Boudoir doll, Vintage hair, Jane Austen and pretty lingerie

Remember this sickly boudoir doll that I bought myself for Christmas? She's been glaring at me from her chair for weeks now, waiting for me to do something with her. I promised her a good home and nice clothing and she was tired of the scarf that I wrapped around her. So I dug through my vintage fabrics this week, found some inspiration, and I made her a dress and gave her new hair -



She looks really different with the dark hair and I love the way the gown turned out. I did very little sewing actually. I took the two fabrics by the corners and stitched them behind her neck. Then I just wrapped them, securing the blue fabric with a ribbon at the waist and stitching the black velvet to the ribbon in the back. Then I put a few stitches on the back of her sequined shawl. I hot glued the hems on the two fabrics. I did it while I watched the final challenge on Project Runway.



I have been obsessed with vintage hair for awhile, and even much more so lately. I bought the two books/pamphlets above on Amazon, they are copies of vintage hair books from the 1940s. 'How to create 1940s Hairstyles' has alot of good looking diagrams and instructions on doing many different styles. I haven't tried any yet. But I did give myself a haircut using the guide in the 'American Hairdresser' book. It's probably just a standard cut still done today, but I am really very happy with the results. It's about 2 inches above my shoulders and I can make it all curly around the sides, kind of 40s-like or I can use the bigger curling iron to make it more wavy, it waves really nice in the front. And it even looks good just drying naturally.



I've become obsessed with Jane Austen lately too, Thanks to the weekly Jane Austen movies that PBS has been showing (part two of Pride & Prejudice with Colin Firth is on Sunday night, yummy) So I ordered this book - 'Jane Austen's Guide to Good Manners - Compliments, Charades and Horrible Blunders' - perhaps it shall teach me to be a gentlewoman. I also ordered a biography of her life.





Don't you love the look of brown and aqua together? (along with a little peach) I made a stock purchase today (it included a bunch more lingerie from that lingerie loving lady's house) And while I was sorting things to write up the inventory, I noticed several pieces of aqua and brown lingerie and they just looked so pretty together. You wouldn't think that a brown bra would be pretty, but a vintage lace brown bra is very pretty. Yes, those are poodles embroidered on the one slip.