Dressing the Decade - 1960

One of my favourite things to do when I need some sewing inspiration or just some ideas for what to wear to work is to look through the Vintage PatternWiki.

I love pattern illustrations. The fine details in the drawings - the perfect hair, dainty shoes and the fabric choices all give me lots of ideas! Making wool look like wool with tiny little brush flecks is always fun to see. 

Sometime the models can be a bit suspect or being doing some very odd poses - take a look a pattern junkie if you need a good giggle! 

There are of course obvious issues with the illustrations - the models legs can sometimes be a little unrealistic and some illustrations for plus size women are still drawn with the same template as the misses patterns - but that's a whole other kettle of fish that we might discuss another time. As un-PC as they are, it definitely shows how far we have come to be more accepting of other body shapes. 

My favourite years to look at are mostly 1967 to 1968 patterns, but I decided recently to look at earlier years and compare how the styles have changed through the decade.

Facile Patterns

Hello one and all! I hope you've been having a pleasant week?

Last week I had a rather full mind posting often, but this week I decided to sew and let the blog breath a little. 

But anyway I'm back and in the mean time I've received these lovely Australian patterns from Bella's Vintage Affair - (She has a great floral Oilcloth rain coat for sale at the moment!)

Legend of a Girl Child Linda

It’s been a rather nice weekend – warm and sunny 23 degrees which is lovely for Winter and hopefully and indicator of the next few months to come

This new dress will be perfect for when the warmer weather arrives and I’m very excited to show it to you.

My Sewing Space

Today I took the day off work for an Orthodontist appointment so it was nice to be home on a week day morning.

Outside kids are walking to school, cars are making a fuss about getting through the traffic and neighbours are going in and out to leave for the day. I was going to do a little sewing before my appointment, but in the bright morning light everything looks much newer and fresher. Something I only get to see on the weekends

I thought I'd take a photo of my sewing area for you and the tools I use most while working

My sewing area is at the end of the dining table in a corner so I can spread out and make a mess in one little area if I need. The spare room is dark and pokey so I'm not keen on being in there much and from here I can watch TV, listen to music or keep an eye on my cooking.

My pretty sewing machine Dolly has been behaving well since her return from repairs

60s fashion elements - The Drop Waist

Well, another dress down and a new one already lined up! I'll of course take some photos for you all this weekend, but in the meantime I'm making plans to use this modern pattern to make a deep red drop waist dress with white buttons and bias binding

In my research for an inspiration image I came across a reoccurring trend of 60's drop waist dresses, so let us delve a little deeper shall we?

60's Australia

Sometimes with all the excitement surrounding London or New York in the 60's, I sometimes forget about my own little country.

During my late night trawling of the National Archives of Australia, I came across some images of Australian fashion in the 60's and realised that although we weren't the center of the cultural revolution like London, we still were there doing our own version of the swinging sixties

Here are a few of my favourites

The Bliss of Mrs Blossom - the movie

In case I haven't made it clear by naming one of my dresses after it - I'm a big fan of the movie The Bliss of Mrs Blossom

I came across it back when I was 16 or so on a Saturday afternoon when channel 9 took a rare break from Clint Eastwood and Elisabeth Taylor films to show this visual treat.

I finally got a DVD copy a few years ago, so now let me share with you some of my favourite scenes and clothing from the film

(Note: This post is a little picture heavy!)