story.

This bracelet was just in my post last week. I  found it in the Kansas City Symphony Guild's small pop-up shop that they always have during concert season. The guild's shop has always been one of my favorite place to shop and I know I'm not alone. There is always a crowd in their small space.

My earrings never show but I do love these Peridot drops which Michael gave me for Christmas. I know they came from an art museum catalogue but not sure which one. I could do a whole article just on gorgeous items from art museum catalogues this season. I just got my Met catalogue this week and, oh wow.

And finally the shoes. They are Nine West (TJ Maxx) and with their lace texture are great when you want to dress up something or add texture to a black outfit.

I felt this necklace deserved a closer look with it's Druzy Quartz as a focal point. This piece is by a Kansas City designer and I picked it up at the Symphony Guild shop during concert season a couple of years ago. However, I cannot remember the name of the designer. I am going to ask at the next concert if anyone in the guild remembers her name because it is driving me crazy!

The Polished Accessory

This coppery shimmery duochrome beauty was was the one I picked this time. Even as I write this piece, I still have it on. I love duochromes and Rescue Beauty Lounge's Elvis in the Clouds is certainly a gorgeous one. Unfortunately RBL closed shop about a year ago. You can still find some of their polishes on eBay but at inflated prices.

Snapshots of a Garden Party 

From far left and moving clockwise: Sarah Hicks of Noble Native, Jennifer Janesko of Janesko Designs, Ami Beck of Dolyn Bags and Katie Van Luchien of KSquaredKC

Stuart Brown (far left) of Tutor Woodworks discussing the adventures of owning and restoring a historic home, the Van Noy mansion.

It was such a beautiful day but the grass played havoc with heels.

Would You Like a Vest Like This?

Originally, I hadn't even thought about having a section on how to make this garment. However, when I tried to find some like pieces that were similar on-line, there were none to be found (I only found heavy winter type pieces). 

Before I start, let me say that I have not made my own vest yet. I've written these instructions after thinking how I would go about making it and I hope they are clear. If there is something that is not clear, please let me know.

This type of vest was very popular on Pinterest a couple of years ago.  I am including two links that might be helpful.

• The Sewing Rabbit (a longer oval shaped single layer vest)
  
• Threads Mgazine (very short single layer vest)
  

After laying my vest out flat, I saw that it was only a simple circle so I set about making a diagram. I think this would be the perfect beginner sewing project and what drama for your effort!
 

I couldn't get a view where it didn't look like an oval but it really is a circle!

My finished vest is a 56" circle. I would add an extra 1/2" all the way around for seam allowance.

I have it in the back of my mind to eventually create one from silk. Some silk does come that wide. But most of the time it doesn't--so really watch the width of any fabric you choose. If my silk was something like 52" wide, I probably would make my circle smaller and hope the lesser length would look just fine. If the silk was only 45" (much of it is), I would have to give a big sigh and go on searching.

My favorite online fabric store is Mood Fabrics and they have gorgeous silks, silk blends and silk like fabrics that would look beautiful for this project. And there is plenty of 56"-60" fabric to be had.

You will need two lengths of fabric that are 1 5/8 (142 cm) yards long. This piece is reversible and I think two coordinated prints would look great.

This diagram is the finished dimensions of the vest. I would add an extra 1/2" all around for a seam allowance which would make a 57" circle.

There is a close up below of the arm hole so you can see the shape. My diagram has a slightly more rectangular shape to the armholes.  Some of the DIYs  I've seen just have a slit for the armhole but I think you need more room for the shoulder so I would go with the oval. Also it might be a good idea to draw out a pattern for the armholes on a separate paper and trace them on your circle. 

I am very big on cutting a paper pattern, but that is up to you. Back in the day, I would tape together the want ads of the newspaper to get paper large enough. Butcher paper, artists newsprint or freezer paper would be some other options. 

After cutting out your fabric pieces, turn the two pieces right sides together and with a 3/8" seam, sew around the circle, leaving a small opening to turn your vest. 

Turn the pieces so the right sides are now showing and press them thoroughly. Pin and base each front and back armholes together (or machine stitch). 

Now bind the armholes and you will be done.
The armholes are bound with the same fabric. I would cut strips at least 1" wide for this. If you can, cut them on the bias. This will let them go around the curves much better.

That's all I have for today so.......

I will say adieu.
I will see you next week and in the meantime, Happy Styling!

This week, I am linking up with Patti's Not Dead Yet Style's Visible Monday HERE,  Cherie's  Style Nudge's Shoe and Tell HERE, Catherine's Not Dressed As Lamb's I will Wear What I like HERE, Elegantly Dressed and Stylish Turning Heads Tuesday HERE, Living On Cloud Nine's Style Perspectives HERE, Shopping My Closet's Style Me Wednesday HERE, The Pleated Poppy's What I Wore HERE, High Altitude Style's Link-Up HERE, Fashion Should Be Fun's Fun Friday Fashion Link Up HERE, Shelbee's Edge of the Week Link Up HERE, Nancy's Style's Fancy Friday HERE, and Rachel's (Rachel The Hat) The Passion For Fashion Link-up HERE.

Photo credit for this week goes to Michael for the photos of me. The photos of the garden party and DIY section are by yours truly. 

My New Amina Marie and a Short History of the Fedora

Welcome back!

I am very excited to show my new hat by Amina Marie Millinery. Having one of Amina's hats has been a dream-come-true ever since I first saw Amina in June of 2015 at a pop-up event at the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City.

A close up of my new hat along with the texture on my wrap. I designed this top in a way that I could show one of my vintage Mother of Pearl belt buckles.

This hat's design is inspired by the traditional Fedora. Amina and I worked together to make this one just for me. It is a fur felt hat with a 1.75 inch brim and a 5 inch crown, which differs a bit from the traditional Fedora (see research toward end of this post).

Living close to Kansas City, I was able to go in for fittings to make sure it was perfect. Of course, it touts that gorgeous black and creme ribbon band that is an Amina exclusive.

Can you tell I am happy? It was such a joy to work with Amina in planning my hat. 

The height of the my hat's crown was something I chose. I think the extra height makes the look more elegant and (clever girl) it makes me look taller! My hat could have been just a single color but what's the fun in that? 

This is not the first time I have talked about Amina Marie Millinery on this blog. I covered her new studio opening HERE and love the photo I was able to get of her, Heidi Hermann and Whitney Manny during the benefit for Rightfully Sewn during Kansas City Fashion Week last March. HERE. 
 

It was hard to pick what to wear with my new hat. Black and grey is one of my favorite combos. It was important for me to pick something that I designed and made to wear for this first showing. I say "first showing", because I'm thinking this hat will be on here a few more times. 

My wrap is a cape/poncho hybrid that I knitted in what I call the Rows of Many Colors technique. This idea is great for those left-overs in the yarn stash. I don't know if I am alone in this problem, but when I see just one beautiful skein of yarn at an incredible price it usually comes home with me (I have gotten better mainly because I just don't look anymore--well not too often).

I have knitted a few pieces in this technique, mainly scarfs and shawls, which can make a dramatic statement depending on the combinations of yarns. If you want to see more of what I have done, please go HERE where I have written an article just about this technique along with basic instructions. 

Boot season's here, finally! So I break out my grey suede Rebecca Minkoffs. This is the third season for these and they get the wear. My daughter Michelle has even borrowed them. I love the detail on the heels. 

I ended up using two different bags today because I just couldn't make up my mind. The small black Urban Oxide cross body has been with me for a dozen years. With its small size and interesting texture, it has always been my go to when I want something modern and manageable. On the other hand, the three tone B Makowsky is just a great statement-but oh is it heavy!

The Loft knitted dress/top was thrifted and that huge belt if from Blue Fly. That sums up the important pieces. Now comes the research that I did on the Fedora.

A Brief History of the Fedora

What I believe could have been the original Fedora as it was in the late 19th Century. This hat is from the Metropolitan Museum of Arts costume collection and was designed by French designer Mme. Mandel in 1885. I found it in their archives HERE.

In 1882, the French playwright Sardou wrote the play Fédora about the Russian princess, Fédora Romanoff. The title role went to the premier American actress of the time, Sarah Bernhardt.  

Sarah Bernhardt

 
In the play, Ms. Bernhardt sported a new hat design, a soft brimmed hat with a center crease. If the nineteenth century had a red carpet celebrity list, Sarah Bernhardt would had been at the top. Her new hat, the Fedora, soon became popular with women.

Sarah Bernhardt playing Russian princess, Fédora Romanoff in
Fédora, however not wearing what I consider a Fedora

Men followed the trend around 1924, after Prince Edward of Britain added the Fedora to his wardrobe. As the cliché says, the rest is history. 

Prince Edward VIII sporting a Fedora.

The Fedora quickly rose to the top of the ranks as far as men's headgear and as the photos show below it was popular and still popular with women.

Classic ladies who could rock a Fedora: Marlena Dietrich, Ingrid Bergman and Katherine Hepburn

A modern interpretation of the Fedora by Beyoncé

What Is The Fedora?

There are many hats today that are loosely termed a Fedora. What makes a hat a Fedora and not a Trilby, Homburg, or Panama?. 

Three iconic Fedoras-Humphry Bogart, Cary Grant and Indiana Jones (Harrison Ford)

The Fedora typically has a crown of at least 4.5 inches and a brim of 2.5 inches. The crown is indented and the front is pinched. Also, the brim of a Fedora is fairly level and the wearer has a certain freedom in shaping it to their own taste.
 
Two Close Cousins of a Fedora.

Trilby

Many times a Trilby is termed a Fedora but a Trilby has a slightly shorter crown and a much narrower brim. Generally, the back of the Trilby's brim is turned up and the front part is turned down (unlike the Fedora which is fairly level). I also think the band on a Trilby is narrower. In my opinion, this is to balance the shorter brim.

I cannot have a hat post without John Hamm-On the left he is sporting a Fedora and on the right he is showing a good example of a Trilby.

Homburg

A Homburg is a felt hat characterized by a single dent running down the center of the crown (known as a "gutter crown"), a stiff brim shaped in a "kettle curl" and a bound edge trim. Homburgs are made from stiff wool or fur felt and have a grosgrain hatband and brim trim. Some may feature a feather.

Men in Homburgs-From left to right: Rudolph Valentino, Steve Buscemi (in Boardwalk Empire) and Winston Churchill

I'm tying up this post and will have to say this has been one of my favorite ones (but I'm sure I say that a lot). Everyone knows I love my Kansas City designers and I love research and especially fashion research. This article has been fun and I hope you have enjoyed it.

So hats off to the Fedora, one of my favorite looks.

My Fedoras from left to right: my white straw summer Stetson, my Dad's black felt Fedora with a new band that I made from some silk scraps and a grey straw Fedora by Mudd I picked up on sale at Kohls this Spring.

Just for good measure, I am ending with a diagram of the Fedora and all its parts. 

Good-by for now, take care and I will say adieu. I will see you next week and in the meantime, Happy Styling!



This week, I am linking up with Judith of Style Crone's Hat Attack HERE, Patti's Not Dead Yet Style's Visible Monday HERE,  Cherie's  Style Nudge's Shoe and Tell HERE, Catherine's Not Dressed As Lamb's I will Wear What I like HERE, Elegantly Dressed and Stylish Turning Heads Tuesday HERE, Living On Cloud Nine's Style Perspectives HERE, Shopping My Closet's Style Me Wednesday HERE, The Pleated Poppy's What I Wore HERE, High Altitude Style's Link-Up HERE, Fashion Should Be Fun's Fun Friday Fashion Link Up HERE, Shelbee's Edge of the Week Link Up HERE, Over 50 Feeling 40 Hit Your Style HERE and Rachel's (Rachel The Hat) The Passion For Fashion Link-up HERE and Nancy's Fashion Style Friday's Fancy Link-up HERE.

Cinderella's Capsule Wardrobe

This is an extra fashion post to my usual Sunday afternoon article. 

I am a designer at heart. Of course, so far I have four patrons who require my constant services: three little Poodles and a fifty-five year-old doll, Cinderella. This post covers designs for my beloved 'Rella'.

Sometime last year, I started creating a capsule wardrobe, a group of interchangeable pieces. Quite a few months later--I skipped a few working on this--I'm finished!

Starting out, I was was aiming for a resort type wardrobe. I ran out of steam before I got a swim suit and a coverup done (next year maybe?). This turned into an early spring to late summer wardrobe for a doll who doesn't like to swim.

She is a doll of the early 60's and I wanted this grouping to play that up. I recycled old clothes from my closet to create her wardrobe. They mainly were:

• an denim Woolrich jumper
• a Eddie Bauer chambray dress with faggoting trim
•  and old white blouse I made for my daughter but it was just HUGE and even though it was authentic YSL fabric she never wore it. 

The main problem sewing for this doll is that I don't really have patterns to fit her (she's 29" and pretty slim). Thank goodness for Photoshop because I am able to resize any doll pattern that I have.  Still, I usually have to make a few changes. 

It's time to get started..........

The first thing I made was a lined hooded swing jacket with cuffed clam digger pants. Accessories for this look are black leather ballet flats with bows, a navy leather bag and a simple beaded necklace and bracelet set. I made all the accessories, shoes and bags because you just aren't going to find things for a doll of this size. Ebay has nice selections of leather scraps and they suit my purpose just fine. 

Earrings are the exception because I can find them in small sizes. Pearl earrings are the easiest, I just use two of my pearl ended straight pins. 

The triangles at the bottom of the side seams are there for a reason. My jumper wasn't wide enough for the pattern, so there was a last minute design change.

Next, I took the jacket off and added a hat. 'Rella's knitted shell is something that I did as an example for a color theory class I teach for fiber enthusiasts. I hand painted the yarn for this top in a Rectangle Tetrad * of red violet, orange, yellow green and blue green. Each of these colors have been tempered with their respective complementary colors. If there are any fiber folks reading this, I use acid dyes by Lanaset. I find that Lanaset dyes are the most permanent to washing and light that I know.

I kept the pants but changed the knit top for a short sleeve cuffed blouse with a tie belt out of the YSL fabric. I like the hidden button detail. Who can't use a tote bag for shopping?

I pulled out one of my vintage Poodle scarfs so she could look mid-century trendy. American Girl sunglasses are a tad small but still work.

Finally switching out the pants, she is now wearing a skirt and I've added a turban. The turban fabric is some really awful stuff that I got from Walmart for testing out knit patterns (I threw out what fabric was left after that project). Other things I added were a studded clutch and cork platforms. The shoes are always the hardest part of these projects. I use the web site Fashion Doll Shoes for ideas on techniques.

Heading into warmer weather I added shorts and a repurposed straw hat that was given to me years ago by our FCCLA teacher. All I had to do was to add a band, I believe made from the front band of an old dress.

For even warmer weather I added a sleeveless top and some simple slides for her third pair of shoes.

Just in case 'Rella has to go out to a nice dinner, she has a lounging pant skirt from an experimental pattern based on a skirt I made for myself. In case the evening gets a little chilly, I knitted her one of my "Rows Of Many Colors" shawls. Each row is a different yarn. This technique creates quite a nice textured surface.

With that, I'm done because I didn't make any more.

I found a photo of the Christmas morning when Cinderella came into my life. I was pretty proud.

Sadly, her original dress has long since disintegrated.

At this point, you may think I'm a tad crazy. Further, this is not the first time Cinderella has been on this blog. Her first outfit feature is HERE and I talk a little more about getting her.

 *What is a rectangular Tetrad you ask? It is four colors on the color wheel that form a rectangle as shown by this color wheel. 

Add caption

That is enough for today, so I will bid adieu until next week. In the meantime, Happy Styling and sewing (if you partake)!

Photography credit goes today to me and my Dad on Christmas all those years ago.

I am trying a few new linkup parties with this post because it is a little different for me. This was a labor of love and I do want to share it. There are only a few linkups that I found for this kind of post. It could be that I just don't know where to look, but I found:

Wednesday

A Little Bird Told Me
Monday
Inspire Me Monday
Monday Funday
Tuesday
Show and Tell