All posts filed under: 20th Century

Advice for health and grooming, 1931

To be sure that you present a consistently well-groomed appearance, check yourself each night by the following “daily dozen”: Have I shampooed my hair (if necessary) and brushed it? Have I brushed and thoroughly cleaned my teeth twice today? Did I have eight hours of sleep last night? Have I thoroughly cleansed my face, hands and body? Have I taken some out-of-door exercise today? Have I had adequate intestinal elimination? Have I eaten three balanced meals? If I use cosmetics, have I chosen and applied them artistically? Have I kept my nails clean and well manicured? Have I maintained a good posture? Did my clothes appear well kept? Were my undergarments and hose fresh? Excerpted from: Rathbone, Lucy & Tarpley, Elizabeth, Fabrics and Dress. From the Riverside Home Economics Series. San Francisco: Houghton Mifflin Company. 1931 (given to me by the amazing Elise, and it is amazing and pretty much my favourite sewing book ever, already!)

Rate the Dress: neutral suits in 1913

Published by The Dreamstress

Last week I thought the rather mad 1860s dress, while not exactly attractive, was at least fascinating, which I feel is sometimes better than pretty. But your responses started out quite unenthusiastic, and went from there to quite enthusiastic, and QUITE unenthusiastic, resulting in a pretty dismal rating of 5.2 out of 10, which is the lowest we’ve had in a long while. At least those of us who liked it won’t have a lot of competition if we decide to recreate it! This week I’m sticking with the theme of rather odd and oddly placed decoration on a neutral background, and seeing if it can work in some instances. What do you think of this summer suit that reflects the new, simple, tailored style and oriental influence of mid-teens fashions? Is the creamy neutral sophisticated or boring? The abundance of matching buttons cunning or fussy? Does the trim, drawing attention, as it does, to the cut-on sleeves and flattening bosom, perfectly period or rather atrocious? Rate the Dress on a Scale of 1 to …

A little mending

Published by The Dreamstress

I actually did do some mending for the Make Do & Mend HSF challenge: there has just been so much else to post that I haven’t gotten around to writing about it! First, a little 10 minute mend. One of the bones in my 1770s silver gilt stays was the tiniest bit too long, and had worn a hole in the kid leather binding: I unpicked that section of the binding, slipped it off the tab, pulled out the bone, cut it shorter, and smoothed it off: Then I pushed the bone back in, and used a tiny piece of leftover kid to patch the area with the hole: All that was left to do was to slip the original binding back on, and re-sew it down: The Challenge: #1: Make Do & Mend Fabric: a tiny scrap of kid leather Pattern: My own, based on one in Jill Salens ‘Corsets’ book. Year: ca. 1770 Notions: Just thread for the mending. How historically accurate is it? Period stays were certainly mended, but my binding technique …