Meet Mylena Star....

She's poised.

She's graceful.

She's mysterious.

She's also fictitious. :) Mylena Star was a character I got to play at my friend's "Gatsby" themed birthday party! Each of us were given a character to play in a story, and we had to solve a murder mystery by getting information out of each other.

Emily had been planning this party for a few months, and I was excited when she first told me about it, because I knew I would *finally* start working on my 1920's dress. But I kept putting it off, and filling my time elsewhere, that when the invitation arrived, and it was only a week and a half before the party, I was kind of frantic that I wouldn't have time to finish the dress!

I decided that I'd have to abandon the idea of studying up on correct construction for the dress, and just work with the materials I had already. So while this dress isn't exactly accurate, it's very much 1920's inspired. :)

The dress started as a modern day formal dress I picked up at a thrift store. I pulled it out many times since I first got it, and attempted to construct something out of it, but it just never came together quite right. Having a deadline was one of the best things that happened to it. :)

In the end, the lining of the original dress stayed almost the same, with just some tucks added inside to pull it up higher (I didn't want to cut it just in case I end up reconstructing it at some point), and the skirt pieces got moved to the top of the bodice, creating that shapeless 1920's look. The straps are the old bodice back pieces. It closes with a zipper for the lining, and a hook and eye for the overlay.

Mmmmm...... beading!!!!!

All in all... it took me two afternoons to complete. I was fairly happy with how it came out... still had some faults, but it worked. The next day we went shopping for jewelry and make-up, and played with our hair (finger waves don't work so well with long hair...), and when I added all those things, I really loved the outfit. :)

A couple days ago my sister obligingly took some photos of me at our local historic opera house. They have a really picturesque room, that just works great for photo shoots!

Below are some photos of the actual party - there was a photo booth set up with headbands, pearls, fake cigarettes, and boas, and of course, we all took advantage of the props for some crazy 1920's photos. :)

^She's one of my favoritest friends. Ever.^

 The trio

And for those wondering, Kathryn's *fabulous* dress came from Unique Vintage. Isn't it incredible?!? Sadly, I don't know where Emily got her amazing dress, so I can't credit it here.

Thanks to Marty for catching this moment - laughter is the best!

And finally, one picture of the entire group.

Yep, we're crazy. And we know it. And we love it.

:)

Thanks, Emily, for having us to your fabulous party! It was so much fun, and finally gave me the excuse to work on this dress! :)

New Business Alert!

Hey everyone... I know this blog has been rather silent of late, and I do have a couple posts in the works for you, but today I want to let you all know about my new business endeavor!

I'm selling gently used girls' clothing from upscale stores at a bargain price!

Go check out my new website, and have fun shopping! :)

I promise to be back soon with some new outfits!