My Mom: A 70's Beauty

In celebration of Mother's Day, I felt it fitting to share some pictures of my very first style icon.

My mom made many of her own clothes and many of mine when I was a child. She was my first sewing teacher and always encouraged me in drawing and creating. She was (and still is) always dressed perfectly, knowing just what to wear for every occasion. All bias aside, I've always felt that my mom is an exceptionally beautiful woman - when I came across these photos back in middle school, though, I realized I hadn't seen anything yet. The hazy prints showed her and my dad frolicking on the beaches of New Jersey and preparing for nights out with friends - indeed, she told me she'd been to the exclusive Studio 54 during its heyday. My mom spent her 20's in the 1970's, an era I'm usually not all that into aesthetically. These photos, though, paint a beautiful dreamscape, and lucky for me, my dad loved taking pictures of my mother.

Happy Mother's Day, Mom, and to all the mothers out there that make our lives beautiful.

Robe de Style Recap

If you've been following my exploits on Twitter, you know that I created a robe de style dress for a party my husband and I threw to celebrate our anniversary. We rented The Russell Room, a small cigar lounge inside Bourbon & Branch (a fantastic cocktail bar in San Francisco that was once a speakeasy). We asked our guests to dress in the style of the 1920's to keep with the overall feeling of the location - and that meant I had to find the perfect outfit.

The Russell Room inside Bourbon & Branch

Though I love the fashion of the 1920's, most of the dresses were not flattering on women with busts and hips. The trend back then was to bind an ample bosom down to boyish proportions while wearing a girdle-like corset contraption to tame wide hips. Lucky for me, the robe de style dress was a perfect choice given my shape. It was first created by Jeanne Lanvin, and coveted by women who didn't want to wear the uber-short dresses that were then fashionable. Whether or not it's truly the case, I like to think of the robe de style as evidence of a prolonged affection for all things Edwardian. It's a more streamlined and comfortable version of the frou frou gown of the teens, yet retains all the trappings of the prior decade's girliness: ruffles, faux flowers, bows.

I just had to find a pattern that would work... and sadly, there were not many options online. Then I found this lovely creature on eBay. Not quite the right size, damaged and too pricey, but luckily the seller took a million pictures and the body looked easy to mimic.

The finished product

I had a wonderful time working on this project. I got to play around with from-scratch pattern drafting, an unholy amount of gathering, and a rustling Thai silk that smelled like heaven and still makes me swoon when I see it.

Faux flowers, pleats galore and a silk organza hem

For the flower flourish up front, I visited The Ribbonerie. The owner, Pauline, helped me find the perfect spray of vintage German blossoms. I was hoping to get something similar to the original, but had to keep reminding myself that the color and limpness of the 1920's version was due to patina and was unlikely to be replicated. The flowers I picked were as close to perfect as I was going to come with only a week to go.

Dress back and pleating close-up

Even though the misplaced darts on the original dress suggest it was photographed backwards, I couldn't resist keeping the flowers up front, and I loved the idea of the back pleating mimicking the shape of a derrière.

The bodice was a cinch to make - two pieces with four long sashes that tie at the natural waist and cinch above each hip. The skirt was cut double wide, copiously pleated, then sewn into the front and back torso panels before stitching them together. I also finished the hem in a papery silk organza, just like the original. Unlike the original, though, I bias bound the neckline and created wider straps so I'd be able to wear a regular bra underneath.

Jewelry from Etsy, Haute Bride and vintage stores around San Francisco,

1930's evening shoes from Torso Vintages

And if I was going to pull this whole thing off, I had to accessorize like a flapper too: with a bucket of bling. I pulled every sparkly thing I had in my possession, including the necklace I wore for my wedding. What I didn't already have, I snagged off Etsy. Shoes proved to be more difficult to find, but I lucked out and found a pair in need of repainting. They turned out to be wickedly uncomfortable and I kicked them off an hour into the party (see below). I faux-bobbed my hair and gave myself a half-moon manicure. All set!

In action

I love this entry on the flapper from Wikipedia:

Flappers were a "new breed" of young Western women in the 1920s who wore short skirts, bobbed their hair, listened to jazz, and flaunted their disdain for what was then considered acceptable behavior. Flappers were seen as brash for wearing excessive makeup, drinking, treating sex in a casual manner, smoking, driving automobiles and otherwise flouting social and sexual norms.

True to Flapper style, I was so preoccupied with doing my own version of the Charleston and drinking Revolvers that I never settled down for some refined photographs, but so be it. There's always Halloween!

Looking Good Doesn't Come Cheap

It turns out that champagne taste is timeless.

Image via How to be a Retronaut

If you thought $346.50 was a lot to spend one outfit, consider that this breakdown dates from 1926, so the same outfit would cost about $4300 today.

Get the Ring!

Love this, via the always-amazing How To Be A Retronaut. Wish I could still order one!

Calling All Flappers...

I can't live without my iPhone.

It's glued to my hand at all times (excepting, of course, when I'm sewing). I use it for grocery lists, checking in on my Etsy shop, playing Words With Friends, Sudoku and Mah Jongg, taking on-the-fly product photos, and killing time in uncomfortable situations. I keep it in my hand when I'm out and about, even if I'm not using it at that particular moment... in short, I'm obsessed.

When I think of early mobile phones, I can't help but think of the charmingly humungous breadbox phone Zack Morris used in Saved By The Bell. Or the one used by the sinister Patrick Bateman in American Psycho.

Photos: Zack Morris Cell Phone (yes, really), Tontadas Verias

But I guess cell phones go back further in history than I'd initially thought! Check out this amazing 1922 Pathé video from How To Be A Retronaut: "World's First Mobile Phone".

So much prettier than a breadbox phone, don't you think? Perhaps less practical, but hey, when has pretty ever truly needed to be pragmatic?

Marie Antoinette: Shoes On A Budget

Just in time for Halloween... this is cross-posted from my Tumblr. Enjoy!

Loved the shoes in Marie Antoinette?  Dear God, so did I.

I’m a freak for historical costume.  When I think of what I could be wearing were it, say, 1750, 1860, or 1949, I get a little upset.  People tell me “You can just wear costumes all the time…  after all, you do live in San Francisco!”  True, but I’m also a (mostly) sane individual who would like to retain her dignity and circle of friends, thank you very much.  So instead of wearing corsets, hoops and seamed stockings all year round, I reserve those outfits for special occasions.

After all the Marie Antoinette hubbub caused by the eponymous 2006 film, I decided that, sooner or later, I must dress as Marie Antoinette for Halloween.  That time finally came last year when I wasn’t working more than a few hours a week and was jonesing for a project.  While I had no trouble making a corset, petticoat, shift and pocket hoops from scratch, shoes were another issue entirely.  Nowhere (I mean nowhere) had decent Rococo shoes.  I kept coming across travesties like these…

and prohibitively expensive beauties like these (from Peter Fox)…

…but could find nothing that bridged the gap of eh/cheap to OMG/expensive.  I wasn’t asking for much, just a court-heeled mule with a semi-pointed toe.  I could do the rest.  But it just wasn’t happening.  I spent an unreasonable amount of time online looking for shoes I’d only wear once or twice.  What the hell was my problem?  And THEN… I found them.  For less than $25 on Overstock!

They had a close-to-perfect heel, and were already embellished with rhinestones.  My only complaint was the presence of an ankle strap, but that would be a cinch to cut off.  There was also the issue that the satin in the shoes was synthetic and therefore might not take dye as I had hoped.  But no pain, no gain, right?  At worst, the dye would remain on the surface, but run off the shoes if they got wet.  Whatever.  I wasn’t going to Wildwater Kingdom, I was having a Halloween party!  Time to take one for the team!

So, armed to the teeth with a bottle of teal Rit dye, a sponge brush, a glue gun, sharp scissors, $10 of random vintage ribbons and trims from The Ribbonerie and a roll of masking tape, I transformed the above budget bridal shoes into these:

Cool, huh?  And here’s a side view.

Peter Fox’s shoes are definitely more accurate, but accuracy wasn’t necessarily the goal here, and hell, I loved making them!

Do You Have What It Takes...

...to be a silent film star?

From How To Be A Retronaut (one of the best sites ever), a list of the ideal assets for the perfect screen star, circa 1928.

Fashion Love Affair: Vintage 1920's Lace and Embroidery Dress

This shouldn't be news to anyone, but I'm a costume nerd. You can tell so much about the zeitgeist of a particular era by looking at what people were wearing back then. What's great about the 20's is that the departure from the lace-heavy, buttoned-up Edwardian era was so incredibly in-your-face, like so much of what was going on during that time. The 1920's saw a swift change from the uber-femme corseted S-curve Gibson Girl to the boyish taping-her-breasts-down flapper in a very short period of time.

Edwardian Silhouette (left), Flapper Silhouette (right)

For so long, trends changed over a period of decades. In the 1700's and 1800's, silhouettes gradually morphed over the course of years. These days, cinched waists and shutter shades are in one season and out the next.

While costume history is pretty fascinating, it also generalizes. The subtle nuances tucked away in the broader tale of fashion history are pretty cool too. This dress, currently on Ebay, is the perfect example of merging a boyish silhouette with girlish nostalgia. The woman who owned this dress had a soft spot for the Edwardian era. She eschewed fashionable simplicity for Art Nouveau frou frou, yet stayed on-trend. Amazing. I wonder where she wore this dress...

So, I covet this lovely piece. Take a peek!

Ostentatious Deco: A Visit to Hearst Castle

My husband had to attend a conference in Santa Barbara last week, so we decided to make a mini vacation out of what would normally be a boring trip down south. We spent the first few days in Santa Barbara, then drove up to San Luis Obispo and spent our final night in Cambria before hightailing it back to San Francisco. On our way back, we decided to check out a much-talked-about gem in San Simeon, Hearst Castle.

Hearst Castle, built by William Randolph Hearst and architect Julia Morgan, is one of the few true American castles. Comprised of 165 rooms, the Casa Grande portion of the estate (the largest building) comprises over 60,000 square feet. Yes, you read that right! The estate, now a ranch, is 250,000 acres in size. Pretty impressive! The estate was constructed from 1919 up until Hearst's health began to decline in 1947 and includes a mish-mosh of ancient architectural elements and Deco style. Take a peek!

We were first led to the Neptune Pool, the largest and most elaborate pool on the property (there are three total). The columns on the left hand side of the picture above were recovered from ancient ruins. The statues are all carved from marble. Hearst must have had some raging parties here!

The largest guest house on site, which is about three times the size of my apartment.

See that turret?

Inside is the lovely celestial suite. Our tour guide called it a jewel box, and it's easy to see why. Sadly, this part of the tour is now off-limits due to California's budget problems. We got to see it on its last day open to the public.

The view was so-so.

That gorgeous rust-colored detail is actually hand-carved teak, which has to be regularly oiled.

 Hearst's kitchen was ridiculously large and totally electrically powered - no gas!

Two of my favorite rooms: Hearst's office (left) and the guest (yes, guest) library (right).

After Hearst and his wife separated, actress Marion Davies became the home's "hostess" and remained a dedicated and loving partner to Hearst until his death. Her room was decidedly lovely.

Details details details! Hearst apparently bought a lot of the older-looking pieces from catalogs -- the ceilings are all antique, some hundreds of years old.

A wicked cool lofted guest room. This reminds me so much of a gussied up version of our first loft in San Francisco. What I wouldn't give for those beautiful details!

The best was saved for last: the indoor Roman pool. The pool measures 10 feet deep and features a high dive (left). The bottom of the pool is tiled to look like the sky and the ceiling of the structure is painted with an underwater scene. Our tour guide said Hearst wanted his guests to feel as though they were diving into the sky.

Real gold tiles, both around the pool and in its depths.

"I claim this pool in the name of Honey Cooler Handmade!"

True Deco: In Color!

We here at Honey Cooler Handmade (well, I guess I should say "I", since this is a one-woman show) love all things Deco. This amazing video (stolen from the gorgeous blog Mariaunet) is a film test for Kodachrome, one of the first color motion picture films. While Kodachrome was manufactured from 1935 until 2009, this video is an exceptionally early test, from 1922!

The women in this video are lovely in what is now an unconventional way -- full rosy cheeks, porcelain skin, gently flirtatious, a bit overdramatic -- and I love it.

The video precursor says it best "Some of the earliest color motion pictures you will ever see". Enjoy.