Fashion

Enough about that, and back to the dress...The dress is actually two pieces - a dress and a lace jacket. The buttons on the original jacket were larger, and cloth covered. Jackie was unable to find that size button blank, plus they were too heavy for the lace of the jacket, so she went with period-accurate shell buttons. Even though the original dress had (very small) snaps to close the side of the dress, she used a hidden zipper. She worried that the zipper wasn't commonly available until late in the 1930's, but I worried more that I have to dress myself, and tiny snaps were not practical! Just because the original owner of the dress had to suffer through the tiny snaps, why should I? Eighty years of progress produced the invisible zipper and great big snaps! Hooray! Jackie created the belt to match the original, except it is all cloth and has no "stiffening" inside. She found a brooch to use as a decoration/belt buckle and she got it all done before High Country!
Jackie did the research regarding appropriate fabric and notions to use, and was able to match or very nearly match the whole thing. If you have skill to sew, there are club members who could help with the research and are willing to provide valuable advice. Having an era-look outfit to wear to club functions is just plain fun! I hope everyone out there who lacks the skill to sew has a cousin Jackie with as big a heart and as big a talent as I have!

How to Have Your Original Era Outfit ...
And Wear It Too!

By Toni Singmaster

The dress I'm wearing in this picture is not actually era; rather it is a reproduction. I bought the original from Carol Dunn's collection before High Country, but found that it was unwearable. The fabric was too far gone, and every movement created a new hole. I took the dress to my cousin Jackie and begged her to help! Because she has tremendous talent, she was able to build the new dress without destroying the original, so I have both! As Jackie was remaking the dress, she wondered again and again, "Why did they make it like this?" Her concerns centered around the special fitting and fancy needlework that is done to the bodice, only to be covered by the jacket. We both wondered why they were so overly fond of beige near the face, when that color looks good on almost nobody, regardless of your skin color!