Field Trip!

"But you didn't have school today, it's Labor Day." Um, right. I still consider my little trip today a field trip. I went to the Vintage Fashion and Textile Show in Sturbridge, MA today. Talk about sensory overload! There was an unbelievable amount of vintage clothes, shoes, buttons, fabric, linens, purses, hats, you-name-it there. There was every fashion era represented from the mid-1800's right through the 1970's. Among all the beautiful clothes, I saw a Suzy Perette dress with a black velvet bodice - perfect with no mars, two Chanel Boutique suits, a Balenciaga, some Diors and quite a few others things I can't even remember. So, what did I buy?

First, I have to tell you who I got to meet! I got to meet Sue Bleiweiss, who not only teaches fiber arts classes at Joggles, but also is the publisher of Fibre & Stitch, an online mag for fiber artists. I don't have any pictures (I forgot my camera! Duh!) of us, but let me tell you, she is an enthusiastic, creative person and if you have a chance to take a class with her, do so! Take a look at her work - it really will expand what you think you can do with a piece of fabric and some thread (well, some Misty Fuse, too!).

Now for the stuff:

First, some vintage buttons, navy blue (not as light as the picture) and just might work for one side of Midnight Garden. We'll see when we get there.

Next, some millinery netting, again navy blue and intended for Midnight Garden. There's more there than I'll need, but it's nice to have extra in case of tears, etc.

The real prize of the day was this 1950's full, not quite circle skirt:

Check out the fabric! It's printed, with the metallic gold applied as a second layer. It also has sequins in pink, magenta and aqua stitched to it. The whole skirt is underlined in black linen, and seems to have horsehair braid in the hem to keep it stiff.

The really, really neat thing about the skirt is the attached petticoat. It is made of a taffeta like material and has three attached net ruffles that are trimmed with petersham ribbon in varying widths in lilac, purple and fuchsia.

I absolutely love this skirt - the more I look at it, the more I like it. It does fit - could be a bit smaller in the waist, but I'm not going to alter it. I could wear it just as modeled as no one would really think too much of it - it certainly doesn't look to be 50+ years old!

[Sue: I got it for price we talked about - the lady didn't even blink an eye and took it right away. That was after she told me the same price that we had heard before lunch. Makes me wish I would have offered less!]

Parting Shot: This one is courtesy of my husband! I was photographing something else and he came to get the camera and announced he had found my parting shot. He had found Max, who obviously needed a friend for a nap (or at least my daughter thought so).