Topping Off

I spent more time that I should anguishing over this hat. In my mind, it had to be teeny tiny, like many of the Schiap hats I saw. The trouble is, I'm not a milliner, so this would have to be sewn, rather than felt blocked, made from straw, or other milliner tricks. It didn't help that for ages I couldn't find a decent pattern.

Bleuette to the rescue! I found a 1930 Bleuette hat pattern that I enlarged, pinned, and tried on Kozu, in a plain wig for optimum streamlining. Initially she looked like an owl:

Hakama Time

Time till the deadline is short. Thankfully, the hakama, a Japanese lower garment that was popular with Meiji schoolgirls, is pretty simple. It's all rectangles, with the front and back tops pleated to fit. I measured a purchased hakama I had on hand, but a little too late. Here's my first, partial attempt:

I'm not sure how clear the picture is, but the hem is cut on a selvedge, the circumference is too narrow, and the entire thing is so long that it extends above Kozu's breasts. The good thing is that these problems are easy to solve.

A Study in Pink and Black

The bolero's design is heavily influenced by this ensemble here. In truth, much of my outfit is taken by the narrow black skirt and shocking pink with black bolero. Intense pink and black go well together in my mind, so why not go with it?

As for trim, I'm using a kind of looped braid initially bought for another project. The sleeves I'm very loosely borrowing from a Vogue January 1st, 1939 jacket, the front comes from nowhere in particular, and the back is from a (mumbles) Charles Worth sunburst gown. I didn't want this piece to be fully symmetrical.

Bolero, Bolero

Now comes the little jacket for the outfit, draped and ready to go.

 Here's the back.

Now She is Collared

As it turned out, I didn't care for how the collar looked sitting on the dress. I've turned it into an independent piece that can sit on top of the dress for an additional look. The practical result is that instead of sewing the two pieces together, I just added a hook and eye to the meeting corners.

Here's a back view.

On to the Collar

With the dress done, I began work on the collar. I took a wide piece of ribbon, added tucks, and used it as m template for the collar. Not much to see here, I'm afraid.

Shocking Embroidery Nearly Complete

I wanted to commemorate the look of the embroidered dress without the collar. Enjoy.

Shocking Embroidery

To give the embroidery a kimono flavor, with will have a wide collar and wrap front. I've also made it a point to made the Schiaparelli inspired motifs asymmetrical, as is common in Japanese designs. As a nod to Schiaparelli, I'm doing it all in her beloved shocking pink. 

Everything is marked,

Here it is partially done.