It's Leg Liberation Day. Today is day where I begin wearing skirts every day. I mean, I wear skirts most of the time, but after about mid-April, or as soon as I can see my way clear to a few weeks of sixty-degree temperatures, the pants all disappear (the few pairs that I did wear) and it's nothing but skirts from now until late September or even early October (depending on the tights sitch).

This is a new skirt pattern I'm going to try soon — I like the contour waistband, it's very wearable and easily adjustable for those who like their skirts to ride higher or lower — and I'm looking forward to it immensely. I have all sorts of fabric ideas for this pattern … too many even to list!

Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go dig up all my peds, too, because Leg Liberation Day is also Jack Purcells Day (Observed), where I start wearing all my pairs of Jack Purcell sneakers again with the now-bare legs …

Okay, the painting from a couple days ago and this new listing Lisa just sent, are sparking little starbursts of shirtwaist energy. Like, could I make a stripey one, with a ribbon placket? A very sexy Italian-movie-star sheer black gauze version with wide lace inserts? A white pique? A cherry-red lightweight poplin with white rick-rack? A pink and white polka-dot? I probably won't get around to any of them … all those buttonholes are such a pain! But a girl can dream.

In the meantime, I suggest y'all check out this eBay auction. It's at Buy It Now for less than $25! B37, W 29. Quick like a bunny, now!

Isn't this a wonderful couple of dresses? And so lovely for Christmastime, too. That's why I love Australian magazines; the swap of the seasons is like a guaranteed perspective shift.

I can't decide if the yellow or the green is more Christmassy. Hard to tell. I do like the pairing of the cummerbund with the sweetheart neckline, though.

This is from Christine's 20th Century Fashion Page, which has tons of great images like this. (Warning, it also has pop-ups.) Really worth a visit!

Lisa has been sending me such great links to OTHER people's ebay auctions that I thought I'd check out hers. Holy Moly. I wish I could pull off this kind of dress! (I always look as if I'd snuck into somebody else's closet in the dead of night. I may still try again …)

Click on the image for the auction, which has other pictures, too. The print is turquoise and blue Hawaiian tiki artifacts, and it measures B36-38/W28-30, with a full circle skirt!

Oh, and I am REALLY enjoying all the book covers y'all are sending in. Keep 'em coming!

You know what? This cover would definitely make me pick this up in the bookstore. Yay, dresses!

I like the idea of having a Best Book Cover Dress contest. Do you guys want to start trolling Amazon, B&N, Powell's.com, Google Book Search etc. for cover images? The rules will be that the cover must show an obvious dress (no anonymous folds of fabric). Extra points for books (like this one) that show dresses but aren't ABOUT dresses.

I'll choose some finalists and y'all can vote. Then I'll pick the winning book, and its nominator will win their choice of the finalists, assuming they're still in print. (So you can pick crappy books with great covers and not get stuck with the book …)

Let's say the deadline is April 25. Ready, set, go!

From the moment I laid eyes on it, I wanted this pattern SO badly. So, about a month ago I gave in to the longing and I ordered it from The Blue Gardenia. I was going to make this for the conference I went to a couple weeks ago, but I was a little hesitant to spend sewing time on it, as it's so different from the necklines I usually wear. I started the red view, but I didn't do the final slog that would have been necessary to get it completed for that trip.

However, I finished it up last weekend and was so happy with it that I brought it on *this* trip. I was going to wear it today, but the weather here has not cooperated and I had to redeploy dresses to alternate days. So I'll wear it tomorrow, when it should be in the 50s. (With a little white cardigan and ankle-strap heels.) Here it is, in a very busy "aerial view of fields and houses" print.

And a closeup of the bodice:

It's really cute on and very comfortable — fits like a dream. I didn't do anything to the pattern other than narrow the waistline side seams a little for more wearing ease. I think (looking at the picture) that I cut the front skirt on the fold to eliminate the center front seam, but I can't remember. I wish I'd had time to make a matching belt (belts are very "directional" now, as my fashion magazine friends say) but I was happy just to be able to do the sleeve hems by hand.

I'm definitely going to make this again, maybe in a solid with a contrasting neck band. It would also be fun in polka dots, with the neck band (and maybe a band around the bottom of the skirt) in different polka dots (different-sized, or reversed in color) from the body of the dress. This would be a great pattern for someone who's a little smaller on top, as the gathers definitely add bulk for a very hourglassy effect. It constructed very easily — even the sleeves were easy to set in, and this was the first set of sleeves I put in after switching to a sewing machine without a free arm, so that's really saying something.

So: Dress A Day pattern grade: A+!

Sometimes, when people discover that I prefer dresses — that, in fact, I spend an inordinate amount of time thinking about dresses — they are instantly suspicious. "What do you have against pants?" they ask. "Do you hate pants?"

"No," I reply, in a calm, even voice. "I don't hate pants. I wear pants a lot. I just prefer skirts and dresses, that's all."

They often don't believe me, in the same way that some vegans secretly believe that people who eat meat must not like tofu. They won't believe a preference for one thing doesn't automatically lead to a hatred for the opposite. They believe that a liking for Dr. Pepper signals an anti-Mr. Pibb agenda or possibly vendetta; that a fondness for the color blue means you secretly hate orange.

You know what? Those doubters may be right, because last night I almost started to hate pants.

Check out this first pair:

OMG the fug! The dropped waist! The pindots! The pegged legs! The horror!

But then, I saw these.

At first, I only saw the polka dots–I was intrigued! I reached out! Then I actually — and I have a witness — shrieked in dismay. Nobody, but nobody, should wear polka-dot leggings. There oughta be a law. In fact, the manufacture, distribution, or sale of polka-dot leggings should be illegal in the 48 contiguous states, and highly restricted, at the very least, in Hawaii, Alaska, Puerto Rico, and Guam.

But oh, the Day of Pants Horror (or, as it is also styled, El Dia de Pantalones de Terror) continued with these white monstrosities:

Now, if that one isn't enough to make you fall to your knees and beg your dresses for forgiveness, I don't know what would.

So. My faith in my open-mindedness in regard to pants-wearing (of the literal, not metaphorical kind) has been shaken by seeing THREE Pants of the End Times in one day. That's gotta be a sign, and not a good one. If I see dead birds tomorrow, or there's an eclipse, or lots of people in acid-washed denim bustier sundresses, I'll know it's all over and I'll make my plans for the eschaton. In fact, those plans will probably involve a new dress …

Jen (from Mom's Patterns) sent me this picture of a Duro-esque dress … it's very close, and honestly, if it were my size I might have jumped at. If it were my size, and not a MATERNITY DRESS, I would have.

Ah, maternity clothing. Ugh, maternity clothing. I know, I know, it gets cuter every year, and those of you who had kids in the 1970s or earlier can go ahead and tell me in the comments about the bows and the infantilizing details and the sheer impossibility of finding anything not shudder-inducing. I actually had some nice things (I recommend Japanese Weekend — secondhand if you can find it, that stuff's spendy) but the monotony of wearing the same five things day in and day out was soul-deadening, for the most part. I did enjoy wearing a bright orange shirt that, in my eighth month, made me look like The Great Pumpkin, come to give all the good girls and boys presents on Halloween. (Too bad it was February.)

Anyway, if I could get past the maternity stigma (it's like getting food poisoning from something and not ever being able to eat it again, that's how I feel about maternity clothing) I might even think about making this. Of all the views in the pattern above, I like the center one. I hate beige in all of its guises, so I would make it in cherry red or bright green with a contrasting band, maybe floral, maybe geometric, and if anyone asked if I were pregnant again, I'd smile, say no, and thank them for being interested.

And, while we're here: NancyKay sent me two links you all MUST know about. First, this from the Sartorialist. Somehow, I think the woman in that picture and I would have a LOT to talk about. Next, this. EVERY COLOR OF TIGHTS (and FISHNETS) ever. And not at break-the-bank prices, either! My favorite orange fishnets have given up the ghost and I was despairing of finding replacements. And now: despair gone! (Just like pie.)

Maybe I could wear fishnets with the maternity dress, as an "I'm NOT pregnant" signifier. (Although they probably make maternity fishnets now.)

Check out this amazing painting, "Shirtwaists" by James Rieck. Click on the image to see his other work. I love this realler-than-real style and the headless bodies. And, of course, the dresses.

Thanks to George Spencer for the link!

Wow. Okay, more thanks to Lisa, who sent me this link. It's an eBay auction, and it's *nice*. And a good size, too (B38/W32). I'm really tempted to bid, so I'm posting it so that I don't hit that little "place bid" button. Instead, I'm going to look for a similar fabric and make a dress LIKE this, only without a button front or princess seaming. I have a great pattern with little cap sleeves that would be PERFECT. And I might edge the neckline, sleeves, and hems in narrow black trim to set it off a bit more, too.

Now I just have to find a fabric like this fabric. I'm thinking I'll be haunting upholstery shops for a while. If you see anything like this, let me know, okay?