All posts tagged: Juno dress

Trials and tribulations of dyeing

Having decided that the Juno dress really needs to be closer to the original, and that the only draping option I have that will really give the same effect is some silk tulle and mesh, currently coloured gold, chocolate brown, and black (which I dyed over the gold), my only option was to un-dye and than re-dye the tulle to match the duchesse silk of the dress. So this is what I started with: This is what I got after 60 seconds in the un-dye pot: Well, sweet tiny Jamie, that wasn’t what I expected!  Now I have a problem! Luckily, after a LOT more soaking and stirring, and a whole new packet of un-dyer, I achieved much more satisfactory results: Even the chocolate silk mesh un-coloured with a lot of encouragement: Having finally achieved colours neutral enough to attempt re-dyeing, I tackled that.  I picked a navy blue silk dye. Unfortunately, on my first go I forgot to add vinegar to help it set, so the colouring was a little insipid. A dry, a …

Juno dress: Things I wish I had known

When I first started the Juno Victorian Goddess dress, there was only one image of my inspiration gown available:   So I guessed what the train looked like, and what the back of the bodice looked like, and lots of other stuff. And I got it wrong.  Because the Met got the Brooklyn Museum’s costume collection and put up more images of the dress, and now I know that the the train looks like this: The train is fancy, not plain, the bodice laces, and the bodice trimming is much more controlled.  And just look at the sleeve details, and the way those pleats fall! She looks so pleased with herself!  And this shot really shows how far off the shoulders the bodice sits: And the other side of the dress.  Now I can see that the tulle catches back up: And just look how different it looks without a full bustle.  Is this an original 19th century image (dubious), or the donor in the 1930s or a later museum model (far more likely)?  And …