Wednesday Weekly Wishlist

More play on matching first letters: the Wednesday Weekly Wishlist! (It's the last one I promise - at least for the days of the week, I can't promise I won't use them for puns in the futur). I have so many projects in my head, and there are always new ones that get added. Whenever I have a new costume idea, I start doing research, and I might do research for something I won't be making for years, but as it is mu current obsession, I just HAVE to look for the answers to my questions (which makes me a very knowledgeable costumer).

So following the OSS 117 cosplay I presented on Sunday, I've been thinking of what I would have liked to have made myself had I been able to go. The answer? A colour-block Go-go dress! I've actually been thinking of making one on and off ever since I saw the first Austin Power movie. I guess I have something of a love for 60's fashion. (Could it be because my Sweetheart was born in the 60's?)

I have two main inspirations for this dress. The first is the Strawberry Mini-Wheat commercial:

I just love those red and white dresses with the matching caps and white Go-go boots!

The second inspiration comes from this past season (season 8) of Dancing with the Stars, when they did the 60's group dance (if you just want to skip to the performance, fast foward to 4:30 min):

My favorite dress design is the one worn by both Lil' Kim and Shawn Johnson - simple, half black / half white.

But is it historically accurate? One of my biggest pet peeves is when people assume or generalize without truly knowing anything on the subject. I wasn't around in the 60's, I don't know if these dresses were really worn, so I couldn't just leave it at that! I've looked through old copies of L'Officiel, I've researched the Net, I even asked my Mom (who showed me a picture of her cousins wearing mini dresses in 1967) to find proof of the existence of such dresses. And I did!

First, we have the now famous Yves Saint Laurent's "Mondrian" dress.

Yves Saint Laurent, "Mondrian" Day dress, Autumn 1965 (Wool jersey in color blocks of white, red, blue, black, and yellow)

I already knew about that dress, having written a paper on it, but one dress a general fashion does not make. I needed to find more!

By the end of the 60's, there was a fashion for "Op Art" dresses and fabrics. And so the find of the week, this following picture:

1966 Op Art Dress

I was ecstatic when I found it. It's the Li'l Kim / Shawn Johnson dress (knee length)! Go on, say it: I'm good!