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My, what an enormous padded fur or fabric hand receptacle/warmer you have

So, I originally titled this post “My, what an enormous muff you have”, a la Little Red Riding Hood, because apparently I’m on a children’s story theme this week.

Then Mr D pointed out that my title was perhaps a little more risque than I usually aim for with my blog.  After blinking at him in confusion for a very long moment, comprehension finally dawned.  Ohhhhhh….

I know I keep him around for something!

Anyway, I’ve been looking at late 18th and early 19th century fashion plates, and, thanks to my love of muffs, I’ve noticed all the absolutely enormous muffs that were in fashion in the Regency period.

I mean, look at this:

Journal des Dames et des Modes, 1797

Journal des Dames et des Modes, 1797

Her head would fit in the hand hole!

And if you thought that one was bad, look at this one:

Journal des Dames et des Modes, 1798

Journal des Dames et des Modes, 1798

Forget keeping her hands warm, if she gets cold enough she could climb into this thing wholesale, and keep warm like a little post-Revolutionary space rebel.  How did she even carry it?  It would weigh half her body weight!

Things got a tiny bit saner after 1798, but these two examples from 1799 are more than twice the size of the heads of the ladies carrying them:

London Full & Half Dress, Winter 1799

London Full & Half Dress, Winter 1799

(also, how fabulous are the two hats in the one above!)

Ladies’ Museum, Morning Dress for December, 1799.

Ladies’ Museum, Morning Dress for December, 1799

One would think that such a ridiculous trend would disappear pretty quickly, but no, here they are again in the new century:

Lady’s Magazine, London Walking Dress, March 1805

It’s like she is carrying half a sheep!

Men's & ladies fashions for 1807

Men’s & ladies fashions for 1807

(it’s taking her second hand and some help from the gentleman’s other hand to hold up the weight of all that white fur)

Amazingly, you see examples of utterly ridiculously large muffs almost until 1820:

Carriage costume, January 1817

Carriage costume, January 1817

Muff weight lifting.  How Regency ladies stayed in shape.

Now I kinda want to make one, just to see how heavy a half-body sized muff made in period appropriate fur, wool batting and fabrics would be…

(all images via Damesalamode)

The ‘Queen Celeste’ Roll-Collar jacket

I’m teaching a Roll-Collar jacket class at the moment, so I made myself another Roll-Collar jacket, just to keep in practice.

Roll-Collar jacket thedreamstress.com

I’m calling it the ‘Queen Celeste’ jacket, after Babar’s wife, because the cotton-velvet fabric is a sort of elephant grey-purple, and looks like something that you would make a child’s stuffed toy out of, but the overall effect of the jacket is quite regal.

Wearing it feels like wearing a child’s stuffed toy: it’s all snuggle and plush and has a warm, comforting effect.  It’s like an extremely glamourous blankie!

Roll-Collar jacket thedreamstress.com

When I set out to make the jacket, I wanted it to be really crisp and bold, in bright red, or bottle green.  But the Wellington fabric stores failed my vision, and I resorted to my stash (like a good girl) and unearthed this purple-grey velvet.

I had just the right length for the jacket, and when I found it I remembered I had cut a lining in a vintage lavender floral twill for my very first version of the jacket.  I ended up not using it on that first jacket, because the print showed through the white, but it works perfectly with the grey-lavender velvet.

Roll-Collar jacket thedreamstress.com

It’s rather sweet isn’t it?  I inherited it from Nana.

Roll-Collar jacket thedreamstress.com

I’m pretty sure the velvet itself was also from Nana’s stash.  It’s quite old, and has colour-change problems in some areas, but they are quite minor and I hid them in the facings.

Roll-Collar jacket thedreamstress.com

To finish off the jacket I used a big blue-purple button from my stash, which makes the entire jacket a stash project.  Hooray!

Roll-Collar jacket thedreamstress.com

This jacket was all about an original vision, and having to compromise, and liking the end result even better than the first vision.

I’d wanted to do a hard, crisp, edgy photoshoot in the city, in front of graffiti and old buildings.  I’d scheduled it for Sunday afternoon, but got a call from a dear friend who was in town, so I caught up with her instead, and had a fantastic time – but no photoshoot.

Stuck without Mr D as photographer on the during the week, I resorted to the boring white wall, and the self-timer on my camera.  Because I’m too lazy to set the focal length, I just let the camera autofocus, and because it had nothing to focus on, it picked random lengths, so some photos were quite crisp, and others quite blurry and soft-focus.  I kinda love the soft-focus ones actually…

Roll-Collar jacket thedreamstress.com

Though some were a little too soft focus!

Roll-Collar jacket thedreamstress.com

Well, that didn’t work…

 When I’m not feeling well Madame O says I go ‘soft focus’ as a person, and unfortunately, I’m not feeling my best.  I put my back/neck out and I’m in a lot of paid and have very limited mobility, despite being maxed out on painkillers and anti-inflammatory patches (those things are pretty much my favourite thing in the world right now.  I have a little line of them marching up my spine).  So I’m very soft focus at the moment.  I just hope I can get my HSF project done…

Roll-Collar jacket thedreamstress.com

Just the facts, Ma’am:

Fabric:  2m of 112cm wide cotton velvet in grey-lavender, 1m of vintage acetate floral twill lining – both inherited

Pattern: My own ‘Roll-Collar’ jacket pattern

Year:  2012

Notions:  Thread, 1 large button, interfacing, bias tape

And the insides?  Fully lined

Hours:  3 – it’s a surprisingly quick make.

First worn?: Sunday 4 August, Monday 5 August, Wednesday 6 August….I think this jackets going to get a lot of wear!

Wear again?:  See above!

Make again?:  How many of these jackets do I need in my wardrobe?  Maybe one a year.

Total cost:  $0!

Rate the Dress: ca. 1790 stripey separates

Oh my!  The bright blue paisley 1900s frock last week was fun!  Some very strong reactions to the dress.  Some of you loved the fabric.  Some of you hated the fabric.  Some of you loved the lace.  Some of you hated the lace.  Some of you loved the silhouette.  Some of you hates the silhouette.  Some of you hated it all!  Even those of you who loved bits, and had a soft spot for the overall outrageousness, agreed the dress was less than the sum of its parts.  The dress rated a 3.3 out of 10, which is pretty much as low as it goes.

Cyrannetta called the lace on last week’s frock ”  a moldy overgrowth,” and I agree that black lace on a lighter pattern can be a tricky thing to pull off.  Inspired by that, I’ve picked another item which features delicate black lace trim over a patterned fabric, and it’s a Separate!

This unknown young woman wears a blue and white striped zone-front jacket trimmed with fine black lace with an ivory skirt, a sheer buffon, and a fashionable turban inspired headdress trimmed with pink and black striped ribbon and flowers.

Portrait of a Young Woman Holding Two Roses. Agustín Esteve y Marques, ca. 1790

Portrait of a Young Woman Holding Two Roses. Agustín Esteve y Marques, ca. 1790.  Sold at Southebys, 2007

What do you think?  Do you like the jacket with its lace trim, and the way the seamstress played with stripes, using them vertically, horizontally and and diagonally?  What about the stripes in the headdress?  Too matchy-matchy?  A weird contrast?  or the perfect coordinate?  And is the skirt too simple for the rest of the outfit, or a good balance against all the details?

Rate the Dress on a Scale of 1 to 10.