Bolero? Collar? Huh?

Lisa at Miss Helene's sent me this link a while back (click on the image to visit the Main Street Mall listing). She sent it for a linktastic Friday, but it really deserves its own post, because I am simultaneously fascinated and horrified by this pattern.

First off: who dreamed up the fake bolero? (Because, obviously, a real bolero is too much trouble, right? What with all the tedious being able to take it off and put it back on again.) Or is it an elaborate collar? I'm much more sympathetic to the elaborate collar, although I don't like buttonholes that will never feel the touch of a button. Buttons on their lonesome: okay. Buttons sewn over snaps ... eh, whatever floats your boat. Buttons condemned to look longingly at their buttonholes across a never-to-be-crossed divide? That's just cruel.

I do like the little contrast print along the roll of the fake bolero/elaborate collar. And the lines of this dress, too, are quite captivating. I love how perfectly the dress nips in at the waist (without a waistline seam, which means it is pure fantasy, or something to be achieved only with terrifying undergarments).

So: I'm conflicted. Is this gorgeous, or is this ludicrous? (Or both? Both is certainly an acceptable answer.) What do you think?

[I'm also wondering if the women on the pattern envelope are laughing about being able to put this one over on the pattern company. "I can't believe they bought this one! Let's try for a fake vest effect next!"]

Comments

[chanief]

Definitely both.

[Theresa]

A Agree - definitely both. I love it and i hate it. Love it. Would never make/wear it.

[Zoltar Panaflex]

I think it would be better modified to let the button and the buttonhole be One. I think it would look much better and not be so busy where few women need a lot of busy.I don't think anyone this side of a whalebone corset has a waistline like that. This pattern dates from what my mother would say "From when we couldn't breathe but that's what we did!"

[Eirlys]

I'm also quite mystified by the waistline, being a waistless creature myself. And if life's too short to stuff a mushroom, fake boleros are definitely out. But what a great talking point - thanks, as ever, Erin.

[tea]

On the plus side, it would make those of us who are a little less endowed upstairs have the illusion of being a little bit moreso. But what a bizarre fusion to create that effect.

[Anonymous]

Both. Wow.

[Lisa]

This dress is like one of those magic tricks perhaps...such as sawing a lady in half or making a plane disappear. "How did they do that" and "Why would you" at the same time. Oh well, who says love has to be rational?

[cathy]

How do you get in and out of it? Side zipper?

[Pencils]

I think it's neat. First I also like the lines of the dress, but I do like the fake bolero effect. Boleros are annoying, especially if you have a big bustline, they flap annoyingly in the wind. Not that I've probably worn one since about 1980. But this silves all those problems! Besides, it saves fabric right? So it's thrifty. (I don't get to use the word "thrifty" enough.)

[cathy]

I just read the back of the pattern. "No notions needed." So no side zipper. I know for sure I couldn't get my shoulders through that waistline. Nice shape, though.

[Latter-Day Flapper]

I think it's clever, and I think it's an almost-unparalleled opportunity for contrasting-fabric combinations.But the go-nowhere buttonholes are kind of weird. You could do buttons on both sides for a double-breasted (no pun intended) effect, though.

[Anonymous]

No notions needed?! Not even the two lonely buttons? This pattern is cute enough, but I think the two women are con artists, laughing at anyone who thinks this dress is going to be possible or wearable...Monique in TX

[Nancy (nanflan)]

The back of the envelope specifies a 12" zipper for side opening. It's right above the notion section--since when is a zipper not a notion? For notions, it specifies seam binding, buttons, shoulder pads, a purchased belt (this is a notion?), and cotton or wool for saddle stitching.I like it although it's way too costumey for me to actually make and wear.

[Tracy]

I like it. It's a little quirky, but quirky can be good in my book. To carry the quirk to the extreme, I think I try a solid on the entire bolero-esque section all the way to the hem (of course the entire back as well) with the front panel in a coordinating print exaggerating the layered look.btw the pattern does call for a 12 inch side zip, it's just not listed with other notions.

[wedenterprises]

Pshaw. That is AMAZING.

[wedenterprises]

Pshaw. That is AMAZING.

[Cookie]

I think you'd need MGM's entire wardrobe department to make this one work. It reminds me of the gimmicky clothes they used to make for Technicolor musicals, to give the audience something extra to look at as the dancers whirled about. I can see Jane Russell and (if the skirt were slimmer) a line of chorus girls in it. All in shiny lavender taffeta with bright plaid trim. Hopefully NOT in that weird, bile-mustardy-beige on the left. (Is that the effect of a yellowing envelope, or just a naturally unappetizing color?) Basically, this design is just too self-conscious; i.e., DESPERATE.

[Cookie]

PS: BUT it has a weird hypnotic power! On second glance, I'm starting to like it, in an odd, guilty pleasure kind of way.

[The Rotund]

I like it A LOT, though I agree with canine diamond's suggestion; both sides ought to have buttons. Really, I have a thing for interesting collars, though.

[Deborah]

I don't see how you would get into it. I don't know when it was published but it looks SO fiftie's with that complicated, kind of off the wall detail of a faux bolero. Kind of weird and endearing at the same time. Actually I love it. and hey,look at the bust size for a 16: 34 inches.

[SteffS]

I think it's "mauuuuvelous". I choose the "elaborate" (but decorative, in a just-need-to-complicate-things way) collar. I also think that the pictures depict how it may look with a petticoat. I don't believe the effect would be so "trumpet-like" without one, do you? Look at the way it bumps out below the waist all around. I think that without a petticoat it would be streamlined.I'd definitely leave off the buttons and buttonholes, though. The idea for contrasting fabric is great. I like a dark solid on the sides (all the way up through the "collar"), with a lighter, contrast print, in the center front and back panels. Again, streamline the silhouette.I'm curious enough to beg someone to make it and post the results just to see how it will look on a real person. I'd volunteer, however, the pile of angry, un-sewn,vintage patterns in my stash would give me unimaginable nightmares for actually sewing something from another compulsive pattern purchase.Any takers?

[SteffS]

Oh yes, and it does have a hypnotic effect, doesn't it? Perhaps it is all that mustard and orange. Like WHO can actually wear that much of either of those colors without looking like a big-freakin-pumpkin? Aaaack! But it does demand undivided attention!

[sixties sewer]

The seaming makes for an odd emphasis on "the girls", doesn't it? This one should be admired but not attempted.

[RachelMM]

And you think you've seen it all...

[susan]

cookie and steffs: oddly, as a pale redhead, that mustard yellow works on me. I might be the only human alive who can pull it off, though.now that we're talking color options, how about black velvet with red satin just inside the rolled collar? Or is that too obvious?