Reflecting on 2023

 

This has been an interesting year that, for me, had an underlying theme of starting over and starting afresh. To start, I think the biggest change was that I started a totally new blog. I thought it was time to start over and embrace the way my life is now. Life changes, I changed, and I wanted my blog to change with me. I thought it was simply time for something new. So, using my stage name as my inspiration, I started a new journey. It has felt so good to start over. 

This post is about my year in review and really, I not sure where to start! I guess the beginning would make the most sense huh? To start off the year I did a lot of sewing and I made some of my most favorite pieces to date. This year I wanted to experiment with a reproduction pattern company called Eva Dress Patterns because this way what I make today, you can have the possibility of making tomorrow. I get asked all the time what patterns I use and most of the time the patterns I use are those that are not available to the rest of you. Well by using a reproduction pattern my looks are now much more accessible to you. Of course, I did make use of a few vintage patterns this year. I would say this year I did mostly dresses, then blouses, and then pants. Aprons ranked in fourth place. As far as variety goes, I am a one trick pony. I will admit it because when I find a pattern that works, I stick with it. I will change the fabric, the trims, and maybe add a pocket or an applique item but that's it. 

Sewing wise, I think my most unusual project was recreating the potato sack dress worn so famously by Marilyn Monroe. It was an opportunity to use up an old feed sack into a fun project. This was an easy project for me because it did not require too much sewing, but some minor fitting tweaks. Other noteworthy projects were my Make and Mend for Victory dresses, I took some old dresses that were no longer wearable and made them wearable again. I am quite glad I was able to salvage the two I made, and I am hoping that going forward I will be able to salvage a few more. 

For vintage finds, I started off the year strong with a blouse, a great hat and some jewelry. Later on in the summer I added a two-piece golden yellow rayon suit from the mid 40s. That golden suit was probably my find of the year, I have worn it numerous times and it had not failed me yet as an easy go to summer outfit. I also purchased my most glamourous gown to date, a 40s gown in tulle and lace that I wore for the first time in January of 2024 to the Battalion Ball. 

Other notable events that took place in 2023 was that I was featured in an international news press, participated in one Pin Up pageant, and started two new blogs - the one you are reading now, and another one totally dedicated to my pet research project - women's fashion in WWII Germany. You may remember my old blog, The Ugly Dame, had a hodge podge of articles from sewing to tutorials to research to fashion. To me it was becoming bit disorganized, so I decided to re-focus and apply what I had learned to a new blog and start over. Here, my new blog will focus solely on vintage fashion and my other blog on research of women's wear in WWII Germany. Another reason for the change and having two separate blogs was because I thought I could have it under one roof but really, I couldn't. Many of my vintage lovers found the WWII research portion rather distasteful and I was getting tired of dealing with the complaints. This way, out of sight, out of mind. 

I won't show you all the pieces that I have made but here are a few of my favorite makes from the past year as well as just some of my favorite outfits in general which includes some true vintage. A lot of what I managed to make I did not get photographed but I am hoping that 2024 will be the year for it. As far as what 2024 looks like in general, one of my goals for the new year is to cut back on my social media usage. I am not sure how much blogging I really plan on getting done this year, but I am hoping, honestly, not a lot! I really enjoy my life outside of social media and to put it bluntly, social media is kind of a burden. With that said, I will still be posting here and there but I plan on cutting back a bit and just enjoying life.