The Dreamstress

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Rate the Dress: Velvet & tassels

Last week I showed you a 1920s frock embroidered with poppies, cornflowers & wheat. You almost universally agreed that my choice of hat improved the dress, mostly liked the embroidery, mostly liked the scallops, weren’t sure about the colour of the silk, and universally disliked the waist seam which interrupted the flow of embroidery. So the ensemble received an 8 out of 10. Pretty good, not fabulous.

The dress did elicit much discussion over whether the poppies were a commentary on the recent war. While I’d like the idea to be true, I suspect it’s too much of a modern take on it. I have never found any period sources that suggest that wearing poppies was anything more than a fashion statement except on Poppy Day, any more than roses were a link to Alexandra Rose Day (which was also commemorated in NZ and other colonies in the 1920s), and I have found period sources that suggest it had nothing at all do do with commemoration, and was simply a fashion, so I’m not convinced.

Even though NZ is being hit by an unprecedented heat-wave at the moment, and even though I grew up in Hawaii, I can’t help but feeling that Christmas ought to be cold (of course, since I’m from Hawaii, cold means anything under 18 celcius (65 fahrenheit)). In keeping with my ideals of a cold Christmas, this week’s Rate the Dress is an alpaca wool frock with seasonally-appropriate red velvet trimmings and tassels:

Dress, American, About 1868, USA, Alpaca with silk velvet ribbon and covered buttons, silk tassels, cotton linen inner bodice, glazed cotton lining, and metal closure, MFA Boston, 52.1653

The overall silhouette of this dress is quite typical of the late 1860s (i.e. boring), but the striking red velvet trim at hem, waist, shoulders and cuffs, with matching buttons, gives it a point of interest.

I’m certain that the tassels on the bodice trimming and sash matched the red velvet when the dress was new, and that they have since faded to their odd lilac tone. Please humour me and rate them as they must have been, not as they are.

Dress, American, About 1868, USA, Alpaca with silk velvet ribbon and covered buttons, silk tassels, cotton linen inner bodice, glazed cotton lining, and metal closure, MFA Boston, 52.1653

The skirt achieves its fullness through gored panels, pleating at the sides, and fan pleating at the back, all adding to the fashionable elliptical shape.

What do you think? Does this dress have the fashion award for daytime festivities circa winter 1868 all wrapped up, or is gift wrap + militaria a bad fashion mix?

Rate the Dress on a Scale of 1 to 10

The HSF/M 2015: Challenge #12: Re-Do

Published by The Dreamstress

Gosh, another year almost over! And here I am writing the last HSF/M challenge post for the year (ridiculously, ridiculously late, as it should have been done before the month started!).

It’s hard to know what to write about for the Re-Do challenge, as there is both nothing and everything to give you as inspiration. Looking back at the years challenges, you probably know which challenges you didn’t do, but really want to do, which challenges you did do, but wish you could re-do because you weren’t happy with what you made, and which challenges you enjoyed doing so much that you want to do them again!

Re-do is always a nice challenge, because it gives you the opportunity to do any of those things, and to get any leftover projects all tidied up for the new year.

I generally end up with so many leftover projects at the end of the year (partly because the biggest part of each project is planning and research, and too often I think of the perfect plan halfway through a challenge) that my goal is to not re-do just one challenge, but ALL of them.

OK, not with one item for each challenge, but with a handful of items that manage to tick off each theme.

So how am I doing so far?

January — Foundations: make something that is the foundation of a period outfit.
February — Colour Challenge Blue: Make an item that features blue, in any shade from azure to zaffre.
March — Stashbusting: Make something using only fabric, patterns, trims & notions that you already have in stash. An Elizabethan ruff, An Elizabethan forepart in brown & gold brocade
April — War & Peace: the extremes of conflict and long periods of peacetime both influence what people wear. Make something that shows the effects of war, or of extended peace. An Elizabethan ruff,
May — Practicality: Fancy party frocks are all very well, but everyone, even princesses, sometimes needs a practical garment that you can DO things in. Create the jeans-and-T-Shirt-get-the-house-clean-and-garden-sorted outfit of your chosen period.
June — Out of Your Comfort Zone: Create a garment from a time period you haven’t done before, or that uses a new skill or technique that you’ve never tried before. An Elizabethan ruff,, An Elizabethan forepart in brown & gold brocade
July — Accessorize: The final touch of the right accessory creates the perfect period look. Bring an outfit together by creating an accessory to go with your historical wardrobe. An Elizabethan ruff,, An Elizabethan forepart in brown & gold brocade
August — Heirlooms & Heritage: Re-create a garment one of your ancestors wore or would have worn, or use an heirloom sewing supply to create a new heirloom to pass down to the next generations. An Elizabethan ruff, An Elizabethan forepart in brown & gold brocade
September — Colour Challenge Brown: it’s not the most exciting colour by modern standards, but brown has been one of the most common, and popular, colours throughout history. Make something brown. An Elizabethan forepart in brown & gold brocade
October — Sewing Secrets: Hide something in your sewing, whether it is an almost invisible mend, a secret pocket, a false fastening or front, or a concealed message (such as a political or moral allegiance).
November — Silver Screen: Be inspired by period fashions as shown onscreen (film or TV), and recreate your favourite historical costume as a historically accurate period piece. An Elizabethan ruff,

Watch out for posts over the next two weeks as I check off Jan, Feb, May, September, & October with a corset, dress, and petticoat…and more if I get really inspired!

Leimomi in the Sky with Diamantes

Published by The Dreamstress

Sometimes when I look through my photos I think that maybe I should do more gritty urban photoshoots with graffiti and skyscrapers. Wellington actually has lots of fascinating urban corners: old character buildings, a couple of fabulous high rises (and a lot of really terrible ’80s ones), and AMAZING graffiti.

Every once in a while I do do that kind of photoshoot, but the thing is, I’m all about nature. By the time I get to a city photoshoot I’m already grumpy because of traffic and attempting to find parking (both of which are actually laughably easy in Wellington, but I’ve gotten spoiled). Then, when we actually take pictures, I’m just weirded out by people looking at me as I pose.

Take me out of the city to a park or the country and I start frolicking amongst the flowers and gambolling over the grass and climbing trees and generally loving the whole world. Nature just makes me happy.

Out in the wild I turn into a cross between a tree goddess and a six year old.

Last weekend was the annual Wellington Sewing Bloggers Christmas picnic. I love picnics! Food + nature = yay!

Mr D does not agree. He doesn’t understand why you would go sit on the ground when you have a perfectly nice set of chairs and couches at home that you could be sitting on.

So the picnic was a great chance to exercise my love of lounging on wool blankets and eating too many strawberries and being outside. It was also the perfect opportunity to hang out with the awesome WSB ladies, and to show off my latest frock, and get it photographed – because in addition to sewing, the WSB ladies are awesome at appreciative “Oooohs!” and taking pictures.

Appreciative “Ooohs” aside, this isn’t the most exciting sew. It’s another Henrietta Maria frock, and I’ve done quite a few of those, but it is exciting because I love this pattern so much, and it’s really the perfect summer dress. It’s so comfortable, works for every occasion, and best of all, has pockets!

And, because it’s in nature, I’m grinning like a chipmunk in half the pictures!

The dress is sky blue linen with subtle stripes, and it looked perfect with my rainbow belt, so of course I had to wear my most over-the-top diamond-like necklace so that I was Leimomi in the Sky with Diamonds.

Sadly, not one of the WSBs got the pun. Le sigh.

That did not stop me having a fabulous time with the ladies. It was a picnic! There was nature! I climbed things!

Multiple things!

You have to love a dress that you can climb trees and walls in!

The dress is one of those things that I just want to wear every day. I’ve found it also looks good with a braided leather belt and brown shoes – it’s the closest I get to boho chick.

Happiness all ’round!