Wednesday 13 June 2012

An Occasion for Jubilation

Hello!
Did you all have fabulous Jubilee weekends? I am sure we all had hoped the weather would be a little less well, British.  I have though been reliably informed by my boss that It rained on the Coronation day in '53, which didn't dampen the patriotic fervour, then and I think it was much the same this year.




I decided that seeing as the weather had been glorious I would escape London and pop down to visit my parents on the Isle of Wight, and knowing that my Mum loves a bit (a lot) of bunting it seemed the perfect way to celebrate the occasion!
Our old home in London and Mums 2002 Jubilee Decorations

Honestly, any patriotic event and my Mum will be found up a step ladder decking the halls with the red, white and blue. It used to embarrass me a bit as a teen,like living in the only house in the street to be covered in flags and streamers on the 50th anniversary of VE day, but now I love it and whole heartily approve.

2012's Version, Struggling to stay put against the very strong winds.
Not being the type of people to let a tradition slip by unnoticed, we ensured that over the weekend we dinned on copious amounts of Coronation Chicken (sorry Rosemary, sorry Margarette, I just could not face the thought of boiling a chicken so went with a lazy modern version) Spam sandwiches, jelly mouse, trifle, picnic slice and lots and lots of cake!!

Coronation Chicken which tastes a whole lot better than it looks!
A Super Selection of Spam Sandwiches!
Not prepared to let the house be better or more patriotically dressed than me, even if I was mostly going to be sat in front of the TV, I looked to my wardrobe for some yet un-blogged 50s appropriate outfits.

First is a dress I have had in my wardrobe for years and have shamefully only worn it once, though when you see it you might realise why...


Butterick Retro : B4919
I just adore this dress, it is so much fun to wear as you can glamorously swoosh about in it, which is always great.  It was lovingly made for me by my Mum a few years back when I wanted something unique for my cousin Marks wedding. This dress was certainly that, I was the only lass there (apart from the bride who looked gorgeous) in a skirt that wasn't short (TOWIE style short). I at the time I remember feeling hugely self-conscious, I certainly didn't have the 'Who gives a damn' attitude that I have now and wished I could have just blended in, which is definitely not what this dress is about!

The second dress and the only one I did actually leave the house in (though with the mad windy weather it was a constant battle to keep my modesty, must invest in some fancier pants or an underskirt!) was a recent ebay purchase.


It is a little bit big but I love it, all the same, it is a handmade 50s illusion dress made with a blue satin lining with an oh so pretty black velvet flock outer made up of roses.I love this dress so much and I hope one day to be able to make my own copy of it as it is a little fragile side and It would be sad to loose it.


I had intended to make a spanking new outfit for the occasion, from the fabulous Vogue V113 40s suit pattern (though making a skirt rather than the dress). I had the perfect fabric a bargain busting £1.50 a meter red crepe, I had even left myself plenty of time to finish this before travelling, I'd marked it all up properly with tailor tacks and everything, but I just could not get the darn jacket to look right, the sleeves refused to obey the instructions and go in neatly. All the years I spent dreaming of 40s puff sleeves whilst working with modern patterns and I never realised just how easy they are to do, but now I want a nice smooth shoulder all I seem to get is sodding puffiness! Meeeerrgh!!!  I eventually admitted defeat after the fifth attempt and have *placed it neatly in my to-do pile* to be looked at again when I have enough patience to have another go.
 
Well, I've waffled enough at you all, so I am off now to mow the lawn before it gets too dark or the arrival of next mammoth downpour and then I'm set to have a rewarding catch up on some more of your wonderful blog posts. I currently have 520 to left to read, I started with 790 so this is massive progress :)
 
Wendy x


*placed it neatly in my to-do pile*should read : Screwed up, flung into a carrier bag, jumped up and down on it whilst swearing and then hurled it into a corner where it will remain until I have calmed down enough to have another look at it...when is the next jubilee?

21 comments:

  1. I think both dresses look fab on you, I can see why you love them both!

    I hope you manage to get the sleeves sorted, have you tried sewing them in with the side seams of the jacket undone? Not sure if it'll work with a jacket, but on shirts it helps sleeves go in like a dream x

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    1. Thank you!
      Oh Tors I think you may be a genius! It would never have occurred to me to try that! Marvelous! x

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  2. Those dresses are lovely, love the red one especially. That is so sweet your family get so into the celebrations! x

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    1. Thank You Hannah, I know my family go a bit bonkers on the ol' flag waving tradition, and we've still got the footie and the Olympics to go, that buntings certainly going to earn its keep this year:)

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  3. D'you know, I don't remember any kind of fuss being made about the 2002 jublilee? Not in Scotland anyway! It's interesting how different things are these days, and that so many more people are interested in the Royal Family.

    Anyway, it's lovely to see your decorations and am impressed with your patriotic food too! Both of the dresses are so lovely and perfect for swishing about grandly.

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    1. Thank you, I do love a good shwish:)
      You know even in London there was not as much of a ta-do about it back then, as usual our house was the only one in our street to be bedecked in the R,W&B. Perhaps is that we all need a bit more cheering up theses days and it gives us a chance to let our hair down and be eccentrically British:)

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  4. That red dress looks great, but I know what you mean about the not give s**t to be able to wear some clothes. I must say you are looking the picture of heakth my dear, all that celebrating is obviously doing you the world of good.
    PS seen a great book you would love, lady hero of the world war 2. ( that not the actual title just the basic that I can remember, I'll link via good reads. x x x

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    1. Thank you Charlotte!
      I do think its wonderful that in the last few years, its become not so weird to wear homemade clothes, with that and getting a bit older its certainly made me worry much less about what people will think, which can only be a good thing:)

      Oh that book sounds right up my street I shall keep an eye out for the link xx

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  5. Wow, Wendy, both of those dresses are gorgeous! I wouldn't be self-conscious at all; in fact I'd love the attention in those! I'm sadly not too patriotic, so I spent the jubilee weekend ignoring all things red, white and blue xx

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    1. Oh Thank you so much Kate :)
      I can totally understand that, to be honest this was the first year in a long time that I have let myself fully embrace all that flag waving malarkey, though with parents like mine there has usually been very little choice :) xx

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  6. The frocks are fabulous! As is the bunting :)

    I know exactly how you feel. I have many things that are in a pile, which I occasionally glare at and direct more hate towards.

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    1. Thank you lovely LandGirl!:)
      I never in my wildest dreams thought I could feel such hate and dislike towards a bit of fabric:) x

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  7. Love both dresses, especially the anti-TOWIE one ;) Shame about the jacket not turning out but at least you had other fabulous things on standby. Speaking of sewing, now I'm almost at the end of my final term, I'm going to set to work on making something from your lovely patterns and fabric! Watch this space (or, rather, watch my blog space but you know what I mean...)

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    1. Thank you Marie! :)
      Oh wonderful! I look forward to seeing you creations I am sure they will be fab! :)

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  8. oh my! and I thought I had a lot to read this past week! The IOW made a great effort didn't it? I can't believe we kept passing each other by! I love both those dresses, they're so beautiful and I bet all the short skirted slappers were very jealous really.

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    1. Heehee, Thank you:)
      I know that will teach me for not keeping up with my Blog roll! The Isle of Wight certainly had a lot going on, I am so gutted we kept missing each other and so weird that we kept going to the same things:) x

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  9. Both of those dresses are gorgeous and it looks like you had a great time! I'm over here on the rebel side of the ocean, giving American Revolution-themed house museum tours, so my Jubilee weekend went a bit...differently, haha...

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    1. Thank you!!
      Hehehe, Your job sounds totally fabulous, even though you are one of those pesky rebbels ;) x

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  10. Wow love the fabric on the red dress and the blue one is just perfect! :)

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  11. Awwww.....bless you mum! She is such a sweetheart and your home probably looked the most attractive one on the street with all the beautiful bunting! You should do an outfit post with those two lovely dresses...would look gorgeous in the sunshine especially as its wedding season. I must say a big "Well done" for dressing up during the royal jubilee! I must admit I was too lazy to dress up, as I was sat in front of the telly watching the procession in my pjs all day. Also I do like a spam sandwich....something I often think the younger generation are unlikely to get to know....and cake is essential of course during a royal celebration!
    May xx

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