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Rate the Dress: Suited to the Teens

Last weeks Rate the Dress was all frothy ballgown, so this week I’m going all serious and businesslike, with a 1910s suit. Of course, while it is a suit, it’s also Edwardian, so there is detail within the detail of the detail of the suit!

Last week:  an 1830s evening gown in white with green trims

I honestly thought there would be more comments on last week’s Rate the Dress, because it was such an interesting dress! But perhaps people were having busy weeks. Or perhaps it was just too subtle and not obviously interesting enough…

In any case, some of you thought it absolutely delightful and charming, but alas, some of you thought it drooped, was overly be-bow-ed, and suffered from terminal puffed sleeve-ness.

The Total: 7.3 out of 10

For the record, I loved it. It was pretty much my dream 1830s evening gown (except for maybe not that bow).

This week:  

This ca. 1912 suit combines practicality with a dash of flair.

Wool suit with braided trim, ca 1912, Helen Larson Historic Costume Collection, Sold by Whitaker Auctions

The wool broadcloth would keep the wearer warm in a range of weather, and the dark colours would resist soiling and wear on grimy city streets, but the broad silk satin collar and elaborate trimmings speak to a sensibility as focused on aesthetic as on function.

Wool suit with braided trim, ca 1912, Helen Larson Historic Costume Collection, Sold by Whitaker Auctions
Wool suit with braided trim, ca 1912, Helen Larson Historic Costume Collection, Sold by Whitaker Auctions

The suit jacket features a wide, square collar in satin and velvet, with braid, button and embroidery trim, a braided belt effect at a fashionably high waist, velvet cuffs, and elaborate braid and button trim across the back.

Wool suit with braided trim, ca 1912, Helen Larson Historic Costume Collection, Sold by Whitaker Auctions

The jacket is worn over an A-line skirt, with faux wrap effect.

Wool suit with braided trim, ca 1912, Helen Larson Historic Costume Collection, Sold by Whitaker Auctions

Typically of high end fashion of the era, every element of the design that could be embellished with additional details is, right down to the belt buttons, with dainty floral borders.

Wool suit with braided trim, ca 1912, Helen Larson Historic Costume Collection, Sold by Whitaker Auctions
Wool suit with braided trim, ca 1912, Helen Larson Historic Costume Collection, Sold by Whitaker Auctions

What do you think? Is this ensemble suited for purpose, while suiting your sense of style?

Rate the Dress on a Scale of 1 to 10

A reminder about rating — feel free to be critical if you don’t like a thing, but make sure that your comments aren’t actually insulting to those who do like a garment.  Phrase criticism as your opinion, rather than a flat fact. Our different tastes are what make Rate the Dress so interesting.  It’s no fun when a comment implies that anyone who doesn’t agree with it, or who would wear a garment, is totally lacking in taste. 

(as usual, nothing more complicated than a .5.  I also hugely appreciate it if you only do one rating, and set it on a line at the very end of your comment, so I can find it!  And 0 is not on a scale of 1 to 10.  Thanks in advance!)

Ooops! Yes, the Scroop Patterns sale is still on!

Oh no! It appears there was a glitch in Shopify this morning, and some of you who were trying to take advantage of the  Scroop Patterns sale mistakenly got a message that the sale code had expired.  

This is wrong!

The Scroop Patterns Rilla Corset ScroopPatterns.com

The sale is definitely still on for another 9 hours! I’ve re-checked and re-set everything, so it’s all running smoothly again. So…

Get 20% off all digital patterns at scrooppatterns.com until midnight tonight, NZ time

(NZ time — so that’s now to the 17th of May for most of the rest of the world).

Use the code:

MumsTheWord

At checkout to get your discount!

Scroop Patterns Mothers Day sale
1760s stays with theatrical construction thedreamstress.com

Stay with me (for over a year, because that’s how long these 1760’s stays took to finish)

When I started teaching costume construction at Toi Whakaari: the New Zealand Drama School last year, I decided I should do some of the projects that the costuming students do as part of their coursework, so I knew how the garments were taught and constructed in the course. It was also a good way to familiarise myself with ‘my’ industrial machine.

Every costume shop has its own ‘house rules’, and, while there are general method groupings, there are literally an infinite number of ways to make any specific costume item.

Every year the first year costumers build a theatrical version of a historical style from the foundations out: boned undergarment, petticoat and skirt supports, dress, accessories, hat. Last year the theme was 1780s, this year the students are doing 1570s Elizabethan.

I chose to make the 1760s stays the students make some years, as they have elements common to a lot of the different eras of boned bodices.

Since we’re teaching costuming for stage & film, not historical costuming, they are machine sewn and use modern materials.

And…it still took me a year to finish them.

1760s stays with theatrical construction thedreamstress.com

Basically I just got stuck getting the fit right, and faffed about with that for 11 months…

1760s stays with theatrical construction thedreamstress.com

Pictured: Fitssues.

1760s stays with theatrical construction thedreamstress.com

But they are (finally) done!

1760s stays with theatrical construction thedreamstress.com

They are made from two layers of cotton duck (midweight twill weave), with a decorative layer of vintage embroidered cotton (from my grandmother) at centre front.

1760s stays with theatrical construction thedreamstress.com

They are boned with German plastic whalebone.

1760s stays with theatrical construction thedreamstress.com

All the boning channels and seam stitching were done on an industrial machine.

1760s stays with theatrical construction thedreamstress.com

They have metal grommets, and use X cross lacing, instead of spiral lacing (I’m not going to lie, this part really stresses me!).

1760s stays with theatrical construction thedreamstress.com

They are bound with cotton twill tape.

1760s stays with theatrical construction thedreamstress.com
1760s stays with theatrical construction thedreamstress.com

While the body of the stays were machine sewn, I did the binding by hand, because I enjoy hand sewing, the students do theirs by hand, and I did much of the binding while on the road and away from sewing machines at the annual Toi Whakaari trip to Manutuke Marae.

1760s stays with theatrical construction thedreamstress.com
1760s stays with theatrical construction thedreamstress.com

I also did reinforced the top of each tab with hand-sewing, rather than by machine.

1760s stays with theatrical construction thedreamstress.com
1760s stays with theatrical construction thedreamstress.com

The binding only took me a couple of days of concerted sewing. And then they were finally done!

1760s stays with theatrical construction thedreamstress.com

I’ve got two more pairs of 18th century stays on my sewing schedule for this year: one totally handsewn and historically accurate, and one a combination of hand and machine sewing. And I’m DETERMINED that neither will take me more than two weeks!

None of this ‘year’ nonsense…

1760s stays with theatrical construction thedreamstress.com