Rose Seidler House 50s Fair 2012

So, all that frantic sewing of the coat and the matching dress was because the Rose Seidler House 50s Fair was coming up and I wanted to wear my new outfit to the fair.  You see, the original coat I made 12 months ago made its debut at the same fair in 2011, and I thought it would be fitting for the red coat to have its first outing at the same place 12 months later.

However, a wonderful spanner was thrown in the works by one Pia Andersen, who I've met recently.  She asked me to model in the vintage fashion parades on the day - and who says no to that kind of opportunity!  Not me thats for sure!

Rose Seidler House was built in 1948-50 by internationally renowned architect Harry Seidler for his parents Rose and Max.  It is located north of Sydney on a large estate of natural bushland.  The house, contents and grounds have been carefully restored to the original 1950 look and are now a museum owned by the Historic Houses Trust.  You can read more about it here.

 

Rose Seidler House

 A photo of the house from 1951

There were three parades during the day - Sunday Best, Swimwear, and Cocktail and Evening Wear.

 

Sunday Best - thats me on the left

Entire outfit owned by Pia Anderson (jealous!), photo by Louise Whelan 

Swimwear - my vintage suit, Pia's bangles and glasses

Photo by Brent Wilson 

 

Evening Wear (thats me on the right) and the whole outfit IS MINE!!!

Photo by Louise Whelan 

Well, all mine apart from the fabulous rings - they are Pia's

Photo by Louise Whelan

As part of the parades we would rove through the crowd for half an hour after each turn on stage.  The six other models and I would split into groups and just walk around, having our photo taken umpteen million times by everyone that wanted to take one.

This all meant that I got very little time to put on my outfit and shop in the vintage market!  I only really wanted fabric or patterns or buttons... or some bakelite bracelets.  But, thank goodness - I did get a little bit of shopping done - and this is what I bought:

I may never refer to this... but you never know!  

And it was only $10... I saw the same thing selling on etsy the other day for $48!!!

These fabulous buttons - I love vintage buttons!

These AHHH-MAZING buttons!

 I love this dress pattern - the shoulder detail is fabulous

The original mail order envelope is gone though, and I can't find a brand name anywhere.  It does look like an Anne Adams or a Marian Martin by the illustration.  Anyone know?

This looks to be a jumpsuit!  And the label is a small Australian pattern house from the 50s.  I bought it because its a bit of an oddity - I will probably never make it up.  I don't think jumpsuits are my thing...

I'm always searching for a nice blouse pattern and this one has enough detail to be interesting, but not too much that its painful to sew.

And this peignoir and robe pattern - so beautiful!

Its amazing what you can find in half an hour!  Rose Seidler House 50's fair is a fabulous vintage day out.  I'm already looking forward to next year.

Beccie
xxx