All posts filed under: Sewing

Things I sew – historical and modern

Coat-spiration

Published by The Dreamstress

I love vintage coats.  In a weird way they speak more to me of vintage glamour and the lifestyle than evening dresses do, because everyone needed to wear a coat, not everyone needed an evening dress. Here are my favourite vintage coat patterns from my stash. First, a fabulous late 1940s coat.  Love the swing, the collar, the cuffs, the massive exaggeration of everything!  I’m in the midst of making this up in black and white plaid – I’ll show you soon. For more fabulous mid-century swingy-ness, you can’t beat this coat.  Front, back, collar and cuffs, one button, and you have a coat.  So simple, and yet so stylish.  Especially if you wear it with a little birdcage veil! Keeping with the swing thing, I love how simple and elegant this coat is.  No collar, no cuffs, but it still has pockets, and that wonderful sense of luxurious ease that a really roomy coat gives. A good collar does make a coat though.  I particularly love the high collar of view one of this …

Balconies, staircases and ballrooms

Published by The Dreamstress

I’ve been having fun editing down the pictures from my photoshoot with Theresa.  I love so many of them, and part of me wants to show you them all, but I don’t want to overwhelm you, and…uh…I’m feeling a little vain.  When I’m not feeling incredibly pleased with myself 😉 And, because I’ve finally figured out a proper gallery format (well, Emily figured it out for me, but the point is that now I have it), and I’m super excited about it, the pictures as a gallery (with a few bonus images).

18th century Orientalism and Theresa

Published by The Dreamstress

It was interesting dressing Theresa in the pet-en-l’aire. I always visualize pet-en-l’aires on rounded, full-busted figures, with dimpled arms and round faces: the sort of figures shown in French fashion plates  of the era.  Theresa is tall and slim.  The pet fit her perfectly, but the change in proportions completely changed my perception of the pet-en-l’aire aesthetic.  The pet suddenly looked elegant and exotic, rather than sweet and coquettish.  Theresa in the pet looks like a Gainsborough rather than a fashion plate. To play up the exotic aspect of the pet-en-l’aire, made as it is out of an Indienne chintz, and to worked with Theresa’s features, we focused on the orientalism so fashionable in the 18th century for the styling.  Theresa’s hair is not hedgehog-friendly, so we did a  turbaned headdress, and skipped the full ‘poof’ of petticoats and bumroll. I wish I’d been able to find my proper ostrich feathers, not the skimpy ones I did find, and I still need to trim the pet and find proper silk (or at least rayon) ribbons …