Simplicity 1800- the Comeback Kid!


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Simplicity 1800 in a Valerie Wells cotton was my summer go to for 3 years. It was comfy, girly and easy to throw on.  Ok, guilty admition time. This make sends me a lot of traffic from another blogger and every time I see it, I weep internally. The pic she chose is so ungainly and dumpy- yes, I know I put it out there, but dang- I look terrible in it! Not to mention the blog post its in has ‘pear shaped’ right in the title. Did she google pear shaped and find me? Perhaps. Ouch.

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I loved it. I loved it to hard- it’s been retired. I’ve held it back in the pattern bin thinking another needed to be done, but once you’ve ‘conquered’ a pattern, do you go back? I kept thinking, I’ll make this in a border print or maybe change it somehow.
I haven’t. I found this gorgeous fall bow print and kept it straight to the pattern. I’m jumpstarting fall, I know. When I put this on, I felt very country, Ralph Lauren, stand in a pasture soft-focus pet a soft-eyed goat and Fleetwood Mac music filters thru in my personal internal playlist. In this mindset, I drifted into the computer room, where husband yanked me from my reverie.
He was reclined before the double monitors, gallantly saving the world from alien destruction with his cyber dog, Katze on her ottoman pulled up right next to him. Don’t get me started on that unholy union- if I’m ever missing- dust that dog for evidence- she wants me out!
So I float in already visualizing my photo shoot snuck into someone’s pasture, looking like a nymph among God’s creation- a nymph in tapestry booties! Oh, how lovely! Oh, how……..
‘It looks like a Mennonite dress.‘
‘Wh-what? ‘
‘It’s so long and…….. ’
AAAARRRRGHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
That’s it. I’m out. You cha-cha’d on my Achilles heel. The long-repressed flashbacks are coming!
Every summer. Lancaster, PA. Dutch country. Flea markets, buggies, fresh fruit and tedium. Why do I go to Disney every year? Because every trip pays my inner child back for one trip to a farm to watch a pig birth.

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Don’t get me wrong- the food was lovely. Chow-chow. Shoo-fly pie, wonderfulness. But honestly, if you’ve seen one Amish person, you’ve seen them all.

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Barn raising is only interesting when Howard Keel and his 6 brothers are involved. I will also note that these vacations coincided with Wimbledon week- we didn’t have cable and the hotel did. Ma ate fudge and stayed in the hotel while Father and I roamed. It’s only after years of quilt-free detox that I can watch ‘Witness’ without falling into a coma.

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Did I digress? Sorry. I believe I was stomping out of the computer room with a most un-‘love thy neighbor’ gesture and comment.

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Why do men see anything without cleavage or a hem just an inch from ones lady bits and brand it ‘Mennonite’ or ‘Amish’? Does anybody else get this? I do have to go to work you know- it doesn’t involve a pole?!

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Now he did apologize- he meant that it was like a prairie style. He really did like it. Too late!!! You just basically told a home sewist that her clothing looked like the ultimate home sewists! You told me I looked like Kimmie Schmidt!? Lookin’ Plain, Ladies.

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Well, nevermind, I know I look lovely and I have a matching strainer in cheetah print for my head covering. Now,if you’ll excuse me, I have butter to churn and worldy English folks to shun.

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http://www.vevo.com/watch/weird-al-yankovic/Amish-Paradise/USZM20400018

photo credits: pattern review, little me, google. All images remain the property  of their original owners.

79 thoughts on “Simplicity 1800- the Comeback Kid!”

  1. Ignore Mr B…it is just plain gorgeous and with the boots…divine! I like it better long and flowing and so tasteful and a deep color that compliments your skin and hair. Could it be he is jealous?

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  4. gilliancrafts says:

    LOL! I work at a school that is 100% Old Order and Old Colony Mennonite, and I can say with confidence that this neckline would never fly! You look gorgeous – and you reminded me that I’ve always loved this pattern, and now I want to make it!

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  6. Not Mennonite at all! Try wearing dresses of a similar length when you also have waist-length hair worn in a braid…well, I try to repress those memories too 😉

    I love this colour on you and this is a very flattering style. I’ll make one too, then we can go and watch Howard Keel raise a barn…….

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  7. I love your dress! This pattern has been languishing in my stash wanting to be maid up. BTW It looks great on you. BTW Only that chick from Fleetwood Mac or models of rock/model parentage ever manage that breezy sexy floaty dress in a paddock thing. ARGH

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  8. mary says:

    No, I did not think scrapple or old world cult when I saw that on you. Maybe Stevie Nicks or a French country dress. I have eyed that pattern more than once, but was put off by the wide decollete. I am not in the least bit modest at heart but for the reason it surely won’t stay put on my narrow shoulders. Looks pretty perfect on you. Throw on a short denim or biker jacket and dispel all rumors.

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  14. Agnes says:

    That neckline is just perfect…An Amish person would scold you or throw a shawl over you, and men think it’s not low enough. Those are my guidelines. If there isn’t an Amish person available to shun me, I can always consult DH. He has never, in more than 30 years, seen a neckline he thought was too low. Except on Richard Simmons. The only time his eyes stray as far as the hem is when I foolishly ask him if my slip is showing. The last time, he said “how can I tell?” And then advised me to just take it off. I keep him around for his keen powers of observation and problem solving skills. There was a time when hippy-chick/meadow wandering floaty dresses made him nervous because he figured I was pregnant again. Now we can both relax and enjoy a bit of Amish Hippy Chick action when the mood strikes.
    And I love your dress.

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  19. I think you look lovely in this dress. I agree that (some) men are unable to describe fashion well at all – the dress I have on today was described by my husband as ‘medieval’ looking. It’s a similar style to the Colette Moneta so I don’t know what he means!

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  22. I thought it was lovely…especially with the boots shot in the wilderness. Though I think he strained to come up with the Amish/Mennonite comment because they don’t wear color. Your dress is a lovely color and print combination!

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  27. Karen Lyon says:

    Please give the the significant other a break on this make. In his defense, the pattern looks like chintz to my (admittedly)failing eyes. Any man could be excused for not being able to recocnize a modern style. The pattern can be misleading. The animal print would have been better. Regards, Karen

    Date: Sun, 13 Sep 2015 19:25:18 +0000 To: grumpykaren@hotmail.com

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  28. Mennonite? With that neckline? I think not. Men! They’re incorrigible.

    The dress is lovely. That’s the length I make most of my dresses – in the most unMennonite colors and prints I can find.

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  29. Some of the Holdermann Mennonites around here actually dress pretty cute (or at least the younger set does). Of course, they have also caught flak for it from church leaders, but they haven’t changed yet!* So maybe it wasn’t as much of a slur as you think? Regardless, I like your dress–it’s very fall appropriate, and that’s important in the coming months. And that color is delicious! 🙂

    *Sorry, it’s amazing how defensive you can get of a group of people once you’ve been surrounded by them and even somewhat accepted by them. 🙂

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  33. Thunder only happens when it’s raining! 😉 I love it, it reminds me of my glorious paisley frock made recently which has a similar long, romantic, rich coloured, slightly Stevie Nicks and Ralph Lauren’s Lovechild thang happening. We can rock this!

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  34. Seen one Amish, seen them all. That is hilarious, but as I have only ever seen the film I would like that in real life. They are very good looking in your picture – is that the real thing, or actors? Anyway I really love this dress on you. It is not dowdy or “modest” – it a great autumn dress – you could wear high heels or blingy jewels or a cool scarf and it wouldn’t be remotely Plain. It is a practical, comfy dress, but looks really gorgeous. I love the pink one too. Love your work Anne.

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  38. sarahstar68 says:

    Don’t listen to him! Listen to the music… I can HEAR Stevie Nicks when I see this dress! Seriously, it looks gorgeous (as did your original btw). Love the print with this style too. You were right not to change a thing. PERFECT!

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  40. tinygoldenpins says:

    I am laughing so hard because when I wore mine, my colleague said I looked like a sister-wife!!!! Mine is in a flowery Liberty print and is way too big. So, if I poof my hair up in front, I could indeed look like a polygamist babe who went crazy in a Laura Ashley fabric factory!

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