All posts tagged: 1880s

Rate the Dress: yellow and blue for a little girl

Whenever I post a late Renaissance/Elizabethan garment with a ruff, I know I’m running a risk. Historically (as in, historically on this blog) ruffs have not been popular. So I really wondered what you would make of Christina of Denmark (?) in her metal lace encrusted dress. You have to admit, the look had a lot working against it: the terrible perspective issues of the painting, the ruff, the crazy upper-sleeves and even crazier lower sleeves. And yet, you managed to look past the weird, crazy portrait, see the dress as it might have been in actual fabric on an actual person, and rated it a respectable (particularly for the era) out 7.3 of 10. As Rowena said, it’s “the best Muppet costume I have ever seen.” This week we go from status and bling to sweetness with a little girl’s dress from the MFA Boston is made in the sweetest pastel yellow and blue taffeta. The colours remind me of a Beatrix Potter illustration, and the large pockets seem like a good idea for …

Rate the Dress: Liberty of London Tea Gown

Published by The Dreamstress

Dear Readers, I apologise that this dress is late. It is late for the very best of reasons though: yesterday was my Afternoon Tea benefit talk for Save the Children at Premier House. When that finished at 4, we had to get undressed, I had to grab a bite of dinner, and then at 6 I taught a Beginners Sewing class. And I just may have been up into the wee smalls finishing things the night before. Just maybe. So I’m a little bit tired, and went to bed early, and got up late, so the post is a bit late. Re: Last weeks 1930s dress on Myrna Loy. The official rating is a 7.8 out of 10, but I really don’t think the dress deserves it, because most of you were too bored by it to vote (also it had waist ruffles (oops, did I just betray a prejudice!?)). Those who really love 1930s weighed in, but there was a distinct lack of interest in the comments. Alas, I have no way to calculate …

Nana’s Corset – beginnings

Published by The Dreamstress

Remember how I posted that I wanted to finish a corset so I could make shorts so I could make panniers? Well, you have seen the shorts, the panniers are done but yet to be posted about, but the corset isn’t quite finished. But it looks pretty amazing anyway, and here is a sneak-peek: This corset is my long planned, long awaited version of the Nana corset for me. I’m never going to achieve quite as many curves as Nana (and also, I’m not a teenage courtesan who destroys the lives of every man she encounters – but Manet didn’t know that) but I’m pretty pleased with how I look in it. The images of me in the corset are courtesy of Mrs C, who kindly took photos on her camera at a sewing night at her place when I stupidly forgot to bring a memory card for my camera. D’oh! I’ve been working on it since the sewing night, and the corset is almost done. I just need to finish the binding on the …