iheartfancyshoes's Blog

my vintage sewing pattern collection.

iheartfancyshoes — Mon, 29 Nov 2010 00:02:09 +0000

perhaps i’ve mentioned before that i have a vintage sewing pattern collection. it’s intense. i’ve been collecting them for about 15 years, and i have about 1000. i haven’t counted them in a long time, and i hadn’t really bough many over the past 6 years or so. this summer is found so many that i couldn’t pass up.

check out some of my more recent acquisitions.

this one is rather unusual. i am guessing that it’s from a mail order company, as it wasn’t from one of the major pattern companies. it is american. it’s really cute with the little blouse.

i’m pretty sure that you couldn’t go wrong with either of these sleeve options. they are amazing! i love it when there is old handwriting on patterns. i also love it that the simplicity patterns of this era also depict membership of the NRA? totally weird. the back says ‘simplicity leads the way to high fashion at low cost’.

the above 2 images are the front and back of the same pattern envelope. the envelope is made of something akin to wax paper. i think there are two different patterns in there, but i haven’t taken them out yet.

i think that my bf, luke, would look so amazing in an outfit like the one on the left, but he may disagree.

adorable!

this would look really great on me. i wish that i could go to the store and find such cute things now.

furthermore, why are slips so ugly and unappealing these days. yes…i still wear slips. if you haven’t noticed i’m a bit of a granny, even though i’m only 34.

soon my friend rachel will be over to look through these patterns. i hope that she enjoys them and finds them as inspiring as i do.

from books…

iheartfancyshoes — Thu, 23 Sep 2010 17:13:29 +0000

i get so many books from the multnomah county public library that i sometimes think myself to be a book hoarder. i hope this isn’t true. i’ve been taking them back a ton more expeditiously as of late.

i couldn’t let these go back without sharing some of my favorite images with you…

and the kitchen that goes with this…

diana vreeland.

iheartfancyshoes — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 17:10:29 +0000

this lady is an inspiration to me. if anyone had gusto, i believe that is was diana vreeland.

the fashion editor character on ‘funny face’ was allegedly modeled after her.

she spent 25 years at harper’s bazaar writing an unusual advice column titled. below are two examples of this unusual advice.

i mean…i know why i don’t give most of these gifts, but i think the outlandishness is part of the charm.

although these, too, are outlandish, i think they would be more easily interpreted to suit one’s budget. they make me smile.

this image is d.v. herself substituting for a model who was sick or something. i love this image.

thanks…i’ll take one of each!

i want that for my bedroom. the ceilings must be one hundred feet high! anyone recognize that lovely lady? it’s lauren bacall from her days as a model. loverly.

i should post up some images of d.v.’s apartment in nyc, too. it was all read and very layered. to be continued…

isabella blow.

iheartfancyshoes — Wed, 30 Jun 2010 17:21:22 +0000

isabella blow was the fashion director at tatler, the designer’s muse of philip treacey, and a discoverer of famous british fashion models.

she suffered from depression and killed herself by imbibing some weed killer in 2007. i wish that she was still alive so that i could meet her.

a la schiaparelli.

then there are the pics of the inside of her flat….i swoon.

encore, schiaparelli!—and my trip to france.

iheartfancyshoes — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 17:21:25 +0000

so, since i recently got a scanner, i decided to go pull some files from the basement. one of them was my trip i took to france in may of 2004. that’s where i saw the schiaparelli exhibit.

i designed and made a wardrobe to take with me that spring. below are the illustrations, front and back, of that wardrobe.

i didn’t make all of them, but i still wear some that i did make.

i did sketches when i was in the museum of elsa’s designs that i had not seen in any of the books i had read about her.

i also picked up some postcards. why i haven’t framed some of these, i do not know.

my program and souvenir.

claire mccardell, i also love.

iheartfancyshoes — Tue, 09 Mar 2010 18:05:15 +0000

this picture is of the designer herself. she is said to be the first real american designer. basically, she revolutionized sportswear and comfort as we know it, but she did it with style…unlike what it’s devolved to become.

this is one of her early designs, the denim popover dress. it had an attached oven mitt and extra large pocket. i’ve been thinking about extra large pockets lately, since i’m designing a raincoat for myself. these are nice.

she licensed her name a lot. it was on sewing patterns, etc. these are paper dolls. i own a set. they’re so cute! i think that maybe i should frame them?

j’adore schiaparelli!

iheartfancyshoes — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:58:54 +0000

this is the apartment of elsa schiaparelli. she was an early 20th century fashion designer. she used ‘blistered’ rayon as her upholstery fabric in her bedroom pictured here.

i really need a new raincoat, and i’m having trouble coming up with a silhouette. i think i found the fabric, but still…no silhouette. i always like this kind, but it seems better for a winter or fall coat.

when i was in paris and visited the extension of the louvre that is specific to fashion, i was elated to find that the exhibition was that of my favorite designer. i picked up so much stuff in the gift shop and totally didn’t ever want to leave. i wanted to try on all the clothes! beautiful exhibit. anyways…one of the things i picked up was a little blank book with the above image on it…but i still can’t bring myself to use it. it’s soooo cute!

i may need a jacket like this…

iheartfancyshoes — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 16:13:21 +0000

i got a book at the library….women’s wear of the 1920′s: with complete patterns.

1947 pacific northwest book of homes.

iheartfancyshoes — Sun, 28 Feb 2010 18:33:50 +0000

i love the gallery/entry hall and the suspended lower kitchen cabinets!

wood engravings of beauty.

iheartfancyshoes — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 07:21:18 +0000

this is from the cover of jane eyre by charlotte bronte, with wood engravings by fritz eichenberg, new york: random house c.1943.