Happy Spring!

I was totally inspired today when my neighbor Ngonda stopped in to shop.
Ngonda's your classic girl-on-the-go, always trotting down 5th street with great style, hair, and purpose.....
Today I lucked out, and she had a little extra time to model some merch for me.....









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Will the real Barbie please stand up?

So today is Barbie's 50th birthday! Whoopdeedooo!
Perfect opp to show you my 2004 Barbie Halloween costume.

(Unfortunately I can't find any high-res pics. These will have to do.)
The costume was based on the original swimsuit Barbie from 1959, and was way more fun to make than it was to wear.
Not only did I have to crash diet all week and still cinch my waist to the smallest size I could bear/still breathe, I also had to DJ all night looking through tiny pinholes in the mask.
I'd made the mask out of one of those plastic wig form faces, so I could paint on Barbie's evil side-glancing eyes as accuratly as possible.
I made the bathing suit out of some tacky sweater-top thing, and wore it over a vintage bustier and the cincher I'd made out of canvas and skirt hooks. (Oi, Never try this; just get a white strapless bathing suit and paint the stripes on).
The 6-inch high lucite shoes were a $38 splurge, but have since come in handy for my Mermaid costume, Tina Turner costume,  Morticia Addams costume, and Lady Gaga Costume. (I like to be tall on Halloween...)
Several finishing touches included pink coat (it was October after all) with oversized buttons and "B" monogram, oversized faux pearl earrings, pink hand mirror, chunky white sunglasses, and black patent leather purse with Barbie's ® name.

lost art of the hemmed patch

This ca 1930 undershirt doesn't look like much in this picture: but it's made of extremely fine knit silk and has gusseted/ reinforced armholes. All in all, rather precious in its simplicity/antiquity, and,
I had a couple of people drooling over it already --but I didn't want to sell it until I could mend a bunch of small holes it had along the bottom hem.
Blogger wouldn't let me upload more than 5 pics, so you'll have to click on this composite to get the gist of it. The hemmed patch is basically a reverse applique, that is finished off so no raw edges are exposed. Tidy and loving, for a special garment you're not ready to throw in the rag bin.

Very recession chic.
Before: After: