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1910s fashions thedreamstress.com

An Edwardian Evening Gown Interlude, with complications

Published by The Dreamstress

Theresa came to Wellington last weekend, and as usual, we did a photoshoot!*

This photoshoot was our trickiest yet.

The weather had been beautiful for weeks.  It was, in fact, way too beautiful.  It was so hot I cancelled my 18th century plans.  Even with icepacks in the paniers (yep, I tried that!), silk française were just too hot.

Instead I decided to go with 1910s Edwardian evening gowns: Theresa in the Laurel & me in Cobwebs.  Slightly lighter.  Also, as it turns out, slightly tighter.  Theresa is slim, but I was really slim when I made the Laurel.  And, thanks to the Fortnight in 1916 and the amazing weight-loss properties of a 1916 lifestyle, I was slightly slimmer when I made Cobwebs.  Things were…snug.

The weather had been beautiful for weeks.  It was beautiful all day. And then, just when we finished dressing, masses of clouds rolled in and wiped out the late afternoon sunshine.  So the lighting was terrible, and fading fast.

We’d planned to go to the Botanical Gardens, but there was an event on, so it would have been a madhouse.  Instead we settled on the Basin Reserve, with its little Grecian inspired pavilion, and the gates of Government House.

To add to the complication, we got a leetle overexcited when it came to cameras.  I’m camera shopping, so I borrowed a friend’s nice Nikon to have a play with, to help me decide what I want in a camera.  Unfortunately neither Theresa & I could see properly through the Nikon’s viewfinder to make sure things were in focus (side note: cross that camera off the possibility list).  Ooops!  Luckily we had both of my older cameras as backups.  And two iPhones.

And an amazing friend came along with his two cameras.  He actually got some good photos.  I’ll be showing those later as I go through them.  Together we got almost 1,000 photos, and I’m finding it a bit overwhelming!

For now, here are a few photos from my camera and the borrowed Nikon.  The light is a wee bit all over the place, as is the focus, but we had fun.

1910s fashions thedreamstress.com

1910s fashions thedreamstress.com

1910s fashions thedreamstress.com

1910s fashions thedreamstress.com

1910s fashions thedreamstress.com

*If you need more photo goodness, other Theresa photoshoots include:

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Rate the Dress: 1820s chine a la branche remake

Published by The Dreamstress

Sometimes choosing garments for Rate the Dress is really hard, and I pick dud after uninteresting dud.  Sometimes I find it so easy to find interesting frocks – whether fabulously interesting, or awfully interesting.  Let’s see if this week’s chine a la branche themed pick can continue the streak of compelling dresses.

Last week:  an Edwardian afternoon dress in moss green velvet

Not everyone loved last week’s pick, but it definitely seemed to have struck a chord with a goodly percentage of the readership.  Only one score was less than an 8, and a whopping 54% of the votes were perfect 10s.

The Total: 9.2 out of 10

Impressive!

 

This week: a ca. 1820 dress re-made from 18th century chine a la branche*

Since green was so popular last week, I thought I’d keep with the green theme.  I’ve also stuck with the idea of a dress that is both visually cooling, and warm and cozy.

*wondering what chine a la branche is?  Read my terminology post on it and find out!

This ca. 1820 dinner dress has been re-made from an earlier late 18th century dress.  The Metropolitan Museum of Art holds not just this dress, but an earlier bodice, and even earlier sleeves.  This suggests that the fabric had been unpicked and re-made numerous times.  It’s an excellent indication of the quality of the chine a la branche silk, and of how valuable fabric was in the 18th and early 19th century.

The dresses hues are quite spring-like, which might seem incongruous with the long sleeves and padded hem of the dress.  The hem is a functional feature.  It holds out the skirt’s fullness, and providing structure while keeping the skirts away from the wearer’s legs.  The long sleeves probably had more to do with societal rules around when arms could be covered then a specific desire to add significant warmth.

The fabric’s colours, with the soft sage green ground, and pink and grey accents, are very late rococo in feel.  The vertical stripes, and subdued patterning, bridge the design gap between the froth of rococo and a more orderly neoclassical style. The final iteration of the fabric, with its full skirts, shell trimmed hem, and elaborate sleeve and neckline detailing, is very Romantic era in its design sensibilities.

Even as the dress looks towards the romantic era, it balances order and extravagance.  The shell effect at the hem are soft and naturalistic, the bodice trim more orderly and geometric.

What do you think?  Does this dress successfully bridge the three design eras is owes its aesthetic to?  Does it balance romance and orderliness, spring and winter, restraint and extravagance?

Rate the Dress on a Scale of 1 to 10

The 1921 Daisies & the Devil's Handiwork dress thedreamstress.com

Looking back at 2017, looking forward to 2018

Published by The Dreamstress

It’s that time again!  (slightly late, as usual).  Time to reflect on 2017, and look forward to 2018.

When I first looked back at 2017,  I was kind of depressed.  I accomplished a maximum of 4 of the 10 goals I set for myself.  And honestly, I’m not totally happy with 2 of the 4.  🙁

At first I was really depressed thinking about how little I got done.  The more I started writing this post, and breaking down what I actually did in 2017 the happier I felt.  It wasn’t what I planned, but I did really well, and I coped with a lot of unexpected hiccups and stress.

If I’m learning anything as I get older, and slightly wiser, it’s that I expect too much of myself all the time.  The more I can learn to let go, accept my limitations, and be content with what I do achieve, the happier I’ll be.  I’m learning to do that.

I’m getting better at reminding myself that launching one pattern is more work than the most elaborate, amazing, perfect, and beautiful historical outfit I’ve ever made.  So basically, this year I made four things that were better than one Ninon dress.  That’s pretty good!

I’m also learning to take care of myself, and to put me first.  It’s hard.  It’s hard on me.  It’s hard on friends and family.  Some of them have years of experience of me I’d bend over backwards and twist myself into knots to make things work for them.  Me saying “sorry, can’t do, I need a day to rest” is a bit of a shock.  Also a relief to most of them!

2017 in sum:

What went well:

I’m incredibly happy with the three pattern launches I did for Scroop Patterns.  I love the Ngaio Blouse, the Fantail Skirt: Historical & Modern, and the Rilla Corset.  They all represent an incredible step in research, design, and processes.  And they have all been getting extremely good reviews (yay!).

WWI era corset, 1910s corset, Rilla corset, corset pattern

What didn’t:

My pattern mojo fizzled after July, and I only got out 1/2 of the patterns I had on my 2017 schedule.  Boo.

I am reminding myself that the three patterns I did get our were all pretty darn impressive patterns as indie patterns go, and I could easily have put out 10 camisole and sack dress patterns in the same time it took for just the Ngaio, Fantail & Rilla.  Quality not quantity.

And I did work on patterns stuff from Aug-Sept, so you’ll see that all come to fruition in 2018!

Other than the Rilla samples I made, I don’t love most of my historical sewing for 2017. 🙁  Sad but true.

2017 Sewing:

Wardrobe (and a few gifts):

  1. The Can of Worms Skirt
  2. A preppy Scroop Miramar (plus 3 more I didn’t blog)
  3. A slip as a hack from the Scroop Wonder Unders pattern.
  4. A Scroop Henrietta Maria with a drawstring waist + a tutorial to do it yourself.
  5. A Hello-Goodbye Summer Scroop Henrietta Maria
  6. A red wool knit Scroop Miramar  
  7. A Scroop Fantail with pockets + a tutorial to do it yourself
  8. A ‘sewing magic’ pencil skirt
  9. A Scroop Fantail with a petersham waistband + a tutorial for adding your own
  10. A dress for my mother
  11. A Scroop Fantail for my mother
  12. 4x 18th century inspired pockets for my mother
  13. 2 further Ngaio blouses for myself.
  14. At least 3 T-shirts

How to add a petersham waistband to the Scroop Fantail Skirt thedreamstress.com

Total: at least 24 items

Historical + Costuming:

  1. A 14th century shift (HSF 2017 #1)
  2. One pair of 1910s combinations, and two petti-slips (HSF 2017 #2)
  3. An experimental 1800s petticoat (HSF 2017 #4)
  4. Donkey ears for Bottom from A Midsummer Knights Dream
  5. A 1916 Petticoat
  6. The 1916 ‘Gather Ye Rosebuds’ evening dress
  7. The ‘Waiting for Bluebells 1915 day dress
  8. A 1900s-1910s Tricorne revival hat
  9. A Fawkes the Phoenix mask
  10. 3x pairs of stockings

 

Winter 1915-16 dress, thedreamstress.com

Total: 12 items

Plus 2x Rilla Corset Samples, 3x Fantail Skirt samples, 4x Ngaio blouse samples.

So, that’s 48 items, and I can think of at least 10 more fully finished sample items I can’t talk about yet.  And I finished an ENORMOUS set of curtains for our bedroom, so that’s pretty good!  So much better than I’d thought!

2018 in Sum:

What’s going to happen in 2018:

OK, first, the big sad news:

I’m not going to make it to Costume College 2018.  I’m absolutely gutted, because I love the theme, and I love the event, and I love, love, love the people.  I’ve made so many amazing friends, and gotten to spend time with old friends.  It’s magic.

It’s also super expensive.  I need to go visit my parents, and Mr D & I are due for a vacation together.  I also need to upgrade/replace a bunch of computer equipment this year.

Between the expenses and all the time off, I just can’t swing it.

I’m going to miss the event so much, and it’s making me feel really costume-isolated, but hopefully it will clear up space for me to do other fun things.

2018 Goals:

  1. Finish & launch all the Scroop Patterns I meant to get done in 2017
  2. Launch at least three further Scroop Patterns
  3. Make at least 1 historical outfit that I love in every way: even if it’s as simple as a 1 hour dress.
  4. Finish three costuming UFOs.  I’ve already got a good start on the Frou Frou Française, so I’m getting there.  If I love one of my finished UFOs, that can count for #3.  So can a pattern sample for Scroop.
  5. Make really good Regency stays.

That’s it.  If I get more done, hooray!  Taking care of me is most important.

Goodbye Summer Henrietta Maria thedreamstress.com