June Retro Picnic, with Vintage Advance 6643

This past weekend was The Weekend of Costume Picnics. My Facebook feed has been exploding with the photographic evidence, and we here in Northern Nevada also partook. Despite the weather being poor, our local costume club invaded the lawn of Bower's Mansion.

Ours was a multi-period picnic - no specific period was indicated, so we had costumes from 1890 through the 1950s. Debbie (Vintage Dancer) and I represented the '50s contingent, she in a lovely vintage find, complete with vintage petticoat (I'm jealous of that petticoat!), and I in a quick project with one of the vintage patterns I picked up a couple years back.

'50s girls - me and Debbie. Photo by Oscar Sessions

The pattern was Advance 6643, View 1 with the slim skirt. I had some red, white, and blue cotton Debbie had given me, for the main portion of the dress, paired with a white cotton with red ribbon trim for the massive oh-so-'50s collar, and red cotton for the belt. I was pleased with the fit - it was one of the only patterns in that bulk purchase that actually fit my measurements (the rest were a size too small). For alterations, I moved the zipper from the side to the back, on account of yardage restrictions, and dropped the waist by 1/2", which turned out perfectly.

Apparently this is called a "Florentine" collar.

I'm very happy with the result, particularly the fit. My only gripe is that the big square collar is sortof droopy over the bust, and my corner-turning on the neckline wasn't very well-executed. These things aren't enough to bug me into deconstructing the dress, though.


All in all, I'm chuffed with the pattern, with or without the big collar - it's a great basic sheath, simple to put together, with a great fit.

p.s. Please excuse my lack of photos - I still haven't found my camera charger. These photos were taken by Debbie's husband Oscar.