Marilyn Monroe ''Let's Make it Legal'' Lace Wiggle Dress

https://www.etsy.com/listing/169052998/marilyn-monroe-short-wedding-dress-pinup

Styled after the dress worn by Marilyn Monroe in ''Let's Make it Legal''
High quality white Alencon bridal lace over ivory linen, off shoulder style with short sleeves and fold over collar detail, gathered bust, fitted through body and hip, back kick pleat, unlined,
boning support, bra cups, back zipper.

Below Marilyn Monroe in 1952, Look awards party

Restyled Vintage 1940s Wrap Dress

 Above is the vintage 1940s wool robe/dress in the condition that I found it. It had been stored flat and the buttons had rusted leaving marks on the front and back of the waist, there were also several moth holes and a faded area on the lower portion of the skirt. I spot treated the rust on the front and back of the dress but they only faded a little bit still leaving brown marks.

 The next thing I did was iron the dress and mark off the skirt and shorten it, this took care of the faded area and also gave me fabric to patch the moth holes from the underside of the fabric. I had some matching satin in my stash and made a cummerbund sash to tie around the waist giving it a more festive/holiday look and covering the rust spots, the final product below including some closeups of the moth holes that I mended. This dress and sash are now available for sale here 

https://www.etsy.com/listing/168592799/1940-pinup-holiday-dress-raspberry-pink

Marilyn Monroe-Black & White Polkadots

 

 
 I am very slowly getting back to sewing now that baby is sleeping more i actually feel like doing stuff again. I have been getting that itch to make something so i started with fabric i had in my stash a white and black polkadot satin that made me think of the dress Marilyn Monroe wore, the dots are actually red on the original dress but most of the pictures are black and white. i lined the bodice with a medium weight cotton and sewed the boning to the bust seams and to the back lining, the front drape is bias cut with wide back straps and a full circle skirt. This sample dress is available for sale here at Psychedelic Pinup

Lindy Chamberlain Dresses Part 2

 This dress I made using a stretch cotton fabric, princess seams and double tie straps, A-line skirt with some gathering at the waist and a ruffle hem, the back has the same scoop neckline with a center back zipper. I forgot to get a back shot before mailing the dress off, but the back is pretty much the same as the front. Below are the pictures i used to create my version. The original dress on display and photos of Lindy wearing the dress.

This dress is made using vintage light weight 1970s polyester double knit. Finding enough yardage in a peach shade was quite tricky, and after looking around all over the place, it turns out my mom had some hanging out in her stash and she was happy to see it go to use! So we went with a more apricot shade where as the original was a little more to the pink as you can see from the pictures below. The bust is gathered at the center front, the skirt is double width of fabric with a seam at the center front and center back. I did change a few details like push up bra cups to the lining of the dress as requested and a back invisible zipper since it finishes it off nicely. Below are the pictures i used to create the dress above.

 

Part 1  http://morningstar84.blogspot.com/2012/10/lindy-chamberlin-dresses-part-1.html

Alfred Hitchcock-Psycho-Janet Leigh Dress

 This shirtwaist dress was a custom order, she wanted a dress like the one worn by Janet Leigh in the classic Alfred Hitchcock film ''Psycho''. Instead of a wool dress fabric like the original she chose a lighter weight blue bengaline. The dress features a high narrow collar with pearly buttons down the front. The sleeves are cut long with a wide hem that folds up creating a cuff. The skirt is a full 2 widths of fabric gathered at the waist, with the seams in the center back and center front. A wide fabric covered belt finishes off the look. Below are the pictures I used to create the dress above ;-)