I’ve been working on Polly / Oliver, trying to get it done, in to the Literature challenge, and off my UFO pile.
My original Polly / Oliver inspiration sketch
I’ve also been working myself into a bit of a state over it.
I want it to be based on Terry Pratchett’s description of Polly / Oliver Perks feminine dress uniform at the end of Monstrous Regiment.
And I want it to be 1880s, with overtones of late 18th century inspired historicism.
Dighton, Robert, October 1784 – this plate was also published with the outfit in reversed colours, with a red jacket, and a blue skirt
And obviously it needs to use all the bits of the costume that I already cut and worked on back in whatever year it was when I actually started this (2007 maybe?) otherwise it would defeat the purpose of finishing a UFO.
And I want it to be historically accurate, which means accurate fabrics to the 1880s and military uniforms, and an overall design that is supported by extent garments and fashion plates.
And all the fabric needs to come from my stash.
And you know what? I realised last night, trying to pick skirt fabrics, that sometimes everything I want just isn’t possible. Sometimes I can’t do it all. Sometimes being an over-achieving, obsessive perfectionist doesn’t result in me making beautiful things, it just makes me miserable.
Sometimes I need to let go.
So I’m going to try to let go a little with Polly / Oliver.
I’ll use Pratchett’s description as a base, but if I need to do my own thing, that’s OK – Costume Designers liberties can occasionally be taken.
I’ll aim for recognisably 1880s, but if I have to make the occasional leap from fully documented garment, to plausible design treatment, that’s OK.
The use-the-UFO stays. Unless it doesn’t fit. Then it doesn’t stay.
And I might let myself buy some gold silk, if that will help me to use all the other fabrics from my stash. But if I have to make a white linen skirt, because that’s what I have in my stash that sort of looks right, despite not being able to find an example of an 1880s white linen skirt, that’s OK.
Polly / Oliver jacket pieces, and skirt fabric options – ivory cotton sateen, and white linen
So we’ll see how letting go goes – I don’t have a lot of practice in it!
And to inspire me to let go, here is the queen of relaxation herself, hogging the Polly / Oliver jacket pieces:
Good reasoning! A woman can work herself into a right state, trying to do many things in one, and with all of us cheering from the sidelines. Making with what you’ve got is a good plan – though I think you’re right about buying a little gold silk to ping the jacket, particularly. And a little gold silk never hurts anyone’s stash, does it?
Make it, and it will be beautiful and fun. And possibly Pollyesque – along the lines of Colonesque and Nobbski from ‘The Fifth Elephant’.
That Felicity! She graces any garment.
I was thinking about Polly and her uniform, and Aunt Fidget Wonkham-Strong came to mind (from Russell Hoban and Quentin Blake’s ‘How Tom Beat Captain Najork and his Hired Sportsmen’, a treasure of a book). Bum roll, serious frontage, and That Hat. The book seems to be out of print, but this is one of the illustrations…
http://ayjay.tumblr.com/post/14312462835/captain-najork-said-aunt-fidget-wonkham-strong
Polly, of course, is a younger, better-looking version. But there’s iron in the backbone.
What a fantastic illustration! I feel like I may have read the book, many years ago. Polly actually appeals to me because her lack of frontage (so unlike most Pratchett heroines!) is explicitly mentioned. I got some excellent work done on the costume last night, and am quite pleased with it, though it’s going in a slightly different direction than I had anticipated – and I still have to decide between the ivory cotton sateen and the white linen!
The cotton sateen strikes me as more military, but I think the whiteness of the linen may be more appropriate. I can think of ways to defend the use of either.
I agree! Sometimes, something not perfect is better than the perfect thing that never materializes.
It very much reminds me of this post:
http://tumbleweedsinthewind.blogspot.cz/2013/05/perfection-vs-excellence-in-sewing-and.html
A lesson we all need time to time!
Therefore, let me tell you I’m sure your costume will be excellent with the choices you’re making!
The Discworld universe is full of anachronisms! Don’t sweat the small stuff, I’m sure it will look gorgeous in the end. 😀
Yeah, if it were just a Diskworld costume I wouldn’t fret at all, but I do feel an obligation (as the host of the HSF) to make it at least plausibly historical.
There was a whole crimean war vibe which was 1850’s from Monstrous Regiment but I do think I remember a mention of a bum roll in the description of her modified uniform at the end. Being Terry Pratchett there is no hard and fast period that it was set. I like the cover by Paul Kidby it does show some details of the Borogravian uniform. I just realised I remember this much about this book, ha, it is one of my favourite Tperry books.
I know that what you make will be awesome.