All posts filed under: Miscellenia

Five for Friday: Summer- Autumn-Winter-Spring-Summer-Again 2019 Catch up Edition

Here’s a big catch up post of things I’ve been doing in the last 8 months year (this post has been a long time in the writing!): 1. I cut 13″+ off my hair I have crazy Rapunzel hair, and this year it got to be so long that I couldn’t even bun it properly, and so I put it in a braid (so I could keep the braid and use it for historical hairpieces) and went to my hairdresser and said “whack it off” He said: “how much?” I said “Oh, about 8 inches. Just above I put the middle hairband.” He said: that’s a little more than 8″, are you sure? I said “Yep” and he cut it off (and then made it all pretty). And then I took the braid home and measured it, and it’s 13″, braided! Here’s what it looks like post-chop: Well, looked like. The chop and photos was actually a few months back (in fact, the week after my last Five for Friday post). So many months …

Dress, ca. 1863, French, silk, Purchase, Judith and Ira Sommer Gift, 1999, Metropolitan Museum of Art, 1999.123a–c

Rate the Dress: Blue Flowers & Big Skirts

Published by The Dreamstress

Your opinion on last week’s dress very much depended on whether it was seen from the front of the back. This week I present another dress that is quite different depending on the angle you see it from. How will it fare in comparison to last week’s pick? Last Week: a summer 1940 evening dress by Schiaparelli The verdict on last week’s dress was pretty clear for most of you: fabulous back, boring front. A few people disagreed, and thought the dress would have been overdone with a more elaborate front, and was perfection as it was. And a couple of you went looking and found the matching jacket that could be worn over the dress. I’d deliberately left it off, because the dress was clearly designed to be worn with or without the jacket, and I thought it would be interesting to see your reaction to Schiaparelli’s cutting, without the more obvious flourishes of the jacket. The Total: 7.5 out of 10 A slight improvement on last week, but still rather disappointing. This week: an …

Rate the Dress: Scarlet Suit-ed

Published by The Dreamstress

Last week’s Rate the Dress was very Southern California summer: perfect for sunsets on the beach and glam parties in the dawning years of Hollywood. This week’s pick is much more Wellington winter: just what you need for keeping cosy while going to an Edwardian soiree where you want to be sure you’re dressed better than that upstart Annie Beauchamp. Last Week: 1920s dress in complementary velvet hues Orange is having a moment, and that may have helped with the response to last week’s sunset hued number – or perhaps it was just that the luscious velvet was irresistible. When the dress did come in for criticism it was mostly for the belt: the braiding did not age well, and many of you thought it was clunky, heavy, and looked like a last-minute addition. Interestingly, I thought the belt, while it clearly had suffered the effects of age, was what ‘made’ the dress, and the beading was the pointless afterthought! It takes all opinions! The Total: 8.5 out of 10 That may be the best …