The Dreamstress

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Rate the Dress: 1780s pick ups and pleats in peppermint ice cream green

Yellow is the colour I reach for when I want to be happy, but green is my go-to for calmness and de-stressing. It’s been a crazy couple of weeks in my life. Some of it has been good stress, with fun adventures, and the start of the new school year at Toi Whakaari the New Zealand Drama School. There’s also been some less happy stress, with a spike in my ever-present-but-mostly-under-control-most-of-the-time-climate-anxiety, and worries about the coronavirus (people I know who are in the know are very worried, and that’s even more worrying…).

So this week I want to be calm. And while some think historical fashion is frivolous, I’d strongly argue against that. Clothes are a universal need that links almost everyone on the planet. What we wore tells us a lot about where we’ve come from as a society, and where we can learn from that. And looking at old garments is a very low climate impact way to de-stress! So here’s to pretty (or not – that’s what RTD is all about!) frocks. This week in ‘de-stress green’ (at least for me – maybe green is your stress colour, like mine is purple. For your sake I hope not)

Last Week: ca. 1880s tiers of tassels

It’s a good thing I wasn’t aiming to de-stress you with last week’s pick, because that’s the opposite of the effect the dress had on most of you. A few of you really liked it, but most of you thought the tasselled skirt was a terrible decision that had nothing to do with the bodice.

The Total: 6.3 out of 10

Not great, but I’m sure the dress can just shake, shake, shake it off!

This week: 1780s pick ups and pleats

This week’s pick is a late 18th century concoction in palest mint green.

Robe, French, circa 1780, fastening with hooks and eyes, with with box pleated and fly-braid edged robings, fitted back skirts with fixed green silk cords, sold by Kerry Taylor Auctions

When this dress was sold by Kerry Taylor Auctions it was identified as a Robe a La Circassienne, based on the similarity of the skirt to a fashion plate of a Circassienne.

However, while it’s not entirely clear what 18th c fashion writers meant by a ‘circassienne’, fashion plates described as ‘circassienne’ all appear to show garments that have the same general shape as this one, but with more elaborate ‘Orientalist’ trimmings, with fur or tassels. You can read more about them here (sadly, the images no longer appear to be working).

So this dress is one of the many late 18th century dresses that doesn’t fit perfectly into a category.

So what do you think? Does it make you as happy as a perfect scoop of peppermint icecream, or does it leave you a little cold?

Rate the Dress on a Scale of 1 to 10

A reminder about rating — feel free to be critical if you don’t like a thing, but make sure that your comments aren’t actually insulting to those who do like a garment. Phrase criticism as your opinion, rather than a flat fact. Our different tastes are what make Rate the Dress so interesting. It’s no fun when a comment implies that anyone who doesn’t agree with it, or who would wear a garment, is totally lacking in taste.

(as usual, nothing more complicated than a .5. I also hugely appreciate it if you only do one rating, and set it on a line at the very end of your comment

Historical costumes at Fernside thedreamstress.com

Frolics at Fernside

Published by The Dreamstress

Last weekend Fernside, an early 20th century home and gardens an hour away from Wellington in Featherston, held an open day in the gardens as a fundraiser for the local theatre.

I’ve always wanted to see the gardens: they are a lovely example of a restored early 20th century garden. You can generally only see them as part of a (long, expensive) Lord of the Rings themed tour, as the gardens were transformed into Lothlorien for the the films. I’m not that keen on LotR (well, mostly I’m not that keen on long expensive tours where you’d just get trotted through the gardens to the most important filming scenes and then back out again, and can’t wander around), so I was really excited to have a chance to explore the grounds at leisure.

And obviously, to dress up!

We got together a group, and settled on early 20th c clothing, to match the grounds and house (and also, because it was the easiest to get dressed in a cafe bathroom in. We weren’t going to make the drive over a rather daunting mountain range in costumes!)

Of the five of us, two chose 1920s Vionnet ‘Chiton’ dresses, two chose Edwardian with Fantails Skirts & Wearing History blouses, and I tied the two eras together with my Miss Muffet dress.

We had an utterly delightful time. We wandered around the gardens and admired the fruits and flowers:

We cuddled the resident cat (name: Squeaky)

We found peacock feathers, and posed with peacock babies:

Miss A showed off her new Fantail Skirt (her very first completed historical costume!) and Miss Eloise showed off her new Fantail & her new Wearing History blouse (hacked to be front buttoning to enable self dressing).

We took lots, and lots, and lots of photos:

Miss A has a better camera than I do and I’m very envious…

Those of us in Edwardian admired the ’20s ladies for looking so chic and sophisticated and cool and fluttery:

And those in ’20s admired how swishy and elegant the ladies in Edwardian looked in their Fantails & lace blouses:

I’m not exaggerating when I say half the group is now planning their own 20s outfit, and the other half is planning their own 1900s outfit!

And as for me, well, people admired my millinery skills (which I’m getting much better at, and am very proud of, because they didn’t come easily!):

And my dinosaur chicken impression:

I was just really excited that there were chickens…

Scroop Patterns: Call for Testers for a new dress pattern

Published by The Dreamstress

I’ve got a new Scroop Pattern ready to be tested!

The Pattern:

A timeless princess seamed dress with a deliciously swishy skirt that will make you feel like dancing every time you wear it.

It features princess seams that skim the body, with pattern pieces for Small (A-B), Medium (C-D) & Full (DD/E+) busts, front buttons, and a flattering scooped neck. View A ends at mid calf and has flutter sleeves and inseam pockets. View B ends just below the knee, and has short sleeves and patch pockets. Mix and match sleeves and pockets for a variety of looks.

The dress looks beautiful in light-midweight fabrics with good draping qualities in cottons, linens, rayon/viscose, wool, and synthetics. Suggested fabrics are rayon/viscose and cotton challis; rayon/viscose twills; tropical weight wools; lightweight wool crepe; soft linens in twill and plain weaves.

The pattern comes in the full Scroop Patterns size range, from size 30-56, with pattern pieces for Small (A-B), Medium (C-D) & Full (DD/E+) busts

Testers:

For this pattern I need testers who are low-intermediate or higher level sewers with some experience sewing buttons & buttonholes.

You will also need to:

be able to print patterns in A4, A0, US Letter or US full sized Copyshop paper sizes
have the time to sew up the item if you agree to be a tester for it
be able to photograph your make being worn, and be willing for me to share your photos on this blog and instagram.
be able to provide clear feedback
be willing to agree to a confidentially agreement regarding the pattern
have a blog or other format where you share and analyse your sewing

I would hugely appreciate it if you would share your finished make once the pattern launches, but this is not mandatory. I’m asking for TESTERS, not marketers. The requirement of a blog/other review format is to help me pick testers. I want to be able to see how you think about sewing, and that your experience level matches up to the pattern.

As always I’m be looking for a range of testers, in terms of geographical location, body type, sewing experience, and personal style.

The Timeline:

Materials:
If you’re selected to test I’ll let you know and send you the materials requirements, line drawings, and the full pattern description a week from now, by 12pm NZ time on Thur the 27th of Feb (Wed the 26th for most of the rest of the world).

Patterns:
I will send out a digital copy of the pattern to testers a week later, before 4pm NZ time on Thur the 5th of March.

Testing & Reviewing:
Testers will have until 4pm NZ time on Thur the 19th of March (14 days, with two full weekends) to sew the dress, and respond to the testing questions. I will need basic photos by this date, but if you want a further weekend to take better photographs I can wait until Sun the 29th of March for those.

What you get:

Pattern testers will get a digital copy of the final pattern, my eternal gratitude, and as much publicity as I can manage for your sewing.

Keen to be a tester for the dress pattern? please email me with the following:

Your name
Your high bust, full bust, waist and hip measures
Your height
A bit about your sewing experience — particularly dresses
A link to your blog/Instagram/Flickr/Sewing Pattern Review profile/something else sewing-y presence
A link to a sewing make with a review (so I can see how you think about and analyse your sewing)
Do you have any other skills that would really make you an extra-super-awesome pattern tester? (i.e. experience copy-editing, cat pictures to bribe me with, 😉 )
Where are you located (doesn’t need to be too specific – continent, country, state, whatever you’re comfortable with).

Email me to be a tester!

If you’ve already applied to/been a tester for Scroop Patterns in the past you are welcome to just copy and paste all the info into a new email, as long as nothing has changed.

Hope to hear from you!