I found this wonderful little lady, Mrs. Wong, that does custom tailoring and makes suits etc. I
used her once before on a historical dress I had purchased that was a tad too big for me. She did an absolutely FANTASTIC job and her prices were very reasonable.Ok so maybe it's not just sidesaddle that fascinates me, I love all old/antique type things!
Anyways, remember the navy blue habit I purchased after Christmas? Well it fit well but just not quite right so I decided to take the jacket to Mrs. Wong to see what she could do (and more importantly, how much it would cost! ). The verdict was that the shoulder pads (ick, ick, ick!) were too big and not put in the jacket properly so they kiiindof made me look like a football player... LOL. In addition to that, the sleeves were HUGE, I think I could have fit my leg into them, just too much material. So I asked about having those taken in too. She pinned one sleeve a bit shorter and what a difference it made! The coat looked elegant like it should! She was also going to add another button on the front to pull the bust in a bit.
And all for $65! I was pleased that it wasn't going to cost me an arm and a leg to get done!
She had some absolutely gorgeous English and Italian suiting material and of course I had to ask how much she would charge to make a full outfit consisting of a jacket and long skirt. $800.... Yeowch.... That's not gonna happen! I'm sure it'd be absolutely gorgeous if I could afford it though!
While we were tack shopping on the weekend I found a bunch of great deals, one of which was a nice white show shirt for $18! I realized that I had a pink, blue, purple and yellow shirt, but no white one. It looks really sharp with the navy blue habit!
I also found this while parusing the internet..... Isn't it gorgeous?? I think I might just have to own one.....It's a silk brocake stock tie.... pretty...
So I have the habit, white shirt, matching navy breeches and whip.
Now I just need a top hat and veil....
And a nice yellow vest.
And a pair of brown gloves (which should be the easiest out of it all to find!) and I'm set for showing!
Next part of the puzzle...finding a show to go to!!
Try antique sales/ shops and vintage clothing fairs for a top hat. That is how I found my one, from a vintage clothing fair. If you take a big hat size like me (7 1/4), then they tend to be a bit cheaper than finding one on Ebay where you are competing against men for sizes over a 7.
ReplyDeleteYou can get the veils from any of the side saddle webistes.
What size yellow vest do you need? I often see them second hand in the tack shops over here.
ReplyDeleteThat's my plan for a top hat. I've found a couple online via ebay & craigslist for about $100 which seems reasonable but I think I'm going to try and find one at a vintage/antique/used tack store. I usually wear a 6 7/8 hat size but the top hat I tried on at one store was tight and it was a 7. So I think it might be a better idea to try something on before buying it.
ReplyDeleteI think if it's a men's vest I'd be a small or a ladies medium. My barn owner sews all kinds of things and she said if I bring her the fabric and an idea of what it should look like she can make me a couple of vests in exchange for cleaning the barn! Good deal!