On Sunday I went to the Jazz Age Lawn Party on Governor’s Island with Kristin and Ashley. It was quite fun to pretend we’d gone back in time, to sit on the grass with our picnic and listen to music, to dance a bit, and most of all to admire everyone’s outfits.
This dress was a quick project I made in Brattleboro while Prima was working. Another old sari, bias cut and designed around the decorative edging, with serger binding in red thread. I love the fabric and I had fun playing with the decoration. But something went a bit wrong with the center triangle. The embroidered pallu at the end of the sari was narrow, and I wanted a long thin triangle anyway, one that would extend from the v-neck to a dropped waist and be no wider than my hips. But I wanted the squares of the embroidery to line up, so the angle of the center panel changes after the first square, making weird little corners. Also, the central triangle turns out to be a sort of awkward shape anyway – if I did it again I would have the triangle extend all the way to the hem and give up on keeping the top square intact. But the embroidered sari fabric makes up for a lot and I do like a dropped waist. It may not be particularly flattering, but that’s not it’s purpose – it’s an exaggerated, playful style that’s more about having fun than about showing off your body. And we did have fun.
I also decorated my hat to match! I bought a cheap paper cloche from the hat guy on the corner, ripped off the hideous polyester band, made a new one from a bit of silk left over from my dress, and clipped it in place with a feathered hairpin.
