Recent content by Alice Blue

I just received a used paperback I was eagerly awaiting, and the pages seem to be filled with tiny ant footprints rather than writing. I would need a magnifying glass to read this book.

Thank you both for the information. I think I would like to pick up some green stripe restaurantware, but am a bit overwhelmed at the moment as there is *so much* of the stuff! It looks as though numerous manufacturers had a green stripe line, and you can buy similar plates today from restaurant...

Our current mid-century dishes (Royal Staffordshire Tonquin) have a tendency to develop cracks in the microwave and also chip fairly easily. I just ran across restaurantware when looking for a more durable option, and there’s a series that I like the looks of. Does anyone know how older...

Oh, I've just realized that the "Ralph" men's sweater in the collection above is that sweater ... by which I mean the well-known "prisoner of war jumper." It was worn by Shetlander Ralph Paterson, who was a POW in Hong Kong during WW2. The sweater had been knit for Paterson by his wife, and he...

This thread seems as good a place as any to pass on a link to The Vintage Shetland Project, which is a group of patterns from the 1920s to the 1950s from the collection of the Shetland Museum. Author Susan Crawford has added multiple sizes when reproducing these patterns. Most of them are for...

I’ve been wondering how all of those New Yorkers who moved to Vermont last spring and summer are coping with their first New England winter. The weather gods are being kind to them.

The Preppy Handbook came out in 1980, and Ralph Lauren popularized traditional clothing at about the same time. I actually went to prep school (as a day student) so I read The Preppy Handbook as it was intended, as affectionate satire rather than a sartorial guide. I found the resulting...

I graduated from high school in 1981, so the eighties were my salad days. And while I do have some fond memories, I also remember that young people (including me) were very anxious about nuclear war, and AIDS was utterly new and frightening since in those days it was a death sentence. AIDS...

Ran across an article on the production design of All Creatures Great and Small. I’m not sure what I think; perhaps some period dramas are indeed too dingy, but I have been distracted by the bright (and fresh-looking) paint on the shop exteriors and the trim in Skeldale House...

This movie won't be out until the end of the month, but I'm really looking forward to it: The Dig, which tells the story of the discovery and excavation of Sutton Hoo in 1939. Aside from the fascinating subject matter, I'm looking forward to all of the period outfits and cars and so on. The...

I just watched the first episode of ‘All Creatures Great and Small’ on PBS. I’m kind of watching it for the knitwear, but the whole show is lovely. I’m also re-watching the BBC show ’Wartime Farm’ on YouTube. The real-life James Herriot (Alf Wight) began working in Yorkshire in 1940, and I...

I happened to run across an interview with the costume designer. I like the wing-collar blouses and suits she chose for the lead actress, and don't care much whether they are spot-on for 1946-1947 or not. http://hellotailor.blogspot.com/2015/01/interview-agent-carter-costume-designer.html...

I've just caught up with the three available episodes as well as the "One Shot." The dialogue is fairly snappy and I'm glad that the writers resisted the temptation to throw in forties slang, which they probably would have botched. However my suspended disbelief did crash to earth with a thud...

Both my mother's and my father's families were contacted by relatives we never knew we had - daughters who had been given up for adoption long ago. The long-lost daughter on my Mom's side is now part of the family, while the one who contacted my Dad's family has not been interested in any...

I hope I'll have something to show in the spring. I don't quite have the skills to tackle a vintage dress pattern yet, but I am working towards that with a modern simple dress project and then a modern shirtdress. After that, 1940s here I come.