A 1780s hat and a chemise-a-la-reine refashion
One of the perks of my job is sitting in on classes from our amazing guest teachers: this year I made a 1780s hat in our millinery class.
One of the perks of my job is sitting in on classes from our amazing guest teachers: this year I made a 1780s hat in our millinery class.
Five years ago I wrote a post about chemise a la reine (also known as gaulle) dresses, and what was worn under them based on how they are depicted in paintings of the 1780s & 90s. Unfortunately that post is one of the ones that has fallen victim to the Photobucket 3rd party hosting debacle, so I pulled it. I’ve had quite a few requests for it since. I decided that as long as I was going to go to the effort of finding and replacing all my images, I should update the entire post. I’ve learned a lot about chemise and 18th century undergarments since I originally wrote the post – hopefully I can make more educated guesses. However, the 18th century is still not my area of study and expertise, so my guesses are just that, and not an expert opinion. I’ve posted them to give people food for thought, and a jumping off point for more research of their own. So what was worn under a chemise a la reine? Obviously you’d …
Last Sunday Elisabeth the Sewphist and Sarah of Capital Adventures and I had a photoshoot in the Rose Garden and Greenhouse at the Wellington Botanical Gardens. The photoshoot didn’t go quite to plan – Madame O was supposed to join us and wear her fabulous frilly pink polonaise gown, and I was wearing my chemise a la reine and was going to bring 18th century for Elisabeth, and we would have been the perfect late 18th century trio. But Madame O couldn’t make it, and I couldn’t find a petticoat for Elisabeth, and we ran dreadfully late in getting ready. And my hat just wouldn’t sit right. But I sucked up the hat, brought my green silk satin pseudo 1930s Stella gown for Elisabeth to wear, and we caught the last hour that the Greenhouse was open and the last of the Rose Garden sunshine and had a lovely time anyway. Elisabeth channeled the (rather strange) statue in the begonia house in both elegant and literal fashion. Sarah wore the tropical flowers without picking them. …