Making the Star Dress Inspired by Hedy Lamarr

My theater group has had several photo shoots over the years. This year we wanted to do one based on tarot cards. I was very excited as I had a brilliant idea for an outfit. I decided I would do the Star, inspired by the glorious sparkling gown worn by Hedy Lamarr in Ziegfeld Girl (1941).

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There are several other star dresses in the film. The one worn by Lana Turner is not quite as spectacular in my opinion.

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And the one worn by Judy Garland is downright silly. That is a lot of tinsel!

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So I decided to create an approximation of Lamarr's gown and headdress. Though, I simplified a lot of it.

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I was lucky enough to find a white dress from a thrift store for 12 euros and then some light fabric that had already been decorated with small clusters of silver and gold stars. I also spent a small fortune on sequin and glitter glue. But the dress turned out very beautiful.

(I know it's hanging from a lamp, but I don't have a dress form so I had to make do. :) )

Since I had all these sequin and glitter, I decided to jazz up my fabric a bit and add some more stars in various sizes. Lamarr's dress seems to be decorated with sequin stars and then larger stars covered in sequin.

So I cut out a few smaller stars from Aida cloth and covered them with several layers of silver glitter glue. I then cut out paper stars and covered them with sequin using normal glue and glitter glue as adhesive. The effect was lovely, but it did take a lot of work.

The piece of poly fabric was attached to the gown around the collar and at the bodice. I miscalculated how much room my head would need, and ended up having to leave some fabric hanging loose in the back.

Originally I was going to sew on all the sequin onto the poly fabric but that was just taking too much time. So out came the glue and, miraculously, it held up rather well.

The headdress was made for me by my friend Lotta. She took a metal head band and attached wires to it. And to the wires she attached some stars cut out of silver paper and then covered with some silver glitter.

The makeup for this look is a mix of Lamarr's very 1940s look and my own desire to add glitter to everything.

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I couldn't get anyone to take a photo of me as I was trying out the makeup, and so the best I could manage was this rather artsy photo of myself in a mirror.

The glitter around my eyes and on my forehead did not show in the picture, which is a shame becasue it looked rather nice in real life. I also attached some sequin to my face with eyelash glue but in the end decided to remove them as they looked a little silly with the gown.

I will post pictures from the photo shoot as soon as they are ready.  

Sewing Projects for the Summer

I have a very ambitious plan - I want to make my entire summer wardrobe myself. Yes, I know it's July and I've only just started. But in my defense, I live in the north, and it has been rather cold. It's hardly the time to wear play suits or sundresses.    

First up, the lounging pajamas. I've been meaning to make something like this for a long time.

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To be fair, I'm only making the pants. I have a pink silk button down shirt, which is a little too big for me. I removed the collar and the pockets and now it looks like a lose top with something resembling a Chinese collar. I am making the pants. I bought a very nice green cotton fabric with just a bit of a sheen to it. And I'm using McCall's Costume 2940 pattern.

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The pants turned out a little bulky and heavy. But I've never made pants before and did not dare make them out of light or slippery fabric. Now that I'm a little bit more confident, I'll make the next ones out of viscose (it's cheaper than silk).

Second, I will make a play suit based on Simplicity 9138 pattern. It's meant to be a swimsuit, but I thought a cute little sundress/play suit  would be easier to make and more fun to wear. The fabric I picked is a lovely light blue cotton with white flowers. It has a bit of stretch so it would be pretty comfortable to wear. 

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I got the fabric from Eurokangas. Unfortunately, they no longer have it on their website and the only picture I could find was of a dark blue version, but you get the idea. I will post pictures of the finished dress and my thoughts on the process very soon.

Third, I'm making this Butterick B5209 dress, view B. I have seen a lot of pics of this dress online which tells me that it's a good pattern. There is also a wonderful step-by-step video on making it. I'm working on a mock-up at the moment. In my naivete I thought this would be an easy project, but the dress turned out a bit more fiddly than I had expected. I was also a little unsure about the fabric. I wanted to do something floral, but the only affordable fabric I could find from Eurokangas is a brown polka dot cotton. It will have to do.  

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I know that this doesn't sound like a lot of sewing, but I have a photo shoot with my theater group based on tarot cards this summer (I will post pictures, I promise) and I need to make two costumes for that. 

One will be a simple linen tunic made out of an old bed sheet I picket up from the UFF thrift store. It is pretty easy to make. I based it loosely on this pattern.  

But to make it a little more fancy I will decorate the collar and the sleeves with some embroidery. 

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The second costume is going to be for tarot card the Star. And it's based on this lovely piece worn by Hedy Lamarr in Ziegfeld Girl (1941). 

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I bought a white dress I will use as a base and then some lovely poly material with silver and gold stars. I will add a bit more shine to it with sequin and large fabric stars covered in silver glitter. My friend is making a head piece for me.  

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Since I'm moving at a glacial speed, these will last me until the end of summer.