Don't put your labels on me

Except maybe a vintage one. Georgia wrote a post on some of the New Zealand labels she has on her vintage clothing. She asked at the end if anyone else had any vintage New Zealand labels and I thought I would show you some of the ones I have. 

This is the label of this dress. I couldn't find any information about "Florida" but that's not surprising since there is hardly any info about old New Zealand labels.

Like Georgia, I have a couple of Horrockses dresses. If you haven't heard of Horrockses you should probably google image search them asap because they made some of the best dresses I've ever seen. While they were a brand from the UK, a manufacturer in NZ was licenced to make them under the Horrockses name. The one above was made by California Productions Ltd in New Zealand.

As you can see they both have the same label design. The labels on Georgia's ones are different. I think there were a few different labels used over the years. You can see some of them here on Vintage Fashion Guild. 

I couldn't find anything about this one either except for an old trademe listing for a 50s dress with the label "An Allene Garment". 

This is the label of a pretty recent purchase. I got really excited when I saw it because it was either made or sold right here in Christchurch at 186 High Street. When I was in high school I walked down that street almost every day. High Street is unrecognisable now. A lot of the buildings have been demolished or are really badly damaged because of the earthquake. I doubt the number 186 where this was made/sold is still there but I love the fact that this 50+ year old dress has a connection to a street that I know.

I quite often come across Glengyle knitwear in op shops. The company was started in 1951 and is still going today. This blue cardigan is my favourite but I don't think I've ever posted a photo where I was wearing it.  

This cardigan is more modern than the blue one. New Zealand had switched to the metric system by 1980 (I think) so it's probably from around or after that time. It has way more info in terms of size etc than the earlier one.

This one is from what I guess is a late 40s/early 50s dress I op shopped for a couple of dollars mistakenly thinking it was an 80s dress. When I got home I realised that the original zip had been replaced and that it was a lot older than I had thought. The only thing I could find about Barraclough was a photo of a swing tag and a dress from the 1950s from J.W. Barraclough and Co Ltd that's in the collection at Te Papa (the national museum).

A lot of my vintage clothing doesn't have labels, probably because it was handmade, but I love looking at the ones that do as they are often a good indication of how old something is. It's also pretty special having something that was made in New Zealand so long ago.

The Block Coffee Dress

Uni has been crazy busy lately so I haven't had time for much of anything. I was going to show you my finished Moonrise Kingdom inspired dress but then I, um...spilt food down the front of it so, it's now in the wash. 

 

I finished another dress today with fabric from the Two Squirrels sale so, all is not lost. When I saw the print I knew that I needed to make it into a 60s style A-line dress. I drafted the bodice using the instructions for the basic bodice block by Gedwoods and the skirt is from the Coffee Date Dress by Elainemay, both on Burdastyle. 

Looking miserable because it was freezing

I only managed to get one photo because it was so cold. I know what you're thinking. Why did I make a completely seasonally inappropriate dress, then? Well, I was wearing it with a wool cardi and a thermal but I took them off for the photo. I often wear my summer dresses in winter with a couple of layers underneath/on top.

Recent Acquisitions

And by recent I mean between yesterday and months ago.

I got this vintage dress a couple of months ago on Trademe. The photo on the auction was of the dress lying on the floor so I wasn't sure what it would look like on but I took a chance and I love it. It's way nicer than I was expecting. The colours are a lot more vibrant in person than they look here.

My Mum got me the cocktail hat when she was out op shopping yesterday (I definitely got the op shopping gene from her). 

  

I love the bow on the back. It has little crocheted loops on the inside to stick bobby pins through to keep it on your head. 

 

I also recently got a couple of new (old) bakelite bangles from Dear Valentine on etsy. The new ones are the carved green one on the left and the carved red one fourth from the left. I rationalise buying bakelite because I wear them every day.

On Saturday I went to the Two Squirrels winter sale with Helga, Ayesha and Ayesha's friend Raea. There were lots of people there and lots of goodies.

I managed to nab the floral and a novelty border print fabrics (above), the 60s pattern below and some other things I didn't manage to photograph.

 

 

Summer of '65

When I saw the trailer above for Moonrise Kingdom I wasn't that interested in the film but the dress that Suzy wears  made me pause and re-watch it several times. To be honest, I'm not a Wes Anderson fan so I won't be going to see the movie. It looks aesthtically pleasing but the self-conscious quirkiness of his films don't appeal to me. I love the dress though and am determined to make my own version.  

I think the orange version may actually be tiny orange and white checks

 She has the same design in different colours. I think I like the orange version best.
I would guess that the dress has no waist seam. It looks like she's got a piece of string or something tied around her waist.

Yellow

This one looks like some sort of textured pique type fabric

I bought this pattern off trademe because it has the right shape, although it's got princess seams which I don't think Suzy's dress does. I will have to re-draft the collar and draft some longer sleeves and cuffs. I'll leave the faux pockets and the stripe off the front and change the zip to the back (the zip is covered by the white stripe). 

I have this medium weight orange cotton that I bought at Arthur Toye in Wellington. The fabric is called Mary Quant which is pretty perfect for making a 60s style dress. If this one goes well I might have to make a yellow one and a pink one too.