Private Lives

Last night, I went and saw Private Lives by Noel Coward at the Chicago Shakespeare Theatre. So far, I have seen four shows there and each one is better than the last. The acting, sets, costumes - brilliant, all of it. It's refreshing to see truly great theatre every once in awhile.
I was a bit distracted, though - the costumes were unbelievably fantastic. I mean - vintage silks, scarves, suits, shoes, hats, jewelry, hair - and so I spent the majority of the show trying to figure out how I could make such costumes for myself and everyday wear. Today, I started doing research:





















































(side note: the styles of the last two dresses and shoes were not seen in the show, but I had to share them because they appealed to me greatly.)

So, being inspired, and noticing that one of the patterns was Vogue, I browsed the Vogue pattern website. They are having a sale, so I was doomed from the beginning. I purchased:


Vogue 1162 (I LOVE the sleeves)


















and Vogue 2859 (because what woman doesn't need a slinky black dress?)

















I should inform my readers that I have never made a dress before (!!!), so the adventure of making clothes for myself will be well documented and hopefully enjoyable.
While we are on the topic of vintage, one of my favorite sites in the whole world, choc full of vintage images that are copyright free:


Some of my favorite images from the site:









































My best friend, Steph, made photo pendants for me that incorporated these images. I wear them constantly!


My favorite image, of course, is the background of my blog header - to me, it's artistic and peaceful, beautiful and vibrant.