Where is the best place to get vintage inspired swing dress patterns?

I'm getting married in October and would like to make my own dress. We are having a 50's theme wedding and I am looking for 50's swing dress patterns, new patterns that is. Where online can I look?|||Butterick carries a line of retro patterns, available on their website or at any fabric store. Also try McCall's, Simplicity, Vogue, etc. If you're near a Wal-Mart or fabric store, check the pattern books, usually in the costume index.|||If you're making a wedding dress, look for wedding dress paterns (stay away from costume patterns!). Most modern pattern books have "classic" patterns where the style goes back to the 40's, so theres no need to go looking for vintage patterns.





http://weddings.lovetoknow.com/wiki/Wedd鈥?/a>


http://www.denverfabrics.com/pages/stati鈥?/a>


http://www.weddingpatterns.com/frame.asp





But before you go diving into the patterns, you should know the history of the fashion from the era!





The bride of the 1950s had a plethora of choices for weddings were now big business. Ultra formal weddings were the norm, and for the first time in the twentieth century, wedding dressmakers stopped basing their designs on the most popular styles of day or evening wear. Designers preferred to create Cinderella-like fantasies, with fitted bodices, cinched-in waistlines, and huge skirts ballooning out from underneath. To wear these dresses properly, a bride needed to wear layers of hoop skirts or the combination of a cinch-waist corset and a foundation garment called a bombast, which made the dress spring out from the waist. This type of dress usually came in 2 lengths, to the floor and the popular ballerina length that stopped at the lower calf and looked like a long tutu. Wedding fabric ranged from formal bridal satins and shantungs to light tulle and organdies. Dresses had either long fitted sleeves, short cap sleeves or were completely strapless. Veils in the 1950s were short and billowy. Most were between elbow and flyaway length. Popular headpieces of the era included princess-like crowns, Juliet caps and half-caps.





Examples of a 50's style wedding dress:


http://www.revampvintage.com/images/paul鈥?/a>


http://www.revampvintage.com/images/paul鈥?/a>





Using this as an example, you can start looking for the designs you want (I say design, because when I make a dress, I often take the top of one pattern, the shoulder and sleeves of another pattern, and the bottom of another pattern to make the dress in the style I'm looking for).





If you want more examples of 50's era fashion (other than wedding dresses), then check out this page:


http://www.revampvintage.com/1950.html











Now that you have an idea of what you are going to make for your dress, time to start thinking about how to do your hair!





Hair was a big deal in the 1950's, and had a very unique look, so you'll have to learn how to do your hair (or have it done) right by going to this website:





http://www.nocturne.com/swing/hair/hair.鈥?/a>





They have step by step instructions and photos on how to style your hair (or have your hair done for you!).





The first thing you have to do is determine if you can do the style that you want . Hair was cut to the same length everywhere on the head (so i you have too short of hair, or bangs, you won't be able to do these hair styles). Long hair is ok, and actually a good thing because it let's you do more with your hair. Also don't worry about dying your hair a certain color. Back then natural was the only way to go (that or blue!).





To prep your hair, you'll need to curl it (don't use a curling iron). You'll want to use "Setting Lotion" when you curl your hair with sponge curlers or pin curls to get your curls to be uniform (let set until dry, or sleep in your curlers). When you curl your hair, you'll also want to do it in layers as indicated on the website (think rows of where you want to put rolls). You'll want a row of curls (curling the hair back) that follows your face around the top and sides.





When styling your hair, don't get frustrated if it takes a while. You will need a lot of hair spray and bobby pins. Even using this, your hair may not do what you want it to do, because it takes a while to train your hair to style the way you want it to.





You'll probably want some waves or curls on the front top and sides, then put the rest of your hair in a hair net or snood (you'll want to brush it out big after you curle it so that it fills the hair net uniformly).





Practice, practice, practice! As you style your hair like this more often, it becomes easier, and your hair easier to manage. I have a friend who does WWII reinacting and she can put her hair in pin curls while driving to work!





I hope that helps!