Well, Indian Summers may have been on a while ago, and I know you’re supposed to blog about current trends, but I’m an old fashioned gal… When I trawl the internet for sewing inspiration, I often put in the names of past films and TV series for inspiration. Indian Summers had some sumptuous 1930s evening dresses, and floaty summer dresses and smart tailored day dresses, worn by it’s aristocratic and high powered cast of characters. As we rarely get a chance to wear such glamour these days (and let’s face it, who really did in the day either?), this is in the realm of fantasy for most of us – of course the cast centre around an exclusive and high powered members club. But if you love vintage style, a 1930s themed hen party or vintage hollywood hen party or birthday day out in a wonderful vintage venue would be a great place to get to wear something like this though, if you could source, hire or sew such outfits (we have provided dresses a little like this for our hens through our vintage dress hire expert… See our previous blog post).
Here’s one of my favourite evening gowns, a summer dress with wonderful cutting using stripes to great effect in different directions. The top is loose, and empire line. I love the two black godets on the sides. I feel I could sew something like this but would have to trawl for some fabric like this that looked so authentic with the different width stripes. The glamorous American character Madeleine had some of the most glamorous dresses.
Here’s the floral day dress worn for travel by Alice, courtesy of Masterpiece website. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/masterpiece/programs/features/slideshow/indian-summers-s1-costume-design/
I really love these two straight skirted day dresses. The flounce at the bottom with the triangular inserts at the top of each flounce is very characteristically 30s. The large collar with all that detail is also extremely 30s.
Think butterfly sleeves and godets if you’re looking to reproduce something thirties in your sewing, or if you’re looking for a 1930s hen party outfit. You could find dresses with features like this from vintage shops and fairs that are not 30s, but would do the job. Look for satins and shiny fabrics.
Remember the tension filled fashion show in series two? Here is Madeleine’s low backed dress.
I thought it was rather realistic that Julie Walters’ character, as an older woman, had found her period in the 1920s and stayed there, with the loose, drop waisted party dresses of this era. This one is chiffon over an underslip style bottom layer and has a sailor style collar.
