All posts tagged: 1800s

Accessorizing

The Accessorize challenge is coming up on the Historical Sew Fortnightly, and there is so much choice when it comes to what to make. So many beautiful period accessories, so many periods! These are just a few of the items that are at the top of my ‘need an excuse to make this’ list. First off, every girl needs a beautiful fan. I collect vintage fans – I should show you my collection. I also aim to make fans. I have hundreds I love, but one particular favourite is this spangled mid-19th century beauty. It has Greek key motifs around the brim! As you have probably realised, I’m a bit of a shoe aficionado, but there are certain pairs that just make my heart go pitter-patter with adoration. Like these: Oh happiness in shoe form! I’ve looked into Regency sandals, but before these I hadn’t realised there might be early 17th century sandals. I want to know more about them, and I want to make them, and I don’t think the latter is entirely beyond …

Rate the Dress: Green tartan in 1801

Published by The Dreamstress

UPDATE: Last week’s Worth of 1875 rated a (drumroll here because it is 5 months late and better be worth it!) 8.5 out of 10. Many of you were madly in love with it, but a few of you thought the colours and trim a bit disjointed, and it lost points for that. This is my last week of ‘away’ Rate the Dresses where I haven’t had time to look at all your comments from last week. Hopefully I’ve picked a good one! I’ve been very good and have resisted the urge to show you this as a St Patricks themed post in March, with some dreadful comment about mixing Scotland and Ireland. Instead I’m showing you this now because…ummm…green is good….plaid is good…Hawai’i is very green…also, it’s interesting (the Rate the Dress, not Hawai’i, though Hawai’i is interesting too). While tartan is one of the ‘universal’ patterns (like the Meander, or Greek Key) that turns up in almost every culture, rather than the exclusively Scottish design it is sometimes thought of as, this dress, …

Rate the dress: Embroidered mull

Published by The Dreamstress

So. Sigismund III. Badass or just bad? Well, between the fez, the collar, the hose, and the scimitar, almost everyone said his outfit made them giggle. And yet, for all that, it made a 7.3 out of 10. Pretty good for so many giggles! This week lets go from dark and badass to light and sweet. I find Regency frocks so appealing. They are so simple and pure and youthful in their barely-adorned whiteness. Of course the problem with Regency frocks is that they are often so similar, and simple and pure and unadorned, that they don’t make for a very interesting Rate the Dress. I’ve tried to get around this by posting really unusual examples, or portraits with accessories, but sometimes you just want to show a simple dress. So here is a Regency frock from the MFA Boston that hopefully is still a classic example of Regency fashion, without being too uninteresting. This white mull cotton evening dress from the early 19th century features a gathered bodice, short puffed sleeves, a narrow …