Purple Velvet Cape Lined With Blue Satin White Silk Stockings 1770
In March, I visited the small chintz (Chintz – Global Textile) exhibition at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. I went looking for one of my pictures today, and suddenly realized I completely forgot to blog about the visit. So here's me making up for that! (If you're curious about chintz itself, I have some info on that here as well)
The exhibition was small, just a single room, but it had some stunning pieces. The Rijksmuseum is not focused on costume, but it does collect things which have to do with Dutch history and identity. Chintz is one of those interesting things which was originally exotic, made abroad, and yet became a part of Dutch heritage. Through trade initially, and later on through it's continued existance in traditional costume. The pieces in the Rijksmuseum were mostly 18th century, some wall hangings and fragments, other complete pieces of clothing.
To begin, they had a number of so called 'japonse rokken' (loosly translates to japanese robes), or banyans on display. Modelled after imported Japanese kimonos, they were worn by men and show the orignial use of chintz in more informal wear.
There's quite a variety, I especially loved the red one as it reminded me of the early 18th century 'bizarre' silks.
They feature some nice details, such as the strips in the collar of this yellow-ground one.
The one woman's gown on display was this beautiful francaise. They have it photographed over wider hoops on the website, and given how it drags on the sides I suspect it would've been worn that way, not how it's displayed here.
Despite the inherent formality francaises normally have, this one is relatively simple. It does not have any trim, although it does feature some very nice cuffs.
They did have some other women's garments as well. Firstly, this lovely petticoat featuring some interesting scenes. Chintz was definitely not just about flowers!
Finally, there were two garments from the town of Hindeloopen, which had it's own specific local (traditional) dress. First, this 'wentke', which is a long overcoat. The blue-white combination is typically worn for light mourning. Special about this one, though, was the silver on the chintz. (Do click on the right picture to see it better). It fairly sparkled in the light, it was so beautiful!
The other item was a 'kassakeintje', which is basically a shorter (cassaquin) version of the wentke. This is probably one of the most famous chintz pieces out there, most people will have seen the official photograph of the back:
The lighting was not as ideal in the exhibition of course, but this does finally give an opportunity to see the front! It's also interesting how it, at first glance, seems perfectly symmetrical. However, once you look a little closer, you can see small (and some bigger) deviations from the mirrored pattern. Especially in the purple waving lines at the bottom side/back of the bodice
I also took some pictures of the fabric. It's truly stunning, I keep being awed by how pretty the colors always are in original pieces.
The back has gores to make it flare out, and all the seams have a tiny line of red contrast stitches about 1,5cm to the side. This is typical for the wentkes and kassekeintjes from Hindeloopen, I've never seen any without.
Aside from the clothing, there were also some fabric pieces. These were some fragments. The first was a small piece, but special due to the gold on it.
This was a larger piece off a role, a bit more 'modern' in style.
Some piecing, which is always difficult to see in chintz.
Finally, there was one large wall-hanging on a red ground. This fabric was so stunning, it was one of my favourites. You can see the age, and somehow it's still so vibrant.
The exhibition is on display until July 21st 2019, so there's still a little time left to go see it! (Ask where to go at the info desk, it's a huge museum, and a very small exhibition)
It's been a while! Right after the fancy dress ball, I dove into a new project. However, it's not quite done yet, and I've been away from home for a couple of weeks, so nothing finished to show off yet. So this post will be about some of the inspirations instead!
I've been working on an 1880's tennis dress. This dress started with the realization that I only owned silk, wool and velvet Victorian dresses. Which are fabrics I love, but they're not ideal for warm summer days. So I set out to remedy that, and when looking at possible designs for cotton bustle dresses (as I love the 1880's), I stumbled on tennis dresses.
This is one I've always really liked in particular:
Manchester Art gallery
But there are some other great existent examples, such as these:
The Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA)
MET museum
One of the questions I had initially, was what makes these dresses tennis dresses, and not just cotton bustle dresses? Partly, it was probably just that they were made with a specific purpose in mind, but looking at these garments more closely does give some more clues!
The first thing (which I know is a feature of the first two of these dresses, although I'm not sure about the third), is that the boning which creates the bustle shape is actually a part of the dress itself.
This is a feature I first ran into in Izabela Pitcher's book 'the Victorian Dressmaker'. She has a yachting dress which features boning in the skirt. The dress from LACMA actually has pictures of the boning structure, and for the Manchester Art Gallery dress you can read about the boning in the description. I've also seen this being mentioned for light cotton summer dresses.
The inside of the LACMA dress, showing the boning and tapes to create the bustle
This inclusion of boning in the skirt means that the outfit does not require a separate bustle case, nor a petticoat to go on top of the cage. Although you might still want one petticoat to go underneath, this definitely does cut out at least 2 layers of skirts, making the whole thing lighter, and probably easier to move around in. The Manchester dress even sports an apron in one with the main skirt to reduce layers, and a back overlay which is buttoned on. So the goal definitely seems to reduce weight! This is my own theory, so I am curious to find out if I can feel the difference when wearing the finished dress!
Another feature the tennis dresses seem to have are special pockets to keep the tennis balls in. Although bustle dresses feature pockets more often, these are definitely shaped and sized for tennis balls. Pleats are a popular choice for trimming, otherwise the dresses are relatively simple, with just a little lace. All these examples also feature a bodice which has extra fabric in the front, and which is gathered into a band which sits at the natural waist. Pictures of tennis dresses do show other types of bodices, although the 'looser' gathered look does seem to be the most popular.
Some pictures of ladies in tennis outfits:
Finally, there's of course the little references to tennis, such as the embroidery on the belt. These three examples are all made of cotton, although different fabrics such as light wool could probably also be used. And they are all striped! When looking at pictures and prints, you see that most dresses are light colored, and either a solid color or made in stripes.
All the stripes!
The stripes weren't just for the ladies either!
For my own dress, I'll be using the Manchester dress as main inspiration. It has a very good description on the website, although the pictures don't show the back. Main features will be: bustle cage included in the skirt, gathered front bodice, apron sewn in one with the skirt and separate back drapery, a ball pocket, pleated ruffles, and striped cotton fabric!
I've now got most of the skirt base and bodice together. It needs some finishing (closures, hem, etc), and then all the ruffles on the skirt. Here's a little glimpse of the fabric, and the gathered channels which hold the boning for the bustle in the skirt.
Finally, I also found this lovely article, which has some more info on tennis dresses in the period, including some original source quotes!
I was very excited when Shari from La Rose Soiree announced that she'd be holding a Victorian Fancy dress ball. It's a very specific theme, but it also gives opportunity for some very fun costuming!
I based my dress on fabric I already had, and it turned out to be a purple gold fairy. A short video of how it turned out!
I had this purple gold shot silk organza in my closet already. Originally I planned to maybe make a fantasy type of francaise with it as it was a cheaper find, but that never really happened. So when this theme was announced, I figured it'd be perfect for it! Colored organza is not really something you see a lot historically, but it does fit the fancy dress theme quite well.
For the design, I started with looking at a lot of different plates for inspiration. I knew I wanted something flowery/fairy like, as that would fit the fabric best. I also knew I wanted a 'short' dress, as that's so specific to fancy dress, and looks so fun! (It's also great for dancing ;)! ) In the end, I settled on two main inspiration pictures.
This was the main fairy inspiration. Although a different color, I like how this dress could very well have been made of organza as it has the same light feel to it. I also liked the fairy with flowers concept, and the length.
The skirt design I wasn't 100% sure about, so I did some more looking for dresses with flowers, and eventually settled on this pink dress as main inspiration for the skirt. I really like the pleats on the under skirt, and the flowers to the side of the drapery.
With those ideas, I went to work! The very first step was deciding how to treat the sheerness of the organza, as it's definitely see-through. I settled on lining it with cotton in a light blue color. The blue makes the purple a tad less bright, and a bit more lavender-like, which I preferred.
I cut the lining as mock-up, and fitted it that way first. Then all the pieces were flat-lined, stitched together, and the darts were pinned through all layers on the body to get a smooth fit.
For the base skirt, I cut the cotton following the basic 1880s underskirt from Truly Victorian. The organza layer was cut nearly twice as wide for the front and side pieces, to allow for the pleats in front. The organza was hemmed with french seams, and all the layers were caught at the top in the waistband.
Fitting time! This is always the exciting stage where things start coming together. At this point, the center front is still pinned to do a final check of the bodice fit over the skirt, before it's sewn shut.
The bodice is boned center back, with eyelets to close it. I had a look, and saw both offset and parallel rows of eyelets (for spiral and criss-cross lacing respectively) on 1880s dresses, in the end I went with a parallel line. I worked the eyelets with silk machine thread doubled up, which worked quite nicely.
The overskirt was based on Truly Victorian TV362, but shortened. In this picture it's still un-hemmed. I already shortened it when cutting, but this shows that especially the apron needs further shortening still, to give room for flowers on the underskirt! The right picture shows the gathers at the top back of the underskirt.
For the bodice decoration, I draped some pieces of organza on top until I liked the look.
The skirt decoration is made of plastic flowers, as I didn't really want to make flowers myself (nor had the time). I ordered a mix of gold and purple flowers, and spray painted them with white gold in various thickness to make them match with my fabric. On the underskirt, there's two roses glued to one gold flower, then backed (first glued, than stitched) with felt, and then the whole thing is stitched on.
For the side drapery, I used a purple garland and just twisted gold and purple flowers into it. The whole thing is attached to the side gathers of the overskirt on both sides.
Final touches were the roses on the bodice and shoes, both which I backed with leafs originally attached to the gold flowers. The shoes are American Duchess Tissots, and the roses are sewn onto shoe clips to make them versatile!
The sleeves were finished with some leafs as well, and I also had some leftover time to make wings! I based these on plates of Victorian ballet dancers, as I wanted a small shape which wouldn't hinder any dancing. They are made of wire, with fabric glued on. The fabric is glued around the edge of the wire, and the raw edge was hidden with some glitter glue I found in an old crafting box.
So that's the whole look put together! It was such a fun project to work on, and the finished result is so whimsical it really makes me happy to just look at. It was also very comfortable to wear! The shorter skirt makes dancing a breeze, and I had to check myself when I didn't even have to lift my skirt when going up the stairs. I definitely showed a lot of ankle, but fairies can be a bit scandalous, right?
Every year early March, there's an antique & textile market organized by the Dutch costume society. I always come home with some lovely things, and this year was no exception. So a little overview of what I got!
Full garments
I got two skirts and a sweater. The sweater is machine knitted and from Staphorst, where they wear this lovely color sweater with the traditional costume. Most these sweaters have a slight empire line, and I got one of those last year. This one has a 'regular' waist line though, so it was a nice addition!
The two skirts are both petticoats. The first is cotton, in this lovely textured fabric. It's got a couple of stains, but nothing dramatic. It's also quite a bit too wide for me, so I plan on removing the waistband, shortening it and then re-attaching the skirt fabric to make it fit.
The second petticoat is this lovely striped wool one. It's pretty much flat in the front with gathers in the back, and the hem is finished with a small cord. This one will be nice as extra winter petticoat underneath a lot of things!
Accessories
Then there's the accessories! I found a couple of gorgeous wide collars, some chemisettes, undersleeves, a pocket and a skirt lifter.
Perhaps my favourite find was this double collar with lapels at the front. It's of very thin white cotton, with beautiful white work.
The other cotton collar is a little simpler in shape, but perhaps even prettier in fabric. Very sheer, with white work embroidery and lace.
The third collar is a lace one of sheer embroidered tulle.
The two chemisettes are both of very fine cotton. The first one has a checkered pattern woven in, the second one is a bit plainer. I think both will work both with regency and Victorian stuff.
The undersleeves are also of fine cotton, with a small dot and lace around the cuff.
Finally, I got a pocket and a plain skirt lifter. I have a rather crude pocket I made myself, and I've been saying for years that I should replace it. As I haven't yet, this seemed like a good option. The skirt lifter is a very simple one and the rubber/felt is gone so it slips, but I can replace that. Always a handy thing to have!
Trim
Finally, I also got some lace. I didn't look for lace very actively as I already have a fair bit, but these two pieces I couldn't resist. They're both very wide, and pieces long enough to trim the full underside of a skirt. Many pieces are too small, which makes them much more difficult to use, so finding 3m or more is always special.
This very wide piece came of a skirt, and I have at leats 4,5m of it
The other piece is just a bit smaller, and 3m long.
A week ago I finally got the chance to drop by the current fashion exhibition in the Gemeentemuseum in the Hangue. Named 'Femmes Fatales', it's a tribute to female fashion designers. It was a lovely exhibition, with some beautiful pieces by both early 19th century (Chanel, Lanvin, etc) and 20th century female designers.
However, I spent most time in the first room, which was dedicated to the 18th century female dressmakers, the marchandes de modes. There was a whole range of beautiful dresses on display, so I took the opportunity to take some pictures!
The descriptions are the originals as provided by the museum.
Mantua, ca. 1760-65, Silk, Linen
Robe A l'Anglaise, ca. 1780-1785. Silk, cotton
Robe A la Francaise, ca 1790-1794, Silk
Robe a L'Anglaise, ca. 1765-1770, Silk, Linen
Robe A la Francaise, ca 1775-1785 Silk, linen, whalebone
Over dress and skirt, (altered, skirt originally ca 1740-1760). Ca. 1780-1790, silk, linen, metal.
Robe A L'Anglaise (altered). ca 1775-1799, Silk, linen, cotton
Girl's gown. Ca. 1770-1775, Silk, linen, whalebone
Robe A la Franciaise (missing part replaced during conservation). Ca 1740-1760, Silk, linen
Robe A L'anglaise, ca 1790-1794, silk, linen
Robe A l'Anglaise (altered in 1930), ca. 1775-1780, silk, linen
Robe a la Francaise, ca. 1780-1795, silk
About a week ago, we held another Victorian picnic, the 3rd already! That also made me realize I haven't actually blogged about the second one either, so here's a post making up for that!
For a little background: about a year ago I got the idea that if I wanted more historical events, I could also organize something myself. I'd have to be fairly low-key though, as I didn't actually have a lot of time to do so. So I settled on organizing a picnic, where everyone brings their own food. As we have a lot of Regency events here, but not so much Victorian, that became the theme, and we included the often forgotten 1830's to get a time range of ca. 1830-1900. In august, we held the first picnic at de Haar castle.
Shortly after that first picnic, the idea came to go to another castle in autumn. This time, we did not take our own food in case the weather was bad, and decided to eat at the local restaurant instead. The weather turned out to be beautiful, so we had a very nice walk, as well as a lovely visit to Kasteel Zypendaal. Thanks to Martijn van Huffelen, we also got some lovely pictures of the day:
During the second picnic, someone asked if we couldn't do a 'winter' picnic. This would mean having an indoor location though, but luckily one of our group was able to arrange this. So last weekend, we visited the beautiful Huis Doorn. Again, we were very lucky with the weather, and we again toured both the house and grounds after a lovely lunch. Martijn took some lovely pictures again:
It's so nice to see how the group has steadily grown, and to see people come back again for a second or third time. It's also very inspiring to see all the beautiful costumes, and all days were lovely days out with lovely people. We'll definitely be doing more of these come spring and summer!
- All pictures in this post were taken by Martijn van Huffelen
"But, what are we to wear?
This is the first exclamation on receipt of an invitation to a Fancy Ball, and it is to assist in answering such questions that this volume has been compiled"
- Fancy dress described, by Ardern Holt, 1887
I was quite excited when Shari (from La Rose Soiree & La Rose Passementarie) announced that she would be holding a Victorian fancy dress ball. My first thought was excitement. The second thought is very well described by the quote above. This lovely booklet was pointed out to me by Desiree, and it's such a treasure! It gives a thorough catalog of all types of options for fancy dress, including quite a lot of grey scale pictures, and a couple full color ones. It's a lot of fun to read through as well!
In this post, a small selection of some of the gems inside the book.
The book starts with recommendations on what costumes to wear depending on your coloring and age.
Brunettes could choose, for instance, Autumn, Diana, Fire or Spanish dress, while fair women are more suited to Day, Fairy, Moonlight, Rainbow or Swiss dress. Sisters could go together, and choose costumes such as Salt and Fresh water, Music and Paintings or Oranges and Lemons. Similarly, husband and wife could do Kings and Queens, or Night and Day.
It also gives some general guidelines, such that: "It is uncomfortable to dance without gloves, so consistency yields to convenience". And hair styling advice, such that: "With regard to Powdering, it is best, if possible, not to have recourse to wigs, they are heavy and unbecoming. It is far better to powder the hair itself…"
Then it's on to the specific costumes! In alphabetical order, as they are in the book, a favourite for each letter.
A: Aquarium: Fashionable evening dress of blue and green tulle, trimmed with marine plants and ornamented with fish and shells, the octopus on one side of the skirt; veil of green tulle; hair floating on shoulders. Bodice trimmed with seaweed and coral; ornaments, silver fish and coral.
B: Butterfly: Short white satin skirt, covered with clouds of brown, pink and blue tulle. Flight of butterflies all over it. Wings of blue gauze, and the antennae in the head-dress. White silk stockings and white shoes. Butterfly on each.
C: Chess: Front breadth, squares of black and white silk, black band at edge of skirt, row of red ribbon above. Black silk train piped with red, caught up with check ribbon, and bordered with checks. Sleeves of black and white squares to wrist, black cuffs piped with red. V-shaped black bodice, with ruff. Coronet of chessmen, larger pieces in front, the same for ornaments, all made of wood.
D: Dresden China: Under this name almost any poudre character may be worn, with or without a saque. It is generally thus rendered: Quilted short skirt, high-heeled shoes and clocked stockings; chintz or brocaded bunched up tunic; muslin apron; low bodice; short sleeves with ruffles; coloured stomacher laced across; bow of ribbon or black velvet around neck; straw hat or muslin cap; powdered hair. A newer rendering has bows of ribbons and flowers on the shoulders, with a tiny china figure in the centre; a satin chapeau bras with mroe flowers springing from centre; crook and high-heeled shoes.
E: Eve: Dress of white India muslin, trimmed with apples, leaves and blossom; fig-leaves for pockets; out of one peeps a serpent's head with emerald eyes, out of the other falls a triplet of white lilies; a wreath of small apples, flowers and leaves, necklace, a serpent of gold and silver enamel in red and blue.
F: Fairy: Short tulle diaphanous dress, with low full bodice, covered with silver spangles; silver belt at waist; wings of gauze on wire attached to back; hair floating; a silver circlet on the head. Or, for a Fairy queen; a crown, the wand, to be carried in hand, becoming a sceptre. Stars should be introduced on the dress and on the satin shoes.
G: the Gloaming: Dress of grey tulle, or muslin, or gauze over satin, made as an ordinary evening dress, or in classic fashion; a veil of the same material; fireflies imprisoned int he tulle; bat fastened on one shoulder, an owl on the other; silver and smoked pearl ornaments.
H: the Hornet: Short black or brown dress of velvet or satin; boots to match; tunic pointed back and front, with gold stripes; satin bodice of black or brown with gold gauze wings; cap of velvet with eyes and antennae of insect
I: Ice maiden: White gauze dress; pointed tulle cap and veil fastened with wreath of icicles or ice-flowers spangled with powdered glass; long gloves; bracelets and chains of icicles; girdle of falling icicles made of glass.
J: Joan of Arc: White painted cashmere skirt; a suit of armour, with helmet and plume, mailed feet, gloves; red cloak at shoulder. The sout of armour may be of silver, burnished steel or what is called scale armour. But it can also be made by cutting out in strong brown paper the vaious pieces required, copied from any illustrated history, …, pated over with silvered paper. Round the edges inside strips of linen should be pasted to strengthen them, so that tapes may be sewn in with which to tie them on…
L: Lorelei: Dress of watered silk, shot with silver, draped with green, and caught up with water lilies, coral and diamonds; veil to match; sometimes soft muslin is draped in classic fashion; the hair flowing; a coronet of silver on the head; an old fashioned lyre carried in the hand.
M: Magpie. The front of skirt is striped black and white satin plaited; the bodice cut in one with long side revers of black, lined and turned back with white ruching to the hem of the skirt, opening down back to show full plaited skirt. The black bodice bordered with white; low striped vest; magpie on the shoulder and in hair; which may be powdered or not, or half powdered.
N: Needles and pins: This dress is after the mother Hubbard order. A quilted skirt, with chintz train; low black velvet bodice, fichu; powdered hair; cap and pointed velvet hat. In front of the dress every kind of needle and pin is inserted. Pins forming the motto "Needles and pins, needles and pins; when a man marries his troubles begin," on the train.
O: October: … with trimmings of leaves variegated with all the rich reds and browns of the autumn tints. A classic cream dress would show such trimmings to advantage. Or, an evening dress of cream and gold satin introducing acorns, with the leaves applied to dress and head-dress
P: Planets: White satin short skirt, bordered with a blue silk band and dotted with silver stars; white gauze over-skirt and plaited low bodice bespangled with stars; long wing-like sleeves to match; blue satin Swiss belt cut in points, a star on each; blue coronet with stars; long veil with stars; necklace and bracelets of the same.
Q: Quicksilver. Fashionable black evening dress made of tulle, and trimmed with silver.
R: Ruben's wife: Yellow and brown silk and violet velvet, the skirt of the velvet touching the ground; the bodice a low square with square ruff, lace edged; the hair in curls; the bodice, which has a broad rounded point, has jewels in front of a yellow stomacher; the sleeves have an upper puff of violet, an elbow puff slashed with brown and yellow, puffs of yellow to wrist, with turn-back cuffs; the colours are blended into the trimmings on the skirt mixed with jewels; a feather fan is carried in the hand; a large-brimmed, low-crowned hat, turned up on one side with ostrich plumes and jewel
S: Sunbeam: White tulle dress, flounced to waist, each flounce edged with rows of gold braid; a large sash round the waist with gold fringe, a gold chatelaine bag at side; head-dress, veil of gold tissue, enveloping the figure and glittering at every moment; ornament, gold.
T: Twenty-four o'clock: New clock dial on chest and forehead, with hours from one to twenty-four; at back of head a pendulum swinging; short costume of black and white satin.
U: Universe: Short blue and white dress made of cashmere or soft silk in classic fashion, or in gauze or twill as an evening gown, with stars and spheres for ornaments; star-spangled veil.
V: Vandyke: Full plain skirt; muslin apron; edged with pointed lace; godice with revers; sleeves to wrist; hair in curls
W: Witch: Short quilted skirt of red satin, with cats and lizards in black velvet; gold satin panier tunic; black velvet bodice laced over an old-gold crepe bodice; small cat on right shoulder, a broom in the hand, with owl; tall pointed velvet cap; shoes with buckles
Y: New Year: Radiant young girl in heyday of youth wearing plain long full satin skirt, with hours in silver round it; silver cord about waist; bodice full; pendent sleeves from elbow, caught up with roses; wreath of roses and veil in hair.
To close:
"There are few occasions when a woman has a better opportunity of showing her charms to advantage than at a Fancy Ball."
As mentioned in my 1830's dress post, I wore it to the new-year's ball in Ghent. The theme was 1830-1860 this year, and it was the perfect excuse to finally make this dress.
The ball is held in the opera of Ghent, in a beautiful baroque style room. This year, there was a dance workshop in the afternoon, which we went to as well.
After the workshop, it was time to eat, and then prep for the evening! I started on my hair, as I'd never done 1830's hair before. I tried to photograph the process, maybe it's helpful!
As I don't have any hair shorter than hip length, I used fake hair for the side curls. This is such a typical thing for the era, I didn't want to do without. These are real-hair extensions which I modified, and I'd curled them with rollers (wet-set) before.
My other piece of fake hair was a very long weft. I used this to supplement the braid. Although my hair is very long, it's not very thick, so I can usually use a little extra volume.
Firs step was making the typical v-shaped parting. I then put everything up in a very high ponytail.
Next was clipping in the front extensions. I then took two pieces from my ponytail and made two small rope braids, which go over the line of the extensions to hide them. (A quick note: this took a lot of fiddling and even more pins, I really want to find a quicker way to do this…)
The front done, I pinned the weft into my ponytail and braided the whole lot. I then wrapped it into a bun, taking care to wrap the second time on top of the existing braid to create height. I then hid the ends and elastic inside the bun.
And done! To finish it, I clipped in two huge flowers to the side of the bun. For another tutorial (including the famous loops), my friend Nikki has a wonderful tutorial on her youtube channel here.
The ball itself was really nice. There was a lot of dancing, and swooping crinolines. I quite liked my corded petticoat, it was definitely easier to dance in than a hoop!
In-between dancing there was social time with friends, taking pictures, and just looking at all the other lovely people. Some pictures!
The golden girls, with Josselin (my partner in crime for the weekend) and Corina. Gold was quite a popular color in this era! I love how we're slightly chronological, early 1840's, midway 1830's and early 1830's. (It shows beautifully in the hem length!)
We did a 1830's group picture at the end. It took a while to get us in order, but eventually we managed to behave.
Some more pictures of my finished dress
I started thinking about a 1830s dress quite a while back, mostly inspired by the wonderful Nikki, who does this era so well. About half a year ago, the theme for the new-years ball in Ghent was announced to be 1830-1860, and I figured that this would be the perfect excuse to finally start this dress.
I already had the fabric, a wonderful pale gold figured silk. So I started looking at pictures, and was immediately drawn to the pleated sleeves you see appear around 1836. The 1830's is known for the huge sleeves, and I do like those, but I love the pleats, so that's what I went for. (When in doubt: do what excites you most). I looked at quite a lot of originals (online) in the MET museum, and eventually settled on this dress:
I love the sleeves on this dress, how they still have the fabric fullness, but also the pleats. I also quite liked the shape of the bertha, and the little rosettes. Extra bonus was that I figured I could make the 'sleeve bands' removable, and make the dress more versatile this way. It also has removable undersleeves, and a pelerine which transforms it into a day dress. I'm all for versatility, so that's great.
In making this dress, I tried to copy it as much as possible. That meant lots of piping, and double piping, which was quite a bit of work, but definitely worth it.
The process of making double piping I found in the 1876 'Guide to dressmaking ', which can be found online (page 30). Basically, you take a bias strip, put a cord in one half, then a cord in the other half, then fold double to get a double cord.
The bertha was made following Janet Arnold's ca. 1840 dress. It has a cotton canvas base, and the silk are bias strips which are stitched on top. It looks like pleats when finished, but the construction is quite different.
For this dress, I also really wanted to try out padding, inspired by a talk by Luca Costigliolio on padding in 19th century bodices. (The gist: it's extremely common, for all types of figures, through the eras. Sometimes visible, sometimes hidden.). The silhouette in this era is quite wide, and I can use a little help in the bust era in general. I made my padding of cotton quilting sheets. Cutting in layers of 2, I cut 4 circles in increasing diameter.
I ended up taking off the smallest one, and folding it up to fill in the space above the bust a bit. This is a place you often see padding in originals as well. The padding was placed quite wide in the end, as the main goal was to increase width. I really love how it ended up, the effect is subtle enough that you don't immediately think it's padded, but it helps the whole shape so much.
I sewed a cotton 'lining' to the padding before sewing the whole thing into the bodice. This is the final shape.
The sleeves are pleated towards the middle at the top, and then stitched a bit further down as well. The armhole is piped, and the shoulder seam as well. For the final sleeves, I made sleeve bands which are pinned around the fullest part of the sleeve.
I also followed Janet Arnold for the skirt, taking inspiration for the skirt fullness, and gathering the very back, then pleating the rest forwards, as the original also shows. I choose not to fully line the skirt, as my original shows a line of stitching where the facing is attached, so I faced the hem as well.
Hem facing. The long stitches are to catch the silk where it's folded double, so the hem is basically 2 layers of silk and one of cotton.
I sewed all invisible seams by machine for this dress, but all the finishing is by hand, as usual. The dress closes with hooks in the back, and the final touch are the little rosettes. One to hide the endpoints of the bertha, one on each sleeve band and one in the back. They are made by covering a button, and then gathering a folded strip of bias to form a circle.
I managed to finish the whole dress just in time for the new years ball last weekend. I'd counted on skipping the sleeve band, or not finishing the insides, due to lack of time, but it was done! I made this in about 5 weeks, (2 of which were holiday), which I think is a record for me. I also managed to finish without rushing through anything, which I'm really pleased with. Now I just have to make under sleeves and a pelerine with a whole number of small petals….
So, some finished pictures of the dress on me! More on the ball itself in a next post!
With looking back, there's also time to plan new things!
As per usual, my plans mostly focus on the first half of the year, and are centered around events.
First up is the new-years ball, with theme 1830-1860. I figured that this would be a perfect excuse to finally make that 1830's dress I wanted to make. The dress is mostly done now (which is good, as the ball is in a week). I do need to add some finishing touches, first priority is to get it wearable for the ball! (No tacked down allowances needed for that 😉 ).
A little peak at the dress
After that, I'll start sewing for a Victorian Fancy dress ball in April. I really love the idea of this ball, and my idea for a dress is mostly based on what I have in my stash. I have a purple/gold changeant silk organza, which is very lovely, but also very purple, and not very period looking. It'd be perfect for fancy dress though.
I love the shorter skirts you sometimes see in fancy dress costumes, and I'll be going for an 1880s look. Probably some fairy/queen type of thing, hopefully with gold flowers all over.
The lady on the left is one of my inspirations. I might make a change or two to the drapery etc, but the silhouette and flowers is what I'm going for.
I have one more event planned so far, which is a Regency ball, but I'll probably re-wear my red/white dress, or my blue/silver one for that. The final plan I have is related to the Victorian picnics I've been organizing. It's a pretty low-key event, but a lot of fun and good excuse to dress up. I found out last summer though, that all of my victorian costumes are either silk, velvet, or wool. Not the best for hot summer weather. So I really want to make a cotton bustle dress, and I have my eye on the tennis style dresses you see in the 1880s.
I love this one, it's relatively simple, yet a lot of fun.
For the second half of the year, it'll depend on events again what my plans will be!
Source: https://ateliernostalgia.wordpress.com/page/6/
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