Sewing for the WWII reenactments and living histories I do actually causes me some distress. Right now, one can relatively easy and cheaply find and wear original garments from the era, whereas sewing accurate reproduction costs more and takes more time. For the first few years I wore a lot of originals, including original uniforms. Then, one day, I destroyed an original piece. I put on a mint dress in the morning, and due to my sweating in it through the day, the lining was completely destroyed by evening. *weeps!!*

Since then, I will make and wear a reproduction over an original, if reproductions are available. This means, I sew or buy reproductions of my underpinnings, socks, skirts, blouses, dresses and shoes. I still wear original stockings, hats, sweaters and coats because I haven't been able to find a way to get affordable and accurate reproductions. *sigh*

I used to portray a Navy WAVE, but due to my no longer wearing of original uniforms, gave that up. I want to get a reproduction WAC uniform, but it is hard to justify buying reproduction pieces at higher costs than originals! Oh well, I'll get there. ;-) For the time being, I am portraying civilian or USO.

I think we all have to stop and consider at what point we cut off wearing originals. I think we can all agree that something from say, 1840 should in no way, shape or form be worn, but when we start talking about textiles less than 100 years old, the consensus gets murkier. I've yet to decide what I really think is "right".

Brown Plaid Skirt

I made this skirt from a vintage Simplicity pattern in 2008. I used a brown plaid cotton twill I had on hand. It closes up the side with a zipper and has decorative top-stitching. I'm wearing it with a reproduction shirt, and an original sweater and hat, as well as a full set of reproduction underpinnings.

Outside, I wore a vintage coat with vintage over boots with the outfit

Pink Dress

I made this skirt/dress in 2003 for a friend. I used a vintage pattern and a pink cotton calico for the fabric. In the first photo the skirt is worn with a vintage hat and shirt.

The Butterick Walk-Away Dress

I made this dress from the famous Butterick 6015 from 1952. This dress is part of vintage-dressers folklore, practically, so when Butterick re-released the pattern I had to try it. I used a purple cotton print I picked up at a quilt shop when I was in college and pre-made bias tape.

I found that I do not think this pattern works for every figure!! The style has basically a front and back dress, the front buttons around the back, and the back snaps around the front. This created, on my curvy figure, a lot of gapping under the arms, enough so that I had to add underarm snaps. The second main issue I had was the neckline. It would sit fine, but given the structure of the dress, would shift towards the front, towards the back, off the shoulders, etc whenever I moved! The apron front also liked to ride... around whenever I moved. I added extra fabric which reduced this a bit, but didn't eliminate it!

My conclusion? This dress would need some altering to look good on a curvy figure. I think it is much more fitting to someone of slighter build!