Sunday, November 28, 2010

Back to WOOORK!! 11-29-10

Hey Y'all!

Just another Monday posting of fabulousness to get you through your WOOORK week!
It's cold out there.  Don't forget what a wonderful opportunity this is to don your gay apparel, such as the dashing hat and gloves modeled by our good friend Jean Harlow below.
Enjoy!


-Kathleen, In Oakland

Friday, November 26, 2010

Google Search "Merry Widow"

Google image searched "Merry Widow" here is some of the results.

 
Um.... OK!  Work it out Australian Ballet

Just having a ball and laughing in my foundation garment.

Dorothy Francis 1921

Merry Widow Hat circa 1909

Indeed

Philip - In Brooklyn

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Happy Thanksgivin's!

Happy Thanksgivin's Patterned History Readers!

            Sorry this comes a bit late in the day but guess who got stuck with cooking duty.  That's right, I did.  But it's ok.  I kind of enjoy being a host.  People get to make Donna Reed comparisons and that is NEVER bad.  


            I hope everyone ate more than they should have and said some snide comments to their least favorite family member.  My gift to you on this day of thanks is the J.C. Leyendecker painting commemorating Thanksgiving 1928.  I don't know much about this painting since I'm too full to research it further.  The couch is where I am and also where I'll stay for the rest of the night.  But hey, the footballer is easy on the eyes so it's got that going for it.

Philip - In Brooklyn

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Seawolf - Sleeve Y'all

            So this little puppy is finally getting some love again.   I broke out the knitting machine and whipped myself up some sleeves.  First i had to finesse my pattern a bit and work it out on a grid.  I decided to knit it with a cable design going down the sleeve.  I used my Hand Manipulated Stitches For Machine Knitters book that I purchased earlier this year and found a beautiful opposing rope cable. 
            I patterned my sleeve out on a knitters grid in order to mark out all my increases and cable crosses in order to make sure no row counting got messed up.  That happens a lot and cables must I say MUST be placed the same amount of rows apart.  No one wants wonky cables.  Unless you're into that sort of thing, but I'm certain that's exactly the sort of thing that would get you into hot water with one, Mr. Joe McCarthy.

             Don't worry fellow knitters.  I plan on doing a post on machine knitting cables, please stayed tuned.

Philip - In Brooklyn

Monday, November 22, 2010

Back to WOOORK!! 11-22-10

           Well it's time to get back to WOOORK!  This edition is featuring none other than Miss Millie Dilmount.  Julie Andrews, in "Thoroughly Modern Millie", portrayed a young "modern" in 1920s New York City.  Millie is looking for love, types 40 words per minute and excels in singing catchy bad ass musical numbers.  Also while all this is going on she rocks a Jean Louis ensemble that really delivers.  No I mean REALLY delivers!  This is one of those "Punch a Bitch in the Face" kind of looks that leaves your jaw smartin' for days!  Little known fact is that Miss Dilmount, in the opening sequence of this movie, is the original inspiration for the term "WOOORK!"

 
Philip - In Brooklyn

Friday, November 19, 2010

Taking a Moment, Bob Mackie and His Pal Cher


           Ok peeps I am a HUGE fan of Mr. Bobby Mack.  We're pals so he lets me call him Bobby Mack. And we all know that Bob and Cher are, as a busted New Jersey Housewife once said, "as thick as thieves".  Although I think she was talking about how she liked her gravy at that moment.  Those two kids are always hangin out, doing each other's nails, talking about boys and most of all playing dress up.  Well you know who benefits from all of that dress up time?  I DO! I mean, WE do.  Come on... this shit speaks for itself!

Bob's buddy Cher in "Vanity Fair" this past month. 
The dude to her left is prolly creamin his panties!
Cher "Turning Back Time" at the VMAs 2010.
Singing "Take Me Home"... I wanna take that ensemble home. 
I've got a baby shower coming up with nothing to wear!

Cher in Bob's "understated look"

             On a serious note, I did get the rare honor to meet Mr. Mackie.  I was in design school in L.A. in 2001 and called his costume shop in order to see if they could ID some sketches he may have illustrated.  The gentleman on the other line was more than happy to invite me down to the shop so he could tell me if Bob drew them.  I asked if he was that familiar with Mackie's work and career, and he said "Of course!  I AM Bob!"  I was floored! So we spoke for a bit more and coordinated a time for me to stop by and before I hung up he told me in passing to bring my portfolio too.  I mean REALLY!  The Raja of Rhinestones was gonna take time out of his day to just shoot the breeze with a 19 year old kid and look over his college level portfolio!?
              When I showed up I asked to see Bob, he met me out front where he quickly IDed the sketches as being his work and then he invited me to take a tour of his facility, lead by him, Bob Mackie.  Who does that!? 
              He showed me his work table where he still sketches in Prismacolors and behind him were all the Barbie (registered trademark of the Mattel corporation) patterns.  So at this point I felt like I was on some sort of Acid trip gone awry.  This can't be real, but it kept on going.  He showed the room where the little ladies were beading a gown.  Then we walked past a magenta fox fur cocoon coat on a dress form and he stopped to show me the narrow strip of beading inserted between the pelts. He said "You can't even see it, but I'm a masochist."  SO CHARMING!
              After the tour we sat at his work table where he went through my portfolio.  He was very complimentary of my sketches and ideas.  Even is he was patronizing me I didn't care.  My idol was looking at me book!
              I will never forget that meeting and it fuels my inspiration and attitude toward the fashion industry to this VERY day.  He's at the top of his fashion career and he is still nice and personable.  He's not hiding behind dark sunglasses and a fan with a sour look on his face barking orders.  He's smiling at his coworkers and sitting at his desk doing his own illustrations.  That dude is my hero!  So much so I had to make it known by hand sequinning a t-shirt. Which I rock as often as I can!  Mad props to Mr. Mackie!



Philip - In Brooklyn

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

THIS JUST IN! Mulligan Cast in Luhrmann's Gatsby


           The Oscar nominated actress of "The Education" was on the red carpet last night for the CFDA's when she received a phone call.  On the other end was the director of "Moulin Rouge" Baz Luhrmann.  He said "Hello, Daisy Buchanan". 
            This was his slick little way of signaling to Carey Mulligan that she had in fact won the role in F. Scott Fitzgerald's 1925 classic novel "The Great Gatsby".  The film is set to be released in 2012 by Columbia Pictures.  Already cast is Leonardo DiCaprio, as Jay Gatbsy and Toby Maguire, as Nick Carraway.
            Personally... I'm pretty stoked for this.

Mulligan Photographed During her Audition

Philip - In Brooklyn

Monday, November 15, 2010

Back to WOOORK!! 11-14-10

           It's Monday again and it's time to get back to WOOORK!  Today's installment is brought to you by Schiaparelli, the makers of "Shocking Pink".  Elsa Schiaparelli was brought in to design the gowns for Miss Zsa Zsa Gabor for the 1952 MGM film "Moulin Rouge".  There's nothing better than a sassy Hungarian in some French haute couture to stoke the fires.


Philip - In Brooklyn 

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Met NYC Announces McQueen Tribute

           WWD Today reported that the Metropolitan Museum of Art's Costume Institute is in the works of putting together a tribute to the late designer Alexander McQueen, who took his life in February of this year.  The show will run from May 4th through July 31.  The exhibit is said to include 100 pieces which will include his graduate collection from Central St. Martins, designs from his years at Givenchy and his solo collections.  What Costume Exhibit would be complete without a gala?!  Don't worry kids it's already scheduled for May 2nd, and Anna "Puppy Eater" Wintour will be acting as co-chair of the event.


Philip - In Brooklyn

Monday, November 8, 2010

Back to WOOORK!! 11-8-10

          Welcome back to work friends of Patterned History!  I know Monday's are no fun but at least you can ogle Ms. Pfeiffer in her starring role as Countess Olenska from Martin Scorsese's "Age of Innocence" (1993).  The costumes in this movie are just plain beautiful and Gabriella Pescucci did an amazing job.  Below is just one example of the many gowns in this movie.  Check out this review of the movie on Period Movie Review.




Philip - In Brooklyn

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Toadstool - Wrap up!

I know you're all sick of me posting about my Toadstool costume.  That's why this is the last installment; so you can quit--yer-bitchin!  See how the sassy little gal worked out!


            Ryan and I met up with my dear friend Prissy at the salon she works at down in the Lower East Side, Fringe.  Prissy was getting ready for the parade there and let us crash and even offered to help get my mug ready for the event.  Our friend Nancy and Jason met us there as well.  Ryan was Raccoon Mario from Mario 3, Nancy was King Koopa and Jason was Thug Luigi.  It was an epic 4-way group costume!  So we put ourselves together and headed out!  Nancy and Jason made their outfits, and I hooked Ryan up Raccoon Mario style.

 Photo courtesy of Ryan's Facebook

Photo Courtesy of Ryan's Facebook

Photo courtesy of Ryan's Facebook

It was a crisp windy evening and I felt terrible for laughing my ass off at the girls dressed as Hookers, well not that terrible.  Walking fast definitely helped us keep warm.  As we neared the entrance of the parade the frequency of us getting our picture taken increased which was nice to see people freakin out over us!  But then I started to feel like Britney Spears.  I was moments away from tearin’ off my wig and screaming “Leave me and my babies ALONE!” but I held it together, for the sake of my adoring public. 
Photo courtesy of Ryan's Facebook
Photo Courtesy of Prissy's face book
So we made our way to the entrance of the parade which is ALWAYS a bottle neck of people since they like to stagger people and floats into the parade.  The problem here was that I was wearing a giant hoop skirt that was slowly getting more and more crushed… I kind of saw this coming.  But I was still a little sad on the inside.  Once we got into the parade and had room to readjust myself things were back to normal.  Once again tragedy struck… well not really.  What I failed to realize when making my hoop skirt was that the vertical strips that were holding my hoops in place were not anchored to the hoops so they could slide around them.  And slide they did.  As I walked the strips made there way to one place along the hoop.  I’m sure this had something to do with the weight of the skirt.  So as I walked the lowest hoop was sticking out of the back and was pissing me off with its insolence.  But since I was a boyscout I acted fast.  With a little help from Nancy we pulled the bottom hoop out and ditched it along the parade route.  This made life a lot easier.  Moral of the story is that the vertical strips MUST be anchored.... MUST I SAY!

  
Photo courtesy of Prissy's Facebook

After the parade we commenced the DRINKIN'!  And drink like champs we did.  But first I stopped by Prissy's house and ditched my hoops.  This made drinking MUCH easier.  Not to mention I could get sassy with my skirt... heheh.  After going home little buddy Ryan fell right into bed... and he woke up the next morning in full costume, mustache and all.

 Photos courtesy of Ryan's facebook

Philip - in Brooklyn

Monday, November 1, 2010

Princess Toadstool - Zee Jacket!

            As Halloween was yesterday I can finally sit down and devote my time to my number one priority, you, my readers.  So I finished my Toadstool costume and I was a HUGE hit.  We'll get to that later, but I should start where I left off. 

            The jacket.  She was FUN to make!  After cutting it out and inserting the CB panel in muslin I tried her on with my hoops in order to make sure my shape was correct.  Which of course it was... not saying I'm the bomb, but come on. 


Sorry about my legs.  I was sewing in a t-shirt and boxer-briefs...again.

Here is my jacket on the dress form.  
The Lapels are not faced yet and the dress form is much slimmer then me.

            After I got the shape correct I removed the muslin panels and inserted them in the self fabric.  I reused the same pattern pieces of the shell for the lining only I split them at the waist so I could line the top in muslin for comfort.  The peplum/skirt was cut out of the lighter pink to maximize the "wooork" factor.  My faux vest front was the same pink and was lined in self.  So the sewing was a bit tricky but if you've ever made a lined suit jacket or coat it's pretty much the same.  I apologize for not having any progress photos of this part but I was on a roll.  Check out the pictures below!  I was looking at the jacket and it felt a little flat so I used on of those heirloom embroidery stitches that are programed in the machine and ran it around the lapels and the hem of the skirt.  I've never used those before but since the thread was almost the same color as the fabric it really elevated the jacket!  My motto during this whole project has been, "Devil is in the details", and we can all use a little Devil. 

The finished and lined jacket on the form with the skirt and hoops.  
Don't worry we'll get to the skirt soon enough.

The jacket shown open so you can see the lining and the skirt lining. 

                   If you notice on the jacket the vest only goes past the front of the actual jacket by about 1 1/2".  I tacked the jacket to the vest so that it wouldn't pull when worn.  

               A little advice on turning corners with those embroidery stitches.  You have to pay attention to the way the machine stitches so that you can identify when it is about the end the shape so you can turn.  I actually pulled my fabric to slow it down through the machine so that I wouldn't go past my turn point and it worked!
             This is the inside of my jacket skirt.  The bobbin thread contrasts VERY nicely on this color.  Happy little accident.  If didn't want it to show I could have used a matching thread.

Enter the sleeves!

            So I wanted a Huge puffy sleeve that would make Princess Di weep, God rest her soul.  I patterned a regular shaped sleeve that would fit my jacket.  I cut that out in muslin to use as my lining.  After that I used my pattern as a base for my outer puffy sleeve.  I patterned my contrast cuffs, don't forget the extension for your button!  When I sewed the sleeve I shirred the bottom of the sleeve and sewed the lining and sleeve into the cuff.  I finished the cuff off with a topstitch 1/8" from the edge.  Then I shirred the sleeve cap and sewed it into the jacket and making sure to catch the lining too.  I hand stitched the sleeve lining to clean finish the inside.  It looks GREAT!  As Kathleen says a beautiful garment should be able to be worn inside out.  Words to live by.

            Here's the finished jacket!! I used the darker pink of the jacket for the fabric covered buttons.  I opted for red thread for the buttonholes to play up the red dots in the skirt.  Notice that sweet brooch!  I hooked myself up with an ascot made from a sheer poly-organza. It turned out SUPER WORK!

Philip - in Brooklyn          
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