The Dreamstress

Some of you asked about the apron that I made for the Katherine Mansfield photoshoot, so I thought I’d share a little construction info, and some photos.

My main inspiration was this apron (the one on the right) from the Girls Own Paper:

The low tying apron, either with a waist tie, or on its own as the only tie, was a particular vogue seen from 1900-1910.  It kept the focus on the back-emphasis of the S-curve, even in a practical garment, and kept the slightly narrower flat-fronted aprons fashionable at the time (again, to highlight  the S-curve) well wrapped around the skirts, so they stayed protected even without a large volume of fabric.

Beka (the model) is playing Alice, the maid in the Beauchamp (Mansfield) household.  Alice did cooking, and household chores, so her apron would need to be quite practical – not quite the frilly convection of the fashion plate.  However, there is a fantastic scene in By the Bay describing Alice’s  (rather outre) outfit, and I get the feeling Alice might have liked a fashionable twist to her apron – hence the very trendy (sorry, I couldn’t think of a better word) double tied apron, rather than a more old-fashioned full-skirted apron.

I originally designed and made the apron with a round neck and straps, as shown in the fashion plate, but at the last minute decided that it hid too much of the blouse and didn’t work aesthetically, so I hacked off the top, hemmed it, and turned it into a pinner apron (sometimes called a breton bib).

I’m pleased with the finished result, and it is accurate: there is a memento mori photograph of Mansfield’s grandmother (who lived with them) in a pinned apron, bending over Mansfield’s deceased baby sister.

And yes, Beka as Alice got to do actual work in the apron!  I made a 1,2,3,4 Cake (the recipe dates to at least 1851) and Beka filled it with lemon curd, made a lemon glaze icing, and frosted it.

And at the end of the day, we had our own little Garden party and ate it.  And it was delicious…

Katherine Mansfield was one of my earliest introductions to New Zealand – we read some of her short stories (The Garden Party and At the Bay) in high school, and that, combined with learning poi dancing in primary school, was all I really knew or thought of New Zealand as a child or teen.

So when I moved to NZ, of course I was interested to visit the museum that has been made from the house she was born in.

For the last year I’ve been privileged to be involved with the museum – giving a talk about fashion and Mansfield last year, and lending items for exhibitions.

Last weekend I got to do a photoshoot at the Katherine Mansfield House & Garden  museum: dressing two models up as characters from her life & writings, and posing scenes in the house.  We imagined the shoot as Mansfield remembering her childhood and thinking up stories and writing up little sketches – a mix of reality and fantasy, memories and plots.

There was, of course, an official photographer, with the full equipment setup, but I got to take little candid snaps behind the scenes, and of the models when they weren’t on-set (and I wasn’t in the midst of changing them and re-doing their hair).

Here are some of my favourites, serious and not serious:

Many thanks to the museum for having me, and to the fabulous models for getting so excited about dressing up all day.