CelticRuins
Sr Member
Hey all! Long time no post from me, but I figured I hadn't seen anyone really document this gown over here!
Of course there's a bazillion research threads for The Rocketeer, as well as a ton of love, (including from my bf who's loved it since he was a kid and has a small collection. He's finally getting his dream costume together this year!)
The Dress
When my Rocketeer obsessed partner asked me to make Jenny with him, I decided to give it a go, though I had very little to go off of. Don't get me wrong, the prop store photos are fantastic!
On observation is that a lot of this gown seems to be hand sewn. The side zipper and then the gown's pleated straps are sewn directly into the back. There also appears to be a satin bias waist tape synch. I thought at first it was a seam binder, and that's where the lining of the dress stopped; but it's common to add these for added support to the bodice area:
Described as a "an ivory satin bespoke dress", I've seen a handful of recreations, but not a whole lot of detailed writeups. At first I figured the dress was silk satin. I started a drafted mock up on my dress form with cotton muslin, and proceeded to trying to figure out the dress in crepe satin.
I ended up hating the way the crepe satin moved and looked.
I decided to trash my first attempt, and research further into 1930's evening wear. I found plenty of vintage patterns on Etsy, but only one that was relatively close to the top design, but not the bottom.
The seller: 1930s Ladies Evening Gown With Back Bands Reproduction 1936 | Etsy
I did contemplate purchasing this pattern, but felt that I was already fairly close with my top design; it was the flow of the bottom of the dress I needed to get right.
Enter in more researching, when I stumbled upon a free pattern for this type of dress bottom:
veravenus.com
And a revelation that the dress might be cut on the bias! I went back to searching for a fabric that would work better. Silk satin wasn't entirely in my budget, as most of the budget is going to the glaringly obvious costume here...
I opted for 'Snow White' one way stretch satin. The weight, flow and fabric look appears almost identical to this gown. I adapted the free skirt pattern to the top pattern I had already drafted and fit in my mock up fabric.
First initial try on before adding the decorative buttons down the front. I ended up making some minor fit adjustments to the top and to the side to narrow the end of the top half of the dress. Fits like crap on my dress form, hence why try on's are key during the sewing process. I still have yet to add the waist synch here or hand sew in the back straps.
The finished gown on my too small mannequin (It's heavily clipped in the back and still doesn't fit...but it fits me like a glove!)
The Wig
Jenny has just over shoulder length, dark brown hair. For this particular costume, her hair is parted to the right, with a type of rolled twist and then a hair braid head band.
I ordered a dark brown, lace front wig on Amazon, that had a large amount of lace at the crown. I did this in order to move the part to the side, and allow it to still look natural.
I chopped about 2.5 inches off the ends
The Shoes
After doing a little screencapping and some image hunting, I could tell her shoes were the very typical white/ivory peep toe, sling back style of the era, with a chunky heel. Pausing the scene where she is laying on the bed at Neville Sinclair's, you can tell that they have pleating or stepping of the leather or fabric around the toe box, as well as some type of design in the center, above the peep toe. Other than that, I can't make out what exactly it is.
I found some white peep toes in my search, but nothing came quite close. I purchased a pair of t-strap Unique Vintage pumps to mod.
But after a week, I felt like I could do a deeper dig and find something better. Well after a bit of searching on Ebay, I turned up a perfect pair to mod! And there's a small easter egg with these shoes; their style is the "Bettie Page"!
I mixed up white and cream Angelus leather paints with a bit of pearlizing powder to cast a slight sheen in the finish. Here's a pic before removing the painters tape, I thought they came out great! And much closer in design than the other pair, Also, a lot less to mod on them!:
The Accessories
For her satin, opera length gloves, I just picked up an ivory pair from Amazon at around $13. They match almost perfectly.
Her earrings are post back, diamond leaf shaped with a tear drop cream colored pearl.
I found so many options on Amazon, but I'd probably have to splice two separate earrings together. For now I settled on a close enough pair. I may remove the circle diamond and weld the diamond leaves to the post back to be a little closer to the og. :
And now for the ultimate score! Though small, I ended up identified most of her bracelet charms. I still think there's one I can't quite make out, but for now I have the 5 that I've seen, I have a screen accurate charm!
The ones I've ID'd are:
-Clover/horseshoe "Lady Luck"
-Bauble heart
-Indented star
-Orange grove charm that Cliff gave her
-Geebee/bi-plane
After a little digging I stumbled upon the screen accurate and most import charm: the sterling silver oranges!
It's a vintage charm and some of them are still around. For the other charms, I was able to snag several that were relatively close. I added them to a curb-style chain bracelet, which is the type of chain her charm bracelet is. I'm looking to replace the bauble heart I currently have with a slightly bigger one though.
She's pretty much done otherwise! I'm currently working on the Cirrus X3, and after the pandemic settles down, we have a fantastic photoshoot location! We are also looking to set up a backdrop for promo shots. So I'll return with those as soon as I can.
PS: My new name is "Cosmicsaur" on all other platforms, so hopefully this doesn't get too confusing. My old sn had it a long time ago, but I'm stuck with it over here for the time being.
Of course there's a bazillion research threads for The Rocketeer, as well as a ton of love, (including from my bf who's loved it since he was a kid and has a small collection. He's finally getting his dream costume together this year!)
The Dress
When my Rocketeer obsessed partner asked me to make Jenny with him, I decided to give it a go, though I had very little to go off of. Don't get me wrong, the prop store photos are fantastic!
On observation is that a lot of this gown seems to be hand sewn. The side zipper and then the gown's pleated straps are sewn directly into the back. There also appears to be a satin bias waist tape synch. I thought at first it was a seam binder, and that's where the lining of the dress stopped; but it's common to add these for added support to the bodice area:
Described as a "an ivory satin bespoke dress", I've seen a handful of recreations, but not a whole lot of detailed writeups. At first I figured the dress was silk satin. I started a drafted mock up on my dress form with cotton muslin, and proceeded to trying to figure out the dress in crepe satin.
I ended up hating the way the crepe satin moved and looked.
I decided to trash my first attempt, and research further into 1930's evening wear. I found plenty of vintage patterns on Etsy, but only one that was relatively close to the top design, but not the bottom.
The seller: 1930s Ladies Evening Gown With Back Bands Reproduction 1936 | Etsy
I did contemplate purchasing this pattern, but felt that I was already fairly close with my top design; it was the flow of the bottom of the dress I needed to get right.
Enter in more researching, when I stumbled upon a free pattern for this type of dress bottom:
Little Bias Dress (LBD)
Skill level: Advanced UK size 10/12 US 8/10 ( Bust 34/36″, Full Hip 36″-38″) An original pattern drafted by yours truly to make this Little Bias Dress with instructions on…
veravenus.com
And a revelation that the dress might be cut on the bias! I went back to searching for a fabric that would work better. Silk satin wasn't entirely in my budget, as most of the budget is going to the glaringly obvious costume here...
I opted for 'Snow White' one way stretch satin. The weight, flow and fabric look appears almost identical to this gown. I adapted the free skirt pattern to the top pattern I had already drafted and fit in my mock up fabric.
First initial try on before adding the decorative buttons down the front. I ended up making some minor fit adjustments to the top and to the side to narrow the end of the top half of the dress. Fits like crap on my dress form, hence why try on's are key during the sewing process. I still have yet to add the waist synch here or hand sew in the back straps.
The finished gown on my too small mannequin (It's heavily clipped in the back and still doesn't fit...but it fits me like a glove!)
The Wig
Jenny has just over shoulder length, dark brown hair. For this particular costume, her hair is parted to the right, with a type of rolled twist and then a hair braid head band.
I ordered a dark brown, lace front wig on Amazon, that had a large amount of lace at the crown. I did this in order to move the part to the side, and allow it to still look natural.
I chopped about 2.5 inches off the ends
The Shoes
After doing a little screencapping and some image hunting, I could tell her shoes were the very typical white/ivory peep toe, sling back style of the era, with a chunky heel. Pausing the scene where she is laying on the bed at Neville Sinclair's, you can tell that they have pleating or stepping of the leather or fabric around the toe box, as well as some type of design in the center, above the peep toe. Other than that, I can't make out what exactly it is.
I found some white peep toes in my search, but nothing came quite close. I purchased a pair of t-strap Unique Vintage pumps to mod.
But after a week, I felt like I could do a deeper dig and find something better. Well after a bit of searching on Ebay, I turned up a perfect pair to mod! And there's a small easter egg with these shoes; their style is the "Bettie Page"!
I mixed up white and cream Angelus leather paints with a bit of pearlizing powder to cast a slight sheen in the finish. Here's a pic before removing the painters tape, I thought they came out great! And much closer in design than the other pair, Also, a lot less to mod on them!:
The Accessories
For her satin, opera length gloves, I just picked up an ivory pair from Amazon at around $13. They match almost perfectly.
Her earrings are post back, diamond leaf shaped with a tear drop cream colored pearl.
I found so many options on Amazon, but I'd probably have to splice two separate earrings together. For now I settled on a close enough pair. I may remove the circle diamond and weld the diamond leaves to the post back to be a little closer to the og. :
And now for the ultimate score! Though small, I ended up identified most of her bracelet charms. I still think there's one I can't quite make out, but for now I have the 5 that I've seen, I have a screen accurate charm!
The ones I've ID'd are:
-Clover/horseshoe "Lady Luck"
-Bauble heart
-Indented star
-Orange grove charm that Cliff gave her
-Geebee/bi-plane
After a little digging I stumbled upon the screen accurate and most import charm: the sterling silver oranges!
It's a vintage charm and some of them are still around. For the other charms, I was able to snag several that were relatively close. I added them to a curb-style chain bracelet, which is the type of chain her charm bracelet is. I'm looking to replace the bauble heart I currently have with a slightly bigger one though.
She's pretty much done otherwise! I'm currently working on the Cirrus X3, and after the pandemic settles down, we have a fantastic photoshoot location! We are also looking to set up a backdrop for promo shots. So I'll return with those as soon as I can.
PS: My new name is "Cosmicsaur" on all other platforms, so hopefully this doesn't get too confusing. My old sn had it a long time ago, but I'm stuck with it over here for the time being.
