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Rate the Dress: Electric blue paisley, ca 1902

Published by The Dreamstress

I did wonder what you would make of the 1950s Paquin dress last week.  I find it emotionally appealing, because it reminds me of those flowers so, and aesthetically not quite as appealing, because it looks exactly like a dress based on those flowers which I would have designed when I was, I don’t know, nine?  It’s just so literal.  In the end, I was the opposite of Fidelo: I wanted to hate it, but I just couldn’t.  I also couldn’t love it though, and so the 7.3 out of 10 that you rated it is just a teeny bit higher than what I would have given it.

I know this fortnight is supposed to be Separates, and I had the perfect Separates ‘Rate the Dress’ all picked out, and now I can’t remember where on earth the link is, and all the other separates I can find seem to be beige and white, and I’m quite sure you’ve all had enough of pale tones for a while, and it’s time for something vivid and colourful!

So today’s Rate the Dress is quite vivid and colourful, and slightly inspired by last week’s Rate the Dress, as the paisley design rather reminds me of sea creatures.

Afternoon dress of printed silk satin, ca 1902, via Whitakers Auctions

Afternoon dress of printed silk satin, ca 1902, via Whitakers Auctions

 

Afternoon dress of printed silk satin, ca 1902, via Whitakers Auctions

Afternoon dress of printed silk satin, ca 1902, via Whitakers Auctions

The fabric is certainly very bold, and vibrant, and distinctive.  It’s also surprisingly modern, which shows that modern isn’t as modern as we think, in some ways!

Afternoon dress of printed silk satin, ca 1902, via Whitakers Auctions

Afternoon dress of printed silk satin, ca 1902, via Whitakers Auctions

Afternoon dress of printed silk satin (detail), ca 1902, via Whitakers Auctions

Afternoon dress of printed silk satin (detail), ca 1902, via Whitakers Auctions

Modernity actually seems an apt theme for a dress from the turn of the century.  What do you think?  Is this the way to blend bold modernity and old fashion femininity, the way to MAKE A STATEMENT in a sea of pastel frocks, or has it missed the mark?

Rate the Dress on a Scale of 1 to 10

Announcing: Polly / Oliver!

Published by The Dreamstress

Well, it’s been five years, a lot of fabric, a lot of thread, a lot of buttons, a lot of gold braid, and a bit of moaning and swearing and threatening the garment with dire consequences (“I will DYE you blue.  I’ll do it!  I swear!  You’ll be an abomination unto Nuggan from head to toe.  Behave or dye!”) but I have finally finished the whole Polly / Oliver Perks ensemble, and Polly is ready to stand for Borogravia and women’s rights and well-maintained pubs and clean socks everywhere.

The ca. 1885 'Polly / Oliver Perks' Terry Pratchett inspired ensemble

(well, not quite everywhere, but not just on feet and in the sock drawer and other places you might normally expect to find them).

The ca. 1885 'Polly / Oliver Perks' Terry Pratchett inspired ensemble

This dress and I have done battle, I lost some skirmishes, but I’ve come out the winner in the end, and I’m rather pleased with it.  It’s Borogravia does girlie-military, with lots of gold braid and fitting, meets historically plausible 1880s fancy dress.  After seeing the photoshoot images, there are a few places where I need to tack the skirt panels into place. and a few other teeny tweeks that need doing.  It’s rather like working out a military victory: you don’t just win, you have to negotiate and discuss terms for a while!

The ca. 1885 'Polly / Oliver Perks' Terry Pratchett inspired ensemble

Also, it’s rather good for marching purposefully in.  I know this because I did a LOT of purposeful marching during the photoshoot with Sarah.  I marched purposefully towards the camera, and then past the camera.  Then I marched purposefully back in the other direction.  And then I marched purposefully back.  Then we marched off to another location, and I did it all over again.  The dress looked fabulous.  I, on the other hand, was doing this repetitively, in long grass, and 3 kilos of skirt and a corset.  It was hard work!

The ca. 1885 'Polly / Oliver Perks' Terry Pratchett inspired ensemble

These photos are just a taster of the photoshoot – Sarah took most of the photos on her camera and they will be up on her livejournal soon (I hope), and the ones I’m showing are the ones she took on my camera (so any imperfections in the images are thanks to my crappy camera, not Sarah’s skill!).

The only regret I have about the photoshoot is that I don’t have a sword.  But then, Polly did her best work without a sword, and you always have a good knee handy when you need it!

I did remember Polly’s most important accessory though.

The ca. 1885 'Polly / Oliver Perks' Terry Pratchett inspired ensemble

Oh yes.  A good pair of socks is most important for…marching.

The ca. 1885 'Polly / Oliver Perks' Terry Pratchett inspired ensemble

The Challenge:  #15  ‘White’

Fabric:  5 metres of ivory cotton sateen (a gift),  3.5 metres of white cotton (can’t remember if I was given it or bought it, but if I did it cost less than $5), scrap of linen for the hem (free), red cotton jacquard (free, and leftover from the jacket).

Pattern:  My own, based on the 1887-9 day dress from the collection of the V&A pattern in Janet Arnold’s Patterns of Fashion 2.

Year: ca. 1885

Notions:  21 metres of gold braid for the cornelli work ($21).

How historically accurate is it? As a fancy dress?  Pretty close!  The construction is a teeny bit modern in places, but not too bad.  As a real garment, perhaps something for the seaside?  A bit costume-y for my standards, but after 5 years I’ll take any form of it that is finished!.

Hours to complete: 15.  I budgeted 10, but then I decided the skirt needed the cornelli work, and that took some time to design and sew.  So just over an hour a day for the fortnight (though really, I did it in 3 x 5 hour chunks).

First worn: Sunday 28 July, for the photoshoot (immediately after sewing the last bit of trim on the hat).

Total cost:  NZ$21-$26  It would have been practically free if it hadn’t needed that trim!  Darn.

Skirts, scrambled eggs and sewing cats

Published by The Dreamstress

I had an afternoon tea this Saturday, and hoped to debut Polly Oliver at it.

On Friday, I was doing great: ahead of schedule even.  Felicity was helping.

Polly / Oliver skirt construction

Polly / Oliver skirt construction

You didn’t need to cut where my paw is, right?  

I had all my pieces cut: apron, over-train, bottom pleat/over layer (not sure how to describe it).  I lined them, finished them, and had them all ready to attach to the skirt and assemble.

I started by pinning the bottom pleat/over layer on.  It’s quite short in the back, over the skirt hoops, where it will be covered by the long over/train, and longer in the front where the apron will sweep up and reveal bits of the under skirt.

Polly / Oliver skirt construction

As with the 1886 dress in Janet Arnold, there is a part layer of good fabric over the original support layer.  Based on my inspiration images, mine has a  slit showing the red under-fabric.  I’m not entirely pleased with how the part layer is hanging at the moment, but I’m hoping that the buttons can be used to hold everything neatly in place.

Polly / Oliver skirt construction

It took a LOT of pinning, and re-pinning, and re-adjusting to get everything to hang as well as it is!

Polly / Oliver skirt construction

I finished up Friday evening by sewing the pinned over-layer on to the skirt base, and re-inserting my hoop bones.  Then I pinned the skirt and all the layers on to the dress form just to see how it looked.

I didn’t take a photo of that, so here is another one of Felicity hogging the fabric:

Polly / Oliver skirt construction

As it happened, Felicity hogging the fabric is a lot cuter than the pinned together skirt was.  And the burn-out photo shows just as much definition and detail as the pinned together skirt did.  All the layers just merged together into one white blob, without the distinct layers that I wanted.

Ergh.  What’s a girl to do?

Scramble some eggs!

Polly / Oliver skirt construction

I bought all this gold trim for the Polly / Oliver jacket, but it just didn’t look right when I tried it.  However, on the white, in a large expanse of space, a trim of it was just the thing to provide the detail and definition I wanted.

My trim is a little more omelet than scrambled eggs: I kept it quite simple other than a bit of curves at the front of the apron, and the corners of the over-train.

Polly / Oliver skirt construction

To make my trimming, I drew a scroll pattern as a pattern, and used transfer paper to mark it on to the apron front.

Polly / Oliver skirt construction

Then I drew on the rest of the lines with a chalk pen and a ruler, while trying to keep Felicity amused/out of the way.

Polly / Oliver skirt construction

Then there was some 17+ metres of gold trim to stitch on, and the 5 hours that I had allocated to finishing the skirt were passed, and it was time to get dresses for my afternoon tea, and clearly I wasn’t wearing Polly / Oliver.  So I debuted the 1903 Chinoiserie skirt, and I’m finishing Polly Sat eve/Sunday morning, aiming for a Sun afternoon photo shoot.

But I’m glad I took the time to do the skirt right, because it looks so much better, even just pinned together.

Polly / Oliver skirt construction

But maybe it needs more scrambled eggs….

Just a little…