Brief history of a skirt

My regular readers will know that I succumbed to the charms of a 1940s woolen skirt from Tottie (who I subsequently met) a few weeks ago. It's a wonderful piece and looks and feels brand new - it could have been a brand new skirt, were it not for the CC41 label.

 

The most wonderful thing about it, though, is that it still had the sales tickets on it, and these got me wondering about where it came from, and what sort of woman would have bought it.

There was one CC41 ticket (Civilian Clothing 41 - wartime rationing lable), detailing fabric used, and another with the price - a whole 56/- (that's 56 shillings, or 2 pounds, 16 shillings). I used this website to tell me what that would equate to today. Assuming it was made in around 1945 (the CC41 mark dates it between 1942 and 1949), an equivilent skirt would be around £90 today. When it's compared to wages though, ie. the equivalent available cash a woman would have had to spend on it, it would be about £284 - a real luxury item! I think I got a bargain!

This skirt was made for Bourne and Hollingsworth, which was a prestigious London department store on Oxford Street in the West End. The store was built in 1984 and remodelled in art deco style in 1928.

During the night of 17th September 1940, at the hight of the Blitz, the shop was hit by high explosive bombs which gouged a huge hole in the store's interior and severely damaged several shop floors.

Despite the damage, the next day, in a powerful example of the 'Blitz spirit', the staff were back at work, unfurling large Union Flags to cover bomb damage to the store front. A week later, part of the eastern wing of the store was reopened for business.

Although the site is occupied by the modern Plaza shopping centre and adorned by a bronze ballerina statue, much of the art deco department store's upper stories survive, the letters 'BH' in 1920s' script still proclaiming the building's heritage proudly.

It makes me wonder if my skirt was in the building when the bomb dropped, did its previous owner crunch over glass covered pavements to browse the rails of clothes? I think I'll have to take extra care of this one!

Skirts galore

 My apologies at my recent absence, I've mainly been recovering from a cold (actually it was 2 different colds but there were only 4 days between them). Sadly even a simple cold has the power to knock me flat, so what with trying (and failing) to stay in work, I've spent the last few weeks on the sofa feeling sorry for myself.
However, I have managed to find the time to make that second skirt from my Simplicity 3688 pattern I mentioned a little while ago and I wore my new CC41 skirt. It's a perfect fit, and a very cozy wool. Here are some pictures, though I have a planned post for later in the weekend giving more information about this skirt - watch this space!

The sewing of my skirt went as smoothly as the brown skirt I made, although I put in an invisible zip rather than a lapped zip, again. I will try a lapped zip soon, promise! I'd recommend this pattern to anyone who's looking for a simple and attractive skirt. I'm going to tackle the trousers soon and I'm hoping they'll be just as simple.

Like the lables? I've sewn one into all of my handmade pieces and hanging together they make quite a good show. My non-sewing friends who were over while I was putting them in were so impressed I felt like the cleverest person in the room. Go me!

The button and the zip are recycled from my Nan's stash. Proper vintage!

Pardon the cat hair. It tends to get everywhere, especially when the little one tries to 'help' my work...

I top stitched in white to try to give the skirt a bit of a feature, but there are 2 minor issues. First, the stitching is too thin. I should have doubled up on thread but I didn't think about that till I'd finished. Secondly, the weight of the fabric has meant where the top stitching is has formed stiff seams down the skirt. It has given the skirt a bit of an odd way of hanging in places, but as I said, it's a minor problem.
The thick wool has made the skirt really heavy and I'm sure it'll perfect for the snow we've had today! I don't think I remember ever seeing snow before Christmas, it's quite exciting! It's a bit worrying too, since we rarely get snow in the UK, the heavy falls of last winter took us a bit by surprise and there was chaos as everyone took a free holiday was unable to get to work. Hopefully the lesson's been learnt and things will go a bit more smoothly this year.

Still, it's been blimmin cold here and sitting in bed has been a somewhat chilly affair. It's made me think about bed jackets! I was going to join in on the 'winter boots' posting, but all the best options have been well written about already (see Retro Chick, Tea with the Vintage Baroness and Snoodlebug) so I'll spare you a repeat of that. Bed jackets, though, are a reasonably original topic.
For those of us who spend a lot of time in bed, reading or blogging, our delicate shoulders and decolletage can get somewhat chilly. Even if you've borrowed your Granddad's jammies, nothing can beat the duvet covered warmth of your bottom half. Unless, that is, you have a quilted bed jacket!
Bed jackets always make me think of either glamorous 30s film stars, taking breakfast in a decadently oversize bed, or old ladies. I'm hoping to lean more to the former in mine, so I'll be going for a delicate fabric and quilting it gently. I had a look at what was on Etsy and came up with 3 very pretty and not at all Granny-ish options.
Click the picture to go to the shop.

I love the frivolous lace collar on this - I suppose a bad jacket doesn't have to be totally practical!

This could pass for a regular jacket, it's very sweet.

The embroidery on this one is so pretty. More frivoloty!

Dozens of vintage bad jacket knitting patterns for only $3 at Karen's Variety.
I love how cozy this one looks. I wish I could knit!

The hood is just perfect on this pattern from the book Vintage Gifts to Knit.

And no fewer than 3 patterns at Eva Dress.

So many choices! Does anyone have a glam way of keeping warm in bed?

Ah, rainy days. Does anyone else shop when there's nothing else to do? I've been trawling etsy for lovely things and came across lots! I thought I'd share some of my favourites.

Perfect for the Christmas party of your dreams. Mulled wine, sparkling lights and Clark Gable. And it's available from the lovely FabGabs!

 What a coat. Warm, practical and stylish. Can't you see it strutting along the highstreet with bags of presents tucked under one arm? Available here

I struggled with myself over whether to buy this dress or not. The waist is about 1" too small. From past experience I know that I will not be able to lose the weight in the next 4 years and that the dress will just hang there till I decide to sell it on. Sigh. It's still available here

I'm noticing a colour theme arise here... So sad this skirt is a bit too small for me. Get it here

Walking in the woods on the last crisp sunny day of Autumn. Or maybe in town at Christmas time. These beauties are perfect! Too small for me, and here

I bet you're impressed I've held out and not spent any money...ooops. I thought this skirt would be a perfect wardrobe staple, and it's got the CC41 lables and original hang tags! Ahhh, suddenly the weather seems unimportant! I bought it from this lady in Bath, who also has some very nice wool fabric going cheap!

*Just so you know, I don't have any association with any of the shops I've listed.*

Saturday I love you

I love the start of the weekend. The whole 48 hour rest time is stretching ahead of you, filled with endless possibilities for fun and discovery.
Then I sleep for 12 hours, wake up with a headache at 11am and start to cross things off my list of fun things to do. Ho hum.
This weekend I shall mainly be cleaning (we're having friends to stay soon and I have to carry on a proud family tradition of deep cleaning every part of the house before they arrive. Guests look behind the shelves in the cupboards right?) and sewing.
I've nearly finished the skirt from my Simplicity 3688. Sadly, I didn't get many pictures because most of my sewing has been done in the evenings and the light hasn't been good enough, but there will be plenty of pictures of the finished thing. I only have to hem and attach the button and I'm done. Woo! This skirt has only taken me about 2 months... it's really simple too. I could easily have made it in a day. When will I learn to focus on a project? Anyhoo. Here are some sneak peaks at what I've been doing. Apologies for the blur...

Pressing the waistband down

Turning the corners in at the zip. I later added lace to cover the raw edge on the inside of the waistband.

Top stitching. This and the 'stitch in the ditch' were very nerve wracking!

I ran out of thread half way through sewing this skirt and had to go to the fabric shop for more. What a shame! I thought I'd take the chance to get some more fabrics for my next few projects.

I got some navy wool for another winter skirt

Some floral cotton for another house dress 

 Some very pretty cotton linen - not sure what this is going to be, maybe a blouse?

 And some grey 'clerical suiting' for a winter dress. It feels a bit like denim so it might not work for my dress, but I'm going to wash and condition it and hope it softens a little.

Before I go and get on with my exciting weekend of cleaning, I'll leave you with two blogs which have been entertaining me this week

Eclectic Ephemera has an amazing collection of interesting news stories in a vintage vibe. It makes a welcome change from the normal news channels and I learn something with each post. Top marks for cheering me up!

Jen but never Jenn also cheers me up, but for different reasons. She's clearly mad (check out the dog-food dinner) but her 1950s housewife experiments are just wonderful. I've been laughing out loud in the office. Also, she's clearly super smart and gives a very balanced view of her world. If you're not already a fan, you should be.

That is all. Happy weekend people.