All posts tagged: 1890

Jeanne Samary’s book: Charlotte’s Treats

It’s really hard to get ahold of a copy of Jeanne Samary’s children’s book  Les Gourmandises de Charlotte (Charlotte’s Treats), which is really a pity, because it sounds charming, and the illustrations are adorable. Little Charlotte is a greedy, unruly little child.  She won’t eat anything but sugar! Her mother tries to tempt her with all sorts of delicious, nutritious food, but Charlotte just says “Non”! A doctor is called to warn her, but does Charlotte listen? Non! Without nutrition, Charlotte begins to shrink… and shrink…. and shrink… …until she becomes so little that she is smaller than a rat. Indeed, she is so small that she becomes the servant to a rat! Poor naughty Charlotte! Charlotte is so distressed that she begins to eat. She eats… and eats… and eats… She eats anything she can get her hands on! She eats so much that she grows enormously fat, and can’t walk or play! Poor naughty Charlotte! Will Charlotte ever learn to eat the right amount of the right kind of foods, and be a …

Train + bodice = thrift/versatility. But is it accurate?

While making the Juno dress, I had a bit of a conundrum with the bodice and train. There was no way to make my original bodice look just like the inspiration bodice. So, making a virtue of necessity, I had the idea that I could make a second bodice that fit me perfectly, and looked just like the inspiration bodice.  Then I could add additional hooks to make the skirt waist smaller, and the Juno dress would fit a wider variety of models. But then I encountered a problem.  I’ve been studying similar late 1880s gowns for a while, and wondering if the trains actually attached to the bodices rather than the skirts. Doesn’t the train look as if it might extend from the bodice rather than being part of the skirt? The theory is sound: it would be much more comfortable to have the weight of the skirt coming from the bodice and hanging off the shoulders rather than hanging from the waist.  Additionally, attaching the train to the bodice opens up the possibility …

Juno: a goddess in the garden

This is the individual photoshoot I did of Vanessa looking simply stunning in the Juno dress after last Saturday’s talk. She looked fabulous, it was so fun to have the time to hang out with her, and, for just that final bit of awesomeness, she brought along the amazing Shona of In the Heyday, giving me the opportunity to get to know one of my vintage idols.  So exciting! That train!  And I love that a few leaves ended up on it! What a fabulous profile I actually love the contrast of the gloves, and wonder if the garland would look good with white roses, instead of blue, for another pop of colour. One of the ‘tweaks’ I want to do is adding the bertha that is on the inspiration dress. I think it will add just the right bit of interest to the upper bodice back. For now, a corsage helps. Possibly my favourite image from the session She looks so cool and composed, despite the heat in the greenhouse Beauty and the (absolutely …