Nordic Formal

Note to Self: At some point you should plan to take pictures before you become rumpled, not after wearing said items for 10 hours.

Briefly: There are very few occasions where one can be both warm and dressy.

I attended a friends birthday at the end of January. The theme of the party was Nordic Formal, with a Prairie twist, and no hints as to what that meant. Thankfully I received my invitation the day after my foot surgery so while I couldn't actually do any sewing, I had about 10 weeks to do some plotting about what to make as well as time to make them.

Winnipeg at the end of January can be a chilly place. I hate being cold so I wanted to be warm while still filling what I thought was the 'formal' part of the theme. I'd made the Suffragette skirt (link) this summer and thought it would fill the warm and formal requirement nicely, especially if it was made of wool. The top is New Look 6901 (review seen here, picture here) designed for knits but made here in a loosely woven silk.

I think undergarments back in the time of this skirt would have been somewhat different. I suspect women would have worn a corset with garters for their stockings and not have the indent at their waist from tights, as you can see happening above.

While the skirt pattern did not include pockets I prefer to have them for convenience sake. I used a rather stiff lining that would slide well inside the skirt.

The lining was grey but I added brown stripes in fabric marker.

It seemed to make the pockets blend in well enough.

I was probably the most formally dressed person at the party. The other guests were wearing anything from sequin-enhanced party dresses to jeans and shirts. I was also happily surprised to find the walking boot was relatively easy to dance in, even in the rather impromptu conga line that snaked through the room. And I was warm enough, definitely a win!