All posts filed under: 18th Century

Rate the Dress: an elegance of leopard-skin suit

Last week I tried something different: I posted two dresses, and we had a dress-off. It was certainly interesting to see your comments and comparisons. The dislikers of dress #1 mainly felt it was too much like a uniform, the dislikers of dress number two thought it twee and less polished. The accusation that it wasn’t fair as the mannequin wasn’t doing the dress justice, so the other had too much of an advantage, was leveled at both dresses by different commenters. Some of you got quite literal and considered how it would actually work in a nautical situation, though the verdict on which was more suitable for boats and the seaside was anything but unanimous. Finally, some of you annoyed me (in a loving way) by refusing to give the dresses different ratings (which rather defeats the point of a dress-off!). Of all the comments I most agreed with Stella, who called the slim dress “beautiful and innovative” and the full-skirted dress “insipid, dull, and looks like it was intended for a small child” …

Regency beauty…raking?

Published by The Dreamstress

What the heck is going on with this fashion plate? The caption, according to my dog-French translation abilities, reads: “Chinese hairstyle, pelerine (that’s the little cape thing) and dress of percale, gaiters of nankeen” Is there a game played with a rake? Or did our fashionista just wake up one morning, decide to do her hair up in a silly top-knot, put on a tiara, a short sleeved dress and a pereline with a high-ruff collar (thought the collar may be separate), and gaiters over her shoes and go out to rake the lawn? Whenever I see fashion plates like this I hear the Daleks shriek “Explain! Explain” in my head. Explain?

The unseen accessory: my 1780 bum-rump

Published by The Dreamstress

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 …