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So, I follow For Better or for Worse, even though my husband says “If you don’t like it, why do you read it?” And I don’t know why. I don’t like Anthony. I don’t really like Liz all that much anymore. And when, in a piece of hamfisted foreshadowing, Dee found a boxed 1940s wedding dress found behind a rock in a crawlspace, I didn’t really like that either, especially because it was obvious it would clean up as good as new and that it would fit Liz perfectly. But what the heck, I can suspend emotion and reason to appreciate a good dress, and even if I, like srah, would just as soon see Liz run off at the altar, I can deal with seeing her married there if she is wearing a half-decent gown. And then we saw what that moldy old dress looked like.
I don’t like it. Just look at it, no way it’s a 1940s dress, not with the combination of the neckline and the transparent sleeves. That looks like 1970s to me. See, look at this 1975 pattern illustration. That middle dress looks just like it, with shorter sleeves. (And frankly, if her bridesmaids wore those middle dresses, that would redeem the WHOLE strip for me.) I don’t think it’s really flattering on her, either, I don’t like those sleeves or that huge bustle.
And as I was looking at 1940s and 1970s wedding dresses, I got even more disappointed that hers wasn’t a 1940s dress, and how much fun that would have been to draw, and so I thought, well, I’ll draw one anyways! I based it off of this pattern (and the crown off of this one) and actually, I chose it because I think it would have looked good on Liz — I think the neckline would have suited the way she wears her hair when it’s down, and I think its relative plainness and sleekness suit her better than the heavily beaded and gauzy dress she got. I don’t think she seems to be a very frou-frouy kind of person: she dresses pretty plainly, usually, and doesn’t seem to have a high-maintenance style, so I think that this design works as long as she has her hair down, to offset the straight lines of the dress. I actually did a sketch of her in this dress. I think it works on her pretty well, although if she was actually going out and buying a dress, it probably wouldn’t be this one. But then again, it wouldn’t be the one she got either.
And actually, some of those 1970s dresses are completely awesome, in a half-ironic half-awestruck way. I mean, even if they look dated and a little goofy, I still love the romantic style and ruffles more than I like everything being strapless and sleek these days. Just try and tell me this gal’s wedding wouldn’t have been an absolute delight.. And I rather like this one far on the right, with modified sleeves… and I totally feel like I shouldn’t love the middle one here but I do. I guess I could get behind Liz’s dress if it was her mom’s dress, but 1940s, yeah right.
Sometimes it seems to have a bustle or something, too.
http://community.livejournal.com/binky_betsy/346077.html
(I think that’s members-only – I wasn’t sure if you were a member of that group or Foob Fighters.)
Did you see my Coffee Talk letter? Is that what you were referring to? :D
Yeah, I’m hoping that after we see it five or six more times, it will turn into something I might want to draw. I’ll have to do it quickly, though, before it turns into something else again!
And yeah, I saw the Coffee Talk letter! Actually, something funny — I was looking through my stats page and someone found my page by looking for “paper doll ann arbour michigan liana” … it must have been because of Coffee Talk because never anywhere else does anyone say “Ann Arbour” except maybe in the old fourth ward…
Lynn Johnston is looking for you!!!!
The poor 1940’s post war brides usually didn’t have much fabric to work with. My mom wore a gorgeous white satin suit with peplums with a flamingo pink feather halo hat…then cut the suit up to make a slip later on. Darn…I’d love to have her suit!
Yeah, I am pretending that Sylvia’s grandma got exceedingly lucky with the parachute silk ;) And it sounds like that was quite a hat, too…
If you’d like to join a community annoyed with “For Better or For Worse” check out the Comics Curmudgeon at http://joshreads.com. The columns are great and the comments on the columns can be a riot! (They really don’t like Anthony there. :-)
First off, I can’t tell you how much I love your blog. I’ve been reading it ever since it was posted on Dress a Day. And then this entry came up and I just had to respond. Because I feel the same way about that comic strip and that dress. The moment I saw it I knew that was no 1940s dress darnit!
But I like the idea of wearing a vintage wedding dress. I did!
Looking at those wedding dress patterns takes me back. Back to all those bridesmaids dresses that I wore. ;-)
O.C. – Thanks! I read it sometimes, actually — with the upcoming pain that former FBOFW fans are about to experience, I don’t know if I should read it more or less often.
Leslie – Thanks! And I’m glad that I wasn’t the only one with that immediate “What is she trying to pull here?” reaction…
Min – That’s funny ;) My mom has three sisters, and all those 70s patterns makes me think of all the wedding albums I’ve seen… I seem to remember Aunt Jane or Aunt Patty having particularly … interesting? specimens. Mom’s wedding dress was cute, though, made of eyelet and I think with an empire waist?
The dress that kills me was Aunt Jane’s bridesmaid dress in imitation Swiss dot double knit lime green full length dress with little lace daisies at the bodice seam. That dress could withstand a nuclear blast. My sister, who put it all together, can’t imagine what possessed her but hey it was the 70’s and your dad wore a leisure suit to the wedding.
Now as for my wedding dress, it was an off white (of course) variation of a “peasant dress” that had a diamond fabric inset in the center and ties on each side that go under the bust and bow in the back. Just the right look for a ceremony in which we promised to stay married as long as we thought we wanted to be together (absolutely no “obey” and no rings).
Hahaha… the green dress… yeah, now I remember that… Maybe I should paperdoll those sometime!
I love it, hate the FOOBs, love the old dresses, love the blog, and I like the foobiverse.
I also love, love, love your initial sketch – http://joechip.net/liana/uploads/liz-1940sdress-sketch.png
I saved the initial sketch to my computer – it’s a beautiful drawing, and it’s so flowing and I just like it.
I’m insane.
Omg! My Mum has that exact pattern from the 1970’s.
Re: the dress, the neckline and dart placement/ gathers into the bust on the front bodice is quite 40s. Sorry if this is all off track, first time I’ve seen the blog.
The dress is a typical 40’s sweetheart neckline the way the gown floats off from the hips its 40’s style gown. i Plan to marry in a 40’s style gown and my design was alot like this now everyone used shiffon it was hard to get hold of during the war. i may be wrong but if it isnt its a perfect copy of the one my fiancee’s grandmother wore in 39.
that is pretty good. i am a designer from Bondon, so, i know what i am talking about! x