All posts tagged: 17th century

A dress for Ninon (because I’m really tired of pink pintucks)

I’m really sick of pink pintucks. And of sewing with a treadle machine. And of wearing a corset to sew in. Not to mention that wearing a corset every day is ruining my figure (you loose all your stomach muscles within a week!), so I’m taking a break from Emily’s dress. I have a good excuse to take a break from Emily too. On July 23 I’m co-presenting a historical concert with The Historical Arts Trust: Grandeur & Frivolity: Music & Fashion from the Courts of Louis XIV and Louis XV. Oooooh! Obviously I need to add to my stock of Baroque and Rococo fashion, so it’s a great excuse to tackle a project I have drooled over for months: a 1660s gown for the celebrated 17th c French beauty, arts patron, and sometimes nun, sometimes courtesan, Ninon de l’Enclos. In yellow duchess satin, because I’m desperate to make a yellow dress. There are no portraits of Ninon done within her life, so I’m using a portrait of Ã‰lisabeth d’Orleans as my main inspiration frock. …

Rate the dress: a 1680s fashion plate

Published by The Dreamstress

Last week’s 1850s rate the dress met with general mild approval, with the level of enthusiasm dependent on whether or not you like 1850s silhouettes. The bronze-brown confection came in at a 6.9 out of 10. However, even the people who love midcentury styles and gave the highest scores felt that the dress needed accessories. Showing a dress fully accessorized is what fashion plates are for: they demonstrate for us, and for the ladies of the era, everything that the elegant dresser of the time should wear with their outfit. So this week’s rate the dress is all about accessories, and what to wear with your historic frock. Our 17th century fashion model is shown in a striped red, white and blue frock, with gold fringing and a whole plethora of accessories: bows on her headdress, a scarf to protect the hair, lace sabot cuffs with red bows, a folded fan, creamy yellow gloves, and what appears to be a fob-watch dangling from the waist. What do you think of our lady and her accessories? …

Rate the Dress: Late Elizabethan pastels

Published by The Dreamstress

Last week I showed you a very bright blue plaid dress, and despite the fact that so many of you said you liked blue, most of you did not like this blue, especially not in a plaid! Rowenna even called it “The Plaid Scotland Rejected.” A few of you were more favorable though, and felt you could pull it off. It averaged out with a marginal rating of 5.4 out of 10. This week, let’s take a deep, calming breath, and tone things down a little with a 1605 portrait of Anne of Denmark. Well, kinda tone things down. This is early 17th century fashion we are talking about after all, and while the wife of James I of England is clad in muted whites and pinks, there is nothing toned down and muted about her silhouette. Anne’s hair is piled high, and her famously beautiful neck and bust are framed by a fine lace collar and pink trim. Blue and pink ribbon rosettes on her bodice further lead the eye up to her best …