The dress was a hit!

My Mac is in the shop.  Therefore I decided I could not get by without a computer for the 5-7 days that they said it will take and I fired up the old desktop. The poor thing has been sitting in the bathtub of our office bathroom since we had all that water damage.  

The person I got the compliments about the dress from was my husband. He loved it! Maybe he is biased. Maybe all the other people there do not know how cruddy I have been looking on "regular" days lately. But it was nice to get dressed up and do something grown-up and fun. And have a reason to look pretty.

As you can see I did decide to go with fishnets, but I went with a large diamond pattern. The more traditional fishnets typically do not have a control top and these days I need all the control I can get! 

I also went with patent leather high heel mary-janes. They are an old pair of Naturalizers that I have gotten more wear out of than I imagined I would when I bought them. I decided that the shoes where a little more subtle and balanced out the hose.

Yesterday I did a little research on 1940s hair and realized I have the perfect hair for this look. Long and big soft curls where very in at the start of the 40s. Later in the decade it appears that up-dos and shorter styles became more practical when the gals were working and the men were away at war.


 I think that the exposed zipper on the back did a lot for making the dress a little more modern. Also the hose are a modern take on fishnets and while my hair is reminiscent of the 40s it is not elaborate and really is a simply classic hairstyle.

I learned a lot while sewing this dress. First I could have cut the pattern at least 1 size smaller and not run into any fit issues. Also I need to make sure I have someone with me when I am working on fitting a dress. My dress form is loads better than when I did not have even that but I did some guessing on the fit on the back of this that could have been easier if I had someone to pin for me. But all in all I think it turned out nice, and it was actually comfortable.

Marion came home from school while I was getting ready and was very fascinated by my hot rollers. I don't think she had ever seen them before. She liked my hair curly. And I think she is right I am going to bust them out more often. Maybe tonight! I am going to see Peter Pan with my number 1 CUZ! (Thanks for watching M last night!)

Marion took this picture. I also did a little research on 40s make-up. They focused on a bright lip and big lashes. So I thought that was a rather timeless look as well.

In my reading I found one source that said that back then women painted their nails to match their clothing. Including colors like navy and mustard. And we think we are so original! I wear navy polish all the time because I love it.

In case you love the hose and want a pair too here is what the package looks like. They are the Nordstrom brand and seemed to run pretty true to the sizing on the package. 

Marion decided that she needed to strike a model pose and get her picture taken too since that was what Mama was doing.

The actual event was lovely. It was the Emory Founders Dinner. And it is put on by the President's office and this secret society that operates within Emory. Apparently Robert Woodruff (the biggest donor ever) felt that getting credit for things is not why you should do them. He did not want anything at Emory to have his name on it. And he used to walk around handing out cards to people that said something like..."You can get a lot done if you don't care who gets the credit".  One of the former Emory Presidents gave a very moving speech about all the wonderful things that Emory does. And we got to eat individual little "birthday" cakes since it was Emory's 175th birthday.

Thanks for a great evening out honey!!