50s Style Lace Cocktail Dress

With all the wedding shenanigans and the crunch to finish commissions, I tooootally forgot to post about the little cocktail dress I made to wear to the wedding! I was originally going to wear something I already had in my closet, but I had this great lace fabric in The Stash that really, really wanted to be something vintage. So, the night before the wedding, I whipped up a new dress really quickly to wear to the wedding the next day.

I didn't make the little shrug, that was something I picked up while I was out shopping, but it totally fits with the dress. :) I used Simplicity 3673, almost straight from the pattern. The only modifications I made were to widen the skirt so it would fit over a petticoat, and I nipped it in a bit at the waist, since it turned out a bit boxy just going from the original pattern pieces.

The Vintage lines from the Big 3 and other large pattern companies have basically taken patterns they printed back in the day, and resized and shaped them to fit modern bodies. This is great for someone wanting a period impression without having to squeeze into all the shapewear and restrictive undies, but if you're wearing a corset or girdle to give your body some shape, then the clothes don't fit quite right. Thankfully, they only require small modifications to tailor them, but it's something to be aware of if you're going to try any of the "new vintage" stuff that's become popular with companies like Vogue, Butterick, Simplicity, etc.

Anyway, I put my hair up in some giant victory rolls and donned my new dress for the wedding. Here are some pics!

 My and the bride in the dress I made for her!

Being saucy. ;)