Rockabilly

Please note Buster's paw under the door. He dislikes being excluded from the outfit shots

I've got loads of academic stuff on my plate, but I have been taking time to recreational stuff too, like meet friends and play with the kitties. My major accomplish so far has been this 1961 rockabilly style dress, which I completed (almost) today (after weeks of stop and go sewing). I'm pretty proud of this highly imperfect dress, and I just need to add some bias binding to some of the seams. I'm in luck that these full shirtwaist dresses are in luck, but I think I'll be rocking this summer, floral dress for a while. (The jumpsuit has taken a back seat, as my co-sewer has been traveling, running marathons and putting us lazy gals to shame). The material is from P&S Fabrics in lower Manhattan, which is outside of the Garment district, and therefore cheaper and less scary. This fabric was on sale, maybe $3-4/yard?

Now that it's (almost) completed, I am at a loss as to how to style this. The pattern suggests pearls and flats. I also see a cute belt and cardigan for the fall. But what colors? Lime green is a bit out of my usual color palette. Would a light grey work for this? I feel like black would be too harsh, but my other cardigans are black, brown, and black and white.


The hardest part was fitting the bodice (as Elaine of the Selfish Seamstress has wisely noted, you have to take care when sewing 1950s style clothes for a non 1950s style body). It also had kimono sleeves, which are even more of a challenge to fit (but less so to sew). I had to make the darts more appropriate for someone who doesn't wear a conical shaping bra. But there is still a decent amount of gapping. I am just resigned to the fact that there is a good deal of "give" in the bodice, as I'd like to be able to hold onto subway straps in this dress.


I am proudest of the button placket. Buttons are pricey (like up to 2 dollars each), which is probably why cheaply made fast fashion often has ugly buttons. I got 7 white-ish buttons for about $1.50 by salvaging them off a men's button down from the thrift shop, and later used the shirt to practice button hole making, which is a whole 'nother adventure.


There's a funny front zip on the skirt, and a little hook and eye that I awkwardly used to keep the whole thing together. And while everything fits, I am definitely not used to the rockabilly style waist cinching!
Have a lovely weekend, bloggy buddies!

Dress: Self made
Shoe: BC Footwear

"Professional Shot"

I just thought I'd share this photo with you all, my lovely bloggy buddies, since you gave me such great advice about the shoes to match this dress (via Laws of the General Economy). It was 80 degrees and muggy and I wore "summer weight" wool knit, and I had a blast, even though I was the only high school friend invited to the wedding (the mother of the bride told everyone that I was funny in her car pool, years ago).

I actually wore jewelry (my sister's plastic black beads). Please not the semi-incredulous look on the face of the man just above my left shoulder. Yep, he can't believe my moves any more than Blokey.

Sparrow

Blokey and I are on our way to see Mighty Sparrow, the Calypso King, at a free noon concert at Metrotech. It's not for fun, it's part of his dissertation research. I picked up this airy shirt dress while shopping with Jesse.anne.o and What I Wore a couple weeks ago, and while it can be a bit short, it's the perfect one piece for the fourth hot day in a row. Did I mention the concert is outside? Well, it's all in the name of research on post colonial Caribbean culture. Sometimes, you just have to make sacrifices.

I can't believe there's not a single neutral in this outfit, although my friend C. told me that yellow can be a neutral. My hair is a neutral, I suppose.

I hope that you have a lovely and productive (and cool) Thursday!

Heat and Dignity

Today is the third (or fourth?) day in a row that it has been mercilessly hot, around the high 90s. We're talking heat advisories and air quality warnings alerts. I know southern types might find this unimpressive, but certain aspects of the city make heat worse at times (subway stations, crowds, concrete). Blokey's fair skinned and cold loving parents are still here, and yesterday we planned a day around cool places: the Met, a couple cab rides, this adorable Japanese silent film (which was cute but included very stark social criticism), the Staten Island Ferry, and lots of water. It's so hot out that we even ran the A/C (at 84 degrees, of course) last night. (My work's A/C gave up yesterday morning, and they had to cancel classes and move staff around. I'm glad I played hooky). I have A/C guilt (I'm a Stan Cox convert), but as soon as it gets below 90, we'll turn it off.
When the heat goes up, my ability to care about dignity goes down. But I am trying to maintain non-embarrassing, but breezy, dress. I cut these shorts from a pair of summer weight thrifted slacks, and had the good luck of thrifting a seersucker floral shirt as well. The sandals are from my ma, so this is a $5 outfit. Not too bad for freakin' hot.
Hope you all are staying cool!

Shorts: GAP, shortened by me, thrifted
Blouse: thrifted
Sandals: Aerosoles
Kitten: rescue

A rad bathing suit strategy

Outfit posts haven't been happening since Blokey's parents arrived and stayed with us. They are now at the Parkside B&B in lovely Prospect/Lefferts Garden (aka the "wrong" side of Prospect Park, but we dig it) for the next couple nights, so maybe outfit posts can continue. Today we went to Brighton Beach, aka the happiest place in the world. Can you tell I have a shore-fetish? In lieu of other brilliant bloggers talking about the beach/beachware (Sal of Already Pretty and D-Med of In Professorial Fashion), and my own obsession and attempt to get to the beach as much as possible (a shameful number this summer, given my proximity to the ocean), I'm sharing a picture of my own suit. But in an effort to not seem so narcissistic, it's an action shot from Lake Michigan, last weekend, courtesy of the beautiful Anne.

(She has been inexpertly cut out, unless she gives me permission to post the whole picture.)

I can't explain the face I'm making (I think our bachelorette friend told us to "work it for othe camera") but this gives you an idea of my modesty levels at the beach/shore. I wear a medium sized string bikini meant for a high school girl. There is very little coverage, and I doubt that I flatter my figure. I don't wear this because I think I have such a fit and awesome body. In fact, whilst in high school, arguably the fittest period of my life, I refused to wear a two piece bathing suit because of the following concerns: my torso was too long, my shoulders too wide, my breast too small, my arms too skinny, my thighs too heavy, my legs too short, stretch marks on my upper thighs, my hips too wide, etc. My body neuroses knew no bounds. But since I've been going to these awesome urban beaches, I've really learn to shed my bathing suit anxieties. There's something so accepting and awesome about going to crowded beaches, where folks look great, and happy, in their own way. Comfort, fun, and celebration seems to dominate here, not trying to create envy or hide "flaws." While I still maintain MANY hang ups and rules about clothing, I think I've managed to shed most when it comes to the beach. Yep, that's my tummy making little folds when I sit down, and I will have an Italian ice in this blaring sun, thank you.
So does anyone else feel more liberated at the beach/pool than you do otherwise? Or is the salt water just getting to my brain?

Cows with Guns

On the eve of American independence day, I put together my Americana-ish outfit, which is also an attempt to remix this dress (and I have difficulty remixing, a sentiment well expressed by La Fille d'Or). I was also listening to the song my sister and I giggle over together, Dana Lyons' Cows with Guns.* It's appropriate because it's about bovine liberation, but it draws on themes of national independence movements (primarily of the 1960s and 70s, but we can relate them to the 1770s, I think.) I want to give this CD and book to all my friends with kids, but I don't know if my parent-friends would approve of tales of cows with automatic weapons (other than the Swedes, who give their kids books about unemployed single dads on public assistance who have great adventures together. Sadly, not in translation).

A lot of folks are wishing everyone a happy July 4, and I also hope you have a nice holiday weekend as well, but I am always ambiguous about this, as well as many other, holidays. Jessphg did a great post on patriotism and criticism yesterday, and it got me thinking about what patriotism means to me. I get annoyed when certain loud people claim a monopoly on the legitimate definition of patriotism. Patriotism doesn't mean never questioning the decisions of your government or never criticizing things that a government has done. Since I teach international relations and will teach international law in the fall, it's impossible to teach effectively without discussing some of our past government's mistakes (Iran contra, Chile 1973, arms races, Monroe doctrine, etc.) But like I always tell my students: being critical of what Washington has done in the past (or present) in no way is an attack on "America," although some students have difficulty separating the two (During this video, a very nice student and veteran got upset and shouted, "Why are you always picking on us! Why is everyone OUR fault?"). I can be patriotic AND prefer Howard Zinn's history of this country over, say, the Texas school board's story.

Blokey's parents come in tomorrow so we have our hands full entertaining soon, so I hope to be productive today and clean a lot. I may be able to drag my in-laws of a Scandinavian extraction to the beach (but not the shore) Monday. Maybe a beach post to come?

Have a lovely weekend, bloggy buddies!

Rad in Brooklyn, lefty American patriot, out.

Dress: Talbots, thrifted
Tunic as undershirt: UO
Belt: Not Just Vintage
Scarf: via Ebay
Shoes: via Heavenly Soles, MPLS

*I could listen to this song over and over again, but Blokey not so much.

Stalling

This dress has been sitting in my closet all summer, for a couple reasons. First, the toggles always do something funky, and the cloth often gets wrinkly and funky. It's also a bit too short (which I tried to remedy with lace bike shorts underneath, see below), and color might just to be too close to my own (summer) skin tone to work. But I'm going with anyway, because I dig the dirndl like elements, and it seems cheerful enough to distract me from what I have to do today.

This is the face of reluctance, and before I rolled up the lace bike shorts

No, it's a good situation to be in. Without giving too much away, this manuscript I submitted to an editor a while back (like before I started blogging), has been taking too much time in the review process and I've been getting discouraged. But I've finally heard from the editor, and he's going to work to get the second review back, but in the mean time, he sent me the first one. It's only 2 pages of recommendations and the editor promised it was "encouraging and positive," but I am so scared to read it. I need to respond to it by the afternoon so guess what I am doing right now? Laundry. (I'll read the report when I am done with the first load). It's nerve wracking, but it's a decent situation to be in. (In my mind, the editor had only kept my manuscript around so he and his staff could have a good laugh every so often.) I don't have anything else to report, but hopefully in a few months I can share more.

Thanks for you thoughts about my anti-budget cut rant yesterday. I know that I can't be alone in thinking this, yet politicians have responded to the state and municipal budget crises in such similar ways, and it's quite disheartening. What makes me madder is that no one raised taxes in NY State or city even during the "flush" times (evidently they did things like mortgaged buildings, borrowed against pension funds, etc.) resulting in short term/adhoc, rather than steady new forms of state revenue flows. What are we, Delaware? I've always wanted to be a public official when I was younger, but abandoned that after I abandoned the Naked Army at age 18. I'd have to cut back on my rage a bit, but maybe someday, I'll ride my "tax the rich, for reals" platform all the way to Albany (or insert some other capitol city here. I think drindl like mini-dresses probably won't be the appropriate uniform).