This lady:

Thanks to Style Spy for tipping me off to the wonderful blog Advanced Style. SO worth adding to your blogroll. (The slightly patronizing "oh aren't they cute" tone is more than matched by the patient amusement of the oldies being photographed. They *know* they're hot stuff — they've had years of experience *being* hot stuff!)

Am I the only person who thinks incessantly about how I'm going to dress when I'm 80? (When I am an old lady, I probably won't wear purple, though. Fair warning.) Watch, I'll get hit by a bus tomorrow, and then all the pages I've ripped out of "comfort shoe" catalogs and saved "for future reference" will be for naught.

In a similar vein, I've also been a subscriber to this for years. Highly recommended.

Karen has been looking for this pattern for a while, with no luck. Any of you have a copy mouldering away?

Here's her note to me.

Attached is a picture of a vintage pattern that I am dying to have: Vogue Paris Original 1751. The designer is Grs. Today is the second time I've been outbid in the last 5 seconds on Ebay, and my heart is breaking all over again. I think the dress is so chic, and I would love to wear it to an upcoming charity event. Can you help me? I need to put out a call for this pattern — I'm willing to buy the pattern outright, or even pay to borrow it for a time. I can trace it out, make my own copy, then give it back. Or maybe you can recommend another venue where I can beg for patterns. 🙂

Anyone game? This looked exactly like the kind of pattern I would buy at a yard sale, ooh over, and never make, but I checked my stash and I don't have it. If you have a copy in the same boat, email me and I'll put you in touch with Karen!

This is Vogue 8577, which STILL doesn't have any reviews (that I can find) on PatternReview. C'mon, people! I don't have time to sew modern stuff that hasn't been reviewed on PatternReview! (Luckily, this dress has plenty of reviews. But no pockets. I can add pockets, though …)

The Guardian has a piece on "how to wear dresses with pockets", which I'm not sure needed the depth of treatment they gave it (and I think their presenter, Jess Cartner-Morley, either thought the whole thing was a bit ridic herself, or it was the morning after the night before, as she wasn't able to work up much enthusiasm for the subject). Anyway, it's a video, just so's you know. (Thanks to Lolita for the link!)

Liz sent me a link to a pocket exhibition in Australia. I was pretty excited (not booking-tickets-to-Australia excited, but still excited) until I saw that the exhibit was of ONE JACKET, and "a collection of small, stand-alone pockets, made from materials such as leather and fabric". Hmmph.

At least I'm almost done with a skirt that has exclamation-point fabric pockets. Now there are some pockets to be excited about!

Do you want a cabinet sewing machine? I'm giving away an electrified New Home Machine, plus a box full of bizarre attachments (really, they look like something out of Dead Ringers, a movie I wish I could un-watch).

Catch? What catch? Okay — here's the catch. You have to be able to pick it up, IN CHICAGO, *this weekend*. Sunday, to be specific. We're moving and we gotta get this out the door.

I have no idea whether it works, but I can give you the address of a great sewing-machine tuneup and repair guy who is about ten blocks away.

Here are a few more pics:

Email me if you'd like to set up a time to come pick it up on Sunday. (It would probably fit in the back seat of a reasonably-sized sedan, without too much trouble.)

CAPTION:

"Too late, Ralph realized that he had absent-mindedly asked ALL the members of the typing pool to meet him for a drink after work."

[Pattern from Lisa at the Vintage Fashion Library, which is having an "overthehill" sale — it seems it's Lisa's birthday (Happy Birthday!) this weekend, AND her oldest is leaving the nest Monday, AND another child starts college next month AND her youngest starts high school! Poor Lisa! (But think of all the extra space for patterns, Lisa!) So use the code "overthehill" to get 25% off at Vintage Fashion Library. If you want to use it at Miss Helene's (Lisa's other pattern site), put the code in the Paypal comment section, and Lisa will send you a refund. If you let her know in advance, Lisa can combine purchases from both sites, and accept credit cards at Miss Helene's. Whew!]

Pam at GlamourSavvy is having an anniversary sale, now through the end of July, with 35% off everything! Which makes this dress, originally $84.99, about $55. Nice! Just enter keyword "Celebrate" at checkout and discount will apply.

I reeeeeaaaalllly like this dress, by the way. (And I'm sure the fact that it was photographed by a swimming pool had NOTHING to do with. Honest.) It's very pretty, but it's cotton, so not too fancy. You could dress it down with flat sandals and turquoise beads and dress it up with some fancy jewelry and high heels. (This is an ideal "I've got to go to a wedding dress," too — it's coral, not red!) The crinkly cotton won't get too wrinkly, and the lines are lovely. [Click on the image to visit the listing.]

Anyway, I'd definitely check out the GlamourSavvy sale … this is not the only lovely dress hanging out by the pool!

I think this dress is aDORable. The pockets! The buttons! The CAPE! So cute. Even though the women in the illustration are obviously deciding which of the cater-waiters they will later kill, dismember, and eat.

This is also one of those rare pattern envelopes where I would follow the suggested color schemes slavishly. Red gingham-y print? Sure. Yellow poplin? You betcha. Then I'd make one in grass green, with white trim.

Even better? This pattern is on sale! That's right, Lisa at yourpatternshop is celebrating her one-year anniversary with a sale going on now. All items have been marked down 15% and can be used in combination with the "dressaday" code for free shipping to USA and Canada buyers. Happy Anniversary, Lisa!

PICTURE CAPTION, JUVENILE DETENTION QUARTERLY:
Teenagers at the Arkham Home For Wayward Girls live surprisingly normal lives, given the magnitude of the crimes they have committed. There are supervised outings for mini-golf (on a closed course); they have ice cream sundaes on Thursdays. They talk on the phone to young men from the Arkham Boy's Home (although no visits; most of the boys are serving adult sentences).

Their smocks, though not fashionable, are not institutional; the girls are allowed to pick their own fabrics and sew the smocks themselves, in Home Ec. "Trustys" (those without violent or suicidal impulses) are even allowed belts! And thanks to the generosity of the Tangee corporation, all the girls have ample supplies of lipstick and face powder.

[Pattern from What-I-Found Sewing Patterns.]

Oh, and here's the sale: at the EmmaLizz etsy shop, this Monday through Sunday (July 6th-12th) get 15% off your entire purchase plus free shipping. Just include the code "ADressADay" in the comments of your PayPal payment and Emily will refund the 15% and shipping back to you (since she can't do coupon codes at checkout). (What's EmmaLizz? Dress- and sewing-themed stationery!)

Not the woman, we know who the woman is — it's C.'s aunt, and this was a prom gown she thinks was made by her grandmother in the 1960s. She's trying to figure out what pattern it was made from.

I'm pretty sure I've seen this pattern, too, but it's not like I can just reach into the giant toppling pile of paper that is my mind and pull out a post-it with "Simplicity XXXX!" written on it. Would that I could …

If your mind is better-filed than mine, and you know what this pattern is (or can make a good guess) want to leave a comment?

Thanks to Ben for this link to the Bacon Dress. You can read more about it here.

Of course, you'd want to accessorize with this and these. And don't forget this. If you're wearing it to a party (which I hope you are, because wearing a bacon dress to sit around at home and get grease on your own couch seems pretty sad), you could wrap a present in this. If someone gets too close to you with their fork, you could cover the resulting puncture wounds with these.

But I still don't know what this is all about.