Diary of a Mantua Maker

1912 Evening Gown 3

2012-01-23T17:56:00.000-05:00

The silk chiffon swatches arrived today. To my horror and pleasure, I found two very close matches. One fits perfectly with the salmon charmeuse, the other with the peach charmeuse. So, it didn't help me decide between those two at all! I tried taking pictures of them both, but you can hardly see a difference that way. The salmon is darker than the peach by a decent amount when not under the sari net, rather similar when they aren't exposed. The best I could come up with are images of these two gowns which I think represent the colors pretty well (the salmon may be just a smidge darker).

Callot Soeurs 1915-16, Met

Worth 1914, Met

I've been doing numerous other projects in the mean time, including a nearly finished 1812 day dress. I've also given in and decided to do proper undergarments for 1912 since I can't get away without them for the 1912 VPLL project. I ordered some pretty cotton that looks like it has lace inserts for a combination and I started a corset which I'll be using some left-over peach striped silk for. I'll take some pictures of it all when the cotton and some lace arrives. I still want to find some more lace trim anyway. I'm also planning a linen 1910s day dress based on a picture of my Great-Grandmother, Katie.

I found some vintage eyelet lace for the trim around the neckline. I'll match it to linen when it arrives. The neck piece I'll probably just get plain silk net and do some lace trimming and embroider dots on it. I haven't found a better option yet.

Second Pair

2012-01-22T10:01:00.000-05:00

With another workshop held at my house this weekend, I've gotten a good start on my second pair of shoes. I already had the outer soles ready and one of the uppers finished.

I covered the last and outer sole with paper, then lasted and tacked on the upper. We added in re-inforcement pieces to the toe area, unlike last time. You can see the small marks of the stitches. It's inserted between the leather and fabric, but only stitched to the leather. All of that took most of day one.

A combination of a better sole leather, larger awl blade, smaller awl haft, and using 7-strand thread instead of 9 made this seaming go much faster and look much better than my first pair. I still need to work on strengthening my grip in my left hand. I think this inseaming took about 2 hours (someday, maybe it'll be 30 minutes; that would be glorious).

I also started carving down the heel to be the proper shape. It's lost some length since this point.

With the stitching done, we removed the last from the uppers and started carving out the insole. I still need to put a hold-fast in the heel area.

The upper was turned (not easy!), then I skived down the remaining flap of the outer sole so it would curve into the heel nicely. I still need to finish binding the second upper before I can start on that shoe (it's such a pretty blue wool). I have today off to recover then it's back to work on it tomorrow. I'm hoping to have this pair done by mid-February.

Twelve Months

2012-01-16T14:58:00.001-05:00

The 1912 gown is on hold until the chiffon swatches arrive (the first set didn't work) and the La Mode Illustrée pattern comes from France. I've picked up an 1810s day dress in the mean time which will start to look like more than just pieces by tomorrow. I took a break to wander through the British Museums prints and found a lovely set called The Twelve Months, dated to 1781. Now, if I could just find 11 other people and an event this would make a great group costume idea! The artist seems to have been a little color-happy, splitting garments into two or more tones when it doesn't make sense (has one ever seen a parti-color mantelet?). Still, I'd wear every one of them. Particularly August, who has given me inspiration for some pumpkin silk I have!

January looks quite toasty nestled in her pile of silks.

February is trying to stay warm and keep entertained.

March must be sewing together one of the next ensembles.

April showers bring out umbrellas and a plethora of colors!

May has hung up her mantelet and is ready for warmer weather.

June has taken a brisk ride through the country and still looks perfect.

July shows us how to protect our fair skin while still looking fashionable.

August doesn't give up being fashionable just because she's carrying a bucket of worms.

September is the time for harvesting grapes and vibrant colors.

October knows that fall is the perfect time for a fashionable riding habit.

November is taking a final stroll through the country before the weather turns cold.

December doesn't want to admit that the days are so short, staying up long after dark.

1912 Evening Gown 2

2012-01-10T14:52:00.000-05:00

Unexpectedly, the peach sari arrived today! Very unexpected considering there are two other saris that haven't made it here yet which I ordered before it. I guess I should also refer to it properly as a Dupati (like a shawl). It's even more beautiful than I could have imagined! I'm going to blind people with all of those tiny mirrors. Yep, that's right, mirrors. Those 5/8" circles every 3" or so are mirrors. And there's gold bullion of course (both checked and smooth), silver sequins, and glass bugle beads. So sparkly....

There's going to be repair work, but I'm going to wait until I've cut it to do that. I'll use the cabbage for it's bullion and fix/replace the work which has snagged and come off. Only one hole in the net though, so that's very good. I'm still going to tack it all over to chiffon so the weight won't damage it more with time.

I also have to decide between peach and salmon charmeuse. The chiffon swatches should be here in a couple of days, so I can see them all together first.

I also looked around online for interior shots of 1910s gowns that didn't have boned, structure bodices like the JA one. They all have a lining (some more sheer) and a wide waist tape. After finding these and a link to an online pattern I have a much better idea of what I'm going to be doing.

Waist tape on gold hobble dress.

Waist tape in a 1912 white satin gown.

Waist tape in a sheer 1910s gown.

1912 Evening Gown 1

2012-01-07T16:29:00.002-05:00

The design for my gown has finally culminated! I spent a lot of time looking through the original designs and finally came up with something about a week ago. I still like it, so I suppose it's a winner! I know there are tons of people making 1912 gowns this year and looking for advice/information. So, I've promised myself (and now you) that I will try to post every detail of my process this time.
First, the design:

It's a combination of the two gowns in the middles from La Bibliotheque des Arts Décoratifs:

The next question was what to use for fabric. I already know the middle layer, since the whole thing is really based around the peach sari I mentioned in my last post. I decided on silk chiffon for the top and silk charmeuse for the base. I figured these would give me the proper drape.

The fashion plates I've found have mentioned charmeuse, satin, mousseline, lace, net, velvet, voile, and chiffon. In colors like white, vanilla, cream, praline, rose, cherry, citron, blue, raspberry, green-gold, pearl-grey, turquoise, and black. Many are embroidered or beaded in gold or matching tones (some with soutache), some have sequins, some have gold lace. Edges are decorated with tassles, fringe, fur, or rosettes.

I'm going to be purchasing my fabrics from Decorative International Silks (which is the usual for me). They have a salmon charmeuse which is just the right tone. I still need to order the chiffon swatch book to decide on the color for that, though.
The bottom edge of the sari should be trimmed in Zibeline (Sable), but I can't possibly afford that! I did find a store on ebay selling rabbit fur cording, available in a dark brown. I'd rather have something a little more smooth coated, but it's a practical option for now. I can't easily use faux fur since it's such a small strip and a fabric base would unravel without finishing the edges (not easy).
I'm not sure what the neck chains will be, I have to do more research on that. Possibly pearls, beads, or rhinestones. Same goes with whatever I use to hold back the chiffon at the hip. I'm not big on fake flowers, so I'm looking for alternatives.

The next question is "How in the world is this thing put together??". Frankly, I really don't know. My previous gown was of slightly earlier style and used a boned bodice to anchor everything and keep the stiffer shape. I would think there would have to be some sort of structure like this so the gown doesn't pull down on the bodice (that "sagginess" on top would allow the high waist to drift down). But how structured? And does it need to cover the bosom, or could it be more of a waist cincher? Most of the images have a tube-top look as a base or a very wide sash. Looking at photographs of women in gowns of this style doesn't give a definitive answer either. Some look to have a hard shell, others a snug tube, some clearly have nothing holding them in.

Original garments don't help much either, since I can't root around in them. Some would very easily have a structured, or at least stiff, bodice to hold them together.

Worth 1910 Gown which is probably the only early style I'm considering scraping my whole design for. It looks like it could easily be bodiced like my earlier style. I bet I'd have enough fabric for both.....*slaps hand*

Paul Poiret 1910-11 Gown. This might be one of the earliest style to go without a structured bodice, being a Poiret. But, I would think something would have to hold up that waist seam. Especially over the smooth figure corset most women still wore.

Callot Soeurs 1915-16 Gown. Maybe bodiced, but when you zoom in you can actually see a color difference between the center front line (what appears to be a seam) and the slightly darker tones to the side of it under the lace, showing the black mannequin through the sheer layers! This bodice would have to be out of the chiffon, which wouldn't provide support for the gown at all. Yet, the satin appears to have soft pleats at the waist which would strain without support of some kind around the waist area.

1909-11 Dress. Another case where it really doesn't appear to have any stiffness around the bust, but the top blouses out nicely.

Weeks 1913-14 Afternoon Dress. I can't tell if it's the velvet sash giving the flat gown some fullness or if there might be something thicker inside.

Jean Hallée 1913-14 Gown. It's almost infuriating how close they come to showing you the interior with the shot of the tag. Clearly the ivory satin seen under the lace continues all the way around the body. Whether it had structure or was just snug I don't know.

So, I will continue my search for gowns. Hopefully finding some interior shots of this style. In the mean time, I've ordered a La Mode Illustrée pattern from 1913 in hopes that it might give me a bit more insight. These are two of the gowns in the pattern:

They have the loose, draping bodice I'm looking to understand. The one on the left has no waistband or sash to hide structure in. They both have multiple layering of draped skirts as well.
I've also gleefully signed up to do the Vintage Fashion Libraries 1912 pattern review. So, there will be a 1912 garment every month this year for me to post about!

Vintage Dresses

2012-01-06T12:13:00.000-05:00

I finally got around to taking pictures of a great many of my vintage dresses that I've made recently (ok, so some are two years old). Posting just after all the pictures of my relatives in vintage dress made sense! I'm planning on an entire 1930s wardrobe for a long Hawaiian cruise I'm taking this Spring, so be prepared for a lot more of this sort of thing.

Late '30s or early '40s in wool plaid. Simplicity 3162.

'30s in a poly suiting material. I based it on Hollywood 832, though I couldn't afford the pattern!

'30s in a sheer wool (the buckle is 19th century). Butterick 7879.

'30s in very light printed cotton. I don't know what pattern this is based on, but I found an image of a torn-up fashion book online that I liked!

Late '30s in some sort of Rayon or Poly. A mail order pattern.

'30s in cotton seersucker. Another mail-order pattern.

'40s in sheer rayon/poly. A well-worn DuBarry pattern.

My reception gown for my wedding. Silver silk lamé with glass beads. Inspired by Ginger Rogers gown in Roberta. And yes, we did do a Astaire/Rogers style first dance.

My wedding gown. Stretch silk charmeuse with a silk velvet Spencer. The buttons are death heads of course! Based on a 1950s gown, but I think it evokes an earlier time as well.

Our "rehearsal" dinner was at a Hawaiian restaurant, so I made up the classic '40s/'50s sarong dress from a cotton batik print. Unfortunately it was below 50* out that night (record cold in Florida that winter). I froze, but I still wore it!

Historic Body Shapes

2012-01-03T11:20:00.001-05:00

Taking off of American Duchess's post about vintage body shapes, I was curious to see how my families general body shape has changed over the last 140 or so years. I'm fortunate that my mothers side of the family were enthusiastic about having pictures taken, and saving them. We always said that the female genetics on her side of the family were extremely strong (I look a great deal like my mother, who greatly resembles her mother, etc and my cousins all attest to the "Rothenberger booty" as we called it in highschool). Genetically, my ancestors all seem to carry their weight in their hips. I never thought much of it until I started gaining gradual weight since college; all in my hips. But, it would be even more so the case if I wore a girdle or corset. Honestly, a lot of the women in the pictures I have seem to have very similar body shapes and if it weren't for the corset/girdle/fashion style would probably be considered "fat" by modern standards. I prefer the term "fleshy" myself (I always picture Marilyn Monroe in Some Like it Hot with that term).
Addendum: I changed the two questionable photographs. I talked with my mother about them and she recognized a few things that meant it was actually my Grandmother's family (which we all thought we had no photographs of!). I still desperately wish I had a picture of my Great-great-grandmother from that side. Turns out she was a gold-digger who married 5 times, divorced three of them!

Jennie (Carter) Heavilon [b. 1856]. My Great-great-grandmothers youngest sister.

Hannah (Carter) Zaring [b. 1837] and her two daughters Lucy [b. 1857] and Daisy [b. 1872]. My Great-great-grandmothers oldest sister and nieces.

Linnie Inez (Carter) Rothenberger [b. 1854]. My Great-great-grandmother. 11 children definitely means wide hips!

Sarah (Beisel) Ruch [b. 1858]. My Great-great-grandmother.

Edith Pearl (Rothenberger) Burkhalter [b. 1883] and Eva Henrietta (Ruch) Rothenberger [b. 1884]. My Great-grandfathers sister and my Great-grandmother. Eva married into the family in 1903, so I'm guessing the picture is just after that.

Edith Pearl (Rothenberger) Burkhalter [b.1883]. Same person as above, just a few years and fashion change later.

Katie (Spencer) Keller [b. 1894]. My great-Grandmother holding my Grandmother.

Katie (Spencer) Keller again with my Grandmother and her sister Edith [b. 1902].

Katie (Spencer) Keller [b. 1894]. My Great-grandmother.

Maxine (Keller) Rothenberger. My Grandmother [b.1918].

Irene (Rothenberger) Frazier [b. 1909] on left. My Great-aunt.

Ruch/Roscoe family event. My Grandmother (Maxine) on right.

While some of these ladies could be considered "skinny" by modern standards without their foundations, all of those pictures place them at pre-child ages. After that they all have more significant curves. Oh, and note the feet of the lady on the left in the picture just above. Those don't look tiny to me. My mother said the Rothenberger/Ruch side always had big feet (I get my narrow feet from the Kellers and Shalkowskis). My Grandmother has small feet, but she's always worn too small of shoes. They were poor when she was little and she had to wear her buttoned up boots far longer than she should have. Now, she's just accustomed to having tight shoes.

This just emphasizes why having the proper undergarments for the time AND for your body shape is so important. You may not easily be able to train your waist and posture in to that lovely 1900s S-shape above, but that dress would look awfully baggy and wrinkly without a smooth corset. As for body shape I have a 27" waist and a girdle from What Katie Did that I love to death. It smoothes out that little bulge we all suck in in front with no effort and almost no discomfort. I can't imagine a 1930s bias cut gown without it!

1771 Dishabille

2011-12-31T09:44:00.000-05:00

While looking for references to riding habits, I came across this little gem. I know what the description sounds like to me, but I'd love to hear your opinions (I feel biased). It's from the Kentish Gazette 28 September 1771.

Dear Madam,
My sister is so impatient for your account of fashionable articles, that she obliged me by this post to give you what she calls the sequel of my last letter. Thus then, in compliance with her orders, I enter upon my description of the dishabille recommended to us by on T----e, a mantua-maker.
The sleeves are close at the wrists, in the nature of your Brunswicks; but, instead of covering the neck, it is fitted to the make of it, and the turn of the shoulder; the back however has no plaits, but is taken in in the same way as a riding habit, and is likewise sloped on the sides, from which and the back it falls elegantly loose, and the slopes, by gradually increasing to the very bottom of the skirt, which is a tolerable length, supplies the whole fullness necessary to make it hang gracefully; it buttons down before with a kind of false stomacher, for the robe itself comes with a loose fold from the top of the sleeve, that forms the front breadths in like manner as the back; the petticoat is of the same and besides its having a very pretty, it has one very singular effect, that it improves the appearance of a fine woman, and conceals every defect in an ill made one: the mantua-maker assures us that it is a recent importation, and that none but a few families, and those of the first distinction, have yet seen it in England.....

Riding Drefs

2011-12-30T16:31:00.001-05:00

While searching through the Lewis Walpole Gallery last summer I came across many images of riding habits, not all of which were the typical design we are accustom to seeing. I started collecting up these to get a better idea of when or what it was. Although there seems to be a variance of style (two in particular), I'm just going to define what follows as "unfitted Riding Habits", meaning they lack a waist seam. It seems to come into style along with the Polonaise gown, and some distinctly resemble it down to the wrinkles. Some are more military in style, one fashion plate of this style defines it as a Bavarian Frock, while the others have a tapering collar with a tie for closure in front. There were many other images that looked like they might be unfitted, but I really couldn't tell if it was just the artists quick rendition (especially since the arm usually covers the seam).
I was in the Millinery/Tailor shop soon after and Mark Hutter had made a habit based on the Polonaise style (you can see the final product on Sarah here). He mentioned that it might even be called Riding Habit a la Polonaise. It took me up until this month to really delve into documents to find any references to that particular style. I found three potential references to a Riding Habit a la Polonaise (or commonly Polonese), and a few good ideas of colors and interesting comments I'll post at the bottom.

In the Public Advertiser, April 15 of 1779: PARMENTIER, lately from Paris, Ladies Robe and Mantua-maker, makes all sorts of ladies dresses in the present taste; as Polish, Circassian, Italian, and Levee gowns for the country; Caraco a la Provencale, Riding-Habits a la Polonoise, and all sorts of corsets.

In the Morning Post and Daily Advertiser, January 31 of 1775 there is a Habit-Maker advertising that he makes "Masquerade dresses, and a la Polonaise". I can't quite guarantee he isn't referring to a gown of that style, but it's something to keep in mind once I know more about who made Polonaise gowns (probably dependent on usage since "Polonaise" seems to come up in reference to Masquerades early on).

In the Gazeteer and New Daily Advertiser, January 1 or 1776 there is a long list of items available and prices beside them. Under "Habits made of:" is Superfine 4 9 0, Cassimere 4 14 6, Neatly Trimmed a la Polonaise 5 5 0, and Ratteen for winter wear 3 13 6.

1778: Miss Wicket and Miss Trigger

1778: The Favourite Footman

1778: The Female Fox Hunter (Proper Dating)

1779 "Fraque a Bavaire"

1779: Reynards Last Shift

1780: A Scene in the Park

1780: A Soft Tumble after a Hard Ride

1780: The Ladies Shooting Poney

1781: Satirical Print

1781: The Sudden Explosion

Public Advertiser August 23 1776: Grey with Scarlet lining and Stone with Green lining.

Gazeteer and New Daily Advertiser March 14 1777: A lost Riding Habit of "green striped cloth, lined with pink silk and pink silk waistcoat."

Gazeteer and New Daily Advertiser February 1 1779: A "cloth coloured riding habit lined with pink silk".

Gazeteer and New Daily Advertiser May 31 1779: The Duchess of Cumberland seen wearing a "Pea-green" riding dress.

Lloyd's Evening Post August 14 1780: Riding Habit of "Superfine Claret Broad Cloth".

Gazeteer and New Daily Advertiser October 24 1780: A brown Riding Habit lost.

Gazeteer and New Daily Advertiser August 15 of 1776: Riding Habits of kerseymere faced with silk, cloth, silk, jean, jenner, and nankeen.

Gazeteer and New Daily Advertiser November 7 1776: Riding Habit of cassimere.

Bath Chronicle November 6 1777: Riding Habits are continued to be made in the most fashionable taste in plain or superfine cloth trimmed with silk 5 5, silk waist 5 15, with high-polished steel 6 6, elegant patent buttons 6 16. A dress with French Boullion frogs, and silk waistcoat 7 17 6. Ditto with frogs of gold, silver, and different colour folio, and silk waistcoat trimmed in proportion 8 16 6. Fashionably bound with a striped or flower tissue waistcoat 9 9. Scarlet cloth, half a guinea; striped or spotted 35s. addition to the prices above-mentioned.

Gazeteer and New Daily Advertiser January 31 1778: Riding Habits of cloth faced with silk 5 5 0, with gimp or frogs 5 15 6, jean 4 4 0, nankeen 3 13 6. In "foreign or English fashion".

London Courant and Westminster Chronicle July 4 1780: Riding Habits of superfine Kerseymere fac'd with silk 5 0 0, superfine cloth fac'd with silk 4 14 6, fine jean or jennet 3 11 0, nankeen 3 0 0.

Gazeteer and New Daily Advertiser October 31 1780: A Riding Habit of cotton with metal buttons.

Caledonian Mercury December 9 1782: "Superfine printed Paoli for fashionable riding habits"

General Evening Post June 13 1778: "The only tonish undress at present among the ladies of all ranks is a scarlet riding habit, faced of the colour that distinguishes the regiment of militia in which their husbands, their lovers, or their keepers now serve, at the different encampments."

Morning Post and Daily Advertiser April 22 1780: "Ladies Riding Hats made peculiarly light, and of the best qualities; of a most delicate white, without the least dusty powder in them, a merrit no other sort of white hats can claim; are also dyed of various fine colours, and if required dyed to match habits. The black are remarkably light, and of superior quality to any yet every offered to the public."

1912 Ensembles

2011-12-28T12:50:00.001-05:00

After two months of constantly watching ebay for vintage saris, I managed to score two perfect ones in the last week. Now, I can move onto designing an evening gown and an aesthetic outfit (with harem pants of course!). I'm trying to use the Ballet Russes as a basis for my color schemes, particularly Scheherazade.

Peach is one of those colors that looks really good on me, but doesn't often get used. I love their combination of it with the green tones. So, I kept on a look out for anything in that range. I found these two saris:

They're both silk net (nearly impossible to find in yardage!). I'm going to use the less embroidered portion of the green for the harem outfit, the heavier part will eventually be a 1920s gown I think. The peach is going to be an evening gown. I'm thinking about carefully removing some of the gold work and placing it elsewhere to vary it up.

The hardest part is the design itself. I still haven't settled, but I think knowing what fabric I'll have will help tremendously. In terms of using the heavily encrusted goldwork, these styles pop out at me the most (from La Bibliotheque des Arts Décoratifs):

For the harem outfit I'm fond of these:

LACMA 1913 Lounging Pajamas

Paul Poiret design

LACMA Callot Soeurs 1912

Above all else, know this: there will be tassles.

1910s Evening Dress Inside-Out

2011-12-13T13:05:00.000-05:00

Well, 1910 narrowly edged out in first (but had some fervent supporters I must say!). So, here it is. I must preface this with the fact that I was using this gown as a practice piece and in a hurry. No, they did not have sergers, but I didn't exactly have time to hand cast. I had planned to just machine stitch everything but the hem, but the silk chiffon had other ideas.
I based the gown on the example in Janet Arnold. Checking measures it seemed it'd be the right size, boy was I wrong! The waist was fine, but the bust was far too large. Of course, this was discovered after cutting everything out. I made some weird adjustments to the shoulder and sleeve pieces because of this.

First, I suppose, comes the fabric. I purchased a vintage sari (supposed to be silk, but a synthetic gold net instead) and silk charmeuse and chiffon (never EVER trust nyfashioncenterfabrics colors online). After dying the silks to no longer be the most hideously bright yellow-greens ever, I got to work. I had to interline the bodice with a sturdy cotton since the charmeuse wasn't going to hold shape.

I used bias tape for the boning channels (left loose at the top 1" as per original) and the bottom edge. The top is folded over raw and the lace sewn on top (I did this as the very last step of the whole gown). The bodice is a little long for my short waist, but not too bad.
You can see the separate undersleeves here. The inside edge has narrow elastic in it to keep the sleeves up (the top is tacked once to the outer sleeves). There's also a re-enforcement of double chiffon running along the bottom. I had to trim the undersleeve sections down a lot to fit on the reduced bust (after hand-sewing them first of course...ugh). These were attached to the outside of the base bodice with raw edges showing on bottom. This is the reason you wait to finish the top edge of the base, easier to sew through one layer than two plus lace.

Next, the outer sleeves were attached in the same way. I lined them with the chiffon as well to keep color consistent. The hem of the sleeve was the edge of the sari, but I had to stitch a separate border on to the neck edge.

The nastiest piece was the pleated outer bodice. The original used a very sheer, thin net with embroidery done on top to hold down the random tucks. I was using a much thicker net, unwilling to stay put, with no embroidery to hold it down. This meant I had to hand stitch the pleats into place. It's not pretty, unfortunately, but it was the only way I could get it to stay put. I spent at least two days tucking and untucking that bodice, both on me and the mannequin, to make it look random enough. I also had to use much less fabric than the original in some areas since it just wouldn't obey. Thankfully, the bottom edge (like many others) was left raw and hidden under the sash, so I just cut it off to the needed length!

The off-set edge of the tucked bodice is what hides the center back seam. The velvet bands hanging down also overlap because of this. You can see that there is a center back opening on my skirt overlay. Unfortunately the sari was not wide enough to mimic the original overskirt. I made mine much narrower, only darting in on the sides rather than seaming, and leaving the center back open at the bottom. All of the skirts were left raw on top and covered by the velvet sash.

Lots of hooks and eyes. I should have put more snaps on the skirt placket (but I was technically on vacation at that point and only brought four). The placket slips between the skirt and base bodice on the right.

The originals hem was much longer in front and back. My front goes only to the floor (for walking and fabric saving purposes). They left a split in the side seams to floor level for that reason. I tried that, but didn't like the look without the longer front. I love the way the train pools when still and flicks about when you walk, but it made it nearly impossible to navigate any crowds on the ship.

I must say I learned a great deal from doing this gown. Something I hope to apply to at least two or three 1910s outfits I'll be building next year. I'm still just waiting for that perfect sari to appear for one of them!

Ordering Custom Shoes

2011-12-03T15:30:00.000-05:00

When purchasing a pair of period shoes, it's best to be as specific as possible. The more you know about what you want, the easier the conversation and the better your chances of getting just the right pair. No one wants to spend over $200 for something that isn't what you want, doesn't look right, or isn't correct (something I know all too well). The options for pre-made shoes are slim, but fairly good. None of the ones I've seen would pass as an original, but they aren't meant to. They're modern interpretations. How many times have you heard people bemoaning how tiny feet were "back then" or how they could never wear a pair of shoes that uncomfortable? You can't sell those shoes in-mass to a tennis shoe-wearing public, it just doesn't make sense. But, if you are the type, like me, who is willing and wanting a much more correct shoe (no matter the comfort), custom ordering makes sense. But, there are even fewer options for doing that. And, personally at least, there are none even remotely near-by. So, here are all of the terms and specifics you'll want to make note of in ordering. I'm covering the period of 1760-1785, all of the extant images are from the Shoe Icons site again.

Construction Method
There are three methods for making shoes at this point; turned, randed, and welted.
The yellow shoes I made were turned, literally. Made inside out, then flipped. The outer sole is stitched directly to the uppers. This style is around and fashionable for all of our time period. It is the least durable, since it cannot be re-soled and has to have a thinner sole to be able to be turned. However, this makes it the daintiest of shoe styles.

See how the sole almost blends around the edges? These are tapered to be as narrow as possible at the edges, but thick under the foot.

The stitches go through half the thickness of the outsole then come up through the uppers. The insole is pasted in around the front, but stitched to the heel cover in back. Those tapered edges are trimmed and pushed up to blend into the upper latter.

Randed shoes are losing popularity by this time period. That's not to say they don't exist, but the English seem to use them much less commonly after 1760 (this is the only post-1750 example on the Shoe Icons site). It makes for a much sturdier shoe, and the sole can be replaced. The rand is stitched to the upper, then the rand is stitched to the outsole, all right side out.

The small white strip between the uppers and sole is the rand. It isn't always white, but that seems to be most common.

The stitches attaching the rand to the outsole are tucked in deeply enough that you don't see them without prying the uppers back.

Welted shoes are considered the sturdy shoes. This is often how men's shoes are made (both period and modern). Much like randed shoes, but the small leather strip is left flat, rather than folded, and the stitches aren't tucked in to be hidden.

This pair of men's boots shows a very clear separation between the welt and the outsole.

The stitches between the welt and outsole aren't hidden, making it very easy to resole this style. And very thick on the edges.

Uppers

The uppers are made of the vamp and quarters. Ladies shoes of this time use straps and buckles (ties are low-class until we reach the style shift of the late 1780s). The placement and style of the seam between vamp and quarters defines the time.

The straps cross at about the instep point, already much lower than pre-1760s styles.

By the 1780s, the straps are even lower; the quarters are long and the vamp shorter.

The "dog-leg" seam is also phasing out of style.

Tongues

The two options of the time are square or pointed. Square is going out, while pointed is coming in.

The ends of the straps tend to mirror the tongue, being rounded when square tongued or pointed for both.

Toe

The toe shape rounds out in the 1760s (after the tiny, upturned points of earlier), but the pointed style is coming back in by 1780, just a little more rounded than before.

Heel

Heels are slimming, eventually lowering in the 1780s. This is a case were there is more than just one style, and the thicker heel is still popular well into the 1780s. Every heel is unique in shape, really. Note these are all wood heels, not stacked leather.

Fabric

I already covered fabric options pretty well in a previous post, so I won't go in depth here (and that whole thing is still apparently a touchy subject). However, one very fun option during this time is a contrasting heel and straps (or just heel). Most often this is because the main fabric isn't going to stretch around the heel curves gracefully, so white leather is often used instead (you can see the wrinkles on the shoe heel above). Colored leathers and fabrics are found as well. This is done for fashion reasons as well, and the binding often co-ordinates with the heel contrast.

Fashion History Dolls 4

2011-12-02T15:13:00.000-05:00

The last group!

1888: House of Balmain. "The inspiration for this dress was a design created by Worth for the Empress Elizabeth of Austria. Empress Elisabeth of Austria (1837-1898) was the wife of Emperor Franz Joseph (1830-1916). She was known for her keen fashion sense as well as strict health and beauty regimen."

1889: Marron.

1890: Georgette Renal. "This dress was inspired by a design by Redfern. British-born designer John Redfern opened his salon in the English seaport town of Cowes. As the house's popularity grew in Britain, it was expanded to the United States, and later Paris in 1891 under the design direction of John Poynter. After years of success Redfern was "By Royal Appointment to Her Majesty the Queen and H.R.H. The Princess of Wales" in 1888. After Redfern's death the house continued under the direction of Poynter, becoming a member of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture."

1892: Germain Lecomte. "The inspiration for this dress came from a painting by Leon Bonnat (1833-1922)."

1894: Fourrures Max

1896: Bruyere. "Though the exact garment is not known, the inspiration for this dress came from a design by Jacques Doucet (1853-1929)."

1900: Calixte.

1902: Robert Piguet.

1903: Canada Furs

1904: Louis O'Rossen.

1906: Elsa Schiaparelli.

So, which one is your favorite? I'm rather in love with 1902, but I do also like 1867, 1788, and 1762.

Fashion History Dolls 3

2011-11-29T09:50:00.000-05:00

1855: Véra Boréa. "The unique style of this dress, representing the year 1855, was taken from one launched by Empress Eugénie during her trips to the Pyrenees Mountains. The skirt is lopped up by tabs from the underskirt. The shoes are particular highlights of this ensemble, featuring incredible care and

minute detail."

1863: Weill

1866: Marcelle Chaumont. "The inspiration for this doll came from a painting by Winterhalter. Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1805-1873) was a German painter best-known for his royal portraiture. His most well-known works include portraits of Empress Eugénie and Empress Elisabeth of Austria."

1867: Jacques Fath

1870: House of Balenciaga. "Balenciaga's doll was inspired by a dress made for Princess Metternich. Princess Metternich was a great patron of the arts, and responsible for introducing Charles Fredrick Worth to the Empress Eugénie, his greatest client."

1873: Madeleine Vrament.

1874: Jungmann

1876: Jacques Heim

1878: House of Lanvin. "The house of Lanvin was inspired by the paintings of Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema when designing her contribution to the Gratitude Train. Alma-Tadema (1836-1912), was a Dutch-born painter who later settled in England was one of the most renowned artists of late 19th-century. He painted classical subjects, most often scenes of the luxurious Roman Empire. Known for his meticulous research, Alma-Tadema's paintings were used in the 20th century as source material for several Hollywood movies including, "Ben Hur", "Cleopatra", "The Ten Commandments", and "Gladiator". Though Lanvin's doll represented the year 1878, the classical draping and brilliant colors of Alma-Tadema's work are evident in the design."

1880: House of Dior

1884: Nina Ricci

Fashion History Dolls 2

2011-11-27T08:51:00.000-05:00

The next 10 Dolls:

1791: Martial & Armand. "Martial & Armand, a long-standing and reliable, if minor part of Paris couture designed this dress after an engraving by Boilly. Léopold Boilly (1761-1845) was a French genre painter and engraver, known for his depictions of Parisian life and culture."

1797: Jeanne LaFaurie

1800: Raphael. "The doll by Raphaël represents the Merveilleuse style of the early 19th century. The Merveilleuse were the female counterpoint to the Incroyables, royalist sympathizers noted for their exaggerated style à la Grecque and anti-revolutionary ideals. Thérésa Tallien was at the forefront of this movement, becoming a fashion leader, along with Josephine de Beauharnais, of the French Directory. Tallien's personal style was the model for the age. She famously arrived at the Paris Opera once wearing a sleeveless silk dress with no underwear. Though the masses did not adopt the extremity of Madame Tallien's style, the paper-thin gowns with flesh-colored knitted undergarments were surely in imitation of

her daring."

1808: Madame Gres. "The 1808 gown is an interpretation of the style à la Grecque as worn by Empress Josephine, the main fashion originator of the period along with Thérésa Tallien. The design is taken from one made by Leroy, couturier to the Empress. Hippolyte Leroy was the tailor to Empress Josephine responsible for creating the empire gowns she was famous for. This version of the gown was appropriately created by Madame Grès, famous for her love of the Grecian style and draping techniques."

1811: House of Paquin.

1816: Alex Maguy

1820: House of Patou

1828: Henriette Beaujeu

1830: Madeleine de Rauch

1832: Marcelle Dormoy. "Marcelle Dormoy's creation for the Gratitude Train was designed after a dress by Mlle. Palmyre, whose salon served the ruling class, including Queen Marie-Amélie and Empress Eugénie. The quality of construction is particularly fine and evident in the pantaloons of this doll"

Fashion History Dolls 1

2011-11-26T10:39:00.001-05:00

I came across a set of these dolls while searching for dresses on the Met Museum's site. While I can't say they're perfectly accurate, they do all have research put into them and evoke their periods well. Here's what the museum says about them:
"In 1947, in response to the suffering of post-World War II France, an American grassroots campaign organized a large-scale relief package. The following year France, moved by this generosity, organized a gift in kind. As the aide was sent to France housed in boxcars and dubbed the "American Friendship Train" the French created the "Gratitude" or "Merci Train", a set of 49 boxcars filled with gifts of thanks. Each of the 48 states was to receive a boxcar with the 49th shared between Washington D.C., and the Territory of Hawaii, which had contributed sugar on the Friendship Train. A wide array of items was included in these cars, from handmade children's toys to priceless works of art.

The Chambre Syndicale de la Couture de Parisienne, who, to raise money for the French people, had two years prior organized the Theatre de la Mode, a group of fashion dolls dressed in clothing from the 1947 couture collections, chose to create a new set of fashion dolls, this time representing the evolution of French fashion rather than the current season. Once again, the Syndicat tapped the most talented and well-known fashion designers, hairstylists, and accessory designers of the time to create these miniature masterpieces.

The unique design of the fashion doll, originally created for Theatre de la Mode and used again for the Gratitude Train was conceived by Eileen Bonabel, the plaster head by the artist Rebull. Each doll measures approximately 24 inches tall, with bodies made entirely of open wire. Human hair was used to fashion the hairstyles. Each designer chose a year between 1715 and 1906 for which to dress his doll. Their varying sources of inspiration included works of art, literature, and historic fashion plates. The Gratitude Train fashion dolls represent a unique moment in the history of couture as they represent not only creative interpretations of historic fashions by the greatest designers of the period, but also are infused with the unparalleled skill, care, and attention to detail that would have been applied in their full-size counterparts. "

I'm posting about the first 10 today, there are 43 overall.

1715: Marcel Rochas. "The inspiration for this dress came from the painting L'Enseigne de Gersaint by Watteau. Antoine Watteau (1684-1721) was best known for inventing the fete galante, a genre characterized by outdoor parties and bucolic scenes in idyllic settings. L'Enseigne de Gersaint was actually completed in 1720, five years after the date of the Rochas design. Watteau created this work for his friend and art dealer, Gersaint's shop, where it is believed to have hung in the window as a sign. This painting, in addition to being an interesting study of everyday life in an art dealer's shop, is an excellent example of the famous "Watteau pleats". The fashionable women in Watteau's fete gallants were so often depicted wearing this style, that they became known as Watteau pleats."

1733: Jean Bader. "Jean Bader used a painting by Lancret for inspiration. Nicolas Lancret (1690-1743) was a French painter known for depicting scenes of light comedy and courtly life under the regent Orleans."

1755: A. Reichert. "This design by the furriers Blondell is credited as being a "Manon Lescaut" style. "Manon Lescaut", published by Antoine Françoise Prévost in 1731 typifies the lyrical emotion of rococo literature and inspired several stage productions including a ballets and operas by Massenet and Puccini."

1762: Edward Molyneux. "Molyneux's contribution features janseniste panniers, and was inspired by a portrait of Madame de Pompadour by de la Tour. Janseniste panniers were shorter and lighter-weight, stiffened with horsehair or boning and popular in the second half of the 18th-century. They were similar to English pocket panniers and allowed the wearer to access pockets in undergarments. Maurice Quentin de La Tour (1704-1788) was the French portrait artist to King Louis XV of France from 1750 to 1773. During his tenure, one of his many subjects was that of Madame de Pompadour (1721-1764), the famous courtesan and official mistress of Louis XV. "Madame Pompadour" (1755) depicts her in her home surrounded by books and works of art, alluding to her desire to enlighten the French court with the intellectual developments of Parisian culture at the time."

1774: Jean Desse s. ""Les Adieux" by Jean-Michel Moreau le Jeune provided the inspiration for this dress by Jean Dessès. Moreau le Jeune (1741-1814) was a French illustrator and engraver best known for his illustrations recording fashionable dress and interiors in the "Monument de costume physique et morale" published by L.F. Prault in 1776-1783. The original etching and engraving is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection."

1779: Lucille Manguin. "Moreau le Jeune's painting "Le Rendez-vous" was the inspiration for the 1779 doll. Jean-Michel Moreau le Jeune (1741-1814) was a French illustrator and engraver best known for his illustrations recording fashionable dress and interiors in the "Monument de costume physique et morale" published by L.F. Prault in 1776-1783. The original etching and engraving is in the Metropolitan Museum of Art collection."

1785: Maggy Rouff. "Maggy Rouff designed this gown after a fashion plate from "La Galerie des Modes". "La Galerie des Modes" is credited as the first publication of fashion plates, printed by Parisians Jacques Esnauts and Michel Rapilly in 1778."

1787: Mendel. "Philibert-Louis Debucourt's painting "La Promenade au Palais Royal" was the inspiration for this doll by Mendel. Debucourt (1755-1832) was a French printmaker and social satirist known for his depictions of French society. "La Promenade au Palais Royal" caricatures the indulgent and frivolous nature of French society including prostitutes and other undesirables leading up to the French Revolution."

1788: Jacques Griffe. "Jacques Griffe's contribution to the Gratitude Train represents the year 1788. Griffe worked in the house of Vionnet where he perfected his draping and cutting techniques, developing a style similar to Vionnet in its mastery of bias and the human form. Griffe served France during World War II, even being taken prisoner before returning to Paris in 1941 to open his house . This dress was inspired by the polonaise costumes made popular by Marie Antoinette during her sojourns at the Trianon palace. The Petit Trianon is located on the grounds of the Palace of Versailles. The small chateau and surrounding park were given to Marie Antoinette as a gift from Louis XVI. There she enjoyed dressing in the style of the working class while escaping the pressure and intrusiveness of royal life."

1789: Agnés Drécoll.

Gettysburg

2011-11-22T13:26:00.001-05:00

This past weekend I joined a group of friends up at Gettysburg for Remembrance Day (my first Civil War event!). I managed to make my whole outfit in about four weeks, don't ask me how. My future schedule is much lighter, so I should be able to break down each piece (and all those prior outfits I hadn't yet) very soon.

How to fit four cage crinolines and Mike in one hotel room....

Snagged a quick picture in the mirror.

Mike, Samantha, Gwendolyn, and Maggie; almost ready to go!

Borrow the above two images from Maggie.

My gown is a mix of wool, silk, and linen (camlet). The ribbon is china silk which I dyed to be similar to indigo.

This is by the end of the day, so my hair is a little disheveled. The bun is a hair piece; the comb I purchased that day.

The collar and undersleeves are very light cotton with lace trimming. The buttons are antiques (which matched perfectly!). Knife pleating the ribbon took going to Plan E, but I didn't have to iron in the pleats individually, so I'm happy about that!

Bonnet pattern from Timely Tresses, as is the ribbon. The lace is the same as on my dress.

I used silk taffeta to cover. The paper flowers are from 32 Degrees North on Etsy.

The paletot is medium weight wool with velveteen trim. All four sets of the glass buttons are different (as is the single one on the point in back seen far above). The trim design is based on an original from Kent State.

Our group changed throughout the day, we almost had a gaggle at a few points. Here is Amanda, Maggie, me, Gwendolyn, and Samantha (who I need to tackle and steal clothing from).

On Sunday we took a tour of the battlefield with our friend Tyler giving us an amazing history lesson. It's a gorgeous place if you ever get to go. They've recently been working to remove and add trees to put the land back to its 1863 state (even adding apple orchards!).

All in all, a fine end to a wonderful weekend (even if we technically went to Needle & Thread after this).

1860s Ensemble

2011-10-31T12:14:00.000-04:00

I'm going to Gettysburg for Remembrance Day in mid-November, meaning I have less than three weeks to make an entire 1860s outfit. I swear I haven't been putting it off, I just really haven't had time! I did manage to pull together all of the supplies I need so I can just work straight through with no delays.
I'm starting basically from the skin out, although I am using my 18th century shift for now. I based the corset off of the blue silk at the V&A (in their Underwear in Detail book) and the cage crinoline came as a kit from Wooded Hamlet. Both are *almost* done. The cage I was trying on for balance and just need to attach everything to the waistband. The corset is wearable, though I will be adding lace on the top and flossing eventually.

The corset is a layer of cotton sateen (which I dyed) and two layers of white coutil. I used german plastic for most of the boning. It was the first time I've used it and I do like it so far; we'll see how it feels wearing long periods of time.

I have a much higher waist in back than in front and I'm still trying to learn how to deal with it (or maybe just lay off the icecream for a bit....).
Considering all I had as of Friday was a basted corset with no boning channels, I'm doing pretty well!

Happy St. Crispin's Day!

2011-10-25T09:52:00.000-04:00

Today is the celebration of the patron saint of shoemakers. Keeping in theme with that, and realizing I haven't posted in ages, I thought to do a quick post on how my work has been going in that area. Since finishing the first pair of shoes we've gone back to basics and have been working on putting together a period kit for me (and learning the basic upkeep like sharpening a knife).

First comes the actual tool box. Mine isn't quite finished, but almost. It's made from oak (although pine might have been a less weighty choice). Right now it's unfinished and only glued together. The hand-forged nails you see next to it need to go in with some help from a drill to prevent splitting. And the wood will be finished with linseed oil, which I both love and fear (yay for spontaneous combustion). You'll notice the strange handle. I made this from a hammer handle. The nail in the end prevents the handle from coming out, until you want it to. There's a bit of speculation as to why handles were removable and why that had that funny little notch in the middle. The belief is that you use it in conjunction with your strap. Usually this holds the last to your leg, kept taught under your foot and around your knee. But what happens when you need to work the last laterally? Place the strap in the notch and the handle under your feet! You'll also see a couple of leather strips set up to hold tools around the edges, I need to put in two more to finish it out.

So what's held inside this lovely box? So far I have my notebook and my last (with a new instep leather being made since we carved the wood down for my unusually narrow feet). To the left is my apron with a sheepskin on the chest area to keep from cutting myself since you work blade towards you (scout masters run in fear!). The leather strap and gauntlet (for hand protection when pulling on threads) are in back with a small (and borrowed) strop. To the right we have the shoemakers hammer (only used on leather, not metal), a rasp/file, and pair of dividers. Just to their left is the pair of lasting pincers (which the funny growth on is used for hammering tacks) and a bone creaser (for opening up channels made in the leather). At the bottom are my GORGEOUS four awls (I just got new awl hafts!!!) and knife. The awls all have different purposes and I will have many more eventually. The largest will be a pegging awl, the two medium are curved, and the small bone one does fine stabbing work. I need to sand down the blades a bit smoother though.

Currently I'm still missing a pair of nippers for pulling out tacks (mine broke), a new and larger strop, a few more awls, and I'm sure many other things. What you don't see that I do have is the paste, grease, wax, threads and boar bristles, glass shards, leather scraps, tacks, and numerous other minor items.
I'm beginning to understand why this isn't a popular profession! But it sure makes Christmas easy for the family. And gave my husband an excuse for a band saw.

I'm planning on coming back to posting next week as I'm starting on my 1860s outfit! Can I do it in just three weeks?? And I've got two workshops to attend coming up as well; one on shoes again and another on tailoring techniques.

Sailing Away

2011-09-23T17:16:00.001-04:00

I apologize for this being fairly short, I'm still exhausted!
I just returned from a trip to Disney World and a short cruise on the Disney Dream. Usually, neither of these warrants a costume post, however, seeing as I was in DW when they started their Halloween party and I managed to squeeze making two outfits in for the cruise, I do have a few photos.

The pirate costume I wore in DW is not new, but getting to wear it inside a park is! I don't know if I've posted it here before, though. The jacket is loosely based on a German woodcut from around 1750. I wasn't looking for total accuracy, just something lighter and easier to pack than a gown! The main fabric is worsted wool, the facings and cuffs are linen. The stomacher is boned, the buttons are metal with ships wheels, and the tie is a lucet cord.

Barbossa came over to greet me during the parade, and, of course, I rode Pirates of the Caribbean then waited to take a picture with Captain Jack Sparrow.

On the day we boarded the ship, I wore a late 1930s style gown which I had an original pattern for. The fabric is linen dimity (from B&T). There's a grosgrain ribbon bow and I happened to have a number of vintage buttons that were just perfect in my Grandmother's stash.

I'm not sure it was the best choice, considering how many times I was stopped to ask if I was a particular "character" on the ship (or other questions about the cruise itself). At least they had the time period right, since the ship is Art Deco.

The last outfit was for the final night. We had a reservation to eat in Remy's, which is a fancy Art Nouveau restaurant (there are five main courses, not counting things like amuse bouche and petit fours). I'm also planning on making a 1912 gown in the near future. So, I decided to quickly throw one together based on the pattern in Janet Arnold to wear on the cruise and to give me experience for the nicer one. I used a vintage sari for the over pieces, silk chiffon between, silk charmeuse, and silk velvet. Unfortunately I had to dye the chiffon and charmeuse because they arrived in hideously bright shades of lime green (so not what the pictures looked like online).

1790s Gown 3

2011-08-17T08:39:00.000-04:00

I'm unusually busy at the moment, and will be for at least the next two months, so a very quick post of pictures of the gown will have to do for now. I'll spend more time on the garment construction later.

Three photos below courtesy of Julie Rockhold:

I bustled the back of the gown so I could dance!

Pictures were taken at the Gadsby Tavern's Jane Austen Ball.

Embroidery

2011-08-03T15:56:00.000-04:00

I can say that I am SO glad I have a machine which does embroidery. The whole process is certainly complicated, but it only takes two weeks to do a massive quantity of work.
It all starts with a sketch. This helps me to layout the size and decide how the designs need to be broken apart to fit in the hoops.

From there I'll take tracing paper and make nice ink drawings with all the details. The lines on this one show where the design will extend past the hoop, so it will need to be separated somewhere.

I scan it into the computer and Photoshop solid colors into the areas, no borderlines. The colors have to be a bit extreme for the embroidery program to recognize the differences easily.

I'm still not sure I have a full grasp of the program, but I can get it to do most of what I need. Once the image is placed in the program it adjusts it based on the number of colors you say you want (helpful if you're doing a photograph, etc). Then I just click on each color section to turn it into embroidery. This has to be done in order, with separate colors so it will tell you when switch threads. I used a satin stitch, the stitch angles were all changed to correspond with the original.

I can either test out the embroidery using cheaper threads (which I did to almost all of the designs) or print off the pattern to give me placement marks. This is what I called a connecting piece. It's what went between the major designs and had to be adjusted into four different designs in order to match up at the right angle. Testing both sides four times each would have been more than necessary, so I just printed.

You can see how the long feathers are actually broken up into sections. This is to allow me to gradually adjust the stitch angle to have it follow the curve.

Some of my designs I marked with thread for hoop placement. The connection pieces were more adjustable, so I would chalk in the shape and find where the marks needed to sit to match up the design, then just chalk in the placement marks. They didn't have to last very long. I would make a few final adjustments on the machine. Some were to move the design into the exact place. I also adjusted some of the other numbers to give the right effect. I set the stitch fill to 90%, told it to adjust by .2 mm over the edges (they say it's for pull compensation, I use it to get rid of spaces between small designs), and set the maximum stitch length to 8mm.

I used mostly silk thread:
Light pink: Clover 036 (sz 50)
Mdm pink: Clover 037
Dark pink: Clover 055
Beige: Clover 043
Green: YLI 220
Lt Green: YLI 218
Gold: YLI 239 Silk Sparkle
Silver: YLI 224 "
Bronze: YLI 223 "

Revamping a Pair of Shoes 2

2011-07-25T09:22:00.000-04:00

Sometimes you just need that unique pair of shoes, but don't have time/money/knowledge to make or order them. With all the effort I'm putting into my 1790s gown, it would ruin it to not have at least a decent pair of shoes. However, with so little time, there's no way I can learn how to do a pointed toe last (often done with a metal tip when this severe) and make a shoe. So, I dug out an old pair of olive green pointed toe pumps from who knows how many years ago to do some work on. The heel is horribly incorrect, but it's really the toe which will be seen since I have a train. Looking around for inspiration I found these three images (first two from Shoe Icons, the third I see often but know of no source).

They all have a relatively simple trim around the toe area. Pleated small ribbon with a "bow" of some kind. The last pair was particularly interesting for some reason, it looks to be layers of pinked silk tacked down. I happened to have some ribbon and silk scraps the exact color of my shoes, so off I went to work.

They are by no means perfect, the choke is just too low compared to extants, the toe a bit too long, and the heel very tiny. However, it's better with a slight trimming distraction, and maybe I'll be able to make a proper pair of shoes by the time I need to wear the gown again!

1790s Gown 2

2011-07-22T12:41:00.000-04:00

Things are coming along nicely with the gown. Except that I ran out of the second most important embroidery thread very quickly. I've since ordered more and will get other things out of the way while I wait. I have the gown assembled, the sleeves embroidered, and the first three (of twelve) sections almost completed with embroidery. No sequins on the skirt yet, sadly.

I did a full mock-up first, so that I would know just how much fabric I needed and could work out any tiny kinks. The bodice is terribly forgiving, so not much changed there (I think I rounded the neckline slightly more on the final version). I did end up making a second pair of sleeves since the first didn't have enough sleeve head.

The biggest problem, however, was the skirt. I tried two panels, but it just wasn't enough. The train turned into a tiny fish tail instead of fanning out. So, in the silk version I used three panels and then continued to cut the two backs narrower at the side seams until it felt right. I think I started with around 81" per side, cut it down to 72" (6 designs per side, 12" apart), then removed just a little more to reach 66".

The first, small bit of embroidery on the train. I used nice silk thread, some is wrapped with metallic. It's all very shiny.

The train fans out nicely now. Still a bit fidgety, but I think it's because the taffeta is rather stiff. A few pounds of sequins around the hem will force it down! I also had to expand the placement of pleats at the back. Forcing them all into the space of the back width wasn't working. It just formed a funny lump over my rear.

I did the embroidery on the sleeves by hand, since it was so tiny (and much easier to manage after it's stitched and hemmed).

You can see all my little marking threads for placement of the hoops. Much more reliable than chalk.

The sketch for the design. It's expanded a bit since then (adding in extra hem). I then used tracing paper to do detailed inked sections, splitting it apart. I scanned those in, colored them, and converted them into embroidery.

Regency Gaming Night

2011-07-18T10:46:00.000-04:00

This weekend Gwendolyn and I drove up to Fredericksburg to attend a Regency gaming night at Jenny's (JennylaFleur). It was a great deal of fun! We had a small photo session outside before beginning. There was Cribbage, Whist, and Speculation. We found our way to the table with Speculation, but I must admit our table eventually dissolved into good conversation.
I wore my 1809 Muslin gown. I rag curled my hair, then used a curling iron to fix up the front portion, wrapped a ribbon around it and pinned a large gold brooch in it. I wore cameos for jewelry. I was one of the least sparkly people there, but I'll make up for it at the August event with the 1790s gown!

Photo courtesy of JennylaFleur

1795-99

2011-07-15T08:03:00.000-04:00

This seems to be a crazy time period. After spending a great deal of time looking at just evening gowns to decide upon mine, there are so many options! When else do you see so much asymmetry, sleeves a different color than the bodice, contrasting colors, and crazy feathers?? I can only assume this is what happens during a massive fashion shift where they haven't quite mastered designing with the new textiles yet, and still commonly use the old fabrics in silhouettes not quite suited. Keep an eye out for varying sleeve styles, waist height, neckline shapes, and closures.
This is also the point where I'm going to stop categorizing everything the same way as before. At least for this five year period, there are too many options.
Sleeves: Long, just above elbow, or short. All fitted.
Bodice front: Gathered on cord, crossed, or low under bust.
Bodice back: Small diamond shape, some with numerous small pleats.
Skirt: Open and Closed. Sometimes gathered in front. Pleated in back, very small up to large box pleats.
Length: Trains common for evening and some afternoon.
Waist: Some natural waists still seen, most at underbust.
Fabrics: Cotton and silk most common. Small repeated prints and solids.

MFA Silk Round Gown, late 1790s

Met Cotton Print Gown, 1795

V&A Cotton Print Gown, 1795-1800

V&A Cotton Print Gown, 1795-99

Met Silk Open Robe, 1797

V&A Cashmere Shawl Gown, 1797

Met Cotton Print Gown, 1798

Met Embroidered Cotton Gown, 1798

Met Silk Open Robe, 1798

Characters in High Life, 1795

Everybody Out of Town, 1796

The Gallery of Fashion, 1796

A Promenade, 1797

Beauty and Fashion, 1797

The Graces Comparing Sandals, 1798

The Family Party, 1799

Transparent Pieces, 1799

Shoemaking Workshop in NY

2011-07-06T17:52:00.001-04:00

As I'm sure you've seen, I recently finished my first pair of ladies 18th century shoes. This was done, in part, through a workshop offered by Brett Walker. He's currently an apprentice shoemaker at Colonial Williamsburg and has been making shoes for a number of years now. While my workshop was split over a long period of time, he's planning on doing a ladies shoe workshop in upstate New York later this summer. I had such a wonderful experience with it, that I very excitedly offered to get the word out about it. I've posted his description of it below. If you're interested, have questions about the price or anything else (including accommodations) feel free to contact him at boot_smith (at) hotmail.com . If you would like a phone number or mailing address to contact him, I can give that out, I just think it's better not to post it publicly!

The site for the shoemaking workshop is being narrowed down, now, to one of two places: 1) Eastfield Village (Don Carpentier's place in East Nassau, NY); or 2) the new Mars Education Center at Fort Ticonderoga. There will be an eight-hour stitching workshop on the Saturday prior to the full class (20 August) that will be open to the publick.

This part is a prerequisite, of course, to the full shoemaking workshop, and the fee is included in the total class fees for students of the entire class. However, this day will also be open to the general public as well for a stand-alone $60-per-person fee. We will cover measuring and making up of threads, attaching bristles, shoemaker's stitch, round-closing, split-and-lift stitches, "subcutaneous" whip-stitches, stabbing stitches, & perhaps some miscellaney like how to make black wax, &c.

Sunday the 21st will be a short recess, and then the shoemaking class will begin in earnest at 8:00 a.m. on Monday morning, 22 August. The first hour-and-an-half or two hours will be a brief seminar on men's and women's shoe fashions, ca. 1700-1800, in which we'll be attempting to "raise the bar" of the attendee's awareness of stylistic and construction details in the various decades of the 18th-Century. This will most likely be open to the public for a $35 stand-alone fee, but that has not been confirmed.

At ten o'clock, we will take a brief break, after which those folks who are taking the full six-day class will dive right in to making instruction, wrapping up by five o'clock on Saturday, 27 August. When the workshop is completed, the students should have at least one shoe finished and perhaps a second one started.

1790s Gown

2011-07-01T10:38:00.001-04:00

Well, apparently I am just that insane. I've fixed myself upon making the purple 1790s gown from KCI. You can find it in both Fashion and Revolutions of Fashion. Now, I can't reproduce it exactly, seeing as I need it for August and I'm not exceedingly rich. Figuring that I can use some machine embroidery, a few other short cuts, and try to find comparable materials it should be feasible. Overall, the effect should be similar. Frankly, I don't think anyone is going to fault me for using pre-strung sequins or metallic thread instead of real gold. It's going to sparkle either way!
The first step for me was to break down exactly what was originally used, then try to find an affordable comparison.

First, fabric. I'm assuming that I won't stumble across a figured purple silk at $20 or less. So, I found a plain silk taffeta which is fairly similar in color from Renaissance Fabrics. I happened to already have a swatch of it, so that was the easy part. There's a small quantity of appliqued pink silk as well, which I have the perfect taffeta for already.
The long strands of sequins were, of course, hand-stitched on one by one. Now, I can find pre-stranded 6mm gold sequins for 83 cents a yard on sale at MJ Trim. I've never had the opportunity to compare modern to antique sequins, but that should do fine. I also purchased some loose of the same style for the smaller designs.
There is a large quantity of what appears to be small gold beads all over the designs; on the pink silk, inside the leaves, in the middle of sequin flowers, etc. They look almost like un-flattened sequins. I found 4mm brass rondelles which look similar. However, to purchase enough would be between $60-100. I'm not sure I can justify that much on just one small aspect. So, I'm trying 4mm cupped gold sequins, since that's only a $10 investment to at least try to make them work.
Then there is the larger border of metal pieces. They appear to be foil over a black solid ring (wood, resin?). As much as I would like to remake those, it just isn't practical. I looked around for 8mm gold/brass pieces that either had two holes or ran through, but what few there were were expensive ($1 a piece or so). I also found 8mm metal sequins, so I'm trying those out for about $4.
The regular embroidery is done in silk, which makes that very easy. The metallic feathers are not difficult either. I'm assuming they were originally a brighter (untarnished) gold. However, the large swags are done with chenille. That is certainly not running through a machine, and is difficult to sew even by hand. I know it needs to have a different finish than the basic silk. YLI makes a silk thread with metallic wrapped with it, the colors are subtle enough to look akin to the original. I'm also debating on a wool/acrylic fuzzy blend. I'm thinking the silk/metallic might look less out of place. And for all I know my machine can do some sort of chenille stitch (I need to look into that).
There is also the rope belt and large tassels. MJ Trim also has metallic cord in a nice brown-gold. I ordered some 1mm for making tassels and 6mm for the main rope.
All together, this is still going to be a very expensive endeavor, but it could be far worse. I'm hoping to make a full mock-up of the gown today so I can start sketching out the embroidery designs. That's creating it's own problems, however, in the fact that I can't find an image of the back. So, I'm making some assumption I'll talk about later.

Striped Caraco Jacket

2011-06-29T22:40:00.000-04:00

I ended up with about 1.5 yards of a beautiful silk striped taffeta from searching for fabrics for a client. I pondered it for a while, not knowing what I could possibly make out of such a small amount. Then I came across this jacket. I had to try. Turns out, it was practically made for it. The first thing I did was figure the width based on the stripes. I used the measurements from my own stripes rather than trying to figure out the originals, since I would optimally like the stripes to line up in a similar way. I used some old shapes from other garments to work out length measures. I threw together a mock-up on Saturday night, which fit almost perfectly! I worked all of Sunday and most of Monday, and got to the point of trimming and inserting the sleeves. It was a very quick and easy garment to make, thankfully.

The stomacher is a separate piece, pinned in for wear. There are tucks which run the entire length of the front, only tacked down from the bottom of the armscye to the waist. The front trim tapers as it goes up.

The fronts and backs are actually one piece connected through the skirt, the only full length seam being center back. I treated the construction similar to the Polonaise gown, with backstitched side seams.

The lining is only to the waist, attached to the pleats so it doesn't show on the waistline. You can also see where I did a short cut by cutting the fronts on the selvedge, so I only had to fold it back once and stitch the trim over it rather than roll it.

For the trim, I folded back the edges to finish. The bodice trim was gathered using a whip stitch a varying distance from the edge to create a little ruffle. The inside edge was tacked down with small tucks sticking up. The cuff was done similarly, but with an extra gathering line near the top.

The front tuck is left loose over the shoulder.

Under the Redcoat 2011

2011-06-27T09:54:00.001-04:00

This was the third year I attended (I avoided the heat last year), and was the best year yet. There seemed to be a very fleshed out camp and swarms of guests with cameras (we stopped counting pictures taken after the first 15 minutes of attendance). Gwendolyn and I arrived on Saturday morning and promenaded about the town. In the afternoon we were fortunate enough to join an amazing team in serving the Officers Dinner. The tradition of this is that the Ensign would set up a large meal to impress superiors. The Ensign in real life is a food historian. I can not begin to explain the enormity of this meal. We served about 40 separate dishes to twelve officers. Some had been baked ahead of time (the apple cake needs to sit in the cold for a while in order to be edible!), but a great deal of the dishes were cooked over the open fire outside that day. I'm still in awe of the cooking team. There was even ice cream! I, of course, didn't get any pictures of that, but I know many other people did (and I think a CW guy was taking video of it as well). It'll turn up somewhere and I'll share it then. We also attending the evening behind Chownings Tavern, came back Sunday afternoon to watch the troops march out, and attended a harpsichord concert with some other beautiful costumers that evening (we were under dressed!).

I made two outfits for the weekend, day and evening. I didn't start my evening jacket until late Saturday night to be honest, it was a last minute decision. Fortunately there was a pause in shoe making on Sunday and Monday, so I was able to do all but trim and insert the sleeves then.

My day ensemble was a Polonaise jacket in cotton dimity (from B&T). The trim was inspired by the portrait of the Duchess of Gordon. It's all hand-rolled. Pleated on the petticoat and sleeves, but gathered around the bodice. There are silk gauze ruffles around the neck and sleeves as well.

There was also inspiration taken from this image which has a very nice length and balance. The ribbon is wide silk satin which I dyed to go with my parasol. You can also see my pretty yellow shoes poking out!

I think the back is my favorite part though. It just fits so well and curves over the small bum roll perfectly. I did my hair with rag curls, using a rat on top and three small hair pieces in back. I was asked once if hedgehog type styles were use to cover up hair loss. After the weekend, I'm more sure they caused it!

My evening ensemble was of a caraco jacket and petticoat based on this extant. I made the jacket from about 1 1/2 yards of 54" wide silk, so there was definitely not going to be a matching petticoat. I didn't have any pieces larger than 2x2 left over! It's a silk taffeta stripe, very light weight. The trim is folded under at the edge and gathered. The inside edge is tacked down with small pleats.

I tried to match the stripes to the originally as closely as I could manage. There are three seams in the back, however I cut the bodice as only two pieces. I would have made it one, but I needed 64" of width for the skirt. There is also a pleat that runs from the top of the shoulder down to the waist in front, partially stitched down.

I'll be going more in-depth on the ensembles later and hopefully I'll stumble across some images of the camp area I can link you to. Oh, and my shoes did wonderfully! They still look great, the dust and dirt doesn't show on the fabric at all. My feet are tired, but that's because I walked about for two days! I will admit to adding a small insert for the ball of my foot on Sunday to help with fatigue.

Cordwaining 3

2011-06-24T09:10:00.000-04:00

I officially finished my shoes yesterday, so I figured I should finally catch the blog up to the process! Last time I had assembled the uppers and was beginning to work on the soles.

Once the sole is fleshed and cut down to shape, the "hold-fast" is put in. That's simply where the stitching area is. In this case, there's a 1/4" section around the outside which is cut down. A grove is opened up 1/4" in from that. The awl holes run between those two sections, fanning out around the toe.

Once the sole is finished the whole last is wrapped in paper. Since I'm working with a silk which will be up against it, there needs to be protection. Wet leather bleeds easily and other things can rub off of the wood and stain.

The upper is then lasted, inside-out. There's a specific process to this, starting with the heel up an inch, then lasting the toe and pulling the heel down. From there it's just a matter of working back and forth to remove the wrinkles and stretch everything tightly.

The paper around the sole is ripped off and stitching begins. The awl holes are extended into the uppers and opened up as much as possible without ripping out. The thread is actually 9 linen threads twisted with shoemakers wax and each hole has both ends passed through.

Once the stitching is finished, the extra allowance is cut back and hammered down. You can see the wrapped threads which are helping to hold the instep leather in it's place. They'll be cut for unlasting and turning.

At this point, the concept of turning looks impossible. The sole leather is wetted down carefully so it doesn't bleed into the upper to help.

Once a certain point is reached a stick of some kind is used to help turn. Carefully pushing left, right, center on the sole while gently pulling on the tongue.

Side view of turning. It's almost fully turned. You can see the paper which is sticking out of the stitching area. What can be seen/reached will be removed, but many originals have small paper scraps in this area.

Both shoes have been turned and the insoles have been cut down to shape.

The shoe on the right was my first and I made the awl holes too deep. You can see a "ladder" effect on the bottom.

The wooden heels were partially shaped, but much too large. Here it's been trimmed down to a proper shape.

The insole is prepared in a very similar way to the sole. The outside 1/4" is cut at an angle so there's no bump visible in the upper once finished. The front portion is also angled out to almost nothing on the edge, but it's much more gradual. There is also a peg holding the front portion in rather than the tack in the back. This allows for the insole and last to be inserted into the shoe at the same time. The small slit will allow the last to be pulled out easily in the end.

Paste is applied to the front portion of the insole and the last is inserted back into the shoe (with a lot of pushing and pulling). The sole is pulled back and tacked to keep out of the way.

I originally was going to make the heel cover out of the silk, however when it was tried it just wouldn't stretch and give enough to form the complex shape. So, it was removed and a whittaw heel cover was stitched on instead. The heel is pasted in and the leather is smoothed as much as possible over it using tacks and tape to draw the center down. There will also be some stitching back and forth along the front of the heel to pull the heel cover together.

Once the heel cover looks nice and the paste has dried, the sole is released and pounded (wet) to the shape inside the heel. A few tacks hold it temporarily.

The finished shoes! The sole has been trimmed back to a nice point, flush once it reaches the heel.

There is fine stitching to hold the sole to the heel cover. The wooden heel is held in because of this snugness and the paste. There are two pegs driven into the heel through the sole for a bit more stability. There is also a second piece of leather attached to the bottom of the heel. The first one is stitched on around the edges. The second one is only pegged on, making it more easy to remove when it wears out.

You can see how the stitching runs around the bottom of the heel cover.

There are many "issues" I can now see with my shoes. Nothing serious, but things I want to improve the quality of next time. The speed and quality of the second shoe was dramatically better, so hopefully things will continue to get easier every time. I'll be testing them out this weekend, so the final question of how comfortable they are will be well answered!

1790-94

2011-06-17T11:34:00.000-04:00

This is the time period where the waist begins to rise. Many gowns have their waist emphasized by a broad sash (could the appearance of a higher waist have developed from these?). We can see the transition from the fluff of the late 1780s to the slender column of the 1800s.

Front

Closure: Closed front and Crossed v-necks

Neckline: Broad and rounded or V

Skirt opening: With Fitted bodices 8" plus, with v-necks can be none, Round gowns common

Waistline: Pointed and flat most common

Back

Style: Quarter backs most common, some English still seen

Skirt Pleats: Often less than 1/4", some with cartridge pleats

Shoulder Span: Sleeve corner very high and narrow

Sleeves

Long sleeves in two-part and Elbow length in one-part.

Trim

Sleeves: Small ruffle at hem of sleeve

Style: Mostly hem ruffle on petticoat, some trim down skirt opening

Edges: Rolled hem

Content: Self-fabric or contrast fabric

Fabric

Solid silk, cotton gauze/muslin, printed cotton, and some embroidered muslins

Shape

Waistline is rising quickly, emphasized by sashes. The bum has lost fullness, but the puffed kerchief is still common.

CWF Cotton Chintz Jacket, 1790

MFA Ribbed Silk Gown, 1790

LACMA Silk Gown, 1790-95

LACMA Muslin Gown, 1790-95

Telling Fortunes in Coffee Grounds, 1790

Taking Water for Vauxhall, 1790

Appointment, 1792

Disappointment, 1792

Go for a Looby Go, 1792

Introduction, 1793

A Man Milliner, 1793

Shepherds I Have Lost my Waist, 1794

Damon & Delia, 1794

Emma Corbett, 1794

Summer, 1794

Autumn, 1794

Bum Roll Rigatta

2011-06-15T09:40:00.000-04:00

Today will be a short post. Things are a bit stressful right now (and will be for two weeks) which seems to be aggravating my arrhythmia. So, I'm saving the 2-3 hours I've been taking per post and getting some work done. I'll be back with the timeline soon. In the mean time, here's a random, fun image from the world of the 18th century:

The New Rigatta, 1777

1785-89

2011-06-13T09:46:00.000-04:00

We've reached the period where the Chemise gown comes in. Though this is by no means a universally taken up style, you can see the echos of gauze, sashes, and collared necklines in other gowns. Large hats, hair, bums, and bosoms are ripe with comedic possibilities if one takes it too far.

Front

Closure: Closed front most common, some use lacing for closure

Neckline: Very low and open, rounded

Skirt opening: Over 8", almost to sides in some cases, Round gowns coming into vogue

Waistline: Pointed, squared, flat, and curved

Back

Style: English backs and Quarter backs very common

Pleats: Very narrow, some inverted for even smaller look on English backs.

Skirt Pleats: Often less than 1/4", some with cartridge pleats

Shoulder Span: Sleeve corner very high and narrow

Sleeves

Long sleeves in two-part and Elbow length in one-part.

Trim

Sleeves: Most have little or no trim, some with large gathered gauze cuffs

Style: Ribbon, narrow fabric, some contrast fabrics flat with trim edges

Edges: Rolled hem, trimmed, or some pinking

Content: Gauze, self-fabric, and contrast all common

Fabric

Stripes, solid, and some small prints or brocades. Cotton chintz prints and cotton sheers popular.

Shape

The front line is extremely bowed out. Very full skirt, in back as well as sides. Bum rolls very common, balanced with puffed kerchiefs. The polonaise has left, the skirt hem now trains behind slightly.

V&A Cotton Print Gown, 1785

Met Silk Stripe Gown, 1785-90

LACMA Printed Cotton Gown, late 1780s

LACMA Silk Stripe Gown, 1785

KCI Painted Silk Gown, 1785

Vaux-hall, 1785

Thames Waterman, 1785

The Bum-Bailiff Outwitted, 1786

The Lady of the Manor, 1786

The Love Letter, 1787

Reflection, 1787

The Rival Favourites, 1788

Restoration Dresses, 1789

1780-85

2011-06-10T10:38:00.000-04:00

The word of the day is Poofy. Gauze and Cotton seem to be taking over the fashion world. You see them used for aprons, trim, caps, bonnets, kerchiefs, petticoats, and gowns. The Duchess of Devonshire and her sisters take over the satires in 1784, pushing for votes in some fashionably fluffy gowns, as well as a few *ahem* attention-getting styles (I'm sure completely made up).

Front

Closure: Almost all closed front, cut-away styles seen as well.

Neckline: Very open, rounded corners (one needs something for modesty).

Skirt opening: Over 8", almost to sides in some cases

Waistline: Pointed, squared, and curved

Back

Style: English backs and Quarter backs very common

Pleats: Very narrow, some inverted for even smaller look on English backs.

Skirt Pleats: About 1/4"

Shoulder Span: Sleeve corner very high and pulling in towards center

Sleeves

1 piece, slim fit, often end below elbow point. Full length sleeves popular with short jackets, occasionally found on gowns.

Trim

Sleeves: Cuff style, bows, or without trim.

Style: Gathered and puffed, simple ribbon, some pleated

Edges: Pinked or folded edge (either roll-hemmed or folded under)

Content: Gauze, self-fabric, and contrast all common

Fabric

Stripes, solid, and some small prints or brocades. Cotton chintz prints becoming popular.

Shape

The front line is bowed out. Very full skirt, in back as well as sides. Bum rolls very common. Flounces on petticoats or gauze overskirts help to balance fullness of polonaised skirts. Kerchiefs often tucked in front for "pigeon breast" look.

CWF Cotton Print Gown, 1780

Met Cotton Whitework Gown, 1780

Met Cotton Print Gown, 1780-85

Met Silk Print Gown, 1780-85

Met Silk Gown, 1780

The Contemplative Charmer, 1780

Miss Calash in Contemplation, 1780

A Man of War, 1781

The Bird of Paradise, 1781

An English Sloop, 1781

The Beauties of Kings Place, 1781

A Rich Privateer, 1782

A City Officer, 1782

Rural Life, 1783

The Citizen at Vauxhall, 1784

March, 1784

1775-79

2011-06-08T10:54:00.000-04:00

The Polonaise takes over, be it in full Robe a la Polonaise form or just lifted skirts. Short jackets begin to appear fashionably and the rump is a new source of comedic value for satirists.

Front

Closure: Almost all closed front, a few stomacher fronts still seen in formal dress

Neckline: Very open, rounded corners

Skirt opening: Over 8", almost to sides in some cases

Waistline: Pointed, flat, and curved

Back

Style: English backs and Quarter backs very common, Sacque backs still present but less common

Pleats: Very narrow, some inverted for even smaller look on English backs.

Skirt Pleats: Often less than 1/2", some only 1/4"

Shoulder Span: Sleeve corner very high and pulling in towards center

Sleeves

1 piece, slim fit, often end below elbow point. A few full length sleeves appear, not clear if one or two piece construction.

Trim

Sleeves: Some larger ruffles still seen, cuff style trimming very common with small round ruffles.

Style: Many new and creative shapes and styles seen. Pleating, puffing, gathering all used.

Edges: Pinked or folded edge (either roll-hemmed or folded under)

Content: Self-fabric, contrast fabric, and some gauze

Fabric

Stripes, solid, and some small prints or brocades.

Shape

The front line is beginning to bow out. Fullness is present in the skirts back and sides, panniers becoming rumps. I found the silhouette of the skirt shape almost round.

CWF Silk Taffeta Gown, 1778

Met Silk Robe a l'Anglaise, 1775

Met Robe a l'Anglaise, 1776

V&A Quarter Back Gown, 1775

V&A Robe a la Francaise, 1775-80

Two Ladies in the Newest Dress, 1775

A Bagnigge Wells Scene, 1776

The Cork Rump, 1776

Slight of Hand by a Monkey, 1776

The Married Macaroni, 1777

The Feather'd Fair in a Fright, 1777

New Full Dress & Fashionable Undress, 1778

Good Advice, 1778

Summer, 1779

Mrs. Eliot by Thomas Gainsborough, 1778

1770-74

2011-06-06T10:34:00.000-04:00

I noticed in looking for period images that there seemed to be a running theme after 1771 of macaronis and love (be it courtesans or an old man after a young girl). For our purposes, the fashion still does quite well. I avoided most of the macaroni images because of their blatant exaggeration. As for the fashion itself, I found a great many fancy sheer aprons and Polonaised skirts.

Front

Closure: Stomacher and Closed fronts equally common

Neckline: Much more rounded, with lower necklines

Skirt opening: Varies greatly, often covered by apron

Waistline: Pointed, flat, and curved

Back

Style: Both Sacque backs and English backs seen

Pleats: Narrowing across shoulders, bringing neckline in to match

Skirt Pleats: 1/2" or possibly slightly less

Shoulder Span: Corner of sleeves still distinct, but beginning to narrow and rise slightly

Sleeves

1 piece, slimmer fit, some end below elbow now. Pleats at top of shoulder.

Trim

Sleeves: Large ruffles still seen, great emphasis on the lace portion in size. Some have no fabric ruffles, just simple trim, but most likely had lace/cotton at the time.

Style: Gathered (some single line, more of a ruffle), pleated, puffed. Straight trim of 3" or less width common.

Edges: Pinked most popular

Content: Self-fabric, occasionally in contrasting color

Fabric

Solid silks and occasional stripes. A few painted silks and subtler print brocades still seen (often two-toned).

Shape

Very straight, stiff cone bodice. Skirts width often comes from pulling up the hem, although panniers would still be used. This gathering up of the skirt also pushes more fullness to the back of the gown, rather than the oval shape seen earlier. The widest point is now sitting at the low hip level.

CWF Painted Silk Gown, 1770

Met Silk Gown, 1770

Met Silk Gown, 1770-75

MFA Silk Brocade Gown, 1770

Met Cotton Print Gown, 1774

The Fond Doves, 1770

The Cotillion Dance, 1771

The Ladies Disaster, 1771

The Paintress of Macaroni's, 1772

The Polite Macaroni, 1772

A Pantheon No. Rep., 1772

An Evenings Invitation, 1773

A Decoy for the Old as well as the Young, 1773

Amorous Notions at Fourscore, 1774

The Invitation, 1774

The Linley Sisters by Thomas Gainsborough, 1772

The Love Letter by Jean-Honore Fragonard, 1770

Weekly 4/29-5/4

2011-06-04T13:41:00.000-04:00

I've been branching outside of sewing for an occasional break, trying out different forms of silhouette work. Historically, you can find cut paper, ink, and watercolor. One I found was a reverse cut of white paper with black silk to fill in the space, the edges worked in detail with watercolor for gauze trim. I've been doing paper cut for a while, although I have preference to do full body silhouettes in that manner.

This is an inked silhouette on paper, about 4" high. I'd like to try watercolor on the reverse of glass sometime.

This is a multi-color layered silhouette. A modern style (they sometimes did paint areas of color though), but based on an 18th century fashion plate. There's more detail in person that shows in the picture (the flowers are two-toned, etc). It's about 8" high.

One of my favorites from a while back is based on an 18th century lace pattern. I sold this one, so alas, I cannot get a better image of it.

I'm beginning to pull together and finish up everything for Under the Redcoat in three weeks. I've been trimming my polonaise jacket, lasting my first pair of shoes, and trying to decide what to do with the little amount of hair I have (still more than I'm accustomed to). I do know I would like to try powdering my hair this time. I've seen good reviews on Bumble & Bumble hair powder as well as Lulu. I'm leaning towards B&B, just because it seems like it would be an easier (less messy) application in large quantities. I've faked hair powder on actors before using white hair spray, but that stuff was rather uncontrollable in saturation and horrible to get out (the poor guy had white sections of hair for the whole show run despite numerous showers).

Finishing up threads and ready to make awl holes in the sole.

Sole is finished, last is wrapped in paper to protect the silk (you can see bits of paper in extants!)

Upper is lasted (inside out), ready to start stitching to the sole.

Despite the amount of work I have for the next month, I'm beginning to look ahead to future projects. At least one 1912 gown is on the horizon, as well as a small trousseau of Civil War garments. While I have a design for my 1912 (to come later), I can decide on colors. I purchased some swatches of chiffon the other day looking for a robins egg blue/light aqua, but they were all far too light in tone to be noticed on top of an ivory satin. I do have so much love for this color combination as well, but I'm not sure it would do well for my design. It would also require net instead of chiffon, which seems like it would be nastier to machine embroider and not quite what I need.

V&A Design by Madam Paquin

And then for 1860s, there's this outfit, taunting me with tiny images and no zoom. I think the trim is pleated velvet ribbon with small edge stripes. The fringe is chenille with small beads on the ends, I found another jacket at the Kyoto museum with the same (and zoom). Can't tell if the flowers are applied trim or lace. Anyone know Danish??

Tidens Tøj 1860s Silk Faille Gown

1765-69

2011-06-03T10:00:00.000-04:00

I found that this period of time didn't have any drastic changes. You could see the similarities to the early 1760s with hints of the 1770s appearing (particularly in 1769). The trimming seemed to have the most change, although it was still subtle. Most changes are so minute it's difficult to differentiate between an individual preference and an overarching style. There aren't as many extants from this time shown, not because they don't exist, but because most are labeled 1760-69 or 1765-75. It really can be hard to tell.

Front

Closure: Stomacher, Closed fronts begin to appear.

Neckline: Square, some rounding begins (especially with closed fronts)

Skirt opening: Still narrow, around 6"

Waistline: Points and flat bottomed stomachers added to curved bottoms.

Back

Style: Both Sacque backs and English backs seen.

Pleats: Pleats still large, take up shoulder span. Beginning to narrow, particularly at waist of English.

Skirt Pleats: 1/2"+ for English, some Sacques have pleating in front.

Shoulder Span: About 10" before armscye. Neckline begins to raise and narrow slightly.

Sleeves

1 piece, looser fit, end above elbow. Pleats at top of shoulder.

Trim

Sleeves: Ruffles shorten and become rounder. Single layer fabrics seen, although triples still common. Cuffs can be pleated or plain.

Style: Gathered and Pleated. Waved and Straight (which is becoming more common).

Edges: Pinked and Trimmed.

Content: Self-fabric, fly-fringe, or lace.

Fabric

Brocades still very common, prints becoming smaller and less intense, although older fabrics are still being reused. Solid Silk Taffeta, painted silks, and stripes are very common.

Shape

Very straight, stiff cone bodice. Wide skirts, over hoops or panniers. Draping the skirts up can be seen. Not quite "Polonaising", but seems to be utilitarian (or copying that style). Front skirt points tucked back to keep out of fire and dirt, or pulled up towards the pocket slits to avoid dirty streets soiling the hem. I also found a great deal of aprons in images (more copying of the pastoral style?).

Met Silk Gown, 1765-70

V&A Silk Brocade Gown, 1765-70

Met Silk Brocade Gown, 1765

Isabella, Viscountess Molyneux by Thomas Gainsborough, 1769.

The Studious Fair, 1765

The Seamstrefs, 1765

Divinity in Danger, 1766

Grown Ladies & co. taught to Dance, 1768

The Canonical Beau, 1768

Lord W- G- Habited as a Millener, 1769

Statute Hall, 1769

High Life in the Evening, 1769