V51: 1957 Little Brown Dress

Over Christmas I made a couple 1950s frocks I haven't shared with you.  In fact, I made this dress, then didn't have opportunity to wear it until yesterday, for my grandmother's 88th birthday.

The pattern was Butterick 8087, size 12.  I constructed my version from brown shantung with a brown lace overlay on the bodice.  It was another exercise in letting out seam allowances (yay for 5/8"!) and minimizing darts, as I wear a 14 vintage (if I'm lucky), not 12.  Tight squeeze.

I'm happy with this dress - I made extensive use of fusible interfacing on select areas inside, to stiffen the thin shantung fabric sufficiently to keep the zipper from warping, or the tight fit through the waist from pulling in funny ways.  It has its funkiness - the hem needs re-doing, hangs in a funny way - but all in all I like the end result. :-)

Yesterday I wore the dress with a vintage "mink donut" hat - my dad said it looked like little fuzzy donuts lined up in a crown, lol - and a pair of white gloves I picked up at Sacramento Antiques last weekend.

The End. :-)