Bringing Up Baby
Back home in Tennessee and I’ve got a lot on my mind! Being home and integrating my experiences in Guatemala has brought the concept of finishing to the front of my mind. I have a true love (addiction?) to that sweet, sweet completion high… it’s the reason I make so many lists— to cross things out! This part of my brain is on one hand great, as it contributes to being quite prolific at some things I like to do, such as reading books (I have a list for that!). Sometimes though, and this was quite apparent in coming back into my routines since being home, it brings on overwhelm and an issue with letting things stay incomplete and un-done. For instance, catching up on the long list of podcasts I missed while I was gone, and feeling like I opened a can of worms I have to get through as quickly as possible. The same can be applied to getting my email inbox to zero, and scrolling through Instagram until I see the check mark that I’ve seen it all. This other side of the coin is not as cute! All this time distracted by easy boxes to check, and info flowing in, keeps my hands busy and my mind occupied… and bigger projects without a deadline unfinished. Why haven’t I been able to use this impulse to tackle a growing pile of dreaded W.I.Ps? WIPs are works in progress, and sometimes they stay that way, for a while! Normally this is due to hitting a hiccup and needing some space or becoming disinterested and replacing it with something else. This newsletter is dedicated to the completion of one such WIP and the hope that it gives me enough of that completion high that I don’t need it form other sources for a bit ;)
If you like screwball romantic comedy, then “Bringing Up Baby” is for you. High on the list of classics for the genre, this movie just won’t quit with it’s silliness. Our two protagonists are David Huxley (Cary Grant), a goody-goody paleontologist, and Susan Vance (Katherine Hepburn), a high class whirling and unaware troublemaker. When these two are brought together havoc ensues and starts a long cycle punctuated by first-rate bits. Any good sense David has to abandon ship, is easily thwarted by Susan’s perfectly timed antics, whether that be creating a problem he can be eager to fix (save me from this leopard!) or getting rid of the means to escape (stealing his car! staling his clothes!). Through their many misadventures, including caring for, transporting and loosing a leopard, we see David shake off his stiffness in order to keep up, and Susan become a capable problem-solver (in addition to problem-maker). As long as the love shall last, they will never be bored.
There is this showstopping metallic dress worn by Katherine Hepburn for one of the funniest scenes, in which both the leads accidentally tear each others clothes while trying to go in their separate directions. I love this floor length evening dress in gold lamé, that shines and drapes with a liquid quality. And that veil! It’s sparkling trim would bounce around Hepburn’s face when she moved, and was a great illustration of bringing that accessory out of it’s singular association with bridal… I’m convinced it deserves a comeback!
On that track of beautiful liquid metallic fabrics, I felt inspired to finish a project I began about a year ago. I was the lucky recipient of a bag of old clothes that belonged to my family, and one of the pieces was a floor length silver silk dress with an unknown story, likely dating to around the same time as the movie— the fabric is beautiful, and the skirt is on the bias (cut diagonally) that gives it a beautiful drape. When I got it, I was pleased that it fit me well! I was less pleased with bodice which featured strong shoulders and itchy embellishment. I wish I had a photo of it in it’s original state! I don’t have many qualms about making changes, even if it’s old, it wasn’t doing any good sitting in a box, and any edit made for the hope of it’s continued use and appreciation is fine by me (there are a few exceptions to this rule, but mostly it stands true). After airing it out to rid it of that classic moth ball smell— :) my grandma Charlotte did love to utilize those ;) — I began to remove the pieces of the bodice to expose the base layer lining. In this state is where it has stayed unfinished for many months.
So in the spirit of finishing, I sat down this past week to see this project through. I played around with several different iterations of what the bodice could be, but was quite limited by what could be done with the few scraps I had from taking apart the original bodice. For fabric economy I landed on the strapless version, though I did add ribbon straps in order to avoid needing to add structure to keep it up on it’s own.
The thrill of completing a dress that stayed a work-in-progress for too long is great! It might be greater if I had someplace to wear it ;) Anybody throwing a high class shindig that needs some slapstick comic relief?
You turned that old dress into a beauty!