More 1940s Outfits!

Hello again! We are continuing with our 1940s theme -- and hopefully this serves as a reminder to vote in our Time Warp Photo Contest... hint, hint. Today is the last day for voting. ;-)

http://thedollwardrobe.blogspot.com/2011/10/time-warp-photo-contest-entries-vote.html

Today we have three of the '40s girls showcasing handmade outfits. Linda is wearing a sweater (we think we've shown you before) from Dynamite Threads, and a skirt from Terri's Touch. Molly's fantastic blue wool hooded coat and tam are from AG Seamstress. They are based on the 1986 "Molly's Surprise" illustrations. Check out this link to compare ye olde illustrations with ye new illustrations to see her two different winter "looks"-- http://e.joz3d.net/pages/MollyBooks3.html. Molly's red plaid jumper is from Doll Clothes by Evie. Meanwhile Emily is wearing a green striped tee and shorts set from Terri's Touch.

Here they are looking adorable...

Slideshow...

And for today's fun 1940s fashion facts from the "Molly's World" book...

1) Saddle shoes were popular in the 1920s as golf shoes. By the '40s, girls and boys wore them for both work and play. Classic story of sportswear being brought into the everyday fashion world.

2) Before the war, Girl Scout uniforms had long zippers down the front. Since metal was needed for the war effort, the uniform was redesigned with buttons. So we rarely see zippers in 1940s fashion, for uniforms or coats or jackets or dresses -- it was buttons all the way!

3) Notice that some skirts are short and others are longer? Hems were let down as many times as possible for skirts and dresses in order to lengthen their "lifetime" of use. A law was actually passed to limit the amount of fabric that could be used in sleeves and hems. Eventually skirts just got shorter in order to conserve fabric!

4) Not that these shorts are pants... but they'll do for us to work in this factoid: Women started wearing pants at their factory jobs during the war. Soon they became acceptable fashion outside of work, and even glamorous everyday wear. Actresses started wearing high-waisted, wide-legged "sailor" pants in movies and this helped popularize them.

Thanks for visiting us!

Please be sure to vote in our Photo Contest today!

Last Day to Enter Photo Contest and Emily's Tap Outfit

Yep, we know it's already late on the East Coast but we wanted to say that today is the due date for our Time Warp History Photo Contest. We'll still take your entries -- so feel free to send them today or tomorrow to nora.demington@gmail.com. We are being flexible since we were so late reminding you about it today, haha.

Linky to learn about contest: http://thedollwardrobe.blogspot.com/2011/09/time-warp-photo-contest-ag-gift-card.html

If you have any questions about it -- let us know!

Also today we wanted to continue our attempt at a "Historical Thematic Week" by sharing pics of Emily's Tap Outfit. We think this is retired, not sure. But it isn't coming up on the AG website for us. We bought this outfit because we thought the hat was cute and Molly had her tap outfit already so we figured Emily should as well. Haha.

The one-piece dress itself is rather simple for a tap outfit: sleeveless with red velvet on top and a white silky material on the skirt portion with silver sequins. We tried to get the wrinkles out of the skirt, but it just wasn't happening for us. I think we were actually ironing more wrinkles into it. :-/

The cape really makes the outfit pop, but who dances tap with a cape on? I know it's in the book illustrations and the movie -- lots of girls with capes on. But it still seems weird for easy arm movements and all, is that just us? Is it normal to dance tap with a cape?

The hat is super-cute but you have to angle it just right or it doesn't look very good. The shoes are really nice and even have the metal parts on the soles for tapping. The outfit also came with the socks.

Overall, it is a nice set but the coloring is a little off for a doll like Emily. We would have put a white and red outfit on a doll with darker hair and eyes if we were AG and given Emily something with blues in it. Just our opinion though. So if you'd like to see this outfit on another doll let us know.

Also for today we wanted to give you some 1940s info from AG's "Welcome to Molly's World - 1944" -- a book that is no longer published (we are pretty sure) but you can still find it online. We have several of the books from this series and they are awesome. Here is the cover shot so you know what to look for if you are interested in it.

This book has all sorts of photos, illustrations and information in it. One of the things it discusses is "Morale Boosters" in the U.S. during World War II. "Hurray for the U.S.A.: Small towns like Molly's put on variety shows to support the war effort. They might benefit a veteran's hospital or raise money for the Red Cross." Next to this blurb is an illustration of Molly, Emily, and other girls from their town tapdancing to support the war effort in this type of variety show, which is a prominent plot in "Changes for Molly" and the AG Molly movie.

Also in the Morale Boosters section it talks about the USO shows, canteens across America for servicemen, dances, the Red Cross, movies, newsreels, and more.

The section on the Red Cross is particularly interesting. Here is the introduction: "Wherever the soldiers went, American Red Cross workers soon followed. They worked 14 hour days, setting up 'welcome centers' where soldiers at the front lines could take a break from the war. Workers cooked food, organized events, and were always ready to listen. Margaret Cotter volunteered to be a Red Cross worker when she was just a few years older than Molly's sister Jill. Her first assignment was halfway around the world - in northern Africa! Margaret traveled to Africa with 60 other Red Cross girls. The trip took 50 days."

Can you imagine it taking 50 days to get somewhere! 

That's like almost two months!

And then you have to work your butt off while you are there. 

Man, that's dedication. Haha.

In our upcoming 1940s wardrobe posts 

we'll give you more tidbits of info from this book so stay tuned! :-)

The Other Fantastic Four and a Reminder

Sup! Today we wanted to remind you that our Time Warp Photos are due tomorrow -- Monday October 10th. We have a handful now -- so that is good news. But we'd like more if you guys are thinking about sending one in. We are looking for dolls in historical dioramas or rooms, dolls in historical clothing, dolls in events from history, and so on. If you aren't sure your picture applies to the contest, send it in anyways with an explanation. We look forward to getting your entry!

And of course, the winner of the Time Warp Photo Contest gets a $20 AG gift card.

Twenty. Dollars.

Hopefully there will be a free shipping code soon too....

Anyways, we probably made our point by now. *Wink.

Also up for today's post is an introduction to all of the 1940s girls here at Badger's Wood -- We call them "The Other Fantastic Four."

Penny grew up with a Molly doll and read her collection of books -- which feature her best friends Susan and Linda prominently. When we got the opportunity to make those dolls we did -- Susan is a custom MyAG #23 and Linda is just Chrissa renamed. Convenient! And of course, Emily is Emily since AG made her. Haha.

Then this year we ordered a new Mattel Molly -- our Pleasant Company Molly is very old. She has different coloring, a pudgier body, and she can't stand up anymore on her own (she needs restrung, but we'll never do that for nostalgia's sake - poor girl, haha).

Our new Molly looks more like the other three girls and is happily at home with us now. She is pictured today wearing her Meet Outfit. Meanwhile Linda is wearing a dark navy corduroy jumper from Terri's Touch and a white shirt from Doll Clothes by Evie. Susan is modeling a white shirt and reddish-brown plaid jumper also from Terri's Touch. And finally, Emily is sporting a blue and off-white dress from... you guessed it, Terri's Touch! Terri is our go-to-girl for 1940s wear, but we do have items from a variety of sellers for these girls.

Enjoy these pics and stay tuned for more 1940s clothing and historical info in the coming weeks. We are going to try to do another "Historical Theme Week." We did one last year for the colonial time period. It lasted about two to three weeks and involved a lot of work. We meant to do one every couple months, but it has become an annual thing instead (unfortunately). But we'll keep chipping away at that long list of stuff we want to post about. *Chip, chip, chip. :-)

Slideshow!

Arty shots!

And remember: Send in your Time Warp Photo Contest entries before Tuesday October 11th! :-)

New Poll for Our Next Project

Okay, it's not really "a project" in the sense that other bloggers make videos or photo story projects.... but we've had it in our heads for awhile to do "Historical Thematic Weeks" on zee blog. So one week we will feature all 1950s clothing, another we will do all colonial attire, etc. etc. And so forth.

Sort of like L'Atelier de Sitara week, but instead of just one designer being featured we'll have a historical period featured. And we'll put in some historical info as an extra bonus for those of you interested in learning some schtuff. We won't be doing all historical weeks until the end of time, but we will mix them in with modern clothing weeks and new AG stuff.

So the poll on the right is about which timeline period you want to see first on the blog... because we need to do a lot of planning to pull this off and we need some motivation. We literally have to pull out the dozens and dozens of objects we haven't shown you yet and order them by time period. This is something we should have been doing all along obviously... but give us a break, we got a lot of stuff here in the 'ol closet. ;)

Hopefully with you all knowing that this is our plan this will be our big push to actually execute it. Haha. Gosh we are such procrastinators!

So here are your choices:

1) Colonial, Felicity and Company duds

2) Regency, Josefina duds

3) Pioneer and Civil War, Kirsten and Addy duds

4) Edwardian/ Early 20th century, Samantha and Rebecca duds

5) The Great Depression/1930s, Kit and Company duds

6) World War II/1940s, Molly and Company duds

7) Rockin' 1950s, Connie and Company duds

8) We also have a ton of AG's Kaya stuff here which we haven't really ever shown you-- like her teepee, doggie, food set, etc. etc. So if you want to see a Kaya week (with AG schtuff and some history) let us know in the comments below and we will do that. :)

So please vote in the poll on the right and feel free to put in your two cents in the comments below. Gracias!