A Little Bit Of Little Edie

Here you see my first go at 'winterizing' this cotton seersucker dress. I made it using Hot Pattern's Deco Vibe Diamond Life pattern. This dress performs perfectly as it was designed....slip it on in the hottest and muggiest of conditions to remain cool, calm, and collected.  This iteration is sensu stricto a wearable muslin, made for around ten bucks. The more i wear it, the more i want to make it in nicer fabrics - especially in a black version for a lovely Little Black Dress (a major hole in my wardrobe).

The key to winterization here is the tights - they are a wool blend and very very warm. I find that in my particular climate i only have to have about half of my body covered in a super warming garment. If i wear wool tights on the bottom half and a wool sweater on the top half, in an hour or two i am hot flashing for real! It just doesn't get that cold around here that often. To cope with milder fluctuations i tossed on this little hoody, which actually worked better than i expected from the aesthetic angle.

One of the magnificent illusions created in the drafting of this pattern is the look of some booty. I'm just built to have a flat butt. Exercise makes a bit of a difference, but you can't argue with the basic structure of the universe. When i have flare-ups of my nerve trouble, the only way to calm it down is rest. As in don't exercise. And my flat butt starts taking on the shape of the 'anti-ass', as Mr. E puts it. Deco Vibe Diamond Life to the rescue! Ah, the pleasure of fantasy.

Well, getting to this post's title.....i don't really know why this look put me in mind of Little Edie of Grey Gardens fame. I didn't feel the Little Edie vibe until i tossed this coat on to go out in the evening. Maybe it's the way the dress and coat hems interacted. Maybe it's the little flaw in the tights. Maybe it's that my beautiful booties are beginning to show their age, cracked leather and all (which i actually like). I've yet to figure it out, let me know if you have a clue to it!

Yes, your blogger is a staunch fan of Little Edie and The Maysles. I'm sure this comes as no surprise at all, considering The Edie's position as twentieth century USA's preeminent eccentrics. What a pleasure to watch Little Edie on film while choosing a link or two for this post!  I was struck by her utter naturalness in her own skin, such a rarity in our day among filmed women of any age. I'm sure it's a big factor in her compelling screen presence. Just look at her, flirting outrageously with the cameraman as she highlights the features which make this the best costume for the day. Even the luminous Drew Barrymore suffers in comparison, notwithstanding all of her advantages of youth, costume, makeup, lighting, money.........regarding individual style, the true and the unique will always triumph.