As soon as I watched the 1942 British Pathe video demonstrating how to turn a men’s trilby into a smart topper I wanted to make my own version. I started with a fedora I found in a charity shop, and followed the basic steps from the video, with a few minor amendments.
It was at a car boot sale several years ago that I glimpsed this bright hot pink fabric peeking out of a gigantic heap of secondhand clothes that had been dumped out of suitcases right onto the concrete. I think I paid £2 for the dress. It wasn't very exciting - a fairly shapeless 60s shift which had been shortened and let out at the seams at some point in its history. But the colour and the scribbly, atomic-era print really appealed to me. I tried selling it but it never found a buyer, and the dress eventually became a candidate for a refashioning project.
Following on from yesterday's blog post topic of reusing, recycling, making-do-and-mending, I'm delighted to unveil my latest refashion project. This rayon crepe dress was one of the very first 1940s items in my vintage wardrobe, and the first vintage novelty print I owned. Although the waist was a little high on me, and the fit was a bit odd, I worked with it and I wore and loved it. When I noticed that the fabric was becoming very delicate and fraying through at the shoulders, I reinforced the seam, then added an iron-on interfacing and darned it in. It wasn't enough though, and the beloved dress, too delicate to wear regularly, hung unappreciated on a padded hanger in the wardrobe. Until eventually I decided that a print this adorable needed to be worn; it was time to give the dress a new lease of life.
