New Year's Eve 2012

This New Year's Eve it was all about the old Hollywood glam.

I should begin by saying that last year's New Year's Eve was not all about the glam. Last year's New Year's involved going out in a fur coat and velvet dress, getting stranded at a NYE party and waiting half an hour with my sister for a taxi to take us to the one place we wanted to be: Peter's. Then we played teamball and drank beer and listened to Horses and didn't smooch and then went to Megan's, where we had pizza. Fun? Undoubtedly. Classy? Not particularly.


But this year, I was resolved (ha, ha) to do things differently. The boys were playing at the massive Inspire Truth event at Portland's Art Museum. I would have a midnight kiss-target for the first time in many years. Old Hollywood seemed like the right way to go. I was particularly inspired by a photoshoot I'd found in the July 2007 issue of Vogue. There was a dark lip and subtly smoky eye that I really liked. The slinky, gathered sheaths worn by Ava Gardner in The Killers and Rita Hayworth in Gilda guided my direction for the dress's look and while I initially toyed with an emerald green fabric a la Atonement (someday, that dress will be MINE!) I opted for a shimmery, silver-purple with which I had fallen in love (and because JoAnn's didn't have an emerald silk that I liked). As for a dress pattern, the Vogue 2929 seemed to fit the bill:

As mentioned in previous posts, this pattern turned out to be a considerable beast to execute. The type where things are technically difficult to execute but the wording of the pattern itself leaves you scratching your head. But I prevailed and it came out pretty well. Next year, though, I will definitely at least have sleeves or straps and will try to re-size closer to the event as I lost some weight after the dress was finished while training for a 10k. Overall, I was happy. The boys sounded great and I got my New Year's kiss. But honestly, if next year's agenda consists of watching Night of the Living Bread with Peter while sipping champagne in my pajamas...well, that's just fine by me. 

Better detail of the fit and side gather