Wishful stripe (a story of emulating late 20's fashions)

From all the prints there may be, I like stripes best. Always have. They speak to me and make me happy. 

Ok, I know I look very mean just there, 50% covered in them, but I didn't say they make me a better person. Or fun, for that matter.
I like them regardless, and certainly enough to pick this shirt a while ago from ebay. A size too big didn't put me off, all the more roomy, and it's silk, not the dreaded polyester in which this 70's (?) stripe orgy often occurred. And it has allowed me to play at my favourite deco style outfits like no other. 

I have featured this before in another post, where the inspiration was Poirot-esque. But I return here to what really fires my imagination, images from a bunch over which I have drooled again and again:  ladies and gents, I give you the striped sporty fashions of the late 20's. Now this is the real deal!

 Minerva pattern from 1927

 

L'Officiel de la Mode, 1930

 L'Officiel de la Mode, 1928

 

L'Officiel de la Mode, 1928

The cardigan that changes all - falling for Fair Isle

As you can see, it's versatility that preoccupies me at the moment, the chameleon-ing of one outfit into something else with the add of a piece or two. In this case, what I wore in my last post to channel a Katherine Hepburn look, steps now further back in time for a whiff of late 20s /early 30s sportswear.

I don't know how you like my take on Fair Isle, but I'm telling you, this little thing does take me places. 

It certainly took me to work 3 days in a row as pictured above...and little thing it isn't, in fact it seems more like three sizes bigger than I normally wear. So big in fact that I've been wearing it on top of a small fitted jacket too, as an outer layer! Yeah, baby, this is looove... Can't take the damn thing off! 

In fact, it sparked an interest with Fair Isle that I had not yet experienced, in spite of this thing being very fashionable lately (outside the vintage circles) from what I can gather.
I suppose it  all spurred naturally - if rather slowly - for me out the growing obsession with 20s and 30s casual and sportswear that I've been entertaining for the last year or two.

So there you have it: I'm officially a Fair Isle convert!

Photo from Barbara's blog Re Knitting

The 3 images above are part of the Textiles Collection in the Shetland Museum and Archives

Photo via the wonderful A Polar Bear's Tale blog, see article here

Pattern available at The Vintage Knitting Lady