This past week I participated in “A Marvelous Week,” a Marvelous Mrs. Maisel-based challenge hosted by @katieemilyl on Instagram. Katie and I were both finalists in the Made Like Maisel contest in 2019 (she won first place, I won third). We share a love of all things retro and Mrs. Maisel, so I was very excited when she came up with this challenge!

Each day had a different Maisel-related theme. Monday was “We Got the Rabbi!” and the theme was to wear something you would shout good news in. I chose my Sew Over It Joan Dress for the occasion. And as I am typing this I’m realizing I have a (store-bought) white coat that probably would’ve gone really well with this and created and even closer Midge look, but I completely forgot about it! Oh well…

Tuesday was a challenge, as it was all about hats… and I don’t have any! I’ve never been all that into hats, so I participated in spirit by choosing one of my retro-inspired recent makes: the Sew Over It Betty Dress with the checked skirt and the little bow detail. I figured I might as well keep up the Maisel theme, sans hat!

Wednesday was the day I was most excited about, because it meant I got to wear my Made Like Maisel contest dress. It’s a reproduction of a dress Midge wears in the Catskills on the night of the final dance. I have always been so proud of this recreation… and I haven’t worn it anywhere! However, having it on on Wednesday made me want to wear it everywhere! This is another Betty dress that I modified just slightly (the back is not a v-shape, I raised it and the skirt is lined).

Thursday we visited Miami with Fontainebleau Fashion! Although I did reproduce a dress from the Miami episodes on the show, I decided to save it for Friday’s theme, and instead chose my Sew Over It Kitty Dress. I felt like the colorful polka dots had the spirit of the Fontainebleau episodes! I haven’t worn this dress in so long and I was instantly reminded how much I love it!

Finally, Friday was a performance dress. I chose my reproduction of the “Miami After Dark” dress for the occasion. In case there’s any argument over why this one counts as a performance dress, I’m going to say that Midge definitely performs in it when she briefly makes an appearance on “Miami After Dark” with Lenny Bruce! It may not have been intended as a performance dress, but she definitely performs in it! Disclaimer: though I did wear the dress today, this is a picture from my initial photoshoot so I could have the blog post ready to go this morning!

It was a fun week, and really has me looking forward to wearing all of my fancy clothes again!