Thanks to each of you for your feedback on my Open Letter to Vogue. This has generated some discussion, which is a good thing. There is another blog post you might want to check out: Robin, of A Little Sewing, wrote her own Letter to the Big Four.
Last Sunday, I attended the Peninsula Wearable Art Guild's Fashion Show. This fashion show is held every two years but it was the first time I had attended. It gave me an opportunity to wear my new Shingle dress.
The best part of the fashion show is to see people I hadn't seen in awhile. In the photo above, you might recognize some very accomplished sewists who post reviews on Pattern Review. Starting from the left, Barbara V is wearing Sandra Betzina's latest dress pattern. Ann Smith is wearing an Issey Miyake jacket, that she made awhile back. (You need an account on Pattern Review to see older reviews, but a free account works.) Dorothy K is wearing her "piano dress", which I don't believe she has ever posted anywhere - I want to rectify that right now, because this deserves to be seen.
Several years ago the De Young Museum, in San Francisco, had an Yves Saint Laurent exhibit. Dorothy was so inspired that she made a series of dresses inspired by YSL. They are all fabulous and this is one of them. Each one of those black keys on the keyboard is an applique.
Dorothy is wearing the perfect earrings to accompany the dress. These earrings, by a company called Lunch at the Ritz, are black and white and feature a dancing couple, a top-hat, white gloves, and the word STORK, a reference to the Stork Club. Perfect!
Also, for the fashion show, members of PenWAG make handmade dolls. The dolls are used as table centerpieces during the fashion show, and are then auctioned off via silent auction at the end. My friend Sarah Bunje took home the intricate, jointed, colorful doll featured on the right of the above photo. These dolls have so much character!
I am glad of the 3-day weekend, but not getting quite as much sewing done as I'd hoped. Last week I was working on a dress, but I had to table it. It required a lot of tricky fitting and then I realized I didn't have enough fabric. Then I made a pair of pants, in a size 4, but wasn't happy with the loose trouser-like fit through the rear. Then I decided to make another pair of pants, using another pattern. I finished those yesterday and am making a 2nd pair. Lots of sewing happening, but not a lot to show.
Happy Memorial Day, for those of you who celebrate. Happy Monday, if not.