>The last month has found my scouring Etsy and Ebay in search of the perfect Christmas dress. Every year I have a vision of a perfect 50s dress, and every year I come up empty handed. There’s scores of lovely dresses online but, unfortunately, most are out of my price range, too fancy for our family’s get together, or not my size. *le sigh*
For an example, for those of you who still might be on the quest for the holiday outfit, here’s a few of my favorites on Etsy, with what I imagine they could be worn as.
A fabulous red and green plaid suit.
The “I want to be Marilyn for Christmas” dress.
The fun Christmas fairy dress.
The Holiday Rock Star dress.
The International Spy suit
The Candy Cane dress
The Christmas road trip to the pines coat
The Christmas at boarding school dress
The How to Marry a Millionaire Christmas dress and bolero.
The college sweetheart formal dress.
The “all I want for Christmas is me” dress
The Christmas at the Opera coat
The Leslie Caron Christmas dress
The depression era home style Christmas dress.
The “Painting the Roses Red” Christmas skirt
The Christmas first visit to the in-laws coat
That was fun :)
It’s times like these I’m thankful I can sew for myself!
I thought I found the perfect fabric in the form of Michael Miller’s “Holiday Hostess”, but my quest found it not only discontinued, but I only have 7/8 yard of it! Perfect holiday apron, at least!
As a last resort, thinking maybe I could make a red and white striped dress like the gal’s wearing, or maybe some nice red velveteen to make a dress I’ve got a pattern for in my stash, I stopped into our local fabric store- mostly like a discount fabric store. Although I didn’t find either I set out for, I did find a lovely wool blend that jumped out at me from the shelves- at it was 50% off! There was even some red wool blend to use for contrast. Score!
I’ve had this pattern in the “to trace off and then sell” pile for a long time, and now I have the perfect excuse to do it! I’m still not 100% sold on it for this fabric (read: I don’t really know if I bought enough to match the plaid on the bodice, or am certain I want to take the time to make a tailored dress) but I think it would be absolutely dreamy as a Christmas dress that, thankfully, could be worn year round! I even got a covered button kit to make the buttons red.
So we’ll see what happens! Hopefully I can squeeze in the dressmaking project between now and Christmas!
reilly
December 17, 2009 at 10:15 pm (14 years ago)>Wow, cute pattern!! I hope you have enough time to make it!
Debi
December 17, 2009 at 10:22 pm (14 years ago)>Great links! And I hope you have time to make the dress too!
stephanie
December 17, 2009 at 11:40 pm (14 years ago)>Loved the links! Hope you find time for your Christmas outfit!
Shrinky Inky
December 18, 2009 at 2:06 am (14 years ago)>that was fun! thanks ;)and omg you are ambitious!!
Lisa @ the Vintage Fashion Library
December 18, 2009 at 2:42 am (14 years ago)>Red's my favorite color, so I love the Christmas season. Now get sewing! :-)
Shona van Beers
December 18, 2009 at 10:01 am (14 years ago)>Have you seen http://www.fabricparadise.com? I warn you it is terribly addictive. The lovely Elka said she has heaps of stock and is usually far enough behind in getting it loaded that she often has discontinued stock. I is worth emailing her if the one you want isn't listed. You can search under theme or the designers name. I always end up a few hours and quite a few $$$ worse off!
Sally
December 18, 2009 at 2:30 pm (14 years ago)>The pattern looks great – hope you get time to make it! Thanks for the inspiration it's inspired me to give some more thought to what I'm going to wear on christmas day this year…
Lauren
December 18, 2009 at 6:15 pm (14 years ago)>I adore the links you posted. So fun and cute! I can't wait to see your new creation. I'm thinking I will wear Regency for Christmas this year :-) God Bless!
Shona van Beers
April 7, 2011 at 11:40 pm (13 years ago)>Have you seen http://www.fabricparadise.com? I warn you it is terribly addictive. The lovely Elka said she has heaps of stock and is usually far enough behind in getting it loaded that she often has discontinued stock. I is worth emailing her if the one you want isn't listed. You can search under theme or the designers name. I always end up a few hours and quite a few $$$ worse off!