The Hour – Series two, episode three, BBC Two 28.11.2012

Tags

1950s, bbc, ben whishaw, blue, circle skirt, collar, dominic west, dress, dresses, facings, fashion, inspiration, Jimmy McNulty, pintucks, pleats, romola garai, shirt dress, suez crisis, the hour, the wire, tv series, vintage

And we’re on to episode three! It’s just as well that I am loving the outfits so much because in this series the story is extremely weak, aside from one subplot.

In this episode, Bel wears to the office the same outfits she wore in episode one, namely the blue skirt suit and the orange one.
Is a “skirt suit” the correct expression? Don’t be afraid to correct me if I’m wrong. In Italian we use the French “tailleur”, but I have never heard the word used in ten years of living in the UK.

There isn’t an awful lot to go in this episode, but Marnie’s dress at the Christmas gala steals the show:

This is simple, possibly to fully highlight the beauty of the fabric. And it’s entirely to die for.

At the same function, we also experience a touch of plaid overload:

Which seems to spread in the office too. The lady on the left was working with the presenters’ outfits, whilst on the right is the lovely Sissy Cooper, The Hour’s administrative assistant. I am in love with the “Yellow plaid and pink top” combo:

And here’s Sissy again, sporting what looks to all intents and purposes like a plaid print:

Special mention for Kiki’s ladylike outfit, the not-so-subtle way for the story to convey her ambition and create a juxtaposition with her very common accent:

A British drama relying on issues of class? Whatever next!
An even more special mention for Kiki’s house decor:

It’s like Apartment Therapy got real, man!

The Hour – Series two, episode two, BBC Two 21.11.2012

Tags

1950s, bbc, ben whishaw, blue, circle skirt, collar, dominic west, dress, dresses, facings, fashion, inspiration, Jimmy McNulty, pintucks, pleats, romola garai, shirt dress, suez crisis, the hour, the wire, tv series, vintage

Dearest blog,
First of all thanks to Velosewer and The Perfect Nose for the kind words and well wishes. I am better now but it’s taken the best part of this month, and I am terrible at being unwell. But I am back now!

Welcome back to another post about the outfits in The Hour! Today we are looking at Episode two, and here you can find the post about the outfits seen is Episode one.

Episode two takes place over the course of 24 hours or so, and a very stressful day it is too, meaning our characters don’t have much time to get changed.
It’s a good job we open on a cocktail party then. The pleating on Marnie Madden’s dress is to die for:

Bel Rowley is also in attendance, sporting a lovely green number with the wigglest of wiggle skirts and some interesting back detail. I am not sure what is going on at the waist but I like it:

The edge of the sleeve on her black bolero has some delightful detail:

Later on, Bel hastily changes into something more work-appropriate. Sadly she is no Michelle Obama, and the yellow doesn’t really d justice to her flawless skin and gorgeous colouring:

I couldn’t get a decent shot of the fabric of the jacket (which has a matching skirt) but it’s some kind of blue-on-blue houndsooth, or tiny check, and that made me very happy. The brooch is gorgeous too, although I like the evening necklace better.

As I mentioned, there wasn’t an awful lot that was worthy of note in this episode. Freddie’s wife Camille wore a shirt with some lovely gathers:

And the house where Freddie and Camille live revealed some bold decorating choices:

I would.

But the real pièce de résistance of this episode – for I am not one for gowns and satin really – is the shirtdress that Marnie wears the morning after:

Where do I even begin with this? The collar? The black facings? The bust darts? That insanely swoon-worthy asymmetrical overlap closure that just screams COVET at me?

I couldn’t really get a better shot of the rest of the dress other than this:

But that’s probably for the best. If  I ever got I better view of this I’d probably give on eating, drinking, sleeping and breathing just to properly obsess over it, and there might be permanent damage.

Episode three is on tomorrow night, and while the story is being a little bit lame this year, I am looking forward to more fabulous outfits!

FO – Brown stripy pencil skirt

Tags

not black, pencil skirt, prints, sewing, skirt, solids

The Facts

Fabric: Roughly a metre of brown stripy wool-ish mix, picked up at GS Scampoli when I was there with Mum last month. She kindly paid for my fabric haul as a birthday present, so free!
Pattern: Pencil skirt based on Winifred Aldrich’s Metric Pattern Cutting. I have had the book a few months, got an old edition for cheap and use it all the time, so free as well.
Year: I am a big fan of these. They are timeless.
Notions: Interfacing for waistband, from stash. Brown invisible zipper from stash. Brown and yellow thread, also from stash.
And the insides? I decided to pick up good habits again and zigzagged all the raw edges. Then I took in the side seams and re-zigzagged the edges. That is a lot of good habits when you are me, but then again this fabric doesn’t as much fray as it stages its own version of high-speed nuclear fission.
Hours: Longer than it should because of waistband overkill, the fact that I was ill, and taking in the side seams. In the time it took me to put this together I watched three series of 30 Rock So worth it though!
First worn: 12th Nov for work. Then again 19th Nov after sorting out the size.
Wear again? Oh yes! This is in heavy rotation.
Make again? You can never have enough skirts.
Total cost: Free!

Two weeks ago I tried to go back to work after the marathon and was sent straight home by the doctor after an x-ray and some blood tests. I spent most of that day and the day after day in bed, but I did try to get some sewing done. This is some brown wool mix I picked up in Italy last year. It doesn’t photograph well, but it’s really cool. The stripes have orange and yellow-y flecks:

I traced the pencil skirt version of the pattern I drafted back in September, and decided to do a 5cm/2in curved waistband. Then I decided it had to be cut on the bias, be interfaced and look the same front and back:

I am pretty sure this would have taken forever anyway, but what with temperature and headache of whatever viral thing I was down with, I am amazed I worked all out that out, and that it only took forever!

Granted, it looks lovely. But it is overkill and I am not entirely sure it fits particularly well.
I wore this when I went back to work, and quickly realised it was huge! I know I drafted the pattern without any seam allowances and I was very careful adding them, so something must have shifted in my shape from September to now.
I ended up taking it the side seams half an inch each side, which was horrendous on the waistband! Much hand-cranking of the wheel, but now it does fit. This is why I only did a side zipper once and I will never do one again! Centre back makes for much easier alterations.
And here it is, styled with my African print V9200 and a blue sweater I turned into a cardigan a few months ago.

In the rest of this picture I am wearing brown tights and brown court shoes. I love this outfit because it is the right mix of print and solids, and it does not feature a single black thread. Or pixel.
I am a big fan of black but I always find it difficult when it’s not on its own or mixed with neutrals.

Lots of things to do and people to see this weekend, but I am working on a dress! With sleeves! All will be revealed very soon…

Queen of Hearts: Alice in Wonderland at Princess of Bob

Tags

alice in wonderland, costume design, doublets, inspiration, Queen Of Hearts, sewing

Are you familiar with Laura Parker of Princess of Bob?

If I was the sort of gal that does SWF, I think I’d try to steal her life: making costumes, improv comedy, historical re-enactments – it sounds like fun! Luckily I am not a stalker, I rarely if ever suffer from envy and I don’t look good in drawers.

Her whole blog is consistently awesome, but her latest post brings together two things I love a lot: Alice in Wonderland and costumes!

It’s a joy to read and a feast for the eyes. Check it out here!

Thanksgiving

Tags

hope, proclaimers, thanksgiving

I don’t normally do Thanksgiving, but it is coming up to the first anniversary of when 2011 turned around completely, so I was probably going to write a soppy post anyway.

This time last year I was coming to the end of a fixed-term contract that wasn’t going to be renewed. It was all I could find when I returned up North after my failed attempt at moving down South.
Earlier in 2011 I had left the best job I have ever had and rented out my beloved big house for my new, happy, forever-life by the sea, which lasted all of six weeks.

This time last year I had unsuccesfully applied for absolutely every job going, my housemate had announced she was leaving, I had just been dumped (some things never change) and I was seriously pondering declaring myself homeless.

Then one morning an email flashed on my phone. My old job, the one I loved so much, was vacant again.

I made polite enquiries, ate buckets of humble pie, drank cocktails on a Friday.
Went home knowing I stood an actual chance. The following day I was dragged on stage at the Comedy Store, in front of a paying audience, and afterwards went all Entourage on everybody. That was the start of something good.

The following week I interviewed, apologised, looked at my phone with my heart in my mouth for a day and a half. Then my phone rang, and in the space of a few days I was back in my office, one desk down from where I was sat eight months and three weeks earlier.

I am grateful for the chance I was given after the way I had left, but I am also well aware that my employer isn’t a charity and I am the right person for the job.

Things got going after that; there is so much I am grateful for today and most of it started this time last year.

I am grateful for my life, the job I have and what it allows me to do in my spare time and the people I work with and the beautiful house I live in.
I am grateful for my health and how it survived my attempt at running a marathon and the training that came with it.

I am grateful for music, especially live, because it reaches where nothing else can reach.
I am grateful for my family being healthy.
I am grateful for my friends, who have supported me in this journey and are all a positive influence on my life.

But more importantly, I am grateful because I am not too grateful.
After all that got broken and mended in the past three years I realised that making too much of it was demeaning for me. It focused too much on the past and not enough on the future.
I am not a special case. Stuff happens and I make the best possible decision in the circumstances and deal with the consequences. Life goes on, with a smile.

I am grateful because I have learnt to take risks and make mistakes, and I have worked out a lot of stuff this year and never lost sight of my worth. I am becoming more and more true to myself and whilst it’s not always easy it is definitely the right path for me.

I can look ahead and know I can do this. And for that I give thanks.

And I am also grateful for Twitter.
You might think this sounds ridiculous, but I love the daily interactions with people who know interesting things, or make me laugh, think or both.
Twitter is also a great place to practise my restraint and my efforts at being a nice person. Think before you type, and always be nice to folks. And for that I am grateful.

The Hour – Series two, episode one, BBC Two 14.11.2012

Tags

1950s, bbc, ben whishaw, blue, circle skirt, collar, dominic west, dress, dresses, facings, fashion, inspiration, Jimmy McNulty, pintucks, pleats, romola garai, suez crisis, the hour, the wire, tv series, vintage

Dear readers,
Are you familiar with The Hour?
It’s a drama series starring Ben Whishaw (whom you might have seen in Skyfall) as Freddie Lyon, Dominic West (aka Jimmy McSmutty from The Wire) as Hector Madden, and Romola Garai as Bel Rowley.
The Hour is the news magazine that the main characters write, host and produce for the BBC.
The first series aired on BBC Two in the summer of 2011, and I while I don’t agree with the claim that it was the BBC’s own Mad Men, I liked it a lot.

The second series started on BBC Two last Wednesday, and yours truly rushed home to make sure I could watch it live instead of replaying later, something I don’t ever do anymore. You see, this year I am paying attention to the fashions a lot more than I was last time.

Apologies for the quality of the pictures, they are simply screengrabs from iPlayer, but I hope they show how pretty these outfits are.
Also, a quick disclaimer: I know naff-all about fashion history, my history is sketchy and my sewing terminology is worse. If you would like to correct, suggest or point, please leave a comment!

Series One takes place during the Suez Crisis in the Autumn of 1956, and Series Two starts (we are told) nine months later, therefore some time in 1957.

Let’s start with The Hour’s producer Bel Rowley, played by Romola Garai. Here is what she wears at the start of Series Two:

I am biased here, as this is of one my favourite shades of my favourite colour. But even if blue is not your thing, are you in love with that collar yet? I literally swooned when I saw it, thinking about whoever pressed them into oblivion. Amazing.
I couldn’t get a decent screengrab of the dress, but I promise it’s got even more awesomeness going for it.

Check out those adorable darts on the skirt! I can’t work out whether it has pockets or not but I have decided in my head it does. Because this dress is perfect, my friends.

The following day, Bel shows up for work in a shade of red that I find quite orange:

Again, a lot of loveliness at the neckline! Love the asymmetric detail. It’s a skirt suit, as you can see in the editorial meeting:

I love the slight flare at the bottom of the jacket, although I have to wonder whether it would flatter someone who isn’t as slim as her.

Incidentally, this also happens in the editorial meeting:

Ben Whishaw. Wearing a suit. Sporting a beard. Doing a smirky face. I need to find my defibrillator in the shed and have it handy for episode two later tonight.

When I recovered from Freddie Lyon’s appearance, I noticed the lovely blouse Bel is wearing with her red skirt suit:

My favourite part are these pleats (pintucks?) around the neckline:

The Hour pits different types of women against one another, just like Mad Men does. I like to think that the rift between those who stay at home and those who go to work is less deep these days, but anyone who’s ever heard women bitch about other women knows it probably isn’t so. At the opposite end of the spectrum from Bel and Lix Storm (Anna Chancellor), is Marnie Madden, played by Oona Castilla Chaplin. Here she is, at home waiting for her husband:

Is this skirt swoon-worthy, or is it swoon-worthy? At first I thought the waistband was cut on the straight grain, but upon further inspection it’s actually on the bias. I am not normally a fan of pink and black, a combination I normally find too tarty for my tasty, but I am awash with beauty watching this.

Incidentally, this being the Fifties, it’s a Circle-Skirt Fest! They are everywhere, to the point that you might get dizzy watching this! Here’s my favourite from this episode. Apologies for the poor quality of the picture:

There are also other gems dotted around the episode. This is one of my favourite. How do you convey that we are in a dodgy part of London? A man in a pork pie hat and a woman with -shock horror!- mismatched prints! And leopard!

Episode two is on tonight and I am looking forward to more awesome fashion to swoon over!

Disclaimer: All images remain copyright of their original owners and are used here for the purposes of discussion and review.

FO – Baby cardigan

Tags

knitting

As I mentioned on Sunday, I have spent the past couple of days knitting. It’s a cardigan for my friend’s son, who was born last month.

This is not because I have suddenly started liking it again – if this project has proved anything is that if knitting and I were a celebrity couple the TMZ headline would definitely say OFF! – but because a dear, dear friend asked me to make one of these. And she never asks for anything, so I was determined to get this done.

All in all this was a quick make, so I reckon I have spent the same amount of time completing this as I have complaining about how much I dislike knitting now that I have taken up sewing.
This is no small matter. I knitted for over 30 years and at times it was a big part of maintaining my grip on sanity.
Incidentally, when I was a knitter I used to think people who made their own clothes were crazy. But then again I used to think runners were ridiculous and improvisation something for mega-nerds who were nerdier than me.
An open mind really can save you from your own idiocy.

See? I am doing it again. Rambling on about my brain rather than the actual project. So:

- measured an existing cardigan that baby wears for reference;
- leftover DK-weight wool acrylic mix. Approx 140 grams used. I have some beige left but no more blue. I gave away most of my knitting yarn earlier this year and I do not miss it all;
- 4mm needles, 18 st for 4 inches;
- body and sleeves worked in the round using magic loop because neither was wide enough;
- body and sleeves joined and raglan shoulders worked in striped pattern;
- body steeked (very badly) and then finished with Shetland wool which will hopefully felt around the bad steeking. Otherwise, I reckon baby will outgrow this long before the bad steeking becomes an issue;
- make again? I think I will knit for baby until the projects are so big that I really hate them, and then I will ‘fess up to my friend.
Or I might just fall in love with this again. After all, I am a sucker for a happy ending!

Sunday special – Judy’s back!

Tags

30 rock, blue, jones, knitting, liz lemon, sewing, sewing machine

Dear blog
How have you been?
I managed to drag myself into work on Thursday, which was a struggle, while Friday a little less so.
Yesterday was a very busy day, all of it good, some of it very good – look what I brought home from the shop! Isn’t she gorgeous?

Yay! It’s Judy! Fully serviced! Cleaner than ever! With a brand new needle plate, finally one with markings!

Look how delighted my high shank presser feet look! I can hear them giggling with excitement from here!

So how am I spending today, I hear you ask?
Why of course, knitting. There will be more about this soon, but suffice it to say I am not as fond of knitting as I used to be, so this one has to be special.

On the plus side, I get to do it all from my bed while watching some more 30 Rock, which always makes me happy.

Monday round-up: 5.11.2012

Tags

30 rock, Italy, liz lemon, marathon, running, Venice

Dear Blog

I know I owe you an update, so here goes. I’ll try and stick to the facts but I haven’t yet processed what happened so apologies if this sounds a little bit bitter. Perhaps it is, I am not really sure.

Last Sunday 28.10 (my birthday) I started the 2012 Venice Marathon.
According to an article in the local press which I cannot find online, out of 8,000 expected participants over 1,800 people did not start the race.
The majority of them must have looked out of the window as they got up and decided not to bother. It was very cold, and by the time the race started there were 30mph headwinds and it was pouring down with rain.

I made two major mistakes. Firstly, I did not bring anything warm enough to run in that sort of weather, even though I own plenty of such garments up here in Manchester. Secondly, I ran the first five miles way too fast. I went like a bullet, in some vain hope to warm up. It didn’t work.

Then I slowed down. I ran some more. The rain got a lot worse. Around mile 12 I was overtaken by the 6-hour pacer. I swore a little and decided the join the group.
It was a wonderful guy who pretty much carried me all the way to mile 20 with a mixture of running and walking.
By mile 18 my left hip felt like one single block of fire-like excruciating pain, and I had exhausted my repertoire of struggle songs to survive the running spells.

At mile 20, when we are approaching Liberty Bridge and the pacer announced we could pretty much finish the race walking, I realised I couldn’t even keep up with that pace.
I also realised that I had not had any feeling in my hands for a couple of hours, and I had been more or less sobbing quietly for about an hour.

I was also experiencing confusion and memory loss, which I know now are symptoms of hypothermia. I realised then I had to make a decision, and make a decision I did. I turned around (ha! Insult to injury), flagged an Assistance car that gave me some tinfoil and directed me to the nearest ambulance.

The ambulance crew dropped me off at the medical centre at the Campo Sportivo at Parco San Giuliano, where I experienced the marvel that is moderate hypothermia.
I did not expect the endless convulsing and spasming, but at least I did not throw up like the guy next to me. You know what? It’s not pretty.
The paramedics were amazing and really looked after me, even trying to put a smile on my very twitchy, very blue face.
After about an hour and two doses of warm saline I was able to use my hands again:

I also managed to call my parents, who arrived with some dry clothes – the only thing that actually, finally, made me feel warm. They also drove me home to enjoy the rest of my birthday – a little food and a lot of sleep.

The rest of the holiday was ok, but blighted by all kinds of pain and sickness.
Yes I was expecting to be sore -d’oh – and yes I know I put my body through a bit of a shock. But now it’s been a whole week and I have lost count of what hurts where and why. I have been feeling queasy for days, my temperature is still unusually low and I think I have a broken toe. I am seeing the doctor tomorrow and hopefully I’ll have a better idea of the damage.

I do not feel like a failure. I have run further than I ever did, and in pretty horrible conditions. I know what I need to do different next time and I have learnt a lot this time. I have done my best and I am overwhelmed by all the love and support I have received from everyone.

I am not sure whether I’ll run again (probably) and I have absolutely no idea whether I will attempt a marathon again. I am not a bailer, but right now I am just looking forward to getting better and settling back into my usual life in the UK.