Tuesday, February 23, 2016

Part II: The Magic of Ordinary Days Dress Study


Now for our study of all the amazing dresses in The Magic of Ordinary Days! (Note: my full film review is here.) To preface, I absolutely love all kinds of different fashion eras (i.e. Margaret Hale in the '04 N&S, Lizzy in the '95 P&P, and Emma in the '09 Emma have some of my favorite wardrobes of all time), but if I was personally going to pick an era for all the time and every day, this would probably be it. It's so entirely classy and feminine and wearable.

So here's our exhaustive look at the marvelous outfits in this particular film.

#1: Accessories: Hats, Gloves, Suspenders, (Teacups), etc.



Livy's lavender gloves and embroidered purse.


Livy's hat here is actually made of a knit fabric -- pulled over a frame, I'm guessing.


I love the sailor vibe in Flory's first hat (above) and the clean wicker/bamboo feel to Rose's (below).



Then there's this nautical/tailored/military inspired variation of Abby's...


Livy wears this hat tipped slightly to the side in an earlier scene, creating more of a beret effect (and this is my second favorite of her dresses by the way, but more on that below).


I had to put this one in... ;D Teacups are a scrumptiously dainty favorite topic of mine and this one is just gorgeous! It's actually part of an entire dinner set. 


As a note, the men’s wardrobes are all quite well done, too.

Blouse/skirt/trouser ensembles:



I LOVE the Western detailing to this one of Martha's!



With the tiny floral print and Peter Pan collar, this one of Livy's actually has a particularly sweet and girlish feel. (Notice the pairing with the red skirt above.)


And the wider, laid down collar on this one looks super comfy.


Livy’s sister Abby in a blouse with small embroidered flowers.


I love the almost Spanish influence in the heavier embroidery on Ruth’s white peasant party top.


(A close up of the sleeve design.)


And... my absolute favorite of Livy’s blouses (I. LOVE. IT! The utter and complete end. ;))


Worn with a bulky sweater.


Close up of the gorgeous detailing (and also because it’s just a beautiful composition/shot). And here's the red skirt again.


Here's Livy's nautical toned skirt. (Notice her shoes, too.)


I absolutely love the white detailing on this skirt. (In other words, I'm bookmarking it for a sewing reference. Obviously I need to get braver with the white thread. :))


Dresses



Two 40's novelty prints (they might actually be feed sack prints), plus two more hats.


Ruth's outfit (center) looks so youthful and practical and fun. Not to mention comfortable.


Another dress of Martha's.


(I love this "sister happiness" moment. Joyful tears!)


There's Flory's super happy pink polka-dot dress/sweater combination.




And as aforementioned, this is my second favorite of Livy's dresses. I LOVE THE BLUE. And the detailing. And how it's paired here with the cardigan. And how it feels so altogether fresh and summery and adventure-ish.


Of course, there's her definitive "arrival" dress (which is really amazing).


(A nice look at the kitchen, besides other points of interest.)


I think of this one as her "parasol" dress. (Though, for some reason, the color scheme also particularly reminds me of illustrations I've seen of toadstools in various children's picture books. Isn't that funny?)


Later on (i.e. later in the pregnancy), she actually also wears a white blouse and her blue cardigan over the dress. There’s an earlier discussion between her and Rose and Flory on the topic of maternity clothes, so I think she’s making shift to make her dresses work out -- which ingenuity I find fascinating.



A close up of the lovely detailing on the blouse.


I'm not tremendously fond of the pocket detailing on this dress, but overall I like it.



For the longest time, I thought she only wore this one in the early scene with Rose and Flory, but then I realized she wears it during the, "Troy? Troy who?" scene as well. :) (Love that part!)


And now AT LAST we come to my absolute favorite!! ;D (Translated, I'm now going to afflict you with about a zillion pictures. If you don't like pink candy stripes and swing dresses and cap sleeves and neat cross-over V-neck detailing, then feel free to scroll a lot faster, but if you do happen to like them, then enjoy yourself! ;))



I love the sunshine on pink and all the fresh air in this scene. You can feel it.





(Also notice her hair here -- i.e. in braided double buns.)


Wearing it again later in the year over a wine-colored top...


We see the wine top by itself briefly in this earlier lovely, split-second long scene. (Incidentally, don't you love the complimentary wine-red and green here?)


Of course, I like the blue of her maternity dress with all the delicate simplicity of the lace accents.


And the hat going with it.


The jacket isn't my absolute favorite, but taken altogether it is pretty neat. ;)


And then... there's the tan dress with the check collar (quite a different color from anything previous!) that we see briefly in the second-to-last scene.

~     ~     ~

So there you have it! :) Aren't they all lovely? And what do you think? Do you have a favorite??




(Posted for Rose’s 40’s Week and Miss Laurie’s Period Drama Challenge 2016.)

40 comments:

  1. Oh, all those dresses and blouses and hats (basically everything! :)) look absolutely gorgeous!!! I think my favourite blouse would be the pink floral one, paired with the red skirt. As for the dresses, well, there are SO many nice ones!!! I really like the pink striped dress, and her arrival dress, and THE BLUE ONE!! I just love that shade of blue! :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Blessing,
      Aren't they beautiful?!? And I'm grinning... We have a lot of favorites in common!! :)

      Delete
  2. These costumes are scrumptious!! I loved this post, Heidi. You are really, REALLY making me want to watch this movie now. ;)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Miss March,
      Aren't they gorgeous?? And ooh... yay, I'm so glad!!! ;D

      Delete
  3. I love the outfit with her embroidered blouse and blue skirt, but THEY'RE ALL GORGEOUS. :-D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Naomi,
      You know, she only wears that blouse and skirt in the one scene (and it's a fairly intense one) so I don't think I'd hardly noticed it till I was putting this together, but now that skirt's one of my tip tip favorites! :D

      Delete
  4. Ooooh! This was so cute! I LOVE looking at all the clothes and accessories. They did such a great job! Did you take these pictures yourself? I'm still amazed at how you got so many pretty ones! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Abby P,
      Thank you!! Isn't it fascinating? And yes, I did... ;)

      Delete
  5. Again, what a lovely post! I adore all of these dresses - I don't know if I can pick a favorite. ;) But if I HAD to, then I love, love, LOVE the blue one! :D

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sarah,
      THAT BLUE!!!!!!!!! Heehee. Yes, you know me... Enough said. ;D

      Delete
  6. Gorgeous images! I love those gloves. I also love this film. I like the book too, but the movie is better (I think). :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Jillian,
      Thank you! Aren't those gloves beautiful? And so happy to hear you love it, too! :)

      Delete
  7. Yay!! Part 2! :D

    Oh my. How could I ever pick a favorite? When watching this for the first time, the costumes was definitely one of the things that made me love this movie. ;)

    I think...I THINK her red skirt and pink blouse that she wears when her sister arrives may be my favorite. I don't know. It depends on my mood. ;) I also love her arrival dress, some of Rose's outfits, her pink swing dress....I actually have fabric similar to that. It's not perfect but I was thinking of making a dress out of it anyways. Hmm. Possibilities are unfolding. ;)

    Basically, I want Livvy's wardrobe. This was such a fun post!! :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Natalie,
      I LOVE that skirt! :D And I've actually thought of making a similar ensemble someday... Unfortunately, I can't really wear red, but maaayyybe I could try a red floral print on white for a blouse someday? And the skirt could definitely be red... :P

      AND YES! It's so entirely scrumptious and pretty, but yet useful -- as in, you could still wash dishes and do housework in it. ;D

      Delete
  8. They all look absolutely gorgeous. I agree with Natalie that I would love to have this wardrobe!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sarah,
      Aren't they all just beautiful?? :)

      Delete
  9. Eeeeee! LOVE the costuming in this movie. Just gahh.

    Favorites…hmm, well, SO HARD TO CHOOSE! But I love her town nautical look, the blue dress and cardigan, and the arrival dress. And the more I look at her pink striped dress, the more I love it :)

    Awesome post, Heidi, thanks!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Olivia,
      Thank you!! ;D I know, there are so many and they're all so amazing. And eeeee.... that blue dress and cardigan just says 'summer' all over it, doesn't it? :)

      Awwww.... you're welcome!!

      Delete
  10. 40s dresses--what fun!!!

    These are all so lovely, Heidi--thanks for sharing! My favorite is the tan dress with the purple flowers . . . but it's hard to pick just one because they're all so pretty!! :-)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. jessica,
      Yes, that purple-flowers-dress is SO elegant... It's just gorgeous! :D

      Delete
  11. My favorite is the cream dress with purple flowers :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rosie,
      *smiling* I think I've got this.... the same as jessica's favorite, right?!? ;)

      Delete
    2. That's correct :) And we didn't even plan that!

      Delete
  12. Such a lovely post! My eyes are overwhelmed by all the pretty!!

    I think my favorite is also that pink striped dress. So feminine and cute.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Faith,
      Thank you! And yay -- we have the same favorite! Doesn't it look so cute and fun and comfortable? Thanks so much for commenting! ;)

      Delete
  13. Such a beautiful post! And what gorgeous costumes!
    I was gonna name favourites but there are so many! I just love all the prints and patterns and the little details in the clothing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Rose,
      Thank you!! And I know... it's so hard to pick favorites sometimes. So many beautiful and fascinating details! :)

      Delete
  14. Saw this on YouTube last night and loved it *blush* I loved how in this movie they just wear the same clothes over and over.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. neineimon,
      I'm so glad you loved it too! :) Since getting married I don't have access to a DVD copy so I'm excited to hear you watched it on YouTube -- great to know!

      Delete
  15. Thank you for doing this -- I love this movie, too, for pretty much all the same reasons you mentioned about how it's done, the clothes of course, and it's clean and tasteful and heartwarming. My favorite of her dresses is the "arrival dress" with the lavender and that little cap. I also wanted to mention that I really like the sparkly earrings her sister gave her, and I love Livvy and Abby's hair styles. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Lorrye H.,
      You're welcome, isn't it beautiful? Yes, I agree her lavender ensemble is gorgeous and the hairstyles are fascinating, with such an attention to historicity. And hooray for sparkly earrings! ;)

      Thank you so much for commenting -- I'm glad you enjoyed it!

      Delete
  16. Can you tell me where I can find some of the "saddle heels" that she wears?? I just LOVEEEE them!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Zanthe Louther,

      Hello and I'm so happy you commented! I've been on the hunt for some vintage-y heels myself. :P It's been awhile since I was able to study Livy's shoes and the following aren't exactly the same, but I've found some intriguing styles on Amazon. Here are a few:

      1) https://smile.amazon.com/Chase-Chloe-Dora-2-Womens-Round/dp/B01F3HDE9I/ref=sr_1_10?s=apparel&ie=UTF8&qid=1514495291&sr=1-10&nodeID=7141123011&psd=1&keywords=chase+and+chloe+pumps

      2) https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B071GSJ659/ref=twister_B072KM2CCF?th=1&psc=1

      3) https://smile.amazon.com/OLIVIA-Womens-Mary-Jane-Pumps/dp/B072MP4Y3Z/ref=pd_ybh_a_2?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=VM2Q5QW3W0T9X6VMB3FW

      4) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B074VVKKCR/ref=twister_B074VP7TSM?th=1
      (these are different, but definitely retro as well)

      I hope that helps and I'd love to hear if you find something!

      Delete
  17. Hello Heidi! I just found your post about this touching movie which I watched recently. The pictures are lovely! I love the elegant and appropriate dresses, but also the landscape and other things in picture which bring me back in 1940s. Just looking at the landscape gives me peace. I like how little details like hats with flowers, embroidery etc. make her even more feminine. God bless you :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Marina,
      I know you left your comment a while ago (sorry it took me so long to find it!), but I'm so happy to hear you love it too & enjoyed the post! :)

      Delete
  18. Cyffan,
    The lavender color & scallop detailing at the neck kinda trick my brain at first glance, but I think it's basically a duster/trench coat (which would also tie in perfectly with the era). Being from the 1950's, it's a looser silhouette, but Simplicity pattern #8731 is a similar idea. I also googled a couple different variations on women's / duster / 1940's / lavender and came up with some interesting pictures. I hope you can find something that works for you -- it's definitely a gorgeous ensemble!

    ReplyDelete
  19. Cyffan,
    Sorry the comments here came up out of order, but hopefully my reply above helps!

    ReplyDelete
  20. I would love the blue dress as a reproduction!

    ReplyDelete
  21. I love this movie SOOOO much! I was making a Pinterest board of pictures when I came across the link to your post! It was very enjoyable to read though! I have plans to make some of these outfits, especially the first one of the movie!!

    ReplyDelete
  22. There is also a similar movie with similar dresses and blouses...I wish I could remember the name. Can anyone here help?

    ReplyDelete

I'd love to hear your thoughts and look forward to further confabulation. Please just be courteous to one and all. Oh, and I love thoughts on old posts, so comment away!

(Also of late -- what with time being finite, and Life Happening + managing multiple blogs and computer issues and all that -- I sometimes have to alternate between creating new content and replying to comments, but rest assured I'm thrilled to hear from each and every one of you and always hope to reply thoughtfully in full ASAP. <3)

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