Just an Ordinary Day

It's been a bit chilly here lately (though certainly not anywhere near what many of you are feeling!) and I decided to pull out my favorite cool weather vintage outfit.

My Ruthie blouse is a favorite all year round. It's so comfy and breaths well during the summer. In the winter, it's perfect for layering under sweaters.

I paired it with a gray corduroy skirt that was a winter favorite from Ohio. I love corduroy for winter! It's so easy to care for and has a bit of extra warmth factor.

To winterize this outfit for colder locations, I'd add some thick tights or knee high socks and boots. Throw on your favorite cardigan and a fabulous winter jacket and you're ready to go! It's definitely possible to look cute and wear vintage in the winter. It just takes a bit more layering!

I decided to try something different with my hair since I'm stuck in the awkward grow out phase right now. I dug out one of my 1940s hair scarves and pinned up all of my hair except for my bangs. Curled under is about all my bangs can do for now so that's what I went with.

Since my bangs made my hair asymmetrical, I decided to tie the knot above my part rather than in the center as I usually wear it. It looked so cute that way! You can find a tutorial for a similar style here.

I know most of the other bloggers you follow will be posting Valentine's Day outfits today but the hubby and I are doing our Valentine's Day this evening. I did wear this cute vintage heart and key brooch as a nod to the holiday.

What I did on actual Valentine's Day is not super glamorous. Going grocery shopping, cleaning house and blogging. But such is life! Even bloggers are nonglamorous sometimes!

But if you've ever wondered what I wear for everyday life, this is it! One of the reasons that I love 1940s fashions is that they are oh, so practical for actually living life. Some other decades are much more suited to sit there and look pretty.

How was your Valentine's Day? Glamorous or quiet?

Straight as an Arrow

I was super excited when I found out that Wearing History was coming out with a new blouse. I just adore the two that I already have. And this one has the cutest arrow print!

This Smooth Sailing blouse is quite similar to the Smooth Sailing pattern (which I have sewn up a few times for myself) but has been adjusted for a more modern body shape. It's got puffy sleeves and is much blouse-ier than the Ruthie blouse. So 1940s!

It's quite comfortable to wear and has great range of motion. I love that Lauren has really put forth and effort to make her blouses very motion friendly. It's perfect for dancers and for everyday life for that matter.

I also love the quality of this blouse! It's got darling red vintage buttons and an adorable bias pocket. :D

I paired my Smooth Sailing blouse with a grey corduroy skirt for a cute winter appropriate look. It was actually quite chilly and I was wearing a thick wool sweater when I had to be outside. But I braved the chill for photos!

My hair is at an awkward length right now. I did have an adorable navy headband that had little gold dots just like the blouse! So perfect!

Another thing I just love about this blouse is the large number of colors in the print. I've paired this blouse with a red skirt which also looks adorable but you could do yellow, green, mint or blue and it would look just as smashing. This print is quite bold but being able to mix and match with so many colors means you can get a lot of milage out of it.

 Just a note on sizing: The sizing on this blouse is a bit different than any of the other Wearing History blouses. It includes plus sizes and some of the regular sizes were adjusted when the plus sizes were added. Be sure to check the size chart for this blouse before ordering. It's also quite a bit more blousey than the Ruthie blouse. And the fabric is not preshrunk and the sizing has been designed with this in mind. Lauren has included a lot of info to help you pick the right size.

For me personally, I have a large in the Ruthie and a medium in the Norma Jean and Smooth Sailing. So even if you already have a Wearing History blouse, double check the size chart to make sure you get the right size.

I'm super excited for my new blouse! It's so adorable and comfy! That's my personal secret to great vintage style-picking pieces that look polished but are just as comfortable as jeans and a t-shirt.

The Same But Different

Most people think that having a small wardrobe means that your outfits will quickly become routine and boring. This is so not true! First off, you are always wearing pieces you absolutely love rather than things that are sort of meh.

It's hard to feel blue when you are wearing things that you love!

Working with a more limited wardrobe actually makes me feel more creative because I have to work harder to get that variety.

Accessories are really key for helping you spice up more basic looks. I've worn this blouse and skirt combo before on the blog but not with these accessories.

I swapped out my more traditional shoe choice for these remix leather sandals that really deserve to get worn more often.

And you don't need belt loops on a skirt to add a belt. A nice crisp white belt adds visual interest to the waist line.

While neutral accessories are an easy choice, I could have gone with any of the colors in my Wearing History Norma Jean blouse. Imagine blue, navy or even bubble gum pink!

To echo the white belt, I added a white hair flower. If you are ever nervous about if the color of your accessory goes with your outfit, just add a few more accessories in the same color and you will almost always be safe.

To finish off the look, I stuck with my color palette and went with green earrings and pink lipstick.

 Basics are a girls best friend! Especially if you are just starting out wearing vintage and trying to build up your wardrobe.

 Do you enjoy restyling your favorite outfits or do you generally have one set of accessories that you wear with a particular outfit?

Changing Keys

Every once in a while, something comes along that causes you to break one of your own fashion rules. One of the things that I've learned about my style is that I'm not a huge fan of all over prints on myself. Separates, sure. An entire dress, not so much. And today I've gone and proven myself wrong. I'm changing the musical key of my wardrobe, so to speak.

Music has always been a huge part of my life. I adore singing and have always wanted to live in a musical. I played flute for 8 years. I've taken music theory, philosophy of music, and piano classes. While I don't get the chance to play or compose much anymore, I do sing in the shower and rock out to music in the car. This print would also be great for swing dancers.

So when Wearing History offered it's melody print in one of my favorite fabrics, rayon, I knew I had to have some.

My original plan for this fabric was very different from what it ended up as. First, I envisioned a 1940s evening gown in this drapey rayon. But when the fabric got here, I changed my mind. It's a lovely rayon with a great drape. It's not too wrinkly or slippery to work with like some other rayons I've used.

And while this fabric would have been fabulous for an evening gown, when the fabric got here, I knew I had to make it up into something that I would wear more often. And when fabric speaks to you, it's a good idea to listen to it.

So I dug through my pattern stash and after a quick shout out to Facebook, I decided on Anne Adams 4832. I've made it before in a mid-weight linen which I wore on the 4th of July but I decided to make a few changes in this version.

I decided to bind the neckline instead of face it with a casing. I also moved the gathers from the center to off to the sides which gives more of a square-ish neckline. And I went with the optional patch pocket. The only other change I made was a narrow shoulder adjustment.

Between these changes and the difference in the behavior of the linen and rayon, these two dresses feel completely different! The rayon sewed up beautifully. Sometimes rayon can be super slippery and difficult to work with but this one behaved.

Something to consider when sewing with this pattern is that it is large and busy. It is best suited for a pattern with a simple design and not too many seam lines. A design with lots of crazy seam lines would get lost in the print and the print would get chopped up by the seam lines.

 On the up side, the print is so cute and would work for a wide variety of decades including modern styles. And the color palette is great-navy, pink, green, blue and white. It's got great potential for accessorizing in any of these colors. I also think it would be super cute in a color blocked dress.

Since I had originally planned on making an evening gown, I have some extra fabric. I really want to make up some coordinating accessories. I really want a navy jacket or bolero lined in this fabric to wear with this dress in the winter. And I'm saving all my scraps to trim a hat to match.

Love that music print so much!

 I finished this dress just a week ago and I've already worn it twice! So, overall, I give this fabric a thumbs up! If you'd like to have some of your own, you can find it here.

 Disclaimer: Fabric provided c/o Wearing History for review.

The Melody of Summer

I love my Norma Jean blouse but I didn't really have a lot in my wardrobe that matched it outside of denim shorts/pants. That is until I made this great green skirt that is! Must have more basics!

 I know that I originally planned on making shorts from this green linen cotton but I really have not been wanting to wear shorts lately. Or make muslins and refit my shorts patterns. So a skirt it was.

I used Wearing History's Sailor Playsuit skirt pattern. It's pretty easy to remove the button placket. The center front is clearly marked on the pattern. You just need to add a seam allowance to that line or put the center front on the fold. I opted for a seam down the front of my skirt just for a better fabric layout.

I do already have a green skirt almost this exact shade but it has an anchor motif on it. I love a good novelty bit especially since it's nautical but not sure I can handle nautical and music novelty prints together.

And this color green matches the green music notes perfectly! I guess I could have gone with pink too but I'm not too much of a pink person.

And I decided to try something a bit different with my hair this time. I did a bunch of dry pin curls for the front section and threw the rest of it back in a snood.

It does take a bit of practice and trial and error to figure out the pin curl placement. Placement isn't as easy as for victory rolls where you have one on each side. I also have thin, short hair so there's not  much volume.

If you have longer or thicker hair, your curls will be bigger. Also, your snood will be fuller. Ah, the pain of having a flat, empty snood!

This outfit was so comfy if a bit wrinkly. That's linen and cotton for you. The Normal Jean blouse did much better in the wrinkle department. I also love that it's long enough that I don't have to worry about it untucking all day long.

You can still get this blouse on the Wearing History website. (And Pssst! It's on sale right now!) And Lauren is also offering this print on a yummy rayon challis for all of you seamstresses out there. It's not the same fabric the blouse is made out of but rayon is just fabulous for so many 40s looks!

 I'm so happy now that I can wear this blouse all the time this summer!