I’ve been reading Tom and Lorenzo’s fabulous analyses of the Mad Men wardrobe. Naturally, getting a closer look at the designs only makes me want to replicate them all the more! Sheila, from Out of the Ashes Collectibles is having a 15% off sale that ends Sunday night so I thought I’d mosey over there to see what she has that would satisfy my Mad Mania. I found two patterns that could be easily adapted to evoke Betty Draper (Francis)–the upper middle class homemaker.
Betty Draper’s white dress intrigues me because I love pleated skirts and the buttons that partially go down one side of the bodice. I’ve been trying to figure out how to adapt it for Southern California fall where it stays warm clear to Thanksgiving (and beyond) but I don’t want a sleeveless look.
Simplicity’s 4399 might do the trick! Although Betty’s is not a true wrap around, this pattern could be adapted the following ways to evoke the white dress without actually replicating it:
- Use View 1 bodice and sleeves
- Use View 2 skirt but pleat it instead of gathering it. Debating about whether to keep the flat panel and wrap around or to simply eliminate the wrap around and put a zipper into the side seam. The flat panel would masquerade stomach pooch that might be emphasized by pleats sticking out where they shouldn’t be.
Image courtesy of Out of the Ashes Collectibles
The second ensemble is a Hitchcock Blonde suit and easy to replicate. Oh how I wish I were a Hitchcock Blonde! But only for the fabulous wardrobe, not all of the trouble that besets them.
We only get the gist of it but I’m guessing that it is in the mode of a Jackie O dress/suit. There are a lot of Jackie O style dress and suit patterns available but most of them do not have a collar. However, Simplicity 5383 not only can be adapted for our use, but it also has a vintage Chanel attitude about it (Betty’s wardrobe seems to be moving in that direction), too. To adapt this pattern, simply scallop the front closing and collar. Interestingly, when I was looking through a mid-40′s Butterick pattern book, there were a lot of dresses that had that scalloped look. I think it is a great way to add interest to a rather simply silhouette, don’t you?
Image courtesy of Out of the Ashes Collectibles
What do you think?
I guess what I really think is that I should lose 30 pounds.
I have always had the tendency to put on weight, and in the last ten years, I totally lost interest in the fight to keep it off. When I was a teen-ager, my mother knew how to alter a pattern so that it would fit me. It was considerably more difficult for her if I had gained a few pounds, so I did try to keep my weight down. Even so, I am short and round, and my mother controlled the styles I wore as she deemed appropriate. I mean — we just have to do that. Wasp-waists and straight skirts just aren’t for me even when I’m “thin.”