Need an outfit for a rockabilly or retro event, but want something with a little personal flair? Create your own story skirt!
My skirt started as a costume idea for a rockabilly event that was planned for mid October at the museum where I work. I wanted to create something a little bit unique, but since I’m not much of a seamstress, I didn’t want to build an outfit from scratch. Embellishing a skirt with patches, seemed like an easy solution, and would be a way to express my personal story. I hoped it would make a good conversation piece at the event, and provide a good segue to encouraging visitors to look at a World War II era outfit on display that is entirely covered with military patches. A Red Cross worker created it out of the insignia she collected from the soldiers she met. Clothing has the potential to embody so much meaning and history, so I decided to create my own autobiographical costume.
Although I have collected travel patches for decades, my early attempts at laying out a pattern with the travel patches looked too cluttered. Part of the problem is that most are round or shield shaped. I wanted my story to have more variation, so I decided to look for some iron-on patches that are shaped like their inspirations. Unique Vintage has a Route 66 theme skirt with adorable large appliques that further inspired my direction. I loved the look of the different shapes forming the border.
My Story
The patches I selected represented child memories, traveling with my husband, and personal interests. The VW bus is a nod to the 1960s baby blue bus my Dad drove in the mid 1980s. The cactus and flowers represent my love of gardening. There are many gardeners in my family and my grandmother had a lot of cacti that she collected on their winter trips to Arizona. Traveling is one of my favorite things ever, so I included a globe. The camper represents all the fun camping trips we went on as kids. We were tenters, but my grandparents often camped with a trailer or a Chinook mini motor-home. We had a bunch of fun camping trips with them in the Oregon Cascades. Building on the travel theme, I added a patch for Paris, the first overseas trip my husband and I took together. The guitar and music notes represent the fun trips my husband and I have taken in recent years to see the band Uriah Heep. Hopefully we will do another one of those trips next year.
This was a really fun project to put together. Once I collected the patches, it was super easy to assemble, but it still helped satisfy my creative urge to make something unique rather than just buy a ready-made costume. A bit like a scrapbook, my story skirt gave me time to reflect on memories, and daydream about my next adventures.
Sadly, the work event was cancelled because of lack of ticket sales. I was disappointed, but since Halloween is just around the corner, I now know what I will be wearing to the Halloween work party!
Outfit Details
I went to practically every craft store in town to find patches to form my story. Of all the bigger box craft stores, Joann’s had the best selection. I like to thrift things when possible and found the blouse and bangles at thrift and vintage shops. The skirt, belt and shoes were purchased on Amazon after not finding anything second hand that I liked.
Skirt: Tandisk Midi Skirt from Amazon
Blouse: Vintage, Sears
Bangles: Thrifted
Earrings: Charming Charlie
Belt: JASGOOD Cinch Belt from Amazon
Shoes: Cambridge Select Pumps from Amazon
Petticoat: Grace Karin Petticoat from Amazon
Vintage hair and makeup are not my strong suit and I usually get frustrated pretty quickly when trying something different. I’m pretty pleased I saw this one through after watching some YouTube videos on victory rolls and chatting with my hair stylist. My hair is very thick, but I finally got my rolls to stay in place! I purchased some Eylure magnetic lashes at Ulta, which were quite easy to use, it was wonderful not having to mess around with glue. My lipstick was also from Ulta (Red Haute by Ulta) as a I wanted a red with a bit of pink.
Tell me all about your Halloween costume plans!
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