Saturday 26 July 2014

Vintage Slacks

Ignore my silliness. We stayed at some friends' place and had a good time...
As a mother of two little ones, I can't always wear dresses and skirts, and most trousers that are available off-the-rack don't fit me. Or are terrible. Or both. High-waisted pants are mostly available in larger or so-called "short" sizes for elderly, rather short women. And as the waists of trousers got lower and lower during the past years, and I constantly feel cold around my kidneys, I somehow felt I was getting too old for such things. You can guess that buying pants is a nightmare.

I never thought that, after leaving the 1980s fashion nightmares behind me, I would gladly opt for high-waisted trousers again. But… I always liked the wide-legged trousers Marlene Dietrich used to wear. (This reminds me that I should write a post about her.) Of course they would look different on me, as I'm not that slim, but still, it's a style I love and that will always look very neat and decent. Even if I don't do swing dancing or that kind of cool stuff. (I can't dance at all, I'm unfortunately born with two left legs.)

I bought this wonderful pattern from Eva Dress Patterns. It's a reproduction of Simplicity 3322. The patterns costa little bit, but they're worth it, as they offer some very nice and searched-after patterns in excellent quality. Some come along as multiple-size patterns, like this one.


For many of the patterns there are also pictures of finished projects, so it's really helpful to have a closer look at the entire site.

As a non-native English speaker (even though I am used to talk, write and read in English since 20 years), I didn't know what "slacks" are - until I found that pattern.

I was looking for something exactly like this! I am not sure how I would look in an overall, but the trousers are definitely worth giving a try! 


Since years I had a large piece of a inexpensive poly-cotton gabardine in my stash that I bought for about $10 per meter. I think I bought it about 10 years or more ago to make a trench coat. Of course I never made it. The fabric was still there, looking at me reproachfully each time I opened the shelf. It's a nice tan or dark-beige colour, making it perfect for cooler summer days, spring and autumn, as it has a lightly heavier drape.

After our 1.5 hours drive, the trouser look a little bit wrinkled... 


The colour is certainly not my first choice, even though I think it's not bad and can be spiced up with some top or blouse in a lovely colour or pattern, but I would have liked something that looked like denim or at least a blue fabric to be incorporated in my summer (holiday) wardrobe. Blue, especially combined with red and white, always makes me feel like holiday at the sea. But for now this has to do it. I chose some wooden buttons I bought from a warehouse that closed down many years ago, so I guess they are somehow vintage too...

They are super comfy and were easy to sew (haha, no small bust to deal with this time!!!), and I hope they will be a valuable garment. However, as you can see on the last picture, from my hips downward they are far too baggy and I look much bigger than I am (my bottom IS NOT that fat, at least I hope so), soI will try to make my next pair in a smaller size and look how they turn out.

I am wearing the self-designed peasant knit top I posted already here

And yes, I definitely look very silly on the pictures. I was standing by this column and my lovely husband said, let's take some pics of your trousers for the blog (how well-educated is he?). I was in a very cheerful mood being with friends and relatives - hehe, maybe too cheerful...

But look what I bought and what arrived yesterday - perfect for summer, especially as we had to cancel our summer holidays! Flamingo cocktail sticks! Aren't they great?



Pattern: Eva Dress Pattern, Vintage Slacks
Fabric: cotton poly gabardine
Peasant top: me-made pattern, organic cotton knit in red gingham by Lillestoff
Lipstick: MAC, Russian Red
Earrings: fruit salad, NOS vintage bought on Ebay
Shoes: pink Moheda Toffeln from Sweden
Toy octopus: not ours...



17 comments:

  1. Da kann ich Dir nur zustimmen, Hosenkauf ist wirklich ein Alptraum. Mir sind die Hosenbeine grundsätzlich zu kurz und die Taille zu niedrig. Der Schnitt Deiner Hose ist wirklich toll, steht Dir sehr gut!
    Schönen Sonntag noch!
    LG Carolin

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    1. Danke Carolin! Ja, die heutige Hosenmode ist nicht so berauschend, finde ich. Zum Glück kann ich nähen, da mache ich mir das, was ich sonst nirgends finden kann. Ganz schlimm finde ich das auch bei meinen Kindern. Die aktuelle Hosenmode schreibt denen bereits knallenge Hosenbeine vor - wie sollen sich da meine 2 und 5 Jahre alten Kleinen richtig und bequem bewegen können? Schon das Anziehen ist da eine Qual… Dann eben auch für sie: ran ans Maschinchen und selber machen.

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  2. Your slacks look great, and make your legs look miles long :) The top i gorgeous too!
    I have been meaning to make swing trousers like this for ages, but I am so scared of the fitting... How hard can it be, right? I bet your next pair will look even more fantastic!

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    1. Thank you, Siri! I have to admit, the top turned out far better than expected, as it was only roughly drawn, and I had no idea how i would look like in the end. And the gingham knit makes it very versatile.
      The fitting of those trousers isn't that complicated, I mean, bust adjustments are more difficult. It's totally worth it to try this (or any similar) pattern. You can play with colours, make even striped ones, leave the cuffs away… I once have read that during WW2 the cuffs vanished due to war shortage, and I really have a pattern from that time without that detail. They still look great, just simpler.

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  3. Die Hose sieht super aus und Du total süß! :)

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    1. Hehe, "süss" ist vielleicht nicht grad zutreffend, aber danke! Ja, solche Hosen sehen immer gut aus, ich bin schon am zweiten Exemplar...

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  4. die Hose sieht superlässig und gelichzeitig sehr schick aus! :-)

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    1. Ich bin auch zufrieden mit der Hose, sehr bequem (auch wenn man sie enger macht) und Frau ist gut angezogen damit. Kein vergleich zu den Hosen, die man ab Stange kauft...

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  5. Dear Doris, you look lie a true postcard, ahhhhhhhh
    So magical
    About your questions
    I bought the parasol in a Cinese shop down the road and I paid only 3 euros, so I have them in many colours, hahha. people used to look at me in amazement and now they are buying and using them against the sun

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    1. Gracias, Sacramento!

      I will have a look if there are such parasols near my place for sale. But here, we have too much rain, I guess I need a proper umbrella… :-/

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  6. Oh, dear Doris! You look like out of a magazine of 40s fashion, absolutely adorable! Those pants are so great and you look so funny ... certainly, you're a funny girl I laugh with each of your posts!

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    1. You are most kind, dear Rosy! The hardest part is always getting my hair in decent shape. And I can assure you, I'm not always funny, and I can be veeeery serious. ;-) But taking pictures is always a funny situation, I'm not used to get photographed.

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  7. I love your slacks! The look very neat! Well done!
    It reminds me that I have a pair of unfinished trousers which I should have finished ages ago.

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  8. I got an error, don't know if my comment is published! I just wanted to tell you that I really like your trousers! A job very well done!

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    1. Thanks, Anthea - well, I had problems with Blogger too, some of my replies vanished and re-appeared days later…
      I have "some" UFOs laying around, and currently there is already a second pair of those trousers on my working table. Such garments are a great addition to any vintage wardrobe, depending from the type of fabric you can wear them the whole year.

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  9. My dear Doris, you look thoroughly fantastic in this classic slack! The colour, cuff size and overall silhouette are all immensely flattering and really, really look sensational on you. My own interest in pants has really been piqued lately, so I lapped up this lovely outfit post with even more gusto! :)

    Big hugs,
    ♥ Jessica

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    1. Thank you so much for your kind words. Yes, these pants are great to wear, and I already finished a second pair. Totally comfortable and perfect for the days you don't feel like wearing a dress or skirt. The ones of this post are a little bit too big, as the patterns relay runs slightly larger than I thought, but it's an easy fix.

      Warm regards, Doris

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