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The Marmotte Masquerade Stays – Finished!*

I didn’t think I would get the Marmotte Masquerade Stays done for the Bastille Day Ball, because they won’t ever fit me properly as anything but undergarments.

In fact, I wasn’t sure if I could even make myself finish the stays at all…

But then the Sewphist asked if I had anything she could wear to the ball.

When she came over the Wednesday before the dance to try things on, all of my frocks were too long in the bodice for her, and I had a brainstorm. The stays are too short in the bodice for me, so perhaps they would fit her?

And they fit her so perfectly, and looked so fabulous on her, that she agreed to finish the binding so that she could wear them  (and if you have ever bound stays, you know what a major undertaking that is!).

So I showed her how to do the binding around the bottom tabs, and sent her away with bias binding (perfect historical accuracy was clearly not the object with these!) and thread.

And she managed to get them finish in time, and they looked amazing!

Photographic proof:

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We paired the stays with a couple of petticoats that I use with various 18thc outfits, and my 1870s Nana chemise (the ribbons match perfectly, even if the periods don’t 😉 )

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Her stays were a great success, but the real hit was her hair.

I built it up over a rat, and added a few extensions (as a costumer I am thrilled with the fad for extensions that has made them so easy to get!), and then trimmed it with some feathers and the ever-popular birds nest.

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That birds nest was the best $2 I ever spent!  It’s been used so many times, and never fails to delight the people who notice it.

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The Sewphist was delighted with her hair.  It stayed all night, and nothing ever stays in her hair. And the extensions had curls, and she never has curls!

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A rousing success all ’round!

There are a few tiny things I need to fix – the front bones are a bit too soft, so the front wrinkles.  I’ll add a bit more to reinforce it.

Overall, I’m tickled pink it’s done, and she did SUCH a good job finishing it!

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Time for a cat nap

I’m a bit of a workaholic.  It’s the definite pitfall of doing what you love for a job – you forget to ever stop!

Sometimes when I work too hard and forget to pause for anything more than a cup of tea Felicity has to come along and remind me to take a break.

She does this very efficiently, by the simple method spreading herself over as much of what I am working on as she can possibly cover:

Felicity the cat thedreamstress.com1It’s quite hard to work on anything with cat tummy all over it!

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Especially when it’s so adorable!

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Sooooooooo adorable…

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And so good at her job!

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A set of Baroque pearl accessories

One of the reasons I love 17th century fashion so much is the jewellery.

18th century jewellery is very pretty, but it tends to get a bit heavy on diamonds and overly ornamented, and just too bling-y.

Mid 17th century jewellery is fabulous though.  It’s all pearls.

Maria Maddalena Rospigliosi (1645—1695) by Carlo Maratta, ca. 1663

Maria Maddalena Rospigliosi (1645—1695) by Carlo Maratta, ca. 1663

Throat skimming  pearl necklaces, round or baroque.

Young Lady by a Fountain, Nicolaes Maes 1664, Bristol Museum and Art Gallery; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation

Young Lady by a Fountain, Nicolaes Maes 1664, Bristol Museum and Art Gallery; Supplied by The Public Catalogue Foundation

And pearl drop earrings the size of pigeon eggs, with more pearls twined through the hair.

Sophie of the Palatinate, electress of Hanover, ca. 1645, by an unknown artist

Sophie of the Palatinate, electress of Hanover, ca. 1645, by an unknown artist

Pearl trimmed clothes, and large hanging drop pearls dangling off broaches.

Élisabeth (Isabelle) d'Orleans, Duchess of Guise by Beaubrun, 1670

Élisabeth (Isabelle) d’Orleans, Duchess of Guise by Beaubrun, 1670

(sings) Pearls, Glorious Pearls!

Whenever I’ve worn Ninon, I’ve faked the pearls from my stash of random pearl necklaces, but have always intended to make a set of jewels that captured the look a little better.  With the masquerade ball coming up, I thought it was high time I did it.

I had a set  of really beautiful, high quality faux pearls, still unstrung, so I strung them, and added a vintage clasp (not 17th c HA, but still very pretty, and it gave the effect).  I remembered reading somewhere about women in the 17th century having strands of pearls that they just added to, and twined around their neck multiple times, so I made mine long enough to go around twice.  Having looked back over the visual evidence, I’m now beginning to doubt that a double necklace is correct for 17th c.  (Plus, I am struggling to remember the source, though I recall it vividly, because it reminded me of the story of  the Elizabethan noblewoman who assembled her pearl necklace one pearl at a time, until it was a full rope of pearls, and quite famous (and my brain has completely given up the ghost this time, because I can’t remember the name of the noblewoman either, and I KNOW I know this!))

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In any case, the necklace is beautiful, and looks lovely on, and will be accurate for SOME period.

And I do have a very nice strand of very large, real baroque pearls in pink, and as Maria Maddalena shows, baroque pearls are Baroque appropriate!  So I can always wear those…

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For the earrings, I had more baroque pearls: beautiful pink baroque teardrops that I’d purchased in the Cook Islands on holiday almost 8 years ago, intending to make into earrings.

Six years ago I got organized enough to purchase sterling silver hooks (I can’t wear any other), and 18 karat gold beads for the earrings.  And two sets of sterling silver headpins.  One of which I managed to loose!

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So for now my earrings are held together with rubbish wire, and it’s off to Tiger Eye beads for me for new headpins (it turns out they come in gold too!  As do the French hooks.  I rather like the mix of gold and silver, but I think that all gold might be more accurate).

But I’m counting them as done, because they were worn, and they could be worn indefinitely, they just don’t look very good up close!

Side note: my hair turned out reasonably well, and if you compare it to the Maes portrait, and this portrait, and  this portrait, and this portrait, it’s really quite good.  And a very popular colour for the period.  Next time I’ll get it even better.

The last sort-off accessory I made was my mask.  There are very few depictions of masquerade masks in the 17th century, but early 18th c depictions show masks just like this, so I figured it was close enough.  And the paint colour is ‘Bastille!’

1660s Ninon bodice thedreamstress.com1

 

The Challenge:  #7  Accessorise

Fabric:  All notions

Pattern:  None

Year:  1660ish – but could easily be worn in most periods

Notions:  faux pearl beads, 1930s clasp, foxtail wire (necklace).  Baroque pearls, sterling silver french hooks, gold beads, wire (earrings).  Paper mask  & paint.

How historically accurate is it?:  Materials and techniques are probably pretty spot on for period jewellery, and 17th & 18th c masquerade masks were probably painted papier mache, so it’s all close, but still feels like cheating!

Hours to complete:  3.  Pretty quick and easy.

First worn:  Sat 11 July, to a French themed Masquerade ball.

Total cost:   Around  $30 for all.  I’ve been collecting the jewellery bits for years, and don’t remember exact pricing.  The mask was $4 including paint  

OK.  So this is a really soft HSM entry.  But I’ve got a better one planned too!