All posts tagged: 1860s

Gosh Dagmar, you really liked your pearls, didn’t you?

I’ve posted about Dagmar of Denmark, known after her marriage as Maria Feodorovna of Russia, before. While I was researching her I noticed something. Maybe it was because of her rather impoverished childhood, maybe it was a family weakness for completely OTT necklaces, maybe it was because she had already cried her share of brides tears well before the wedding, or maybe she just liked the things. Whatever it was, man, that girl had some pearl bling going in all her portraits! From Dagmar’s diary*: 6 June 1867: A man came today to take my portrait with the new camera technology. How fabulous! I knew exactly what I wanted to wear: my favourite bow headband and every single pearl necklace I own. Also the bracelets. I looked fabulous. One of my ladies in waiting suggested that it might be a bit much as I’m not even 20, but I told her to stuff it. The nerve! 25 September 1874: The happiest possible news! The doctor has just confirmed today that I will be confined for …

Kiwi-isms: Throwing a wobbly

Published by The Dreamstress

I thought it would be fun to translate, and illustrate, some of my favourite kiwi-isms Throw a wobbly (also, Chuck a wobbly) 1. To have a meltdown, temper tantrum, hissy fit, etc. P.S. Don’t you love Toulmouche’s painting? How he caught the delustred satin of the grey dress, the duchesse satin of the brides frock, the rust-coloured velvet (it’s an 1860s version of Maria Josepha’s dress!), and the apricot taffeta. My favourite is the littlest bridesmaid, who seems to be saying “whatever, have your wobbly, I’m just going to play dress up with your wreath”. I suspect she is the bride’s little sister!

The 1866 Crinoline in action

Published by The Dreamstress

I’ve realised that while I make lots of undergarments, some of them very pretty, I don’t often show models in just their undergarments, so I don’t get good photographs of the undergarments on real people. Last Saturday solved a bit of that. One undergarments I was especially pleased to get images of in action was the 1866 crinoline. Mme Denise Poiret wore it, and looked fabulously 1860s and not at all Poiret-y. The one inaccuracy with this wearing is that I put the corset over the crinoline for aesthetic impact. Audiences like to to see corsets in the full. I fixed some of the issues that I was having with this crinoline for this wearing by slipping an extra set of very strong wire boning into the extra channels that I had providentially included in the crinoline when I originally made it. The extra wires keep the crinoline from warping under the weight of the back ruffles, and help create a back-heavy shape, but also make the whole petticoat quite a bit heavier, which is …