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The ‘Flora’s Secret’ ca. 1790 shoes

You may have guessed from Saturday’s post that I’m working on shoes.  It was the first time that I’ve really tried to remake a pair of modern shoes into historical shoes, and it was an interesting process.

The shoes started like this: cute, but a bit daft:

1790s inspired shoes - how they began

I wanted them to look like these type of shoes:

Slippers, 1790, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Slippers, 1790, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Mine don’t come as high up in the toe and around the foot, but there are example of shoes from the 1780s & ’90s that are cut lower over the toe and the sides of the foot:

1780 Leather Shoe, Museum of the City of New York

Shoe, leather, 1780s Museum of the City of New York

I liked the idea of being able to wear the shoes for anything from 1780 to 1800- more versatile.

To re-make mine, first I took off the silly trim and bow:

1790s inspired shoes - how they began thedreamstress.com

Then I cleaned the shoes.

How to clean fabric shoes thedreamstress.com

The next step was to re-paint the heel, to get rid of the anachronistic metallic teal leather colour.

ca. 1790 inspired shoes thedreamstress.com

I first painted the heels pale blue, but it turned out too blue:

ca. 1790 inspired shoes thedreamstress.com

I repainted the heels lavender, which I’m not much happier with.  I’ll repaint them again, attempting to match the colour of the ribbons I used, once I get the heel ends replaced – they are going to need it soon.

With the heels done, I hand-sewed 1cm wide rayon ribbons in pale blue to cover the centre back seams in my shoes:

ca. 1790 shoe remake thedreamstress.com

And sewed the same ribbons over the front-side seams:

ca. 1790 shoe remake thedreamstress.com

My front-side seams are placed a little further forward towards the toe than the seams on most period shoes, but it felt more accurate to actually cover the seams that were already in the shoe, than to fake a further back placement, and leave the original seam joins visible.

Shoes of spotted leather, 1790-1800 Whittaker Auctions

Shoes of spotted leather, 1790-1800 Whittaker Auctions

With the vertical ribbons in place, it was time to bind the edge of the shoe opening.  Argh.  What a major pain that was!  It took me almost four hours, and cost me two broken needles.  The leather lining was just too thick to go through easily.

ca. 1790 shoe remake thedreamstress.com

Finally I sewed the trim over the toe.  I couldn’t find a soft, narrow ribbon to match the shoes in order to replicate the effect on the Met shoes at the top of the post, and I didn’t like the look of a tassel on these shoes.  Finally I found this pair of charming slippers.  The box-pleated ribbon trim was just the thing

Shoes, 1790, Portugal, cream satin, trimmed with ribbon of green leather. Forefoot embroidered with sequins and chenille, forming floral motifs. Application of silk ribbon forming floral motifs. Museu Nacional do Traje e da Moda

Shoes, 1790, Portugal, cream satin, trimmed with ribbon of green leather. Forefoot embroidered with sequins and chenille, forming floral motifs. Application of silk ribbon forming floral motifs. Museu Nacional do Traje e da Moda

Four tries later (getting those box pleats even was a headdache, and then when I finally did I accidentally cut one too short and had to re-pleat a set), my shoes were done:

ca. 1790 shoe remake thedreamstress.com

Sure, they aren’t perfectly historical (the fabric is more than a bit anachronistic, and the lining is metallic teal), but they make me very happy, and give a reasonable overall 1790s look.

Also, look how perfectly they match my ‘Fur & Scales’ muff:

ca. 1790 shoe remake thedreamstress.com

Awww yeah!

The same ribbon I used for the bow on the muff just happened to work perfectly for the toe decoration on the shoes.  Happiness!

ca. 1790 shoe remake thedreamstress.com

The Challenge: Flora & Fauna

Fabric: One pair of modern kitten heels, fabric with leather linings (NZ$8)

Pattern: Inspiration taken from extent 1780s & 90s shoes

Year:   ca. 1790

Notions: 1m of 1cm wide pale blue rayon ribbon (50 NZcents), .5m of 2.5cm wide periwinkle blue rayon ribbon (25 NZcents), shoe paint (NZ$13, but I have enough left to paint 2 more pairs of shoes, or 9 more heels, so NZ$1.30)

How historically accurate is it? That’s a tricky one. I made a pair of modern kitten heels as accurate as you could, but there is only so much one can do, and the fabric is certainly a bit anachronistic. Say 35%

Hours to complete: 7. Way more than I anticipated! Mostly on binding the rim of the shoe, and re-pleating the trim

First worn: Not yet, but soon! These make me want to re-do my wardrobe in pastels so I can wear them with modern clothes too!

Total cost: NZ$10.05 more or less

Rate the dress: tan and red in 1875

Last week I showed you a flower-strewn frock by Jean-Phillipe Worth, one that might have been a little too frilly and feminine, but which most of you found fabulous.

While I don’t think Worth, original or JP, quite as infallible as some of you did, I wasn’t surprised that this frock received high accolades.  One of two of you flat-out hated the dress, and there were a few complaints about the symmetrical placement of motifs over the bust, the overall fussiness of the bust, and the colour of the creamy silk and blonde lace (I definitely don’t agree that the dress has faded over time – all the different layers of dark ivory matched too well, and were too true, for age to have changed them substantially), but the frock still managed an 8.7 out of 10.

Can this week match that?

This fortnight’s theme on the HSF is Literature, and I was rather at a loss as to how that could fit in with Rate the Dress.  In looking for inspiration, I found this afternoon dress  from the Museum of Fine Arts Boston.  The tan  silk is the colour of aged paper, and the red trim reminds me of the covers of so many books.  Just looking at it makes me want to curl up with a fine bit of literature.

Afternoon dress, about 1875, American (Boston, Massachusetts), Made by Miss M. T. Splain, MFA Boston

Afternoon dress, about 1875, American (Boston, Massachusetts), Made by Miss M. T. Splain, MFA Boston

The years have rather sadly crushed the dress, but hopefully you can imagine it in its original pristine condition, and judge it on that.

What do you think of that tan silk paired  dark red piping which highlights the square neck, the 18th century inspired sleeves, the pointed basque bodice, the ruffled hem, some rather random ruched areas, and the liberal scattering of bows?  Does it remind you of your favourite old book, or just look old and faded?

Rate the Dress on a Scale of 1 to 10

Things that you can make with squares and rectangles and triangles

People often say to me “Oh, I can’t believe you do historic sewing.  That must be so complicated!”.  It really isn’t!  Partly this is because it’s just a different skill set, but not a harder one, but partly because the shapes used for a lot of historic garments are actually pretty basic.

So what can you make with squares and rectangles and triangles?

The oldest extent garment is all squares and rectangles:

Pleated tunic, Ancient Egyptian. 1st dynasty, c. 3100-2890 BC.  Werner Forman Archive/ University College London, Petrie Museum

Pleated tunic, Ancient Egyptian. 1st dynasty, c. 3100-2890 BC. Werner Forman Archive/ University College London, Petrie Museum

As is pretty much every tunic and chemise since then, from the middle ages to the early 19th century:

Chemise presumed to have been worn by Marie Antoinette during her imprisonment, 101 x 83 x 67 Musee Carnavalet, Paris, France

Chemise presumed to have been worn by Marie Antoinette during her imprisonment, 101 x 83 x 67 Musee Carnavalet, Paris, France

Most petticoats are just rectangles of fabric pleated into waistbands:

Quilted petticoat, 1770-1780s,  silk satin with cream calamanco lining, Augusta Auctions

Quilted petticoat, 1770-1780s, silk satin with cream calamanco lining, Augusta Auctions

As are mid-19th century skirts, for all their tiers of rectangular ruffles:

Day dress, 1855, Centraal Museum

Day dress, 1855, Centraal Museum

Fichus and handkerchiefs and buffons and neckerchiefs and pocket handkerchiefs (what’s the difference?  I’ll be discussing them in an upcoming terminology post.) are all made of squares or rectangles or triangles:

Marquise de Grecourt, nee de la Fresnaye by Jean-Laurent Mosnier, ca. 1790

Marquise de Grecourt, nee de la Fresnaye by Jean-Laurent Mosnier, ca. 1790

Muffs are essentially just layers of rectangles:

 

Evening muff, fourth quarter 19th century, American, fur, silk, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Evening muff, fourth quarter 19th century, American, fur, silk, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Many aprons are rectangles:

Apron, 18th century, British, silk, metallic, Met

Apron, 18th century, British, silk, metallic, Metropolitan Museum of Art

As are many reticules, purses and variants thereof:

Bag, Great Britain, UK, Linen, silk, silver and silver-gilt threads; hand sewn, hand embroidered, hand plaited, V&A

Bag, Great Britain, UK, Linen, silk, silver and silver-gilt threads; hand sewn, hand embroidered, hand plaited, V&A

Plus, there are all the ethnic costumes based on basic shapes (just remember if you make one of these is should still be pre-1938):

Kimono with Western influence, probably by Iida & Co.:Takashimaya  (Japanese, founded 1831), ca. 1910, Japanese, silk, Metropolitan Museum of Art

Kimono with Western influence, probably by Iida & Co.:Takashimaya (Japanese, founded 1831), ca. 1910, Japanese, silk, Metropolitan Museum of Art

And all the Western clothes inspired by these costumes:

Paul Poiret, ca 1920 Coat, sold by Beaussant Lefèvre

Paul Poiret, ca 1920 Coat, sold by Beaussant Lefèvre

Vionnet loved to play with squares and rectangles, as in the ‘Chiton’ dress that I’ve replicated.

My version of Vionnet's 'Chiton' dress

My version of Vionnet’s ‘Chiton’ dress

My Deco Echo blouse, while more historically plausible than strictly historical, is also made of squares and rectangles.  And there is a full tutorial on how to make it if you want to make your own!

The Deco Echo blouse

The Deco Echo blouse

So there are lots, and lots of options to make something that is based on squares and rectangles and triangles.  What are you making?