Being Wooed By The Forties

Since January is the month of goals/planning, I've been thinking about what vintage patterns need to be sewn this year. Usually my go to era is the 50's and the old mental sewing list might still contain a pattern or two from that decade. However I've been seeing a shift towards the 40's in my tastes of late.  I've always enjoyed browsing 40's patterns, but have shied away from making them.  The whole slim hipped/flat butt part of the silhouette was not in the genetic cards for me. In fact my deck is stacked just like my backside. ;) So for years I've only enjoyed watching tall drinks of water like Cate Blanchett float around in 40's confections and left at that.  Then Agent Carter happened.

If you aren't watching Agent Carter than you should be. Admittedly I jumped on board last year just for the costumes, but quickly discovered that it had excellent writing and was highly entertaining. And then there's Hayley Atwell as titular character who is just delightful. I think she perfectly embodies the strong and resourceful woman that is Agent Carter..... and her costumes are great.  So as I was happily watching the show last year it struck me that Hayley Atwell doesn't have the stereotypical 40's body. I'm sure she's 2" taller and 20 pounds lighter than me, but she does have a curvy figure that's a lot closer to mine than all those 40's fashion illustrations.  My brain finally said, "Hey wait, Hayley looks good in all these 40's fashions. I bet you could too."  In hindsight it's a bit of a duh moment right? Of course women of all shapes and styles wore the same fashions in the 40's.  Sometimes you just get an idea in your head that something's "not for you" regardless of any evidence to that effect.  So in 2016 I plan to sew up a couple 40's patterns and see if I enjoy wearing them.

First up is a new pattern acquisition which is pretty exciting.  A suit set from Hollywood patterns, #1032.

I'll be making the shorter skirt version because that will get more wear.  I'll also straight up be copying the red jacket/black skirt combo because they might as well have designed that for me.  We'll have to wait and see if I go frogs or button closure. Ribbit.

In the flurry of December I purchased this pretty separates pattern from Du Barry, #5510.

Not sure if a woven wrap blouse will work on my body, but these girls make me want to try it. Color and type of fabric to be determined.  (The stash probably has something that would be perfect.)

When it gets warm again I'd like to finally make up a dress pattern that's been sitting in the stash for awhile, Advance #4227.

This design would look cute in either some light weight cotton or rayon. I will have to see what my tricky fabric meter is set to when it comes time to actually sew it.

I'd also like to try a 40's button down blouse but don't own a pattern like that yet. Oh darn, guess I'll have to spend hours browsing on Etsy to find one.  How we "sacrifice" for our craft, but we must work through the pain. 

So those are the closest thing to sewing plans that I have for the year. We'll see how my foray into the 40's actually goes. I may chuck it all and just wear artfully draped fabric yardage on my body instead.

P.S. Since I'm a super fan though I'd mention that you can watch season 1 of Agent Carter for free on ABC go this week and the new season starts on Jan 19 at 9pm. Go give yourself a treat.