Rose’s “Idiot Lantern” dress/ Femme!Ten

If I didn’t have enough geekiness going on, I’m also a huge Doctor Who fan, and I’m in the planning/buying stage of doing a repro of Rose’s dress.  There is already several entries in the “Current Projects” blog on this site, but I decided it’s time this dress had its page.  For my travails over choosing the perfect shoes, see the blog!

First, a reference shot:

Well, okay, two shots – just because David Tennant is in this one:

Okay, three, because here’s a pic of the shoes.  The infamous shoes!

An awesome dress…

I love this dress.  I may incorporate a few design elements from it into Rose’s dress, since we really can’t tell what’s going on under that bomber jacket!

In case you want to buy this dress yourself, here’s a link to the store:

http://www.unique-vintage.com/ It comes in red!  And they have so many gorgeous things that my head just about exploded from sheer wonder and delight!

I have a pattern!

I’ll alter this a bit (raise the back a bit, leave off the buttons and give it a zipper in the back) but otherwise it’s near-perfect.

It’s a Vogue pattern, #V2960, and it’s an original 1954 design.

Shoes.  Third Pair.

I’ve bought two other pairs of possible shoes, but one was the wrong color (and really the wrong style as well), and the other was the wrong color (and my ferret chewed on one of them).

These are not “right” either, but at least they’re the correct color, and nothing’s chewed on them….yet.  Maybe I can add some little pink bows on the sides….?

Rose’s Jacket

Progress on this costume has been stopped, for several reasons.  My shoes were chewed by a ferret (and I can’t find the perfect pair anyway!), I can’t really buy pink silk for the dress until I have the shoes so I can match the color, and I can’t find a blue jacket like Rose’s anywhere.

 

Shoes….

And I may finally have found the shoes, too…really quite like these….

Who Shoes

And while we’re speaking of Dr Who shoes, I fell in love with these: 

River Song (surely the most intriguing character on Doctor Who besides the Doctor himself!) wears these fab shoes in a recent episode.You can see the shoes in action here (they come on screen at 00.40).

Can’t afford the real ones (they’re Louboutins), but I can afford these knock-offs.  Next time I have a little extra coinage, I’m totally getting them!  So pretty. 

Rose Jacket

I stumbled across this jacket (okay, who am I kidding? I was ransacking the internets like my life depended on it!) and I think it’s a darn good match for the Idiot’s Lantern jacket she wears.  The collar is off, but it’s the right “look” and the fit is perfect.  And the color seems spot-on.  And it was on sale for $22.  So, dear Reader, I bought it.

There was one that was an even CLOSER match (and cheaper) but it was all sold out and impossible to find.  GAH.

So I’m going to be happy with this one.  Once my shoes come, I’m going to have to start looking for matching fabric….

Rose Shoes – 6/13/10

Okay, so I found shoes I was really, really pleased with – the pink ones with the black bows pictured above.  I ordered them, waited four weeks, and then emailed the company twice with zero response. When I finally got through on the phone, I was told the shoes were no longer available, and they had canceled my order. Without TELLING me, which ticked me off big time!

So I went on a mad scrabble search through the internets for another pair, and came up empty, except for these really similar ones. The only problem with these is that they aren’t peep toes. But you know what? I’ve never been all that fond of peep toes, so I decided to buy them anyway.

They are so cute, peoples!    

I was all set to buy pink taffeta to sew Rose’s dress, but my local Jo-Ann’s had baby pink and hot pink….and I need the shade between!  I guess it’s back to the internets!  If I finish this outfit by August, I think I’ll wear it to work.  We’re having a “Blast to the Past” dress-up day, and this could be my 50s outfit.  It would be fun to see if anyone recognizes me as “Rose”.

Rose Dress 7/31/10

I’d been wondering where to wear this dress, once it was done.  Then I remembered that my workplace is having a “Blast from the Past” fun day, where everyone is supposed to dress in a different era’s clothing. Naturally, I thought, what could be better? This is a 50s dress, after all!  I just need to sew it in two weeks.

Here’s the stuff I started with:

Shoes, sequins, and satin taffeta.

After two days of sewing, here’s the basic dress:

At this point, the shirt is still not sewn to the bodice, and there’s no zipper or hem.  I pinned on some sequins and added a denim jacket (my actual jacket is too heavy to wear inside in August!).  I decided to box pleat the skirt rather than gather it as Rose’s dress is.  I like the look better, and it’s totally a 50s style.  My fabric is also thicker than Rose’s, so it works really well.

Since then, I’ve completed the dress, except for ironing.  I made the earrings as well. All that’s left is the tulle underskirt and taking in the waist of the jacket a smidge to give it the proper fitted look.  I can’t wait to wear it!  It’s so pretty!

Tomorrow I’ll pick up more tulle after church, and then I can finish this outfit, and it will be done in time for Friday!!!

Rose Dress – 8/6/10

Wore the dress today at work, and had a fabulous “Blast from the Past”!  Here’s a pic of us together:

And here are a few shot of me in my garden.