All posts tagged: Edwardian

A sewing secrets lace 1900s blouse

This is a the tale of a serendipitous sewing secret… When we’d decided on an ‘Anne of Green Gables’ theme for our Pukekura Park dress ups and photoshoot, I knew costuming ‘Priscilla’ was going to be a bit tricky.  She’s petite, and I’m tall, and most of my outfits are made to fit me. I was super busy the whole week before the our trip, but figured I had plenty of white voile, and could make a simple white voile Wearing History Edwardian blouse in an evening. And then, late Thursday, I popped into an op-shop while waiting on a print job, and got lucky: I found an amazing lace tablecloth that I thought would be perfect for a blouse.  It had flowers, and scallops, and greek key meanders, and was simply marvellous.  However it was stained, and they wanted $3 which I thought was pricey for a small, stained, tablecloth, and it was a cash-only op-shop, and I had  only $3 in cash, and they had a couple of sewing patterns I also wanted… …

Rate the Dress: Velvet & Fur in 1900

Despite a few readers loving last week’s avant garde green and gold Lanvin jumpsuit, most of you didn’t.  It rated a rather dismal 4.9 out of 10, with opinions ranging from Stella’s “Who knew!?!? Harem pants  can  look cool” to comparisons to a trashbag.  Ouch. This week’s rate the dress is brought to you courtesy of the exceptional weather we have been having in Wellington.  It’s been snowing.  Now, this wouldn’t be exciting if I lived in the South Island, but snow in Wellington happens once or twice a century.  And my suburb?  Never!  We live at sea level!  But we have been having hours long snow-storms, and the whole neighborhood has been outside with cameras.  It’s such big news it made the New York Times.  If that wasn’t a hyperlink it would be in bold, italics and underline, all at the same time.  The only one who doesn’t love the weather is Felicity.  Poor kitty is freaked out.  She doesn’t understand this white cold stuff that falls from the sky. Obviously, I need to …

Wow madam…those are some shoes

Some vintage items really challenge our cultural perceptions of an era.  Take these boots. We think of the Edwardian women as status and propriety bound carryovers of the Victorian era, clad in layers of white and pastel frills, and encouraged to be eminently retiring and delicate and feminine.  These boots turn all of that on its head.  They are feminine, that’s for sure, but there is nothing retiring, pastel, or frilly about them! They are so loud, and high, but the lack of ornamentation is also very elegantly restrained.  And the curves!   They are basically the shoe version of Camille Clifford’s figure! Can you imagine the sensation that Camille would have cause if she had worn these?  My legs certainly don’t have the right curves to pull them off! I wonder who did wear them, or what market they were intended for?  Perhaps they were the sort of shoes that ‘nice’ women would never consider. Hehe, turn-of-the-century slapper boots!