Fashion Feature ~Birthday Couture~

(Outfit pictures courtesy of my obliging Bro. :-D)

Please excuse the dorky pose; I haven't been
photogenic since I was 18. :-P

~What I’m Wearing~

 Shoes: Black 3-strap heels—thrifted

Stockings: Black fleece-lined tights—hand-me-down from Mom

Dress: “Viola”—made by me

Hairstyle: “Rosaleen” All-over Curls with Lace-braids

 Jewelry: “Woodland Faerie” Necklace; Amethyst Eardrops—made by me

Not pictured in outfit shots:

“Amethyst Wings” ring (left)—Arden Fair Mall, February 2000
“Flora” ring (right)—gift from Daddy, February 2001

It’s been a tradition of mine for most of my life to wear something purple on my birthday. After all, purple has always been my favorite color. It also *just happens* to be the color of my birthstone and birth-flower!

Enter “Viola,” a Regency-inspired frock made mostly from vintage patterns (circa 1970s-80s), re-drafted to suit my shape (although the pattern I used for the main dress actually had the Empire waist in the perfect place for me—a very rare thing for us long-chested gals). It’s made of poly-rayon gabardine, which drapes beautifully and is easy to care for on the whole.

There are a few things I’d tweak if I ever made this pattern again—namely, installing the zipper in the side seam, as the sleeves are too restrictive for me to reach it in back. >Sigh< I’ll also probably stick to round, V or rounded-V (“diamond”)-necklines from now on; sweetheart necks just don’t work on me.

Side view of hairstyle. Taken at the end of the day,
when my pretty corkscrews had turned into
Bad '80s Frizz. :-P

That said, it went together much better than the ill-fated “English Lavender” (but then, I did a mock-up of this pattern beforehand, whereas EL was the mock-up—BAD IDEA—and this pattern was much simpler, construction-wise). The dress fits pretty well and is otherwise comfortable and flattering. I received several compliments on this frock (especially from the twelve- and thirteen-year-olds who sing in the choir with me, LOL)!

Eventually, I want to make a chiffon overlayer, embroidered with a dainty vine-pattern and possibly trimmed with more colorful embroidery in key areas (as I mentioned in my CE), to dress it up some. Unless I decide something like that would be too costume-y….

By God’s grace I was able to whip up this pretty little necklace (christened “Wooldand Faerie”) and put new earwires on my Amethyst Eardrops in time to wear them on Sunday. The necklace was supposed to have two oval cabochons on either side of the silver vines in the chain, but the settings I got didn’t work as well as I’d hoped, and there wasn’t time to order anything else before my birthday. So I just threw some amethyst beads in the chain for now and hope to make it up proper at a later date (Lord willing).

This is the nicest outfit I’ve made myself in a long time, and it’s so wonderful to actually have a dress in my closet again!

Until next time, Gentle Readers,

God bless,

~“Tom”~