Tuesday, November 13, 2012

Finally Found Her


I can't even remember how long I've been looking for an affordable vintage dress form. She didn't have to be perfect. She didn't have to be beautiful. She just had to be.

Now, after all this time, meet Marvey (short for Marvelous).  I met her at a local estate sale and took  her home with me. She isn't perfect. Her body is unevenly faded and more than a little dusty (she fits right in around here), her innards are rusty, but all the parts work (more than I can say about myself!) and she has a number of small blemishes on her skin. But, she stands tall, proud and stately.


Take a look inside her and you get a glimpse of a bygone era and a forgotten project.

Recently, when I was cleaning out my work room, I pulled out a few items I had stored away in one of my old steamer trunks. Here's Marvey modeling some of my personal '70s fashions.


My mother was an accomplished seamstress. When my sister and I were growing up, Mom made most of our clothes (something that, unfortunately, we didn't fully appreciate at the time). She taught herself to knit and also knew how to crochet. In 1970, I headed off to college in style in this wonderful poncho she knitted for me.


While I was still in college, she crocheted this striped beauty. Are you getting the sense yet that I loved ponchos?

It didn't stop there. In what could have been dubbed The Year of the Poncho, Mom also made me a gorgeous brown plaid wool poncho with a hood. It was fully lined and finished with a gorgeous brown trim and big wooden buttons. Imagine the sick feeling in the pit of my stomach when I discovered that poncho wasn't in the steamer, where I thought I had stored it along with the other two. Oh, I do hope I find it somewhere. When I reflect on my college years, I most often visualize myself in one or another of those lovingly made, wonderfully special ponchos.


To close out today's 1970s style show is this fabulous crochet and suede vest. Far out, as we used to say! My mom didn't make this one. I found it at a thrift store back in the 1980s and have held on to it over the years. It's in like new condition.

Thank you, Marvey, for making this fashion retrospective possible.

Make it a great day!
Linking to:

9 comments:

  1. Oh my what fun you are going to have with this dress form! See you next week.
    Joyce M

    ReplyDelete
  2. You have brought me hope this morning, I too, have been seeking a dress form. Welcome home Marvey.
    What an talented knitter your mother was, love the ponchos, and her color choices.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I had a yellow and white poncho in what today would be described as a chevron pattern ... so practical, warm, easy to wear, it looked much like the striped beauty your mom knitted, only mine was purchased. Funny, I also had a suede and knit combo vest much like you found at the thrift store only in brown. I'd love to come across a dress form for use in my **someday maybe** dressing area / closet. If nothing else I could use the form today to "hang" my coat on when I come in the house. Enjoy playing dress up Ann!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Ah yes, ponchos ... how fun to remember. BTW you probably already know this, but the type of mannequin you have looks great if you strip off the fabric coating, there is a cool old card board underneath, and I have even know people to add a stamped number at the neck, or to decopage a nice French dress company logo there instead. Just a thought.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Marvy...what a hysterical name! LOVE YOUR MUSE and the dress form. MAH-VAH-LUSS!

    xoRebecca

    ReplyDelete
  6. I would love to find one of those great dress forms. Your walk down memory lane bought back lots of memories.My mom made most of our clothe and knitted our sweaters and mittens too. I sure wish I had saved them. Thanks for visiting me.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Congratulations!! They are very hard to find these days!
    Thanks for stopping by my Blog. It's great to have you..
    Have a wonderful Thanksgiving Ann.
    xxx Liz

    ReplyDelete
  8. Your Mom's creations were wonderful, so nice you still have them. My daughter and I were at Anthropology the other day an I made her try on a peasant shirt so I could relive one of my favorite styles from the 70's. The last vest looks like it could be from Anthro! Hope you had a wonderful Thanksgiving, Laura

    ReplyDelete

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.