ice cream and playsuits

Yesterday was the guild's retro ice cream social.  We had rotten luck with picking a date with this event, and a lot of our regulars couldn't make it due to personal conflicts.  But even though our group was small, we still had a great time and I was so glad I was able to go!  Beth Marie's in Denton is the most adorable little retro ice cream shop, and we got a lot of positive attention and comments from the other guests.  It was a such a fun little outing. More photos can be found on flickr.

The dress that I wore was one that I started for CoLow, but I ran out of time and didn't get to finish it.  It was nice to have another excuse to wear it so soon.  The pattern that I used was a collection of playsuit separates from the late 1940's.  I was originally going to make the skirt and a matching blouse out of some vintage novelty print cotton from my stash, but I didn't have enough fabric for that, so I made a jacket out of vintage corduroy to wear to the social.   Although it wasn't my first choice, I'm glad it turned out this way because I think the jacket makes it look a lot more dressy. I also found a cute little hat on etsy that matched the color perfectly, and then I finished it off with some vintage gloves, a small petticoat, and a great lucite box purse for the total "Sunday best" look.  And just so you don't miss it, I wanted to point out that my fabric is decorated with hat stands and a variety of hats and gloves.  So adorable!

But luckily, I did have enough of the print fabric left over for the bra top.  Although it isn't pictured with the skirt on my pattern envelope, you can see examples of a cropped top worn with a long skirt in other playsuit patterns, like this one, so I knew it could be worn that way.



My midriff hasn't seen the light of day since the mid-90's, so I was really nervous about taking pics of this second look.  LOL!  I don't think it is something that I would wear often, but if I was at a pool or the beach, I think it would fit in well and be quite cute and summery without being too revealing.  And actually, the bra top is my favorite part of this whole pattern.  It is very comfortable and I would love to make up a few more to wear as pajamas or when lounging around the house during the summer.

You can find a few more photos of both of these outfits on flickr.