Finding multiple needles in a tightly packed haystack

We have a lot of clothing in our stock in our costume shop.  Way more, in fact, than we'll ever need.  We started the potentially crazy undertaking last season of measuring, sorting, repairing (if needed), purging (if required) and organizing every single piece of clothing in stock.  It's been more than a little overwhelming, but I must admit that I enjoy this sort of work.  We made a ton of headway last season, but aren't even half done.  Sadly, most of what we've covered so far has been less than thrilling, but now we're nearing the women's clothing by decade.

Because our first show this season requires a handful of women's suits to fit teenage girls.  This is a challenge in itself, so I decided to pick up the project in the women's blazers and suits section to see if we had anything to offer our designer.  Two birds, just the one stone.

WHOA!  First off, the rack was so full there really wasn't any room to see what we had and boy howdy did I find some gems.   There's a chance that there may have been a parade of atrociousness this afternoon and I got shut down more than a few times by my shop manager today when I tried to dispose of a *few*, shall we say, "special," items.

I'm not even half way done with the women's suits and I just can't wait to share some of the beautiful, and I mean BEAUTIFUL pieces I found today.  Enjoy!


First off:

Super cute, right!!  So it needs a little lovin' from a steamer and an iron, but it's oh so cute.  Little kick pleat in the front of the skirt and the jacket just closes with that little tie for a lovely silhouette.  I'm a bit of a geek for 1940s pattern making and tailoring and the piecing on this is so fantastic.  Here's a close up:

RIGHT!?   I'm so in love with the teeny tiny roll collar and the angles and the grain change and all of it, really.  

Ok, this one is a real beauty:

The waist is SO nipped in and the sleeves bell out a bit at the hem and are just above bracelet length.  I may have made my first hand put the jacket on.  Also, real fur cuffs and it's in stunning shape. 

For this one, it was late in the afternoon and the lighting was terrible (we have such bad lighting at certain hours) and I really didn't feel like setting something up, as this WAS during work hours...so forgive the Instagram-y-ness of this photo, but it helped pop some of the detail, and boy was there detail.

1930s (?) as best as I can tell and in incredible shape.  This wasn't part of a suit, but functions as its own as a jacket.  It's super tiny, this is on a size 14 child's form (think skinny pre-teen for those of you who aren't parents or working in children's theatre).  There are like 16 ball buttons and loops that run down the front.  I did NOT button them all.  And here's the money shot:

*gasp*

Soutache braid and sequins for months.  So beautiful.

And to wrap up this tour of the first half of our women's suits section...the goldfish suit.  Behold the wonder:

EEP!  Yeah.  It's amazing, and yes, that's a goldfish print on the lapels....

 It's all made of a beautiful crepe so it has an amazing drape.  The label says "Vogue Couturier Design," and the design of the label indicates that it's maybe late 40's.  I have no idea.  But it's so beautifully made -- by a home sewer. That entire lapel is hand sewn around the edges with the tiniest of slip stitches, and the condition is impeccable -- like it was never worn.  Here's the inside:

Note the perfect herringbone stitches holding the ease pleat down at the shoulder and around the label.  

*sigh*

Such prettiness dictates that I have to wrap up this post with an amazing encounter from this weekend.  

I found this amazing example at my favorite store just down the street from my house.  I can't even fathom the amount of rick-rack used to create this 1950s blouse and skirt set.  I'm disappointed in myself for not having my tape measure on me that day.

Pardon the crap photo but I was on a time crunch and couldn't pass up the photo-op.

Yeah, that's a peasant style circle skirt, which means that what you're looking at is gathered onto the circle skirt hem and features...onetwothreefourfivesixseveneightnineteneleventwelve...TWELVE rows of rick-rack alternating glittery silver and white.  And another twelve rows up and down the front of the blouse

My head hurts.
One of our shows last season used over 100 yards of rick-rack on six dresses and three aprons total  (I'll feature those at some point on here).  This one outfit might even top that.  

Why my scouring pad has no home

Flea marketing with my little group of friends always turns out to be a fantastic adventure.  There's this thing we call "The Fate Game."  You see that thing that you love but don't need and you don't really want to drop that amount of money on the thing on the off chance that the OTHER thing that you've always wanted is just in the next aisle over and you just happen to have the exact amount of money because you didn't buy that earlier thing.  The fate part comes into play where, at the end of the flea-marketing day, you go back to the earlier thing and, if it's still there, you buy it.

Playing the fate game sucks sometimes.  I've been tracking these glasses since May.  They're only maybe 3 1/2" tall and there are 8 of them and she had them priced at $20.  This weekend, she still had them.  Still for $20.  I want them SO badly, but can't bring myself to paying that price.  I'll play the game until September.  If they're still there, I bargain.

UGH! But it's gingham AND rick rack!  

I was operating on a pretty strict and comparatively small budget for this one, as I'm running out of storage and don't *really* need anything.  I keep going, because I'm always keeping a half an eye out for: a) ukulele -not a cheap souvenir, something decent, b) a nice tea tray, c) a scouring pad holder - preferably a chicken; however, the phrase "I'll hold your scouring pad" is non-negotiable.  Must be present.  I played the fate game and lost miserably.  I found it on our second outing, did not purchase it, should have, found the dealer this weekend, and learned it had recently been sold. For a dollar.

  *sigh*  It will be mine, oh yes, it will be mine.

I DID, however find a handful of wonderful vintage patterns -- all really good deals.  The 1930s pajamas was a rather exciting find and I can't WAIT to make those pants. 

In the same booth, was this:

Yup.  Sanitary Apron from the 1910s.  Exactly what it sounds like.

Despite all of the research I've had to do in my career and all the costume history classes I've taken, I've never come across any mention of these.  I guess there's no real reason to cover this subject in my field and I'm sure it's uncouth to be discussing such sensitive matters, yes, but what an interesting piece of fashion history.  *Note: I did not purchase this, nor did I open the box to see if anything was actually inside.

I also scored a gramophone-appropriate record.  Selections from "Meet Me in St. Louis," featuring Miss Judy Garland.  Not that I've got a particular affinity for the movie, but it was something I recognized and enjoyed and I needed SOMETHING to I could test out the gramophone I picked up while I was in Ohio.  The needles showed up this week too...we'll see how it goes!  I've actually already gotten some use out of it as an iPhone amplifier using the high-tech method of just placing the phone right in the horn -- filled the room with sound.  Pretty fantastic.

Here's the rest of my haul. All for under $60.  Not a bad job, if I do say so myself.

Yup. That's a three piece avocado green luggage set in almost new condition, blue velvet hat, cocktail apron,  and a couple of old photographs in addition to all the aforementioned findings.