My 1940's Suit - zilredloh

I’ve long since wanted a vintage suit in my wardrobe, somehow stars aligned and I felt compelled to finally make one for my very own.

This pattern I used is McCall’s 5094, a sweet little suit from 1943.

Looking back on my Etsy purchases, I bought this suit back in 2011 – if you can believe it! I bought it because at the time I loved the spring suit look (view B) and knew it would look divine in a swingy rayon.

Instead, I made this up in view A, but I made my sleeves full-length.

I knew that I would get much more wear out of this during the winter in long sleeves than I would in shorter ones. I used a mid-weight wool crepe in a muted blue that I had in my stash. I had intended this wool crepe to be used on a different dress, but oftentimes things get reallocated, and I had enough yardage in this one fabric to make both the top and the skirt.

Besides my normal fitting adjustments on the bodice, one major modification I made was to the skirt. The skirt is a very simple one, rectangles that are simply gathered at the waist – aka a dirndl skirt. I cut out my fabric and basted in the waistband to check the fit with the bodice – it was awful!! The skirt was so full at the waist with all of the gathers it looked like I was wearing a sac and the peplum stuck out at the oddest angle because of it.

I wish I had pictures to show you just how bad it was… Suffice it to say I took at least 6 inches (on the fold!) out of each skirt piece. I nearly reduced the skirt fullness in half and it now looks much closer to the pattern envelope. I could have gotten two skirts out of the original fabric pieces.

It may have been an appropriate skirt if I was using a light weight fabric like a silk crepe de chine or a rayon – but in my wool crepe it was just too puffy-looking.

This is one of my favorite makes of 2015, and really, it holds a place in my top 5 outfits I’ve made, of all time. It’s not a garment that gets frequent use in my wardrobe, but I love it ohh soo much. It’s one of those unique, chic pieces that I can now always turn to when I need something a cut above the rest or for work functions.

I have a propensity to make all sewing projects more complicated than they need to be. I purposefully wanted to keep this suit simple so that I could finish in time for a deadline (a presentation I was giving at work). True to form, one thing led to another and I found myself adding lining to the bodice and making my own shoulder pads.

Felix and I ventured out to the University of Chicago campus for these photos. There’s wonderful architecture down there and I knew it would be a perfect backdrop to pair with this suit.

While the University is extremely close, I haven’t made the time to walk around as much as I should – what with all of our house work and winter upon us. So driving down to scout out cool locations for blog photos is a wonderful excuse for us to see more and more of campus.

I don’t think I addressed it before but my hair – it’s now brown. :D I loved my pink hair and I kept it pink for a full 9 months. But it was so much upkeep I couldn’t handle it anymore and I thought it was time for a change. Do I miss my pink hair – Yes! But I could only wash my hair ONCE a week in order to keep the pink from fading until my next 6 week refresh. And I do love being blonde (my natural hair is an ash blonde) – but I wanted to try something different – and chestnut brown seemed like a nice change of pace.

This is my first time setting my brown hair too.

While nearly ever outfit I think “Gosh this would be even cuter with pink hair” I think the brown looks nice and rich. Perhaps I’ll go blonde again in the summer months, but for now, the dark brown is continuing to grow on me.