If you have followed my blog for a while, you will probably already know that I am a very big fan of movies, especially movies set in the early 20th century. Most of the inspiration that I get for my sewing comes from movies costumes, and this dress is no different.
After not being able to see many new films during lockdown, I was thrilled when a ton of movies come out in theatres this year. This fall I got to go see The Menu (a hilariously dark thrilled with Anya Taylor-Joy and Ralph Fiennes), Amsterdam (about 2 war veterans and a nurse in the 1930s with John David Washington, Margot Robbie, and Christian Bale), Don't Worry Darling (a much contested movie with Harry Styles and Florence Pugh that I actually really loved), and Where the Crawdads Sing (based on the book by Delia Owens). All of these movies were absolutely fantastic, but one of my favourites was the whodunnit See How They Run. This movie stars Saoirse Ronan and Sam Rockwell as a constable and a detective solving the a murder related to the stage play The Mouse Trap, by Agatha Christie. This movie was so much fun and I am always a huge fan of Saoirse Ronan.
In one scene, Ronan's character wears this lovely 1950's shirt dress made out of a mustard/orange corduroy and I immediately wanted to make a version for myself. My mom and I started looking at 1950's shirt dress patterns as soon as we got home from the movie theatre. I have made many, many 1950's shirt dresses so far (they are one of my favourite styles to make and wear), but I wanted to try a new style this time. I loved this vintage Simplicity pattern (S3782) because it has a different shape from my other patterns while still giving the classic 1950s sillhouette. This pattern features dolman sleeves, an empire waist seam, pointed collar and wing cuffs, and a fabulous princess-seamed 6-panel skirt.
The pattern and fabric that I chose for this dress does not obviously resemble the dress from the film at all, but I think that it has enough of the details that it is still reminiscient of Ronan's costume. I have a pattern very similar to the dress that she wears, but I made it earlier this year and wanted something new for my winter wardrobe. Her collar is a notched collar while mine is a pointed, almost Chelsea collar; her dress buttons down to the waist while my buttons stop just under the bust; her corduroy is a wider wale than mine. Despite the differences, I love that my dress copies her 3/4 length sleeves, skirt shape, and general early 1950s mood. I did not want to make a direct copy, I just wanted to take my favourite parts of her dress and turn it into one that I can wear all winter long.
Although I have never used this pattern before, it ended up fitting perfectly with very few alterations and the corduroy is thin enough that the dress doesn't look bulky but is still nice and warm in the winter - especially during the cold snap that we have had in Canada this Christmas season! Paired with wool tights and boots it is a perfect everyday dress for colder weather.
I think that I accomplished my goal of creating something reminiscient of a movie costume that I love without it looking costume-y or like I am playing dress up, so I am very excited to get to wear this dress in every day life!
Thank you so much for reading,
~Katherine
