Gwen Gillam frocks

On the weekend Chris and Susan invited a few people over to their home to meet a lady named Dell who used to work for  fashion designer Gwen Gillam.

For those who don't know, Gwen Gillam was an extremely popular mid-century dress designer in Brisbane - there is an exhibition currently on at the Queensland Museum showcasing her work (it ends in February 2013). The who's who of Brisbane (as well as the who's not) were known to frequent Gwen Gillam's Frock Salon which used to be located in the beautiful Brisbane Arcade.

A letter to Dell from Gwen on frock salon letterhead

 
Dell gave us a very personal account of what it was like to work for Gwen Gillam in her workrooms. She said they used to listen out for the clip clop of Gwen's heels, so they were never caught slacking off.

Dell brought a number of frocks and ensembles to show us some of the lovely designs and techniques used to make such divine dresses. Apparently, if the zipper was machine sewn, then it was not a Gwen Gillam dress!

hand-stitched zipper on pale pink evening dress

 

Susan in her Marimekko frock holding a Gwen Gillam frock.
The pink gown had a tail at the back which could be draped  to the front.

Dell promised to come back to demonstrate how to make rouleau and rouleau buttons for our fancy frocks. Let me know if you want to be in on it...

rouleau buttons and cord

Some of the girls made a pattern on yellow trace of a silk kerchief top that Dell brought along that day. It was such a simple, elegant design which was crying out to be copied. It will be the hot vintage thing to have in Brisbane this summer!

Gwen Gillam silk top being copied onto yellow trace

Also, the lovely Annie from Artistica Domestica did a blog post about the Gwen Gillam exhibition at the Museum when it first opened in August. It is another great personal account of how her Mum used to wear Gwennies and then passed them on to her daughter who wore them to B & S balls in the 80s and 90s!

Tell me...

... what does a rather dapper man in a powdered wig...

Jason dressed as Hornblower for a nautical themed work function.
He was driving in this image and about to give a bloke in a truck, who cut him off in traffic, the finger.

and a rock solid bit of decorative architectural whimsy

Newly constructed valance under a bay window

have in common?

Just another weekend at the Sow's Ear...

Renovator's Rescue: part six

I thought it was about time I showed you the latest from the Renovator's Rescue house I have been stalking for the past year or so...we drive past it on the way to school. Yesterday I stopped to take a quick snap.

It seems like the bulk of the hard work is now done to the external façade  The stairs are now up, the garage door has been installed and it seems to be occupied. I love how the bay window was retained and the external colour scheme is nice and simple.

The house has certainly come a long way from its previously dilapidated state - it was at the point of collapse, riddled with termites. The owners could easily have demolished the home and started with a blank canvas. Instead they chose to save the old home, so I guess kudos goes to them for trying to save a character home.

I'm going on record to say that I'm not a huge fan of this particular renovation. The choices made regarding the external 'look' of the home are not the ones we would've made, although the new tin roof gets a big thumbs up. It's just that the new proportions, mass and symmetry don't seem quite right in this renovation...in my humble opinion...getting that right is what makes a Queenslander home so appealing.

I think we would've opened up the front entry to make a verandah and we would not have deviated too much from the original identity of the home. I liked the distinctive façade of this inter-war Queenslander pre-renovation...

But with that said, the home is probably very comfortable and it looks to be designed for good modern living. As renovators, we know that sometimes you just have to make compromises due to budget, materials available and time...there is often a valid reason for why some things are done in a particular way, which we as outsiders are not privy to.

So this is my final post on this particular home...I'll be stalking another home soon for your house voyeurism pleasure.

Anyway, over to you regarding the renovator's rescue. Like or m'eh?

the renovator's rescue as seen in the real estate listing

The renovator's rescue in October 2011

renovator's rescue October 2012

p.s Read all the old posts about this reno here:
renovator's rescue
renovator's rescue part 2
renovator's rescue part 3
renovator's rescue part 4
renovator's rescue part 5 

Going, going, gone

Well that house that sat behind the Sow's Ear is well and truly gone. It was burnt badly during a fire in May and last week it was progressively demolished. Here is a pictorial of its demise.

This photo was taken late 2010 when the house was still intact and when we had  overgrown bushes

The day after the fire in May 2012

The house being demolished last week

The house is demolished

A vacant block of land.
As you can see Jason was very severe with the pruning shears on our back fence line! Let's hope they grow back.

Busy weekend working on the Sow's Ear

There is always something to do on the Sow's Ear. That's just the nature of home maintenance and of looking after an older home.

With the windy overcast weather today, we decided to oil the timber of the side staircase that Mr D and Scotty built a few months ago. That was the final thing to be done on the staircase now that it has been completely painted. It will probably need a couple more coats as the timber just soaked up the decking oil like a sponge.

Newly oiled decking and treads on the exterior stairs

We also bought a few bags of black polished river stones to fill up a disused garden bed that is located near the rainwater tank where Jason built the new valance. This spot usually just fills up with leaves...we thought the stones would make this area look a little more loved.

black polished river stones. We bought the 30mm - 50mm size stones.

Jason's valance building is becoming more prolific and he started a new set of decorative valances under our bedroom. There's no stopping him...except for the fact that he ran out of timber!!

Another valance for under our bedroom  Work stopped after Jason used up all his timber  supplies.

We also did a very severe prune of our lilypilly bushes, I forgot to take a picture but I will show you in the next post to illustrate that pruning is not done half-heartedly around here!