Dress Of The Day with Angela

Angela Lansbury wearing a Dressline tunic style dress. Photo by Trevor Sharot. I bought this at North Harrow library for two pounds sterling. I thought red has to be good. Not a lot to lose at that price. Buyer's Doubts  I hesitated because it was faded in a line under the bust. Old and shabby. Rescue and Renovation  I still thought I could do something with it. Either use the lower half as a skirt. Or use it as a pattern. Or wear it with the top hidden under a jacket. Or sew a ribbon horizontally across the front, or two parallel ribbons. Or dye it so that the faded part took on a vibrant shade. Red Accessories I put it on and looked for red accessories to enhance the new look. My frequently worn red sandals were too bright a red.. It's surprising how shades of red here are. (And how many shades of every colour.) Smart Sandals The two-colour, browny-red shoes were a better complement. They are also an upgrade on single colour sandals. The brand is Josef Seibel. Contrasting Co...

 French - English bandeau - a stretchy or wide fabric hairband beret - simple, round hat, often felt, with a small tab in the centre, curved in to grip the crown of the head, no brim, might be worn flat or at an angle, sometimes kept on with a piece of elastic blonde - white or yellow hair, on a female, the male being blond without the e brassiere - support for the bust, shortened to the word bra broderie Anglaise - literally embroidery English (style), nowadays often called eyelet, but not just a cut-out, cut-outs edged with sewing camisole - spaghetti strap vest chemise - blouse or shirt coiffeur - hairdo, smart hairstyles arranged by a hairdresser, often fixed with pins, nets or ribbons cravat - wide ribbon tied at the neck in a bow or link as if starting a bow crochet - made with a single needle with a hook end culottes - knee breeches epaulette - shoulder tab, often fastened with a button, nowadays decorative Diamanté - set with diamonds or sparkling like a diamond faux - fals...

I must confess this project did not go as well as I had hoped. First the good news. The project started well. Slitting the seams was straight forward. Some ends of the stitching were tough, well sewn. I had to admire the manufacturer for sewing down such thick fabric.  What size of sewing needle were they using! An industrial machine, no doubt. The thread and seams were very secure at the knee and crotch. No fear of your shorts pulling apart and sliding down.  Waist Size More good news. Despite the shorts being too tight for my husband, the waist fitted me perfectly, no need to tighten nor loosen it, nor move the pretty button.  Horizontal Patterns I rotated the resulting skirt, as you can see in this picture, to get the gaps at the sides instead of the back and the front. However, the result is that the pattern is slightly slanted.  I asked my husband what he thought. To my surprise he shrugged and said, "Nobody but you would notice (that the pattern wasn't matching...

Angela is wearing an Anthony Sicari two piece skirt suit in black, fuchsia and green. Photo by Trevor Sharot. Anthony Sicari Suit Design Black knitted fabric with contrasting shiny satin-like panels on the cut of one sleeve and shoulder of the other. The contrast fabric is on the lower arm on one side, but attached to a black knitted cuff on the other side. The lower part of the sleeve attaches to the upper part diagonally on both arms. Distracts attention from the shape and large size of the wearer. The skirt has scalloped overlapping frills of the patterned fabric. The skirt is attached to a sleeveless tunic top, under the thicker knitted sleeved top. Cravat? I find that the white thermal vest distracts and is the wrong fabric, pattern and colour and looks like underwear which should be hidden. The solution is to cover it with a cravat or scarf. Usually Anthony Sicari outfits come with a matching scarf. Sometimes if you have a long skirt, a long hem, or a skirt which is so long that ...