Cardigan process!

Working on my cardigan...I think I've been working on it for like two and a half weeks? Anyway, I've knitted eight inches so far and am about to start on the bust area. I decided to go with a late 1930s silhouette, so in addition to steeking the front, I'll also be steeking the armholes...kind of frightening! 

I graduated on Sunday so I've got nothing to do but blog, sew, and knit. I've also got a big announcement I'll post later this week!

What are you doing this summer?

xoxo,

Annie Belle

A novel use for beer

Source:  http://digital.nls.uk/propaganda/white/booklet_06.html

While researching women's lifestyles of the past, I am always impressed by the ingenuity of our mothers, grandmothers, and great grandmothers. In today's world, we are surrounded by things to make life easier--from food processors to supermarkets to the Internet itself. But sometimes, the bygone method of doing things may actually be superior. I have discovered this today in the form of beer setting lotion.

Promotional photo from Bell's Brewery. Day-old beer isn't quite this photogenic.

I first read about it on The Fedora Lounge while searching for homemade setting lotion. I love pin curling my hair and I usually just use hairspray, but sometimes I want that extra hold, you know? I'd heard about flax seed setting lotion, which sounded great, but the process sounded messy and complicated. If it can be done yourself, I like to do it myself, but there are some things I just won't touch, and the stove is one of them. (So much for the joy of domesticity.) However, on that post, someone mentioned using beer, and how girls of the thirties and forties used it all the time to set their hair. Aha! I thought to myself. Brilliant! Unfortunately, I also like to be resourceful with my beer, and that usually means there isn't a lot left over the next day. (I only have one!) But yesterday was different!

Image from Snoodlebug Vintage

I did have beer left over, and I wanted to practice the above hairstyle (or a variation of it) for graduation, which is this Sunday. There was definitely enough left over for setting lotion. So I combed it through my hair, and I was pleasantly surprised by the results. (Not pleasantly surprised enough to share a photo. I'm already sharing my drinking habits with you guys; my hair set is too much information!) I've only had the set in for about an hour, but it was so much easier to work with, and really shiny and soft. My sink does smell a bit like beer, but hopefully that will wear off.

I'm going to sleep on the set and hopefully I'll post pictures tomorrow! I certainly don't think I'll look like Ava Gardner, but I'm interested to see if the hold will be better!

XOXO,

Annie Belle

An awesome vintage sewing tool!

Speaking of basting and pleating, I'm almost done with a dress I've been working on, and it actually looks halfway decent! I'll post pictures and a review of the pattern soon. Like probably tomorrow soon.

Hope you're all doing well! I'm graduating on Sunday, so I certainly am!

xoxo,

Annie Belle

In a knitting mood

I've been knitting like crazy since I last posted! I found a video by Hazel Tindall, a legendarily FAST knitter, on how she uses a knitting belt. I wanted to share because her video demonstrates almost EXACTLY how I knit, except I use a knitting stick instead of a knitting belt.

 

This technique has allowed me to get a respectable four inches knitted (on size 00 needles) since I really started knitting it on Thursday. I'd like to have it finished by graduation, but I'm also planning on making a dress for that, and I think that takes a little more precedence (on top of my photo transfer skirt which I will post about soon).

What are you working on?

xoxo,

Annie Belle

The Method Behind my Pinterest Boards

I'm writing a terribly unsatisfying paper, and I'm procrastinating by using Pinterest. I figured I could assuage my guilt by writing about Pinterest.

Martha Stewart when she was a model in the 1960s!

Pinterest may be the domain of upper middle class Martha Stewart types, but Martha Stewart is totally my idol (she's perfect, guys), and it is an absolute GODSEND for someone like me who obsessively catalogs images and wants to be able to access them whenever and wherever. Is it a website promoting consumerism and an unattainable life? Totally, but I mean, so is the rest of the world, so it's not necessarily a bad thing, right?

Thankfully, Pinterest allows me to catalog the intersection of my two favorite things, fashion and history. There are lots of amazing people scanning and uploading their amazing vintage ephemera collections, so all I have to do is find it and organize it and I have it at my fingertips.

But this is all stuff we already know about Pinterest, right? What about me? (This blog is all about me! No it's not. But it sort of is.) I have about 25,000 pins, 150 boards, and I bet over half of them are related to vintage fashion in some form.

More Martha Stewart!

I'm currently reorganizing my behemoth of a "fashion museum" board, which originally had about 2,500 pins before I got frustrated and decided to redistribute them all by decade. But as I go through vintage fashion photographs, I've realized that some of these images are not like the others. Interestingly, the images I chose of Martha Stewart illustrate these differences. The first photo, where she's standing against a wall and not really doing anything, would go under my "fashion showcase" board. (I went with 1960s for this link because...um...the photo is from the 1960s.) These are other photos from the same board, in case you're super-lazy:

Both images were taken by Chalomer Woods. Woods has some good photographs, but for the most part, his shots are pretty standard studio photos intended to highlight the clothes and the model--not his technical artistry or creative genius. On the other hand, the photo of Martha with the cow would go under my fashion oddities board, because, like, it's pretty weird, let's just be honest here, guys. These are probably some of my favorite boards, because although there were lots of beautiful dresses, hairstyles, and makeup styles from the 1920s-1960s, some of it was just absolutely bizarre. Like wig swimming caps and a creepy crochet helmet.

I also include stuff from less well-known or unconventional fashion magazines--there are a few images on there from Playboy, which, inexplicably, featured its models wearing really cute clothes. (Sadly, the Tumblr blog cataloging these adorable fashions seems to now be defunct.) I don't have any information on who is in these photos or who took them. They're just examples of really weird apparel and accessories.

There were a few photos of Martha Stewart when she modeled for Chanel. I can't find any, but if a photo involves a well-known designer (Chanel), photographer (Avedon), or model (Wilhemina), then it's probably going to go to my fashion muse board. These are my babies. These are like, pure fashion and art and I love them and I wish I could surround myself in a room with these images plastered all over the walls.

Original caption: Model seated on yellow cushion, wearing fuscia dress suit, with green-blue hat with bow, by Emme. Photo Horst P. Horst Condè Nast Archive 1961

This photo was taken by Horst (check), is in the Conde Nast archive (check), and has one major designer (check).

Anne Saint-Marie and the designer Bill Blass, 1960’s

This is a studio photo like the "fashion showcase" photos above, but the bold contrast, unique direction, and inclusion of Anne Saint-Marie and Bill Blass separate it from the others. It's less about the clothing and more about the relationship between the model, the clothing, the designer, and the photographer. We can tell Anne's elegance (more on her later because she's one of my favorite models!), and, assuming the clothes she's wearing are Blass, we can see how he knows how to dress an elegant figure. I don't know who the photographer is, but I think he had a great sense of who these people were and how they worked together. The shot is playful, but it's not overtly silly. Finally, while the clothing is incontrovertibly 1960s in style, the shot is timeless, and the beauty of the garment clearly communicated. Despite the commercial element of the photo, everyone walks away with their dignity intact. 

In closing, I will leave you with this lovely photo of a Dior dress from 1968. Anne's dress in the above photo has got me in a textile-appreciating mood...maybe I will write a post on fabric next? (If I get this damn paper done!)

 

XOXO,

Annie Belle

Cardiganspiration

That was a truly terrible play on words.

Anyway, I'm procrastinating on untangling a massive skein of yarn, probably 10 ounce's worth. It's a 2/8 wool weaving yarn I got from Webs like, a year ago, and while I've tried to make a variety of things from it, I've just never been able to stick to it. A few months ago I gave it a hot water bath to try to fluff it up a bit, which did actually work, so we'll see how knittable it is...once I untangle everything.

BUT! I've been meaning to make a cardigan from this yarn ever since I got it. Cardigans are fantastic. You can put them on and take them off, which makes them great for a commitment-phobe like myself. They're also great for that awkward too-hot-outside-too-air-conditioned-inside moment in between spring and summer (e.g. right now. Does it really need to be sixty five degrees inside?) But what kind should I make? I should probably figure that out before I cast on!

I have a lot of deep-v cardigans, so I know I want something with a jewel neckline.

I know this isn't a cardigan, but I really love the neck and sleeve detailing. I would probably make it symmetrical and then lengthen the sleeves.

There's more after the jump!

I have made so many "first post" posts...

But this time I hope I'll stick around!

I guess I'll introduce myself? That's me in the photo (obviously) which seems like a good place to start. My name is Annie Belle. Not legally, but I've always gone by Annie Belle. Which is why I named the blog "la petite belle." It's a pun, sort of. I'm lame. 

I'm almost 22 and about to graduate from K College. I knitted a house for my senior art thesis, which you can read/see here. I submitted it to Art Prize in Grand Rapids, but it doesn't look like I'm going to make a connection with a venue :(

That's okay though because I'm about to start a business knitting super-sized accessories and home goods! It's just an Etsy shop right now, but I would eventually like to connect with a few retailers. If I don't take over the world first. Which I kind of want to do. 

I had a blog, which I kind of forgot about, but I'm in a class with a blogging assignment right now and I realized that I miss it. I think I got too into making Meaningful Posts last time, so now I'm going to focus on things that make me happy and let meaning come from that.

So what are those things? I really, really, really love clothing and design, especially from the 1920s-1960s, but I'll take just about anything design-related from history. I am driven by nostalgia for a life I have not lived, and I am much more comfortable knitting and sewing at home than I am living it up at a bar. While I do love the idea of a fifties housewife--except for the cooking, cleaning, and child-rearing!--I am also an unapologetic feminist with a social justice background (or as much as one can have at 22), and I think I'm drawn to that image because I love investigating how women rebelled against it, and how they found agency within the limited roles society afforded them. I also like exploring the ways in which our knowledge of the time period is informed by a sort of revised history, so hopefully I'll write some posts on women I admire!

I genuinely cannot see myself working in an environment that doesn't involve textiles, design, or fashion in some way, so I guess this blog will sort of be about me negotiating that. Hopefully there will be sewing tutorials, knitting patterns, and other life pro tips along the way!

Thanks for joining me and I can't wait to hear from you all!

xx,

Annie Belle