Let’s get this out of the way: I have never particularly liked 1920’s fashion. Not even Downton Abbey managed to win me over. But then I fell victim to cunning facebook algorithms which began to ceaselessly bombard me with “Party Like Gatsby” tour ads, a couple of friends were interested in going there too, and somehow my impressionable brain got the idea that maybe I should give the flapper era a try. I even managed to convince myself that trying to recreate a style I’m a) not terribly fond of and b) I’m firmly convinced it’s not flattering to my body type would be an interesting challenge: Let’s see if I could come up with something I wouldn’t hate.





I set myself one hard rule: As I was not going to invest way too much in this random sewing project in neither time nor money, the material would have to come from the stash. I had several plastic satins and chiffons I had hoarded back in the day when I sewed more modern stuff.




At first I of course considered classic black, but the black materials I had unfortunately didn’t drape very well, even on bias, and I was afraid that they would ruin the soft, clingy evening wear style which I admit has a certain charm - it’s the more stiff, sheath like day styles I can’t really bring myself to wholeheartedly like. Then I remembered this really flimsy shot chiffon with an interesting color changing from pale silvery lilac to bronze depending on the light. It would probably be a pain in the ass to sew, as I generally don’t really get on with thin, silky materials, but hey, that only meant that this would be a great opportunity to practice!





The super fabulous sequin-loaded creations were naturally out of the question, and in any case if I wanted that look I should have rather bought a ready made dress or tried to look for a thrift store one to modify. As I had also had to give up the drama of a black dress I set my aim for something more simple - no super fabulous high couture creation or showgirly bling, but rather relying on some interesting cut and accessories.




Another challenge was to pick a style flattering for my body type. Yes, of course, you should not be too limited to obsessively trying to stick to what theoretically looks best on you but have the courage to try different styles, but I usually still go for that to some extent - and like I said, here it was part of the challenge.




I’m relatively slim for my height which a definite advantage for this fashion period. My bust is a wonderfully versatile size, it can be either padded and pushed up to a nice victorian hourglass or flattened down to a very modest size. But my hips and backside, oh dear, there lies the problem in attaining a silhouette designed for a boyish figure. So I decided to avoid the popular low waist scarves and belts like the Spanish flu.





While browsing through period fashion illustrations and extant dresses I developed a liking for the handkerchief hem styles. I thought that they would suit my chosen material very well, and the changeable color would show an advantage in the bias layers, especially in motion. Also several had the square pieces attached on a zig zag line, which I thought might be marginally more flattering than a straight line over the hips. Also some volume at the hem might distract from the fact that my body is not the ideal stick thin form.




Then there was the question of what to wear underneath. While open backs are gloriously sexy I felt that I would prefer to wear a bra after all. I don’t feel really comfortable without, and a strapless bra also created a very smooth bustline which I thought would suit the style. Women did wear supporting undergarments in this era too, after all. This determined that I couldn’t cut the v-neck back very low. For the front I wavered between a v-neck and a round one, and finally decided to draft a line for both and decide later which to choose.





At first I tried to find a slip or a nightie to wear under the transparent dress, but couldn't find anything long enough on a short notice or fitting the budget, so I decided to just make one.




Happily I happened to find free thrifted material. It’s a poly-viscose blend, not very thin or silky but I thought that cut in bias it might work well enough, and at least disguise bra lines and create a smooth base for the top layer. The colour was a much warmer mauve than the dress fabric, but surprisingly it didn’t change the dress colour much and even to some extent blended with my skin colour.

I put the slip together rather fast, and I didn’t even bother too much about accuracy and brazenly made bust darts to get a smooth fit.





Well, it wasn’t actually a one-hour-dress. I ended up putting a lot more time on it than I had originally intended, maybe too much (at the cost of all my other planned sewing). The fabric was a challenge indeed.




I began by drafting a rough pattern based on my measurements. I turned the little bust dart to pleats on the shoulder which I would fit properly later. I also planned the line where the handkerchief hem squares would be set. Then, just to be sure because I was really afraid of handling the material I placed it over the pattern and basted lines for everything - front and back center lines, bustline, hipline, pattern edges and lines for the handkerchief squares.




After this I basted the side seams and tried the dress on my dummy, checked that the vertical lines fell relatively straight and folded and pinned the pleats on the front shoulder.





I sewed french seams on the sides. Then I cut away some of the seam allowance on the armhole, still leaving plenty, and basted and sewed the shoulder seams. I finished them with a bias strip.




Then I finished the armholes and neckline with the slowest possible way, first basting the bias strips on the basted pattern edge, then sewing them on, cutting away the extra allowance and finally turning the bias strip on the wrong side and sewing it down by hand.




Someone more skilled than me would no doubt have been able to get a neat result with less work, but for my skill level this worked well and I’m really happy with the result. I also added tiny loops with press buttons on the shoulder seams to secure the slip straps.

By the way, I finally chose the higher round neckline option. I checked that the hem was even and hemmed it by hand.




Finishing the handkerchief square edges didn’t go so smoothly. I was not going to hem them too by hand, so I thought a rolled hem secured with zig zag might do the trick. Well, the machine hated the flimsy material and the result was very uneven even after several takes on some pieces. The corners were the worst, and I ended up spending a lot of time finishing them by hand. I have no idea what fiber content the dress material had, but it seemed to be almost totally immune to a steam iron too (well, on the positive side, it doesn’t wrinkle much in wear either).




At last I deemed the squares good enough and began to sew them on (by hand, of course). Heck, that was a pain. They always edged up either pulling or stretching the material.




This remains my main disappointment with the dress, but then again it taught me that no matter how skilled you think you might be when you do things you are familiar with you can still absolutely suck when you try something else - and that’s always a healthy reminder.




On the whole though, I'm generally happy with the choice of the handkerchief hem. I always love an interesting cut, and bias is something you can't get to play with much in pre 20th century costumes. (Okay, it's not altogether a bad thing).




For the last thing I hemmed a long, tapering scarf and gathered it on the shoulder. My idea was to add some more detail on the very simple dress, while also adding some volume at the top and breaking the vertical zig zag line at the back in a desperate attempt to make my ass look smaller.




I don't know if that worked, but I really like the touch it brings. Somehow it makes the dress slightly less totally flapper and a bit more ladylike.





Again, I found some things from the stash. Though I had taken more trouble with the dress than I had originally intended, for everything else I was quite happy to go with cliched stuff I could easily find even if they weren't just right.

I had a pair of thrifted shoes which I had originally bought with upcycling in mind. They had a t-strap and even some sparkly thingies. The fake suede cover was falling off, but no one would notice that in the dark club. I also had the obligatory long black satin gloves, which would match the shoes, and a (possibly vintage) silver brocade purse.




For jewellery I luckily had the even more cliched long pearl necklace. I also had a large blingy hair ornament I had originally bought for the 18th century but never worn. I added a bunch of black feathers on it. I’ve understood that white feathers were more popular and would show more against dark hair too, but I somehow felt that black had more drama and would compliment the other black accessories.

But then I strayed from the narrow path of stinginess and went shopping for additional jewellery, although cheap and fake. I’m not used to wearing much bling on real life, so I tried to keep it relatively subtle even if this might have been the proper occasion to go all wild. I ended up with a bracelet, fake diamond earrings and the dreaded head necklace which I thought might look more subtle than a real headband.




This was for the original party - for a second one and the photoshoot I made some changes. First of all, the black feathers had been a bad choice, so I changed them to white. I also had a problem with the gloves, I felt that the black just looked a bit harsh against the pale dress fabric. I began to feel that the dress called more for light toned elegance than dark drama.

I happened to find pre-owned lilac gloves that were in great condition, which in turn led to the shoes being the one last black thing left. After some consideration I changed them for modern white leather pumps, which at least have the t-strap even if the heels are too high and narrow. Leather shoes are also not a great choice for sparkling jewellery (even if it's fake), but that’s what I had.





In the end I’m not quite sure about how I feel about the dress - it was certainly an interesting, if occasionally frustrating detour to a new period. While I had consciously decided on a much more subdued style than the super glamorous flapper look of the popular imagination, I did feel a bit underdressed in the party amidst all the sparkle and feather boas. While I think the colour is elegant, something that Countess Crawley might wear for example, it can also look really dowdy in some light. Anyway, I don’t dislike it or feel uncomfortable in it either, and at least now I have something to wear for an occasional 20´s party.