It is a truth, universally acknowledged,
Posted by: SB&C on: August 10, 2008
That much of 50’s to 70’s era crochet design must be in want of being burnt as an example of horrific wasting of perfectly good yarn (there being less acrylic in those days).
And I went on one of my Fug Crochet hunting (Be vewy Kwi-et, We’re hunting Fuglies!) expeditions, me and my trusty wireless mouse and came across an example which… well.. gave me pause.
I’m not sure whether to like it or not.
It’s demure. It’s interesting stitchwork. The model is pullling a rabbit face. But I really can’t find anything to praise or hate about it. And it’s .. odd.
Please discuss.
Do you automatically cringe because of “X” or do do you like it?
Would you? could you? wear it?
And where?
Oh .. and to the most recent “You’re so horrible” commenter, to keep in today’s Jane Austen theme:
“What do we live but to make sport for our neighbours, and laugh at them in our own turn?”
42 Responses to "It is a truth, universally acknowledged,"
August 11, 2008 at 12:39 am
Hey, at least they both have linings!
I would not wear the top….but the skirt has a nice shape….the two together are too busy for an under five feet person like me! This needs a simple, solid-color top with no buttons. It would be interesting to see the skirt on its own. Doesn’t look like it moves very well, though!
August 11, 2008 at 12:40 am
nope, nope, nope…looks like drapery. Reminds me if that Carol Burrnett Gone with the Wind spoof…
“You like this dress? I saw it in the window and just had to have it.”
ICK. Save the frilly stuff for drapes and tablecloths. Seriously.
August 11, 2008 at 12:40 am
nope, nope, nope…looks like drapery. Reminds me if that Carol Burrnett Gone with the Wind spoof…
“You like this dress? I saw it in the window and just had to have it.”
ICK. Save the frilly stuff for drapes and tablecloths. Seriously.
August 11, 2008 at 1:22 am
I think it looks ok in a british country outing sort of way. I don’t think i”d wear it. But being 5 feet tall and chubby, I can’t get away with as much as most models.
August 11, 2008 at 2:23 am
I was liking it until it got to the skirt and then I re-assessed. it might look good in the right place and at the right time, but I can’t actually think when that might be.
August 11, 2008 at 2:34 am
Hmmm.
Couldn’t wear it in white.
Couldn’t wear both pieces together.
Couldn’t pull a rabbit face like that.
Couldn’t wear the neck-tie.
I could perhaps wear the hat?
Bleugh!
August 11, 2008 at 8:47 am
i liked it too until I got to the skirt. thank goodness for linings, eh?
August 11, 2008 at 9:36 am
Either piece on its own I would like. Both together is just too much.
August 11, 2008 at 10:21 am
The cardigan, maybe, might be wearable, by someone (not me), somewhere (nowhere I would be found at).
The skirt… ouch!
August 11, 2008 at 10:59 am
Call me crazy, but if what I’m wearing has to be fully lined, what’s the point?
August 11, 2008 at 11:19 am
I like it to look at, but not to wear. I would like the cardi in short sleeve (I live in a very warm climate), and maybe the skirt with a plain top. I’m short and fat, so I can’t really get away with that outfit.
August 11, 2008 at 1:30 pm
This is an example of a sharp-looking but useless design.
If an outfit requires that you wear another outfit underneath it, why not just wear the one that actually serves as clothing?
August 11, 2008 at 2:03 pm
OK. The skirt has to go. Just dump it. The top has a chance. It just needs to be shorter in both the sleeves and the body, not white, done in something not quite so stiff, although that could be the model, have interesting buttons, not be white and have a different colored camisole/tank top underneath to give it some interest. It also has to be unbuttoned.
August 11, 2008 at 5:48 pm
Don’t all laugh at me but I made something very similar to this in 1972, short sleeved, lined with turquoise & wore it on Easter sunday. Of course, at that time, I weighed 110 lbs. Would I wear it now? Nope but I won’t wear a mini skirt now either.
August 11, 2008 at 9:01 pm
I think the design is very pretty, it’s a bit to prim and prissy for me though, and there’s a weird tangly look where the cardy overlaps the skirt.
I wouldn’t wear the hat, it’s a bit to reminiscent of my high school full of horrible bullying hags, and the scarf kind of puts me in mind of cheesy 70s flight attendant uniforms. However, I must confess that I often pull rabbit faces, but that might just be my overbite asserting itself.
August 11, 2008 at 9:21 pm
To me it looks like the jacket could stand up on it’s own. Maybe a similar pattern in a thinner yarn and a slightly looser stitch would be better?
With those changes I’d wear the jacket but not the skirt. Not under any circumstances. I like crochet but not enough to have a pattern etched into my ass fat.
August 12, 2008 at 8:50 am
Would NEVER wear it together, thats for sure – but I think that if you put the jacket with a more solid ( like a sc skirt) or the bottom with a sc jacket – MAYBE
August 12, 2008 at 11:16 am
I agree with Crafty Mama… ” if what I’m wearing has to be fully lined, what’s the point?”
and lolarusa…”If an outfit requires that you wear another outfit underneath it, why not just wear the one that actually serves as clothing?”
August 12, 2008 at 12:56 pm
I’d wear the skirt to work/church. But only in black thread with a black lining.
August 12, 2008 at 9:47 pm
Okay, its not ugly. It is fashionable for its era (early 70’s I’m guessing). It is obviously well made.
BUT…it looks very uncomfortable. Assuming that is a heavy cotton thread which it looks like, that thing must weigh a ton.
Also, the two pieces would work better as separates. The way it is shown is just TOO much. The cardigan, unbuttoned over a blouse and worn with plain slacks or skirt would look nice. The skirt worn with a plain shell or tank top would be nice. Together they look like something an older woman might wear for her second wedding.
August 13, 2008 at 8:04 am
to quote a previous comment…”I think it looks ok in a british country outing sort of way. I don’t think i”d wear it. But being 5 feet tall and chubby, I can’t get away with as much as most models.”
can I just say as a british country girl that this would not be worn on any outing! ok…maybe to very posh horse racing or polo and then only by a stick thin woman who has no need to work! 
I too am 5ft and chubby and would look like one of those dolls made to go over the loo roll in this outfit!
I admire the amount of time and effort that went into making this but I can’t see it being worn in this day and age!
August 14, 2008 at 2:20 pm
The designs don’t match… one is upside down from the other, and that bugs me.
August 17, 2008 at 1:52 am
I kinda like the jacket- it’s like a nice summery cardigan. Not my style, but it’s pretty.
However I would never in a million years wear that skirt, nor would I suggest anyone else to wear it. And put it together with the jacket? Absolute fug.
August 17, 2008 at 10:52 am
OMG !
She is wearing my bag of the summer ‘76 or ‘77! Incredible feeling to see the same pattern crocheted into a costume! Mom gave me balls of selvage cut from the edges of mesh fabric. The hook was thick and I finished the bag in a quick order.
How come, the same illusion of thick 3D structure almost stucco-like is there in this costume too although it has been hooked out of cotton thread. Like cherrypicker I could never think of wearing anything like the costume, although it would be made in my size.
Anu S.
bag of the summer ‘76 or ‘77.
as a costume which has been crocheted with quite thick thread creating a 3D illusion, stucco-like.
August 18, 2008 at 1:12 pm
I would wear either piece by itself in a different color, like black…I think it appeals to me because of the vertical effect of the stitch rather than the usual horizontal…..that said the skirt in black over a purple lining with my knee high spike heel boots would look good with a simple black or purple v-neck top….. jmho.lol
August 19, 2008 at 1:28 pm
I like the idea of the skirt, only made in thread. It might be interesting in thread, and in flounces. (Did I say that right?)
August 19, 2008 at 3:44 pm
from the early 70’s you say? perhaps it is the happy hookers wedding gown.
August 23, 2008 at 11:58 am
Do that skirt in a lighter weight black, with a much looser feel, and I’d wear it. But forget the top. Not happening.
August 23, 2008 at 1:23 pm
The consensus seems to be that the parts are better separated and worn with plainer garments. I concur. I also think that the cardi is too long. It should end at the waist, especially if the two pieces are worn together after all. And it would probably be lighter and more attractive (and take forever to crochet) in a smaller gauge and finer yarn.
I’d wear the shortened cardi, maybe.
August 23, 2008 at 6:00 pm
I think I want to see a picture of Mazell’s 1972 outfit! I don’t know anyone who could pull this off except a mannequin in a thrift store maybe!
September 7, 2008 at 1:27 am
Is she wearing a snood under the hat? Perhaps the scarf and hat are throwing it off? Oh well she could leave church and use her outfit as a table cloth if all else fails
September 20, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Wow, these pieces are actually kinda cute… but in _moderation_… I think the cardi is just dated and unfitted… it’s visually just too busy to absorb with the skirt. Fit the cardi at the waist and let it flare back out to the hips – then the length is fine – tunic length is in again this year. Next, swap out the skirt and pair it with a sc skirt in a dark color. Tomorrow, wear a short, dark cardi in a simple crochet scheme, with the more complicated skirt. I’d also have made the cardi in pink and I think the skirt in navy, but hey, that’s just me.
September 22, 2008 at 2:28 am
The first thing I thought when I saw the skirt was.. OMG, it has skulls on it! Seriously, look closely and there are definitely skull looking bits. I think maybe it would suit Darth Vader’s girlfriend.
September 22, 2008 at 8:19 am
A British country outing?! Have you even been to the UK??
September 24, 2008 at 10:46 pm
I’m thinking not so bad seperately, especially the top, but never ever together.
And I wouldn’t be caught dead in any of it.
And to Molly – OMG! You’re right! I see them, too.
December 28, 2008 at 8:37 pm
I like it. It could be worn to a wedding or garden party. I’m tall enough but not svelte enough. It would be pretty in any solid color that suits the person wearing it. Considering it is lined, it would be lovely in a fall color, like chocolate brown.
For its time, it is quite pretty. Things were more formal in the 70’s. We didn’t go business casual until mid-nineties, which was a big fashion change, actually.
My mom did a lot of sewing, knitting and crocheting when I was a kid. She made me a lined sweater that was very nice.
January 11, 2009 at 3:17 pm
I, like you, am really not sure whether or not to like it. Maybe I could say that I wouldn’t wear it? I may be convinced to wear the cardigan over another blouse on a chill day, but that’s about it. Just too busy for me.
January 21, 2009 at 3:30 pm
I’d maybe wear the top, but not the skirt, and definitely not the top and skirt together. Ugh.
August 10, 2008 at 10:40 pm
The cardigan could be made to work with something I’m sure though I’d have to give it serious thought and I’m in no condition to be thinking right now. Would I wear it? No. But I know people who would. I’m not going to name them here because it’s a condition of the support group. However, the skirt gets a big NO – a thousand times NO – except maybe for use as a carp net.