Copacetic Clothes

Marilyn Monroe white dress in The Prince And The Showgirl

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 13:26:00 -0500

I just started watching The Prince and The Showgirl and couldn’t resist posting about the white dress Monroe wears throughout the film. I found it hard to find out but the costume designer on set was Beatrice Dawson (not credited on IMBD) the dress is beautiful ivory silk and chiffon beaded with one beaded sleeve one plain chiffon. The beaded chiffon overlay encases the silk layer until the calf where it kicks into a fishtail. It’s such a flattering dress on her figure especially the fitted asymmetric bodice.

I think I have a similar ivory crinkle chiffon at home which could be used for this dress, I shall have to dig it out and test it out!

Grace Kelly High Society

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 12:31:10 -0500

I am yet to watch more than TV snippets of High Society but after seeing the full montage of costumes Grace Kelly adorns I think I might have to do it rather soon! My favorite is the chiffon ball gown, audreyandmarilyn.tumblr.com actually pointed this out to me earlier. I love Grace Kelly I think she is beautiful, elegant and incredible in the Hitchcock pictures, and this dress is beautiful. I love the dusky purple colour of the chiffon over the pink underlay and the amount of fabric is so indulgent.

Yet again another beautiful number sported by the beautiful Ms Kelly.

Grace Kelly's blue dress To Catch A Thief

Tue, 14 Feb 2012 06:07:27 -0500

One of my favorite dresses in a film I’ve seen so far is this ice blue chiffon number by the wonderful costume designer Edith Head.

If you haven’t fallen completely in love with the colour then I doubt you ever will, for me it’s one of those ‘love-at-first-sight’ dresses; you instantly know it’s the one.

I have come across some interesting information about the dress and Edith Head too, she adamantly steered clear from trends in her work however as the film was set around 147-49 she had to somehow nod to Dior’s New Look despite their being legislation laws protecting the collections.

‘Floor length ice blue chiffon evening dress. Fitted bodice into the waist with spaghetti straps, gathered from knot above left bust and left rear waist; natural blue block stripe below bust knot, draped into waist and running full length of the gathered skirt, also from left waist into skirt and above rear wrapover to knot on left waist then into skirt; worn with matching blue clutch bag, white open toe sandals and blue chiffon scarf.’

The dress is used to identify Kelly’s character in a single shot; wealthy, young, fashionable woman with an overall detached and icy persona. The colour helps tell us this despite being an unusual choice for an evening dress in that period.

If I ever come across the perfect blue chiffon I would love to re-make this dress, but it HAS to be the right colour as that is the most important part.

Dress re-make: Cherry print wiggle dress worn in The Misfits

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 18:55:00 -0500

**At the minute I’m posting images and inspiration of garments I will be re-making in the near future, I will of course be updating you on my progress of these re-makes.

And so to another Marilyn dress I would like to re-make that I think could be fairly inexpensive to do; the cherry print dress from her last completed film in 1961 The Misfits. I really love this film, Marilyn looks beautiful and it’s a really nice story. It’s also Clark Gable’s final film. I guess I like it alot because of the animal welfare message in the film as I’m a big animal lover myself, besides that I think Marilyn looks amazing in her simple outfits and slightly longer hair.

I’ve found a couple of fabrics so far that I think are pretty close to the dress:

Maybe I’ll go for the 2nd cherry print as there are no leaves on the original dress, I think it’s closer. I can do most of the work for this on the mannequin rather than flat cutting pieces, the skirt and bust drape on the body gathered into the waist.

A backless number again (I told you I was a sucker for them) I’ll put a concealed zip in the back to keep the waist tight, and make some rouleaux for the shoulder ties. I’m quite excited to start this one as I can see it being more achievable than some other dresses on my list!

One of the first re-makes on the agenda . . .

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 18:03:59 -0500

Some Like It Hot is without a doubt one of my favorite films. It’s got 30’s fashion, it’s black & white, it has a hilarious love story, it’s got men in drag - dangerously handsome Tony Curtis and laugh-out-loud Jack Lemmon, and then comes the cherry (or should I say Sugar) on top; the delicious Marilyn Monroe.

The costumes in this film are divine, I really love 20’s/30’s glamour style and the work in some of the costumes are exquisite. I’m usually not very patient so for a change I would like to force myself to do some intricate beading on a full dress to conquer my impatience and tell myself I can do it. First things first to get the beads!

The back detail is without doubt my favorite part of this dress. I’m a real sucker for backless dresses anyway and this I think is just beautiful. It’s such a risqué dress for it’s time and alot of actresses then wouldn’t of dared wriggle into such a sexy number, but thank goodness our Marilyn did as she looks fab-u-LOUS!

Lot’s of black bugle beads are needed for this operation.

Dressing Marilyn

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 17:13:53 -0500

After drooling after this book in every bookshop I have seen it in recently I finally got it! The lovely girls at the studio I have been working at in Brighton got it for me as a leaving present. It’s such a beautiful thing full of two of my biggest passions; fashion and Marilyn. I’ve taken a few snaps of some great pages in the book (sorry for the poor quality isn’t great)

It’s a beautiful book filled with amazing photo’s of Marilyn in costume tests, at premiers, parties as well as photo’s of measurement details clipped to original pattern pieces for some of the most exquisite dresses.

I just got the book so haven’t had time to read up on anything properly yet but I absolutely love the details/pattern piece pictures and the gorgeous sketches by Travilla. There are some beautiful close ups of beaded/sequin and pleated sections that are really inspiring for glamorous gowns. One of my favorite dresses is the one above from There’s No Business Like Show Business, nude lining with crystals, beads and sequins adorning the dress. I would love to remake this dress, best get the embroidery hoop out for it to be ready by the end of the year! I would quite like to start collecting beads and sequins to be able to do so however.

There are alot of ideas in here that I can translate to simpler garments that wouldn’t take too long to make, I would really like to do some beading even on a top I think would look gorgeous on chiffon/anything sheer.

Copacetic - What are you talking about??

Mon, 13 Feb 2012 13:20:26 -0500

So as a recent fashion graduate with a sudden burst of motivation and confidence I have decided to set up studio at home and get myself into gear making all the vintage clothes I adore from Old Hollywood films and have always wanted to make.

I plan to scour charity/vintage and fabric shops and make some fabulous vintage inspired pieces to sell online. This blog is mainly for me to post inspiration and outfits that I want to re-make.

I have been reading some great books from the library and there are many more I want to buy which I shall post on here and post all pictures of garments I spruce up/alter/make from scratch as well as any design ideas/sketches.

So the blog title Copacetic Clothes is taken from a 1920’s/1930’s phrase I found that means ‘in excellent order’, which I intend all the pieces I make to be, as well as all my inspiration being fabulous.

My inspirations will mostly stem from Marilyn Monroe films, as well as iconic stars such as Lauren Bacall, Grace Kelly, Marlene Dietrich, Louise Brooks, Jean Harlow and many many more. I am really interested in learning about fashion in the 20’s right up to the 50’s so if anyone would like to share any images or information with me I would be ever so grateful!

I shall begin by uploading some books I have/want and what I intend to take from them.

I hope you enjoy!

Adele