1960s

A whiter shade of pale?

I finally got some reasonable photos of the white dress. The weather in the UK turned a lot greyer which probably helped, although I’d rather we still had the sun!

Simplicity 2833
Simplicity 2833

I haven’t got the fit quite right but it’s wearable. I think I overdid adjusting for my narrow shoulders so next time I’d trace a size up in that area. The pattern itself runs true to size.

I really like the lapped zip. I will definitely do that again. I usually do an invisible zip on all centre back zips, but this is neater and easier, although probably slower to sew.

I’m just not sure what to wear the dress with. These blue shoes are the best out of the ones I’ve got. It would probably look better with white patent leather shoes or boots, but that’s not the most practical option even if I could find a pair!

The devil’s own hue – white dresses

I’ve been making a lovely reissued sixties pattern, Simplicity 3833. It’s a fairly simple A-line minidress with a nice bodice detail. I’m doing the long-sleeved version in the mini length.

I used an ivory-coloured stretch cotton. The idea came from a black and white photo I saw of someone wearing very much this style in white. I think it was taken in the late sixties. It looks elegant and a bit Courrèges on the lady in the picture so I thought it was well worth imitating.

I’m quite pleased with my version, but I cannot get a usable photo of it. We’ve had a couple of tries under different lights, but the shots come out overexposed. Very frustrating. I remember reading somewhere “white is the devil’s own hue to paint” and the same seems to be true of photography. (After some checking I found out it was Dorothy Parker, of all people, in a story called The Custard Heart.)

So as I can’t show you the dress properly here’s the one decent picture I do have, a close-up of the bodice sitting on my dressform.

Anyone got any tips for photographing white dresses? I’ve tried outdoors and indoors…I’m wondering if I need to wait for a day with no sun.