All posts filed under: 18th Century

Rate the Dress: Princess Wilhelmina in green

Last week most of you loved the redingote with its feathered trim, but your reaction to it was fascinating depending on whether you read my description of it as having feathered trim as actual feathers or not. I rather think that sometimes I should leave things purposely very vague so that the ratings are reactions to what we perceive, vs what we know (but which is the purer truth…?). Anyhow, manky feathers or elaborate feathered silk aside, the redingote rated a rather nice 8.5 out of 10. This week, for the transition from outerwear to green I present Frederika Sophia Wilhelmina of Prussia, Princess of Orange in a brunswick of deep green checked silk with a pink silk hood lining, cuffs and revers. Her stomacher appears to be made of the same pink silk ribbon as the bow that ties the hood of her brunswick, arranged in an overlapping lattice pattern. The only accessories Wilhelmina wears are a black ribbon around her neck, and a lace cap on her powdered hair. The details of …

18th century shoes at the Honolulu Museum of Art

Published by The Dreamstress

I wish I had a finished garment to show you today – my hoopskirt, or the hinted at 1900s dress, but sewing is not going to plan, and I want to post about at least SOMETHING, and I thought, hey, a real antique textile is as good as anything I make, if not better! I’ve shown you most of the textiles from the Honolulu Museum of Art, but here is one of the most exciting pieces I looked at: a pair of 18th century shoes in green and gold on ivory brocade: Based on the large scale brocade, which is clearly early 18th century in date, the wider heel shape and slightly tilted toe, the shoes are probably early-mid-18th century. The outer of the shoes are silk brocade, and they are lined in linen. The green binding is herringbone twill, either in cotton or linen. The shoes are (obviously) entirely hand sewn. The heel is wood, covered in more of the brocade, and the sole is rather heavy leather. The pointed toe appears to be …

Cherries & Cherish: brooches in metal and wood

Published by The Dreamstress

I’m feeling a little panicked about the HSF, because I’m still behind on my #17 Robes & Robing challenge, and I have a big entry to the #18 Re-Make challenge still to enter (though I did enter two little items), and I’m behind on the 1860s elliptical hoopskirt I’m making for the #19 Wood, Metal, Bone challenge. So, to mollify myself I whipped up two super simple little items that qualify for ‘Wood, Metal, Bone’: The first, in metal, is a portrait brooch inspired by 18th century portrait brooches and bracelets. I printed out Ramsay’s Portrait of a Lady on parchment paper and cropped the face to the right dimensions. I really liked that she was an un-named woman, so that her face didn’t have any connotations other than sweet and appealing. Then I lacquered the paper to finish and preserve it, and when it was dry, inserted it into an old brooch back with extra layers of cardstock to further protect it. The brooch looked to plain as it was, so I …