Mad Men Dresses-Late 60s

 

I made these dresses sometime last year and forgot about posting them, three are styled after the dresses worn by ''Megan'' and the last was a secretary i don't remember her name. All from the Tv show Mad Men.  All of these were made using vintage patterns that were close to the basic shape and then modified for each dresses specific details.

Empire waist Shift dress. Hounds-tooth non stretch woven fabric. double breasted with silver button front, short sleeves, Large fold down collar. Fully lined

 Teal stretch suiting fabric, also double breasted button front, shift with short sleeves, asymmetrical collar and chiffon scarf pin, also was fully lined, this time with a stretch satin.

This one is more of a full A-line with princess seams, printed bias binding and neck scarf, can be worn in a bow of just a knot with long ends, made using a stretch navy suiting and lined in stretch navy satin. back zipper, I was lucky to find a vintage cotton print that was similar to the same print used on the show

And finally a light blue stretch suiting wiggle dress with short sleeves and attached scarf collar, fitted bodice with pencil skirt. small gathers at the hip, back zipper, fully lined in stretch satin.

 

Jackie Kennedy-Bright Pink Off Shoulder Wiggle Dress

 This was a custom request dress, my customer had only the pictures below, and was unable to find a photo of the lower portion of the dress so we went with a straight skirt. The dress if fully lined and had a wide bias facing inside the neckline. Because it sits just off the shoulder i sewed boning in the sides, front bust seams and the back to help hold the dress in place. I decided to go with a little 60s mod detail and have the front square off with a bow instead of just a normal waist seam. The dress sits a bit low on the dress form because she only has one arm, but you get the idea :-)

Betty Draper Maternity Lace Gown Full Length

This dress was a custom request based off the dress worn by ''Betty Draper'' on the TV show Mad Men. My customer chose a light yellow lace with a scalloped border and a chocolate satin underlining. She also wanted a slight mermaid skirt instead of the cocktail length dress. This isn't something I expect to make often so I used two patterns I already had and adjusted from there adding a little extra seam allowance so the dress can be altered later if needed. Below are the patterns a vintage Simplicity and a modern Vogue pattern.

 This is the side front of the Vogue pattern as you can see i have added to the side and hip (closest to the bottom of the image) and curved out the side front seam to allow for the baby belly. I allowed for a total of 5'' more than the normal natural waist, but that would depend on how far along in the pregnancy you are and how you are carrying. I did leave a large seam allowance in those front skirt seams and through the hips so the dress could be worn later or by someone else. Once on the dress form I took it in a bit under the belly and tapered down to the skirt. The back did not get any adjustment except for the straightening of the side seams so it curves in a little less at the side waist.
I did also omit from the Vogue pattern the train and narrowed each skirt at the hem ad tapered upward to the knee. So that is pretty much all that would need to be done to make a regular pattern maternity friendly. Below the dress finished.

Betty Draper Inspired Wiggle Dress

My inspiration for the Betty dress came from a bit of fabric i had in my stash, when i saw it, it just looked like her. But i didn't want to just copy her dress anyone can do that. I wanted something with her fashion sense, but a little more fun, so i added my own little twist. Here are a few pictures that i had in mind while designing.




Betty & Don Draper at dinner,
notice the brocade fabric of her dress.


The little bust bows on this dress gave me the idea.
for this,



The Halter Strap is Removable!

I made this dress with floral brocade and satin detailing.
When i saw this fabric i thought of Betty Draper but i wanted it to have a bit of a pinup spin, with the halter and bows above the bust, as well as the hip band. The vintage pin finishes it off nicely i think and it matches so well!
You can check it out at my Etsy shop.
http://www.etsy.com/listing/73011232/cream-green-betty-mad-men-dress