Vintage Threads: Katherine Hepburn in Stripes, Godets and Timeless Style (Movie - Bringing up Baby)

Hipline godets added to the side, and princess seams
 flattered Hepburn's slim hips.
The contrasting horizontal stripes on the sleeves really make the dress.

Though the glorious satin evening frock that Katherine Hepburn or "Susan" wears in the madcap bar room scene is by far the most famous fashion in one of my all-time favorite, classic movies, "Bringing Up Baby", its this striped daytime frock that wins hands down for me, when it comes to sewing inspiration.

As you may well know, this vintage black-and-white film tells the  humorous story of a series of non-stop adventures and romance between mild-mannered paleontologist "David" (Cary Grant) and a rich (yet not at all snooty about it) girl "Susan", a female who's both a little nutty, and also very sure of herself. 

And did I mention that along the way Susan adopts a leopard (named"Baby")? Don't worry, nothing bad happens to the kitty. There are also some great goofy scenes with a terrier named George to appeal to those of us who love everything about dogs.

The humor is both spot-on slapstick and verbal. The interchange between Grant and Hepburn has both chemistry and focus. It's one I keep in my collection and watch if I'm feeling blue or just need a pick-me-up.

I'd love to recreate this Howard Greer dress. It's a black and white striped beauty, fitting slim over the hips,and with artfully placed godets, falling from the hips at the side seams, and princess seams in front and back. Of course the contrasting horizontal stripes on the sleeves add to the overall effect as well. The bodice front is ornamented by only a simple mandarin collar, that keeps your eye on the swing of the skirt, as the madcap heiress rushes back and forth between Baby-the-leopard and Cary Grant. 

Hepburn's other outfits in "Bringing Up Baby" are fun and luxurious. They speak to the era.  But it's this classic dress that says timeless fashion. It's one I'd love to recreate it for a modern times, perhaps altering a few details to better flatter my own figure type.

Maybe I'll think about that some more, as I pop my dvd back in and watch it just one more time.

The ability to imagine and create timeless fashion based on vintage looks,  is just one of the things that keeps me... 

Enchanted by Sewing.

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Vintage Threads: Lauren Bacall's Striped Blouse

So simple and so chic
OK, it helps when you look like Lauren Bacall, but...
What women isn't flattered by a classic striped blouse?

I wonder how many times I've watched the movie To Have and Have Not since I first saw it back in university days..... The story's still got it - the people seem as real to me as my neighbors. Despite Bacall's beauty and elegant wardrobe she's just another gal with a problem. Hemingway's tale isn't about celebrities, it's about regular folks with problems and this great film kept true to that message.

The checked suit Bacall wore when we first met her in this classic film, provides obvious inspiration for vintage sewing enthusiasts. Who doesn't admire that bias cut skirt swaying so alluringly against the roll of the starlet's hips, and the wonderful shaping and buttons on the jacket? We all want an outfit like that! But would it do much good for the job we'd imagine ourselves doing in a muggy hotel basement in wartime Martinique?

It's this blouse that I first spotted on Bacall in a scene with Hoagy Carmichael, that really takes me time traveling back to that hotel, and make me itch to recreate her vintage garment. Like the jeans and Oxford shirt that Humphrey Bogart wears in the movie, this chic, striped blouse is a classic any lady would still be glad to create and own. Wouldn't it look great on any woman?

Full-On View of Lauren Bacall in the Striped Outfit
It could be a blouse and skirt
Or a shirtwaist dress
But when I time travel back to Martinique, I'm
making my version up as a shirt tucked into jeans

Later on in the movie we see the full-on view of this beautifully striped garment. With a light belt wrapped around Lauren's waist it's hard to tell whether or not it's really a blouse worn tucked into a matching skirt, or a shirtwaist dress. Does it matter? In my mind I'm hanging out in the cellar of a Martinique hotel with the Resistance fighters, too. And of course I'm wearing an up to date version of  Bacall's outfit. Her skirt is history when it comes to roughing it, but this little striped beauty tucked into my favorite jeans is what I've got in mind for my role in the modern retake on this story. Classically as well as practically dressed, as I always like to be, I'm definitely gonna be ready to really help out  when the police come calling.