stifled - in more ways than one

since starting the challenge to not buy new clothing, fabric or yarn for one whole year, i've noticed an awful lot of very good sales around. normally a 50% off sale on fabric would have me making long lists of what i "need", but this year i haven't even looked at the shops so that i don't get tempted by seeing a great bargain!

the weather has also turned rather ugly, hot and humid day after day, with little respite at night because the wind dies off and the cloud cover increases. this has led me to believe that i have nothing to wear, a problem that occurs every summer about this time. i honestly can't think what i wore last summer, although i'm sure it wasn't this humid. the op-shopping is very lack lustre too, rails of polyester tops and dresses languishing in the heat, making me sweat just looking at them! none of the beautiful cotton 50s dresses i'm dreaming about, or light silk 30s blouses that are on my wishlist. to be honest, these things have never been at my local op-shops, we seem to live in a town drowning in wash-and-wear fibres.

perfect vintage frocks
via http://blog.caseybrowndesigns.com

obviously there is only one option and that is to sew. i've been browsing vintage pattern sites for inspiration, but i've discovered that my sewing is always sparked off when i buy new fabric. when shopping in my stash i get too hung up on what garment i originally "saw" the fabric made up into, or i don't want to cut up a lot of yardage for my pattern, leaving an unusable remnant (i know i'm not the only one with these problems).

while procrastinating i've also been looking through a 1961 dressmaking book for style advice. these pictures show how stylish ladies were just 50 or 60 years ago, and how casual we have become today. even if you wear a dress and heels to do some shopping you get stared at nowadays, let alone "done" hair and red lippie. i also noticed how cool weather oriented these pages were and i'm now hanging out for autumn, my favourite season. i wonder what Australian women wore in the summer heat in the olden days, and did they just sweat it out? like me, they didn't have air-conditioning in the home, so i can only imagine the discomfort in the restrictive undergarments, gloves and hats required in past times.

1960s wardrobe planning

mix and match

just for fun, i've included a photo of a completely useless find at the op-shop yesterday, a vintage 70s wedding dress for $2! it fits me perfectly as if made for me, and only has two tiny stains that will come out with a soak, so i rescued it from the dress-up bin. the only downside to this dress is that it's made from, you guessed it, 100% polyester!

1970s wedding dress detail