All posts filed under: 18th Century

Frou-frou francaise progress (and Fissy)

I’m stitching away at the ca. 1760  robe  Ã   la française, in between teaching classes and giving lectures and marking papers and re-fashioning shoes and drafting patterns and being a human being. I started with drafting a pattern: Then I sewed up a linen support bodice, and worked eyelets down the back, so that I could tighten it with laces: Then there was a great deal of sewing huge lengths of fabric together with teeny-tiny hand stitches.  Time consuming, but not very interesting! Then I pleated the back pleating, and hand-stitched it down with silk thread. Then I basted at the shoulder seams, and down the side seams, and cut the fabric down to the waist, and out for the front skirts: I’ve figured out the side pleating, and marked the lines to cut down for pocket slits, and finishing those is my next task.  Then on to side pleating, front bodice attaching, hemming, sleeve construction, sleeve insertion, finishing, and trimming.  Makes it sound so simple! I’ve dubbed it the frou-frou  française,  because the fabric …

1780s shoe re-make

On Friday I posted a tutorial on how to dye leather shoes.  The observant among you may have noticed that I used a pair of ca. 1790 shoes as my inspiration, and wondered if the dyed shoes were going to get a bit more historical. Of course they were! Well, sort of.  They ended up looking more 1900s does 18th century than 18th century proper, at least when you just photograph them, but they are extremely fetching and quite 18th century on, which is what counts. Also extremely comfortable and all-day wearable, which is another major bonus! To finish them off, once I’d dyed them, I pleated and sewed a piece of rayon velvet to a piece of elastic (I know, I know – in my defense, I did try to use leather, but couldn’t get a needle through it and the shoe leather to hold them together). Then I hand-stitched the elastic to the leather, using the stitching holes that were already in the leather as a guide. Finally, I hand stitched two final …

Rate the Dress: Dudes dress-off

WOW!  Such consistent ratings for the red-velvet-and-chains 1880s dress last week!  8-10 across the board!  I don’t think we’ve EVER had a Rate the Dress before (exempting, of course, the one and only 10/10) where everyone concurred so wholeheartedly on a frock.  The final tally was 9.3/10, for being unusual, striking, and restrained in the face of overwhelming temptation to just be…overwhelming. It’s feeling very spring-y here in Wellington.  The kowhai are in full flame of glowing golden yellow, my freesias and irises are blooming, and the promise of summer is in the air.  It’s also been a few Rate-the-Dresses since I’ve posted a Dress-Off, where you compare two garments on a similar theme, and rate each of them.  So this week’s Rate the Dress will be a spring-themed Dress-OFF. For your sartorial judgement, I present a spring-green gentleman’s suit from the end of the 18th century. The Los Angeles County Museum of Art gives us two views of this ensemble.  First, an elegantly sober variant, with matching pale green coat, waistcoat and breeches: Version …