All posts filed under: Textiles & Costume

Winter 1915-16 dress, thedreamstress.com

The ‘waiting for bluebells’ winter 1915/16 day dress

Published by The Dreamstress

I’m extremely excited to be showing you a fully done, properly photographed, newly sewn historical outfit.  It seems so long since that has happened! Too long… This outfit was also a long time coming. It was on my list as a wardrobe hopeful for my Fortnight in 1916 experiment, based on fashion advice articles which extolled the virtues of jumper dresses over skirts and blouses, as a wool jumper frock was more durable, and could be worn for many more days than a cotton blouse without needing washing. I based my own ever-so-practical jumper frock on this page from The Pictoral Review Monthly Fashion Book, Dec 1915:  I loved the double-button detail, and the asymmetrical crossover bodice, both so typical of the mid 1910s.  It just seemed to period-perfect, but also so classic. I also liked the severity, especially with the grey, black & white colour scheme, though the palette on these pages is so limited that it’s not the best indication of what colours the frocks would be made up in.  I’m quite certain …

Costume College Gala 2017 thedreamstress.com

Costume College 2017 – the Great Gala Photo-a-thon

Published by The Dreamstress

This years Gala at Costume College was amazing.  Last year was spectacular, but I swear that the caliber of costumes this year was even better.  (and the food was definitely better, and they didn’t make you announce yourself on the red carpet, which I approved of!) I took so many photos, because there were so many gorgeous things to take photos of.  I’m just going to share the more spontaneous, ‘what it was like to be there’ ones with you, rather than the really posed costumes shots, because most costumers will hopefully be posting about their costumes in detail on their own sites. Admiring dress details while waiting in line for the Red Carpet. Taylor of Dames a la Mode and Merja of Before the Automobile have “Oooh, your dress” moments while Jenny La Fleur looks on. Cleverest solution ever to the eternal ‘How to carry all your stuff while looking historical?’ question. I love the way the blue in Teresa’s be-you-ti-ful 1660s jacket brings out the blue in Merja’s hand-painted gown.  There was a …

1911-12 Miss Muffet dress thedreamstress.com

A photoshoot in the 1911-12 Little Miss Muffet at the Village Fête frock

Published by The Dreamstress

Some time ago  Regional News Wellington contacted me to see if I wanted to be interviewed (of course I did! – read the resulting interview on page 9). Naturally, they asked if I had any pictures of myself in historical dress to include with the article, and, as it turned out, none of the stuff I had was suitable, so they offered to have their photographer take pictures.  Oooh, fun! For my outfit, I chose the 1911-12 ‘Little Miss Muffet at the Village Fête’ frock, because I’d never had the chance to wear it, whatever I chose needed to be something I could put on without any assistance and drive from my house to the studio in, and (for a reason I can’t remember) I thought I was being photographed against a dark ground – so light colours seemed a good idea. As it turned out, the studio backdrop was white.  If I could choose again I’d probably have gone with something dark, like the 1813 Kashmiri dress, or my 1914-16 Cobwebs gown. Still, I’m …