All posts filed under: 18th Century

The unseen accessory: my 1780 bum-rump

When I originally planned the ‘Accessorise’ challenge for the Historical Sew-Fortnightly I envisioned all the things that qualified for it as being things worn on the outside of an outfit: shoes, gloves, parasols, jewellery, headgear. Then, when I planned a photoshoot with one fully accessorised outfit, I realised that sometimes an outfit doesn’t look right without an un-seen accessory. Silk stockings, a bergere hat, a parasol and the right shoes all brought my pet-en-l’aire outfit together, but the ensemble just looked a little flat and deflated without one last accessory. Enter my bum-rump. Yep.  Without it my ass just wouldn’t look big in this. I based my bum-rump on Kendra’s excellent research into skirt supports in the late 18th century  and this caricature of the ‘Bum Shop’: I went for the shape shown on the lady in the far right, only I assumed (this being a cartoon) that the original it was based on would be a bit more…restrained. I liked the shape of this bum-rump best of all the ones that Kendra trialled, and …

Tutorial: How to turn a straw sunhat into an 18th century bergere

Here’s a quick and easy tutorial to turn a modern straw hat into a mid-late 18th century bergere style hat.  It’s not, of course, historically accurate, but it’s quick, easy, and looks effective. We’ll go from this: To this: You’ll need: – A broad brimmed,  woven straw hat.  It doesn’t matter if it fits you, but it has to be woven (not braided and sewn together), and it has to be straw. – Scissors – Hot water – A round metal pan or bowl with a flat base approximately 6 inches/ 15 centimeters across – A hot glue gun –  Needle and thread – Ribbon, fabric, feathers etc. for trimming. First, have a look at a few 18th century straw hat inspiration pictures, and decide what style you want.  Note that some have very shallow crowns, some (usually later in the 18th century) a bit deeper.  Some have teeny-tiny crowns, some much wider.  Brims can be broad or narrow, can turn up or down.  Plus there are all the variants in trim.  All of these …

Terminology: What is a bergere?

Tomorrow I’m going to be doing a tutorial on how to make a mid-late 18th century inspired bergere hat, so I thought that perhaps first I should tell you exactly what a bergere is, and we should look at lots and lots of bergere inspiration. A bergere is a low crowned, wide-brimmed hat, usually of straw, but sometimes made of other materials covered in silk.  Bergere hats first appeared in the 1730s, and were popular in various forms throughout the 18th century. The style saw a revival in the 1860s, and the name was occasionally used in the decades after that to describe hats based on similar shapes, though these were more commonly called Gainsborough or picture hats.  A 1930s fashion column even makes the link between the two. Bergere literally means shepherdess (the masculine shepherd is a berger), and the style has a strong link with 18th century pastorialism, and pastoral fashions.  Bergere hats are also sometimes called milkmaid hats.  It’s easy to see how a simple, wide-brimmed straw hat would be a useful …