Dress Of The Day with Angela

Pyjamas with waist ribbon. Photo by Angela Lansbury. Copyright. I looked at a garment with a tie at the waist. A bow in the middle. Then I realised. I could do that with a pair of pyjamas which had overstretched elastic. Instead of needing elastic, I could make a temporary fix with a piece of ribbon.  It needed to be fixed to the garment in one place so that it didn't pull through. It also needed to be a wide flat ribbon, not a piece of string which would cut into me. I would prefer one which looked good when tied into a bow or left hanging when on a hanger or folded up. Problem solved. A short piece of elastic could be inserted in the centre back. Maybe cut from another garment. Or simply to save time of money. I could also use the original elastic for half way round, adding a decorative ribbon the front. Please share links to your favourite posts. Bookmark and follow my blog .

Angela Lansbury wearing pineapple pattern pyjama bottoms converted into a skirt, dress of the day 591. Photo by Trevor Sharot. I am carrying a cut pineapple, in a Denby Seville bowl. The Sandals The sandals are from Clarks. Size UK 6, Europe 39. The closure is Velcro or a similar touch and close over both the toes and across the instep. Colour a warm rusty brown. Platform heel. Curved insoles. The Headband The headband is a piece of orange ribbon, tied in a bow. It is inclined to slip off so if worn around the town it would need a hair clip or a cap or hat to hold it in place to look neat and prevent loss.  The Dress or Skirt from a converted pair of pyjama pants (the British say trousers)  I had a pair of thin pyjama bottoms with a small repeating pineapple pattern. The pineapples were tiny pale orange, each with the turquoise green tuft, on a white background. In between the pineapples are small dots of turquoise green. I cut up the inside leg seam. I could have used pinking...

  I was wearing a loose caftan. My Singaporean friend had said disparagingly, "Caftans are just for round the house. Nobody wears them out to the office or even for shopping. You look like you forgot to dress. They are house coats." Goodness, how things have changed in two years. Now everybody is working from home. They have their camera off because they are lolling around in shorts, pyjamas, who knows what.   I was on Zoom in a speech contest in London.  The President of my club was complimented on his smart outfit. He said, " I am dressed up because Angela told me I should dress to impress".  Yes, I had told him, "The club president should dress up to set the tone, and show he is president."  I meant wear a shirt and tie with a jacket. Not just a polo shirt with a jacket. Still, it was better than a tee-shirt. I remembered when a UK colleague who had gone to live in notoriously countrified New Zealand, returned to the dressy city centre of Singapore. On ...

Angela Lansbury wearing pyjamas, with pyjama bottoms slit to make a skirt. Photo by Trevor Sharot. Why convert trousers into a skirt? I didn't want trousers. In hot weather I like to feel free in a skirt. I hesitated. Would I wear the garment? I told myself, Go on, wear it. My internal dialogue went like this:   No. I am not interested.  In that case, it is just taking up space. You have nothing to lose. You might as well cut the bottom half.  If it goes wrong, I still have lots of fabric Or could sew it back together.  The decision was made. How To Cut? I took the trousers and a pair of pinking shears. The material was catching. I used ordinary sharp large scissor, holding the join of the fabric very carefully a short distance from the blade.  I slit the trousers from the ankles to the crotch. Where to cut the hem? I had previously realised that if you have a large hem it is worthwhile separating the two sides by unravelling the sewing along the join to gain a ...