All posts filed under: 19th Century

Kiwi-isms: Throwing a wobbly

I thought it would be fun to translate, and illustrate, some of my favourite kiwi-isms Throw a wobbly (also, Chuck a wobbly) 1. To have a meltdown, temper tantrum, hissy fit, etc. P.S. Don’t you love Toulmouche’s painting? How he caught the delustred satin of the grey dress, the duchesse satin of the brides frock, the rust-coloured velvet (it’s an 1860s version of Maria Josepha’s dress!), and the apricot taffeta. My favourite is the littlest bridesmaid, who seems to be saying “whatever, have your wobbly, I’m just going to play dress up with your wreath”. I suspect she is the bride’s little sister!

The 1866 Crinoline in action

Published by The Dreamstress

I’ve realised that while I make lots of undergarments, some of them very pretty, I don’t often show models in just their undergarments, so I don’t get good photographs of the undergarments on real people. Last Saturday solved a bit of that. One undergarments I was especially pleased to get images of in action was the 1866 crinoline. Mme Denise Poiret wore it, and looked fabulously 1860s and not at all Poiret-y. The one inaccuracy with this wearing is that I put the corset over the crinoline for aesthetic impact. Audiences like to to see corsets in the full. I fixed some of the issues that I was having with this crinoline for this wearing by slipping an extra set of very strong wire boning into the extra channels that I had providentially included in the crinoline when I originally made it. The extra wires keep the crinoline from warping under the weight of the back ruffles, and help create a back-heavy shape, but also make the whole petticoat quite a bit heavier, which is …

Rate the dress: Maria Josepha of Saxony

Published by The Dreamstress

Gah! I’ve been having bad luck with my Rate the Dress selections lately. I saw a great one, bookmarked it to go back later and get the picture, went to write my post, and the site is down and I can’t find the picture. To fill in the gap, I’ve gone with the theme of ‘bad luck’, as it suits both last week’s dress and the subject of this week’s dress. Last week’s very colourful Rate the Dress‘s bad luck was that you did not approve of it, either because of the colour or because of the ruffles of the lower skirt. It rated a 5.9 out of 10 For our bad luck lady, I present Maria Josepha of Saxony. Nope, it’s not Marie Antoinette’s mother in law (the one she never met), this is a different Maria Josepha of Saxony, two generations later. Maria Josepha’s bad life began early in life – she lost her mother as an infant. She herself died, young, and without any children, at 26. Her other bad luck was …