All posts filed under: Rate the dress

Spencer jacket & petticoat, France, circa 1815, Jacket- cotton plain weave; skirt- cotton plain weave with linen net and cotton plain-weave appliques, LACMA M.2007.211.15a-b

Rate the Spencer & Skirt

I’ve had a very busy week, with teaching and patternmaking and talking, which is why there have been no posts between last week’s Rate the Dress and today’s post. Luckily I had this week’s garment for rating all picked out! I hope you enjoy studying it as much as last week’s wedding dress. P. S. Welcome to new raters! PLEASE read the note at the bottom of this post. Last Week: an all-lace Edwardian wedding dress Last week’s frock should probably get a bonus point for breaking the 50 comment mark! If nothing else, you certainly found it interesting. There were three distinct comment groups: 9s, 7s, & 4s. And only one person rated it a 10! With so many unimpressed raters, the total came in at… The Total: 6.4 out of 10 Not a popular choice with many! This week: an Empire era spencer & petticoat This week’s Rate the Dress continues last week’s white and lacy theme for the bottom half, with a petticoat trimmed with linen net and appliqued lace, and goes dark …

Rate the Wedding Dress

Published by The Dreamstress

UPDATE: Ratings on this dress closed on March 9th. This week’s Rate the Dress is one that has been in my RTD file for a long time, but it’s never been the right one. This week is finally its time. Last Week: 1780s pick ups and pleats For last week’s 1780s mint green concoction you either adored the colour, or hated it, and either loved the pleats, or found them fussy, and either thought the silhouette was fabulously shepherdess-y, or far too extreme and boxy, and either thought the fly fringe was a fascinating touch, or weird and hairy. Most of you who loved the things loved most of the things, if not all, and very few of you hated everything, leading to a score of… The Total: 8.4 out of 10 A major improvement after last week, but not as good as a lot of other recent picks. This week: 1780s pick ups and pleats Our Rate the Dress for the week is a 1907 wedding dress featuring a full helping of Edwardian frills, lace, …

Rate the Dress: 1780s pick ups and pleats in peppermint ice cream green

Published by The Dreamstress

Yellow is the colour I reach for when I want to be happy, but green is my go-to for calmness and de-stressing. It’s been a crazy couple of weeks in my life. Some of it has been good stress, with fun adventures, and the start of the new school year at Toi Whakaari the New Zealand Drama School. There’s also been some less happy stress, with a spike in my ever-present-but-mostly-under-control-most-of-the-time-climate-anxiety, and worries about the coronavirus (people I know who are in the know are very worried, and that’s even more worrying…). So this week I want to be calm. And while some think historical fashion is frivolous, I’d strongly argue against that. Clothes are a universal need that links almost everyone on the planet. What we wore tells us a lot about where we’ve come from as a society, and where we can learn from that. And looking at old garments is a very low climate impact way to de-stress! So here’s to pretty (or not – that’s what RTD is all about!) frocks. …