All posts tagged: 1880s

Rate the Dress: the Victorians do the 18th Century

Oh dear!  Poor Adrian!  Last week most of you did not like his striped peasant ensemble.  Only Lauren stood up for Adrian as a designer; the other comments were a chorus of “Ewwww”, “bleck” and “sickly sweet”.  The frock with the floppy pockets flopped at 4.4 out of 10 This week I’m tempting fate by sticking with sickly sweet.  Frederico Andreotti was an Italian painter noted for his romantic, nostalgic, and frankly sentimental paintings of a imaginary 18th century world. The frocks in Andreotti’s paintings are an intriguing mix of rococo and late Victorian styles.  Today we are looking at a lady in a flowered pink frock,  caught up over a striped white and yellow underskirt, with a white stomacher, blue bows in hair, ruffles and frills galore and a decidedly coquettish expression. Her hair may be powdered, but the outfit is as much late 1880s in its aesthetic as it is 18th century.  What do you think?  Would you prefer a purer form or Victorian or Rococo fashion?  Does Victorian does Rococo work, but …

Madame Ornata as Aline

For our last photoshoot Madame Ornata borrowed my ‘By the Seashore’ ensemble and went as Aline. It’s fun to see the ensemble on someone else, and it fits Madame O better than I because the skirt is a bit short on me. And she got to try out the new bonnet!

Aline’s bonnet part II

So, Monday I told you about beginning Aline’s bonnet, and getting all the basic construction done.  Here are the finishing details. After cutting the brim down a lot, I bound it with blue and white tartan bias ribbon (from Nana, her stash is the gift that gives and gives!) that I folded into bias tape. I like the way it works with Aline’s skirt fabric, without matching exactly.  And it’s hard to find two tartans that work with each other! I sewed a piece of florists wire under the the bias tape around the upper brim of the bonnet, to help it hold the tight curve of Aline’s bonnet and my inspiration bonnet.  First I zig-zagged on the wire, and then bound it with the bias tape.  The tension of pulling the wire through the machine actually curved it into the perfect curve. The brim didn’t hug the face enough once it was bound, so I ended up taking in little pleats where the brim meets the back of the hat and tacking them down …