Lena Hoschek – Designs Inspired by the 40s and 50s

This is the first in a series of posts that will highlight wonderful designs, designers and aesthetics that we Rogues find inspiring.

One could argue that, to simply recreate a time period in clothing and accessory is unimaginative (which is one reason the Rogues love all the possibilities of Steampunk!). If you’re talking about the world of cutting edge fashion, you may be right, but if you’re talking about historical costume, that is the ultimate goal, and it’s not easy to pull off. In fashion you’re looking to give a nod or catch the flavor of an aesthetic in your own designs. In costume, you may be looking to recreate a historical period with modern materials and your success lies not only in good planing and execution, but in the details that give the look authenticity.

Lena Hosceck is Austrian fashion designer who creates a period look, while making it accessible for modern tastes.

My favorite photos of her designs take the aesthetic to the fullest measure with perfect settings, details and poses. These are a few of my favorites (I’m afraid I don’t have specific attribution for these photos, but I believe they are magazine shots of her Fall 2010 collection):

 

40s/50s Viva Las Vegas Wedding

It was someone’s bright idea to get married in Las Vegas in July. And then, to make it irresistible to the Rogues (as if we weren’t already excited), they made it themed – 40s/50s.

The ensuing costume is an original design based on a 1937 Butterick dress, floral patterns of the era and a 1990s Vogue skirt pattern, both altered with some ad-libbing in the middle. I ended up using a stretch pinstripe fabric for the body of the dress and a Kaufman fabric for the bodice and skirt flounce, with a coordinating fabric to line the inside of the large brimmed hat. I’m sorry I don’t have images of the original hat. It had a deeper crown and was completely floppy. I added wire to the brim, cut down the crown and pleated the lining fabric into it. I also made a coordinating clutch purse for me and a tie for my husband.

Despite the heat, the wedding was awesome! And yes, it was Elvis themed. Note the Elvis glasses. I even found out how to make hair setting solution like they would have used at the time. It worked well, but didn’t hold up to the heat.

   

All images by The Rogues of Thread (bythebodkin.wordpress.com) and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, unless specifically attributed elsewhere.

 

Rogues’ Gallery

These are the images from our new promo cards. They look almost collectible, don’t they?

  

 

All images by The Rogues of Thread (bythebodkin.wordpress.com) and licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License, unless specifically attributed elsewhere.