Latest Posts

Rate the Dress: Gentleman in Red, 1760s

Published by The Dreamstress

Last week’s 1840s plaid-ish dress was like a woman who is technically not the least bit beautiful, but who is so clever and witty with her looks that she tricks people into thinking she is more attractive than her more classically arranged sisters.  The illusion divided you into those who were completely taken in by the subterfudge, those who saw it and admired her more for it, those who looked straight for the true aesthetic and missed the wit altogether, and those who saw and dismissed the clever screen and cast your vote for the academically prescribed aesthetic.  Which is right?  All of them, and none of them!  They are what make the world interesting.  And together mush all the sharp ups and downs of the ratings into a respectable but not exactly brilliant 6.9 out of 10.

Last week one of the main complaints from the latter two camps was that the colours of the dress were too dull.

I hope this is bright enough for you.

Edward Howard by Pompeo Batoni, 1766, Victoria & Albert Museum

Celebrated Italian painter Pompeo Batoni depicts Edward Howard, a young British nobleman on his grand tour, in a suit of red, with more red, and red, in red, and then some red over that, with red.  And then just a little bit of gold, and maybe the tiniest bit of black and white.  And a dog.

What do you think? Is Edward’s outfit the epitome of elegance, or is he the mid-18th century version of a young man going through his ‘cap on backwards, jeans halfway down his bum’ phase (do guys still do that?  Or is the new sartorially dreadful episode for young men when they don skinny jeans and paper thin T-shirts with deep necklines?)?

Rate the Dress on a Scale of 1 to 10

Early 1950s fashions and fabrics in Japan, Part 4 of 5

Published by The Dreamstress

I’ve been having so much fun showing you these images.   I love all your comments about the fashions, and the discussions we have had about Japanese society in the post war era.

Ready for some more adorable early 50s fashions for women and children?

This section of designs is all on paper that is quite yellowed and acidic with age.  It’s really quite interesting how the paper throughout the booklet is different.

First, some kids hats.  I just love that these were necessary enough to be included in the pattern book!

Beanies and bonnets for little ones

And then, some fashions for boys and girls:

Kiddie clothes with cute pockets

D'awwww! Look at the duck applique! And the dress on the far right is a junior version of one I showed you in part 2

And back to adult clothes:

Meh. Not very exciting

Junior dresses perhaps? Fabulous necklines!

I really like this artist’s style.  The women are so sweet, and reasonably anatomically probable.

The dresses on the right and left are really me. I've never gotten into the waistcoat bodice style in the middle though.

Oooh...that stripey one!

This artist also gives a lovely sense of life and action to his sketches:

Oh, the one on the far right! Happiness!

I love the frock of the girl with the shopping basket. And the big checks

And finally, a few more children’s frocks:

Such sweet, charming details

Next week Monda I’ll show you the very last one.

Top five on Friday: Authors

Published by The Dreamstress

Sometimes on Friday* I review a book, but this week I thought I would just tell you about my five favourite (fiction) authors: the five whose books I read over, and over again, till I can quote whole passages, the five whose thoughts influence the way I think, and whose writing style is reflected in my own writing style.

I can’t tell you which of the five is my favourite (far too hard to choose!).  I depends on my mood, what I had for breakfast, and the direction of the wind.  So here they are in alphabetical order by first name.

  1. Armine von Tempski – like me, Armine is a Caucasian child born in Hawaii, and she writes of her childhood in the islands, a century before mine.  Her writings vividly evoke the Hawaii of her time; the lush grandeur of nature, the delicate politics in the years after the annexation, the amazing mix of cultures that would give Hawaii its distinct multicultural feel, and finally, the larger than life characters she was priviledged to know and hear of.  She writes of her father, the son of Gustavus von Tempsky of New Zealand fame, of King Kalakaua, of Helen of Honolulu ‘The Mary Magdalene of the Pacific’, of Jack London, of princesses, and most importantly, of her paniolo Makalii.  Her books make me laugh, and cry, and, well, cry some more, because I feel so very, very homesick reading them.  Most of her books are rare and out of print, but I own a first edition of her autobiography ‘Born in Paradise’ that I picked up at a library clear out in California.  It’s ex-military library, and I love thinking of some soldier stationed in Hawaii during WWII reading it.

    My first-edition copy of Von Tempski's autobiography - Born in Paradise

    Armine tells the story of Helen of Honolulu - with age damage from a military notice

  2.  L.M. Mongtomery – Yes.  I’m an Anne fan.  No surprise there!  In fact, I’m just a plain old anything LM fan.  I have read every single one of her published works.  More than once.  I love the writing, the descriptions, the fact that she managed to slip in a male hero who got excited about the first violets of spring and was still manly, and we believedit.  I’m just starting to build a collection of Montgomery books- I’ve held off because of moving and lack of space.  But isn’t my edition of Anne of the Islands darling?

    Look at those 1950s does 1900s fashions!

  3. Robin McKinley – Have you ever noticed how much I love to use parenthesis?  Yes.  That’s Robin McKinley’s fault.  I love her writing.  The rich detail she works into all her stories, the extraneous details that make her world real and complete.  Her imagination.  Oh, my goodness, her imagination!  How does she think of all those things!  I love them all (even Deerskin, though I never want to read it again), but Thimble’s End, her retelling of Sleeping Beauty, is probably my favourite.
  4. Stella Gibbons – My love of Stella’s works is based entirely on one novel.  Cold Comfort Farm is so brilliant that it immediately launched Stella on to the list.  I’ve only managed to read one of her other works, and it wasn’t quite as good.  But, oh, Cold Comfort Farm!  It’s so, so brilliant.  It’s a clever, witty send up of English pastoral novels (you know the ones: ancient family curses, people who can’t escape their fate, extremely dramatic, ‘loam and lovechild’ etc etc), and its heroine, Flora Poste, would be my best friend.  She fixes things.
  5. Terry Pratchett – You probably already know I love Terry Pratchett.  I’m making a dress inspired by a Terry Pratchett character.  Every time I have to fly I buy a Pratchett novel to entertain me on the flight.  It almost makes up for the ignominy of being shoved into a metal can and told to be happy.  Pratchett is brilliant, and inventive, and every one of his books make you think about the world, and how it operates.    I cried like a baby when I found out he is dying.  My world has expanded so much because of his work.

Just some of the Pratchett books I own

So those are the authors that I love most.  One man, four women.  The deceased, two living.  Two fantasy, one sometimes vaguely futuristic,  two romantically realistic.

Are any of these your favourites?  Any authors I should read based on liking these?  Have you read any of these and are now dreadfully appalled that I should have the bad taste to like them?

 

*And yes, it is Saturday in NZ, but I wrote this post on Friday, and it’s Friday somewhere, so I think this should qualify.**

 

**Also, did you notice my little nod to Pratchett here?