Perfect Patterning - Secret Plus Size Goddess

Tuesday, 7th July 2020

Six years ago I found ‘my’ style. An idea that had lain dormant for over two decades came to fruition and I decided to sod what everyone in the world thought and started wearing my Doris Day dresses.

Pake Muu, Hawaiian Dress, Polynesian Dress, Cheongsam, Qipao, Plus Size Clothing, Plus Size Tailoring, Plus Size Bespoke, Plus Size Patterns, Plus Size Vintage, Vintage Repro, Vintage Dresses, Vintage Plus Size, VIntage Pake Muu

My ‘Doris’ Dress

Since that day, I have never looked back.

My dresses have got bigger, more elaborate and certainly stand out. Whilst I can get a large proportion of my dresses from reproduction sellers both in the UK and the USA, I have branched out in the past couple of years and had dresses made especially for me.

Twinwood 2018

My two favourites are the ones I had made for Twinwood 2018. A green and cream chiffon dress and a navy satin dress that I have worn on several occasions including Little Chick’s graduation from University.

Graduation Day

Now I haven’t had either the time or the opportunity to get anything else made recently. Money has been of a premium due to COVID-19 and pretty much all the events had been cancelled anyway!

But then I saw a post by the fabulous Karen Harvey who makes the most sublime creations.

I decided to reach out to her to see if she would be able to make one of my biggest vintage desires come true.

A Pake Muu.

Now for those who have no idea what the hell I am talking about, a Pake Muu is a Polynesian style dress that takes a lot of influence from the Chinese Qipao or Cheongsam.

The main difference is that USUALLY a Pake Muu has long split sleeves with a contrasting colour inside.

Anyway I have lusted over this Polynesian style dress for a really long time, with no hope of finding one that would fit my dimensions.

I have looked at them so many times. Looked at people wearing them, including the stunning Jenny Tree who recently showed off this original 1950’s Pake Muu.

The Beautiful Jenny Tree in her original vintage Pake Muu

And I knew it would be a difficult thing to even get one made for me.

But as I said, I reached out to the wonderful Karen Harvey and started a conversation that led me right down the Polynesian Path.

Asking a question regarding sizing, I wanted to see if Karen could enlarge an existing pattern to fit my body.

She was brilliant, explaining that it wouldn’t be so simple as to just enlarge a pattern as my dimensions, although very plus size, were also hourglass in size and this meant that a straight Pake Muu would be very loose around my waist and not very flattering.

Karen explained that if she could find a pattern with a middle section that possibly could be ‘pulled in’, she could then add on the important sleeve and high necked area from another pattern.

Well, that sounded like a great idea!

We just needed a pattern now.

It didn’t take long for Karen to come up with the goods; a short shift style dress with sliding buckle areas at the waist. A perfect pattern for what Karen was needing.

It’s a start…

Now of course came the bigger problem.

Finding a material to make the Pake Muu in!

Tropical Islands

I have to admit, I am terrible at making decisions when I have too many options. Give me one pattern and I will go with it. Give me two and it will take me quite a while to decide which one I want.

Palm Fronds

Give me thirty and I am a bloody nightmare!

Birds of Paradise and Lobster Claw plants

So far I have sent Karen dozens of patterns that I have found and liked. Koi carp, tropical islands, ferns, hibiscus, and various flora and fauna. I love every single one of them and I am really struggling to choose my favourite.