That was the theme of the party we attended last night. I love parties, especially when they have a theme like this. It rang glitter, sequins, extravagant dressing. What more could one ask for?
My inspiration came from the film New York, New York. When Lisa Minelli sings the song in the film, she’s surrounded by a group of dancers wearing these amazing red skirts and from the moment I saw the video, I knew this is what I wanted to wear.
Somehow though it didn’t scream New York and as I had been haunted by this dress, which was made by one of the contestants in Project Runway, I saw it as the perfect opportunity to try to replicate the New York skyline.
And here’s what I came up with putting these two pieces of inspiration together.
For the skirt, I used a generic circle skirt pattern and lined the skirt a net to give it some volume. I also made it shorter than in the film, as I’m on the midget size and the long one made me just look big and short, hehe.
For the top, I traced one of my tops and then cut a simple one in a skin tone fabric. I didn’t have time to sew the sequins on it to create the skyline, so I used the glue gun to stick them on it. At 2am on Friday, I was still sticking sequins on it and yes I know, Tim Gunn would have been very disappointed.
I made the little hat, from Mary Jane Baxter’s lovely book, Chic on a Shoestring, using a cereal box and left over fabric from the skirt. Isn’t it cute? And then I was ready to dance. I loved the way the skirt opens up as you swirl. I did that a lot during the night 🙂 Of course, I embellished my shoes as well, as I didn’t have a pair in red, by using some more sequins and making little rosettes, with some of the same fabric. Glue gun in action again.
My date for the night, was another extravagant figure of the past, Mr. Liberace
My version was a bit different. To start with my lovely man has a beard and we couldn’t find exactly the fabric or the fur, so we went for the next closest option. Attention to detail, look at those rings and yes, the piano didn’t make it on time, but hey, that’s why imagination is there for.
The cape was a bit of a nightmare to make. One it was so big, there was nowhere in the flat, with enough space to lay it open. Then my sewing machine was constantly getting jammed, as the glue from these fake sequins kept sticking on the needle. A bit of a research and the problem was quickly solved.
For the cape I used the McCalls 4139 pattern . To make the waistcoat, I traced one of the boyfriend’s waistcoats and made a simpler version of it.
The party was an absolute blast and everyone was impressed by my handy-work. As usual, seeing the finished costumes, even with their little imperfections, was very rewarding, despite the fact that I felt like working in a sweatshop for a week. Sometimes, I do enjoy the making more than anything else. We ended up home at 3:30am, so we spent our Sunday, relaxing with a bit more glitter. This time it was edible and christmassy.
Delightfully Peculiar 