Showing posts with label vintage sailor. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vintage sailor. Show all posts

Friday, April 20, 2012

What the Art Teacher Wore #13

Monday, you sure do know how to sneak up on a girl: sweater: vintage, hand knit and thrifted; dress: vintage, thrifted; fishnets: Marshall's; flats: Urban Outfitters via the interweb
Hiya, kids! I do hope you've had a lovely week and have an action packed weekend planned. Me? If I can manage to just sleep past 6:15am without some 20 lbs cat clawing my arm, knocking things off the dresser and meowing incessantly demanding her breakfast, I'll be in heaven.

Until then, here's a little peak at what I wore this week. I am having so much fun discovering new works of art based on my outfits that I can't help sharing them with you. Enjoy!
Do these shoes look kinda-sorta familiar? They were created by the makers of the leopard shoes found in last week's outfit post.
Can you believe this beauty? This is an obi, which is the sash-like belt that is tied around a kimono. I learned that the Japanese believe the crane can live up to a 1000 years and therefore represents a long life. The crane also mate for life and so represent a happy marriage. Aren't they beautiful? I discovered this obi here.
Totally rainy and a bad day for sandals Tuesday: dress: vintage, thrifted and embroidered by me here; belt: made by me, available in my shop; anchor sandals: Sperry, my once-in-a-lifetime preppy shoe brand purchase
One of my little embroidered ladies reminded me so much of the painting below.
I love this painting as well as the other pinup-style paintings by the artist Gil Elvgren who is called " The Norman Rockwell of Cheesecake." From here, I learned that Elvgren was interested in painting the girl-next-door type who finds herself in adorably embarrassing situations. You know, the kind where you just happen to have great legs, clean underwear and a non-holey slip when the wind decides to blow your dress up.
Wild Wednesday: dress: awesome etsy shop Supayana, the owner of the shops is so sweet and was able to create and ship my dress from Montreal in less than two weeks! headband: Super Awesome Peachy Tuesday; tights: Target; shoes: Indigo by Clarks

I love this detail. Many of Supayana's dresses and tops feature an adorably designed illustration. This one reminded me of a much happier version of Picasso's Blue Period couple below.
Pablo Picasso, Couple in Cafe, 1903
Sunny Thursday: dress: vintage, thrifted, dyed brown; belt: by me, available in my shop; shoes: Lucky Brand, found for cheap at one of those shoe resale shops
Ha! I wish I could look as pretty as this picture. From head to toe, I love everything about this girl's look. Heck, everyone looks divine this in this photo, even the Snooty Girl in the Snood! Secretary Jane Yaeger walking Hollywood and Vine, 1944 by John Florea
Friday, if you were a dude, I would so totally go out with you: top: vintage, thrifted; skirt and tights: Target; shoes: Indigo by Clarks
Sorry, but with the black and white bird on my shirt, Picasso was just the obvious choice. Dove of Peace, Pablo Picasso, 1952











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Tuesday, January 10, 2012

DIY: Pirate Style

Apparently, I've much to learn about fashion. Today, I was told, "Mrs. Stephens, I like your pirate dress." Er, my what? "You're a pirate! Cuz that big black collar thingie makes you look like a one." Sweet.
Hiya and thank you for visiting my blog! I'm interrupting this post to say that I recently finished another embroidered dress which you can read about here: http://cassiestephens.blogspot.com/2012/02/turn-him-loose-jill.html

I thrifted this '70's era black sailor dress at the end of the summer. I'd been looking for a little sailor get-up and this seemed to do the trick...except for one tragic flaw. It was booorrrriiiing. If I'm going to wear something, it better be glittery, bedazzled, patternedy (a fashion term, look it up) and just overall over-the-top tacky. And I kinda fell asleep just looking at this number.
When I told a kindergartener today, "You look nice with your shirt tucked in," I was informed, "It's not called 'tucked in', it's called 'rodeo style'." Yeehaw.
I knew I wanted to alter it somehow but nothing was coming to me. Ideas never do when I sit down and focus on them. They usually come to me when I'm falling asleep or doing something extremely mundane, like attending a faculty meeting (haha! I kid!). So I had this dress hanging in my sewing room for ages just waiting for the idea to come.
Not too long ago, I woke up early, washed and straightened my hair and went to school bumpit-less. When my first class arrived, one of my fashion-savvy first graders said, "Where is the beautiful Mrs. Stephens? Your hair is so flat." Humph.
 This idea actually came from this lovely blog: http://misskatie-littleredsquirrel.blogspot.com/'' A couple of months ago she showcased a beautiful skirt that she had embroidered pin-up girls all over. I decided to do the same. Seeing as how my dress has a sailor style, I thought my little pin-ups would WW II era sailor girls.
The next day, when I had this same student in my class, I was OF COURSE wearing my biggest baddest bumpit. She was so thrilled that she decided to pat me on the head and say, "Good, Mrs. Stephens!" Little did she know that those bumpits have teeth and when she patted my head, they poked and startled her causing her to shriek and pull back her hand. Revenge is so sweet.
 I scoured pinterest for pin-ups and started sketching out and altering my girls. There weren't too many sailors girls to be found, so for some of these, I added sailor-esque details like the anchor and the steering wheel. I know it's not called that but I'm too lazy to find the correct term. Stern? That sounds right.
After a very in-depth demonstration on rainbow printing today, I asked my fourth graders if they had any questions. One student raised her hand and asked, "I just have to know, how many pairs of tights are you wearing right now?" Oh boy.
My favorite thing about working on this dress, aside from being done with it, was the people I met while working on it. I only work on embroidery while traveling. It gives me something to do in the car or on the plane. On a recent trip out to California, I took my embroidery and met two truly delightful women. Both were so excited when I took my work out. They had both embroidered in the past, one even worked as an embroidery designer in New York, and both lived during World War II. It was such a delight hearing their stories and receiving letters from them upon my return home. Chatting with them has me working on my next project. And, no, it's not a pirate's outfit!
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