The Balenciaga Collection

I just finished my very last batch ever of the Balenciaga suit with peplum style!  This time I made it in plum jacquard.

 I decided to photograph all three suits together before I shipped off all the plum suits.

I really need to learn how to photograph the JAMIEshow Genes without washing out their faces. Have I mentioned before that photography is not my favorite thing?

The hat is a pin from Jo Ann Fabrics.  I need to stock up on these.  They are fabulous! 

There are a lot of awesome possibilities for turning pins into high fashion doll hats.  I bought these two "hats" at Hobby Lobby

I love this new backdrop!

This morning I was excited to find this photo of a 1954 Balenciaga design on Pinterest.  I have more of the jacquard that I used for the other three suits in a dark red.  I will be making this suit out of the jacquard in the future.

Balenciaga Suit with Cape

When I first saw this outfit, I knew it was one that I wanted to make.  I started working on it last year, and took a few outfits to sell at the "Every Days a Holiday" convention in August.

Balenciaga 1950

 One of my favorite photos ever.

This photo shows the detail of this suit and cape very well.  I love this fabric, I have no idea what kind of fabric this is, though I am guessing it is silk (according to the book this photo came from, it is figured satin).  There is no way I was going to find this beautiful fabric in the stores around here.

This was my first attempt.  I used a jacquard that gave me a nice texture.

Figuring out how the front of the jacket looked under the cape was a challenge.  The collar is centered, but then the buttons go asymmetrical.

I had to guesstimate, and this is what I came up with.

I wasn't completely happy about how my first capes turned out, so I redesigned it.  I probably made 10 or more capes out of muslin to finally get something that looked more like the real design.

For the first cape, I made a fringe-like trim because there was no way I was going to make all those tassels by hand.

Here is the final version of the cape.  I was able to make several pleats in it like the real cape.  I still don't feel like it is perfect, but sometimes one has to accept that not everything can be replicated exactly in miniature.  There is always the issue of bulk, and getting the little lapels and collar to fold over the pleats in the cape was a challenge.

The most time consuming thing about this cape is the miniature tassels.  One morning I woke up obsessing about how to make miniature tassels.  I grabbed my phone on my nightstand and Googled "How to Make Miniature Tassels" and a miracle happened!  I found a blog and a link to buy Judee's TasselMaker!  I jumped out of bed and ordered myself one.  I was able to make 6 tassels at a time and after I got the hang of it, they were not that hard to make.  

I lightened this photo to show the details better.  Each cape has 27-29 tassels, and I made 9 capes.  You do the math, and yes I do know I am nuts.

The other recent purchase that I am excited about is this column.  I have wanted a column for a long time.  I found this one at Hobby Lobby.  It is very large, so I am pretending that she is doing a photo session at a building with massive columns.

To purchase this pattern click here.

My Top 10 Pierre Balmain Favorites From 1950

I am in the middle of another big batch of outfits right now.  I feel like I will be working on this batch forever.  This project involves a miniature tassel maker and over 300 tassels.  I will share the details as soon as I can.

So since one of my biggest talents is procrastination, I would like to share some more favorite designs, this time from Pierre Balmain.

I have decided I need to take some French lessons, not only are the magazines that I like to collect my pictures from in French, but I don't want to sound like an idiot when I say "Balmain", "Givenchy", "Heim", "Griffe", etc.  I can pronounce German and Pacific Northwest American English, but not French.

I have made several Balmain inspired outfits for Gene from different years.  Balmain has some great designs.  So in no particular order, here they are:

 I love the puffy sleeves on both of these suits.

What's not to love about paisley brocade?

The fur is so fluffy!

 Love the lambswool fur trim and muff.

 I have the perfect fabric for this coat, plus it has a muff.

More lambswool and muffs!

Very beautiful, and another muff.

I am planning on making this outfit this year.  I love leopard, and a leopard muff!

Pleats!

My Top 10 Christian Dior Favorites From 1950

About a month ago I wrote a post about my favorite fashions by Fath from 1950, so now I am sharing my favorite Dior designs from that same year.

It was harder for me to find 10 favorite Dior designs than I though it would be.  I guess 1950 isn't my favorite year for Dior. 

I am constantly adding pictures to my files, and have many on Pinterest by Dior that I haven't gotten around to transferring over to my computer.  I am sure I will find more Dior creations from 1950 later.

I am already regretting that I didn't start posting about my designer favorites in 1947 when Dior launched "The New Look", but I will do that later.

So in no particular order, here they are.  I would love to make all of these outfits for Gene.

 The velvet gold coat over the slim black skirt is great.

Here is another stunning coat over a slim skirt.  Love the color.

 

I really appreciate seeing the fashions in colored photos because if I hadn't seen the first photo of this coat, I would have assumed that it was grey and not that lovely melon color. 

 I want to try making my own lace fabric by sewing lace trim on fabric.  It looks like I would need 2-3 different widths of the same style of lace to make this dress.  I doubt I would make more than a couple of these.

Love everything about this dress; the fabric, the over dress, the underskirt, etc.

 

 

Two more photos of this lovely dress

I have a thing for full skirts over slim underskirts and brocade, so this is a winner in my book.  I also love the bodice darts.

 Big dramatic collars rock!

 Beautiful!

 

 

I tried to make this dress for Gene years ago, it was a fail.  But now that I have seen the back of the dress, I may attempt it again someday.

 I love suits with trim.

 

 

I saved my favorite for last, love this low neckline with the white pleated blouse underneath.