Variety Please: Regency Ribbon Sashes

February 3, 2014 ~ TheQuintessentialClothesPen ~ 17 Comments

In modern interpretations of Regency costume, there is a widespread use of what I am going to call the “ribbon sash.” By this I mean a length of ribbon, in a contrasting color to the dress and not used to trim any other part of the dress, tidily tied or sewn under the bust, and terminating with long hanging ends. I understand that this style provides an easy way to adorn a dress of any color or add color to a white dress, but I believe that the style is much too often used relative to the occurrences we see of them being worn in portraits, fashion plates, and built into extant gowns. I would like to encourage all of us to have variety in the ribbon sash styles we wear with Regency clothing.

When looking at portraits, fashion plates, and extant gowns, you do find the sort of ribbon sash I described in the beginning of this post, but you don’t find them in anywhere near the same proportion with which they are used today. You do see these types of sashes, but it is a small proportion of the styles worn and you see a variety of other sash styles, too. I would like to share a variety of ribbon sash styles with you and encourage you to pick one of these less used styles if you decide to wear a ribbon sash yourself or if you have the influence to encourage others in their own ribbon sash wearing. By expanding the styles of ribbon sashes worn, hopefully we can all more accurately represent clothing worn in the Regency period.

Generally speaking, there are 4 large categories of ribbon sash styles. I’ve included an example image of each style underneath the accompanying description and I’ve included links to other good examples (below the four sash style descriptions) so you can look at them for more ideas.

1: The Ribbon Sash (as described in the beginning of this post): a length of ribbon, in a contrasting color to the dress and not used to trim any other part of the dress, tidily sewn or tied under the bust, and terminating with long hanging ends approximately 24″-36″. It is very rare to see this style used in a fashion plate or painting with the termination of the sash in any location other than center back.

f718f40238cfc85cf02418565c440a52 — Henri François Mulard, Portrait of a lady, circa 1810

2: The Short Sash: a length of ribbon, in a contrasting color to the dress and not used to trim any other part of the dress, tidily sewn or tied under the bust, and terminating with short hanging ends approximately 6″-18″. I have seen this style with the termination of the sash in center back, center front, and occasionally off to one side of the front.

39b5c0d0d643bba771d16242bc7cd001 — Costume Parisien, 1817

3: The Belt Sash: a length of ribbon, in a contrasting color to the dress and not used to trim any other part of the dress, tidily sewn or tied under the bust, and with very short hanging ends or without hanging ends at all. This style is sometimes plain or sometimes adorned with a buckle or bow. The buckle or bow with short ends is often at center front.

bf13efcf8156d526622fc6126c7b045b — Portrait de Laure de Berny ca. 1810 by Henri-Nicolas Van Gorp

4: The Trim Sash: a much more common variant of any of the first three sash styles. Any of the first three sash styles can fall into this category if the sash matches and coordinates, in a harmonious fashion, with trim elsewhere on the dress (neckline, sleeve openings, or hem).

6d79a16093d852e426ea43901059fa9c — Costume Parisien, 1812

All of these sash styles are seen with different styles of termination. I’ve most often seen a variety of bows as well as tidy arrangement of loops. Often, the belt style seems as though the belt sash is actually sewn to the dress, but for the sake of options, I can easily see a ribbon sash made with a closure such as hook and eyes so the sash can be easily added or removed from any outfit. It’s worth noting that there are a substantial amount of images showing ladies from the front who appear to be wearing a ribbon sash of some sort. The trouble is that we often can’t see what’s going on in the back, so we can’t know with certainty what style of ribbon sash is actually being represented, though we can make educated guesses.

Here are more examples of each of the sash styles shown above:

1: The Ribbon Sash

Portrait of a lady, ca. 1810: ribbon sash on a white dress (ties in back)

Costume Parisien, 1813: ribbon sash on a white dress (ties in back)

2: The Short Sash

Auguste-Amalie de Baviere, ca. 1815: short sash (ties in front)

Costume Parisien, 1817: short sash (ties in back)

3: The Belt Sash

Laure de Berny, ca. 1810 (bow in front)

A young woman wearing gloves in a park, 1813

Anna Maria Magnani, 1814 (bow in front)

Woman knitting in a blue dress, ca. 1819 (bow in front)

4: The Trim Sash

Dress, ca. 1810, The Met: belt sash

Dress, ca. 1810-1811, Gemeentemuseum Den Haag: belt sash

Costume Parisien, 1812: belt sash

Dress, ca. 1810-1815, Rijksmuseum: belt sash

Family Portrait, 1813: short sash (ties in front)

Of course, these are only a starting point. My pinterest boards have hundreds of pins from the 1800s and 1810s that you are welcome to look at for other ideas. Keep the contrasting ribbon sashes in mind, but don’t forget that you can make sashes out of your dress fabric, too (see below). Sashes made from self fabric are quite common. Look around and see what you can find that inspires you. This Regency Portraits board has a lot of great images showing all sorts of sashes as well.

Here are some great examples of dresses with sashes made from self fabric (meaning that fabric used in the dress was also used to create a ribbon sash look):

Désirée Bernadine Eugénie Clary, ca. 1810: long sash

Costume Parisien, 1810 short sash (ties in front)

Costume Parisien, 1811: short sash (ties in front)

Costume Parisien, 1812: short sash (ties in front)

Costume Parisien, 1814: short sash (ties in back)

Costume Parisien, 1817: short sash (ties in back)

In looking at my pinterest board covering 1800-1809, I do find that there are some very cute sashes then, too, that are relevant for a potential sash look. In this period it seems that most sashes match the trim used on the dress, though it is not an absolute rule. I’ll include a few examples of this sort below, so you can look if you’re curious.

Costume Parisien, 1799: short sash (ties in front)

Costume Parisien, 1800: short sash: (ties in front)

Costume Parisien, 1800: trim ribbon sash with long ends

Young Woman Drawing, 1801: short sash (ties in back)

La Belle Assemblee, 1807: trim ribbon sash with long ends

Costume Parisien, 1808: belt sash

Felicite de Durfort von Merry, 1808: belt sash

Charlotte Bonaparte, 1808: belt sash

For the record (and because I always forget!), the official “Regency” is referring to England during the years 1811-1820, following the Prince of Wales being named regent for George III in 1810. In France, the Napoleonic Empire spanned the years 1804-1814. So there is some overlap between Empire and Regency, but not a whole lot. (And just to add another date to the mix, the Federal period in America roughly spanned the years 1780-1830.) For the purposes of this post, I’m using the word Regency to specify the 1810s, but my points about variety in sash styles are relevant for the first decade of the 19th century as well.

As a final note, let me encourage you to use color in Regency dresses (color in trim as well as color in the fabric), especially in those dresses intended to represent the 1810s rather than 1800s. By the 1810s, not all dresses were in white tones, as they were much more predominantly in the first few years of the 19th century. Colors were used often, some of the colors even being rather vivid in tone (don’t get too carried away with very bright colors, though, because chemical dyes weren’t invented till the middle of the 19th century). Check out these great resources that describe and show colors used in the Regency:

Colours used in the Regency and Georgian eras

Regency Colors and Fabrics

Project Journal: 1822-1824 Ensemble Part VII: Trimming Complete (Fezziwig’s Ball 2013)

January 1, 2014 ~ TheQuintessentialClothesPen ~ 8 Comments

I am very excited to share that I am finally done sewing the trim on my 1822 Walking Dress and 1824 Ball Gown. I actually finished sewing the trim on both garments about two months ago. Yay me, for being ready for a ball a full month ahead of time!

The walking dress has a previous post from when I completed sewing the trim. The ball gown has previous posts about being worn partially trimmed last year and about sewing on the hem appliques. Here is the link to the category that shows all the posts related to this ensemble.

I wore both garments this year at Fezziwig’s Ball, hosted by the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers, just as I did last year. Last year, however, I didn’t have enough time to trim them like I wanted to and I didn’t really have time to look into proper hair styles either. So this year, in addition to adding trim, I also decided to try out a different hair style that would be much more early 1820s.

I looked at lots of fashion plates and noted what elements made the styles look 1820s. This is the look, from 1823 (also pictured a little farther down). The style required a new hair wreath, so that was the only last minute sewing for this year’s event. I did the same style as the fashion plated: crossed braids on top of my head and little curls around my hair line. When you have long hair and no bangs like me it’s quite a challenge to get curls around the hair line. I managed to make the little curls happen, but I still want to improve my methods. The hair wreath was essential for hiding my long hair and only showing the curly ends. It is made of wired millinery flowers sewn to a length of millinery wire. The front bits are small flower sprays and the back is velvet leaves.

This is a great view of the back of my walking dress and the back of my new hair wreath.

Here we are: 1822 walking dress with trim, worn with a chemise, corset, corded petticoat, muff, tippet, gloves, and my new hair wreath. (If you want to see/read more details about these garments you can view the entire Project Journal for this ensemble.)

Ser3 v1 1823 Ackermann's fashion plate 29 - Evening Dress — 1823 – Ackermann’s Repository Series 3 Vol 1 – May Issue (My inspiration for my hair wreath, hair style, and for the picture below.)

Changed for the ball: 1824 ball gown with finished trim on the sleeves and front. Same undergarments with different accessories (long leather gloves with red stockings and burgundy shoes to be in the holiday spirit!).

Lining up for a grand march during the ball. I loved the garlands hanging in the background.

I was amused throughout the night that people kept commenting on how much they liked the sleeve appliques on my green dress. I didn’t realize they were so exciting, but I do think they balance out the skirt nicely. By the end of the night my curls were looking a bit crazed… but it was fun, and I do enjoy wearing these garments and the style of the 1820s, in general. Oh, and I was able to wear my refreshing apron, too, though we were too busy refilling refreshments to take pictures. So yay for completion! It’s nice to get these things off the sewing list to make room for other fancily trimmed things!

Problem Solving In 1893

December 17, 2013December 17, 2013 ~ TheQuintessentialClothesPen ~ 5 Comments

It’s been over a year since I attended an event that allowed me to wear my bronze and pink 1893 ball gown. The last time I wore it, at Newport Dance Week in August 2012, there were a few minor problems: it was wrinkly and the shoulders kept falling down. I was able to solve both of these problems for this wearing. Ironing was easy and to solve the shoulder problem I did as one of the readers of a previous post suggested and ran a drawstring through the bias neck binding. The drawstring is sewn down in the back and exits the casing at center front, so it’s easy to adjust while I’m wearing it. The technique worked wonders! The shoulders stayed up all night with no problems. I look like so much more put together when my dress isn’t falling off!

I had fun doing my hair in a different way than last time, too. This time I opted for a more poofy style with a small high bun in the back rather than a more severe style with a poofier bun behind the tiara as I did last time. I really like how my hair turned out. I think the poof on the sides helps balance out the dress. And with a suitably haughty/benevolent face, the overall effect is quite regal!

Here’s a side view. It took a lot of sections to make this happen. Side, and back, and top of the head, and front top… lots of sections.

Unfortunately, the lighting in the venue was very low and not good for taking pictures, so this is it. A brief post.

1860s Dance Weekend: Part II, Sunday

December 9, 2013 ~ TheQuintessentialClothesPen ~ 6 Comments

This is part two of a series of posts about a recent 1860s dance weekend hosted by The Commonwealth Vintage Dancers. The first post, which was about the Saturday of the weekend can be viewed here. This post is about the second day, Sunday. Unfortunately, we didn’t take as many pictures of dancing on Sunday as we did on Saturday. We did, however, continue our tradition of taking lots of pictures of us not dancing, but doing other things. So you’ll just have to humor me during this post filled with a little bit of dancing and a larger proportion of other things.

Before I get started on pictures of dresses and dancing, I’m going to share a few pictures of the building the event was held in, so you can get a sense of the atmosphere. Think cold New England winter… blue sky and a cold breeze… no leaves left on the trees…

One of the lovely tall windows reflecting the slightly cloudy blue sky, with leafless branches joining the scene.

Looking through bare trees at the lovely windows of the hall.

I’m sort of cheating here. This pictures is from Saturday, when we were in a hall next door to the one pictured above. But I just loved the berries on the bare tree and the very New England style window and building behind them!

Now that you’ve got a sense of the venue, let’s proceed to the ball:

Sewing a friend into her dress. I include this because it is an excellent shot of my hair!

I tried to do something different than my usual 1860s style for this ball, and I must say that I like the results. The more you try out different hair styles, the easier they become! I’d brought my curling iron and I wanted to make use of it for this ball. (I have naturally curly hair, so it’s quite ironic when I use a curling iron. My curls are quite frizzy, a bit wild, and untamed rather than cork screw like, so the curling iron acts as a taming agent.) In the end I had two curls, one hanging on either side of my head. I wouldn’t do this for every ball, but it worked well with the amount of crazy bling I had and with the heavy quality of my dress.

See? Crazy borrowed bling! (The necklace is much more sparkly in person than in pictures!) I was quite dazzling, or blinding, depending on your perspective.

Anyway, in addition to the curls, I did my usual poofy side roll on either side of my center part. I tried to be imaginative in the back but ran out of time. It’s hard to remember now, but I’m pretty sure I braided the back section and made a bun with the braid. Or perhaps I wrapped my braid around a bun that was made with the ends of the poofy side rolls. Either way, there was a bun and a braid. My Belle hair crescent was mounted over the result. I rather like that it was a little higher on my head than in previous wearings. It was a little more visible from the front.

As you can see, I wore Belle. She was my first historic dress, ever. I wore her more often when I first began vintage dancing a few years ago, but I got a little tired of wearing her and so she’s been living in my closet for over a year. She’s super heavy, which I remembered, but I hadn’t remembered that the weight of the skirt pushed my hoops into an awkward diagonal elliptical shape. I have a bum pad that fixes the problem, but since I’ve been wearing Evie so much and she doesn’t need it I’d forgotten to bring it! Oh well. It was exciting to bring Belle out again, and though I’m not the same size I was about 7 years ago when I made her, she still fits and is still stunning.

Here are some dancing shots from the ball:

After the ball we took some more not dancing photos. Our prop for the night was a rather short column. And so I present to you a series of column shots:

This is my end of the weekend “I’m tired” pose. I love how my tiers fan out and create an elongated effect. It’s quite regal! (The heavy fabric flowing across the floor reminds me of the image below of Sissi–Empress Elisabeth of Austria.)

82ebec13a5b1628c811b5637a04537b7 — 1867 Sissi in famous pose with her dog ‘Shadow’ by Emil Rabending

Well, there you have it. An 1860s dance weekend. I do hope you enjoyed it!

1860s Dance Weekend: Part I, Saturday

December 5, 2013 ~ TheQuintessentialClothesPen ~ 7 Comments

December is going to be a whirlwind of HSF posts and posts about events, so I need to hurry up and get started by sharing pictures of an event that actually happened in November but which I haven’t shared pictures of yet. The event was a 1860s Intensive Dance Weekend, hosted by the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers, featuring two days of dance classes, two evening balls, and a German (an after ball party of fun dance games). I’ve got lots of pictures, so I’m going to split this up into two posts. In today’s post, I’ll share pictures of the Saturday of the dance weekend and Part II will be pictures of the Sunday of the dance weekend.

I wore Evie. This is a nice photo of the bodice with recently added sleeve trim.

Something exciting was being said, though I don’t remember what! This is good proof, though, that my Evie hair wreath does often take on a very green hue in contrast to the sometimes gold-ish brown that it looks in pictures.

Dancing in a large circle. This is either Spanish Dance or Soldier’s Joy. I always get them confused since they start out similarly!

Lines of ladies and gentlemen dancing Gothic Dance.

Ladies passing under the “Gothic” arches!

Wondering what this odd scene is? This is one of the dance games in the German. You’ll have to forgive me for not remembering the names of them. In this one, a lady sat in the chair with a mirror and cloth. She could see the gentleman standing behind her in the mirror. She would wipe the mirror to dismiss them until she found one she wanted to dance with.

In this dance game, the lady presented one of the two gentlemen with a glass of “wine.” She then danced with the other gentleman.

For this dance game, the gentlemen were blindfolded (I was dancing as a gentleman…). We all stood in a circle with ladies in between gentlemen and then would begin to give hands, right then left, around the circle. Because the gentlemen were blindfolded the ladies had to be sure to catch their hands to keep them from wandering out of the circle. At the sound of a whistle, you would dance with the person whose hand you were holding. Something must have been mixed up, because two of us blindfolded “gentlemen” wound up dancing together, to the great amusement of all onlookers. Lucky for us we’re both proficient waltzers, and being blindfolded isn’t much of a challenge. People were quite impressed and amused.

Another dance game, with 5 each of ribbons, ladies, and gentlemen. Once the center of the ribbon was released each person found the person holding the other end of their ribbon and danced with them.

This dance game involves two people trying to capture one of the dancing couples in the sash. When they’ve caught someone they switch around so different people are the ones holding the sash. The people dancing have to try to dance away from capture.

It’s hard to see, but the couple with the plaid dress is holding a top hat. The object of this dance game is for the second couple to dance close enough to the couple with the top hat to drop a glove into it. When that happens then the couple with glove becomes the couple with the hat. Only dancing, not running, is allowed to elude the couple with the glove.

All in all a fun and energetic day and night of dancing, especially with the German that was directly after the ball. I hope you enjoyed these.

Refreshing Proof (Chelmsford Regency Ball 2013)

October 28, 2013 ~ TheQuintessentialClothesPen ~ 2 Comments

What a day! It started with 1950s adventures: brunch at a 1950s diner, photos in the great outdoors, and roller skating. I was exhausted by the time I had changed into my red Regency ball gown and wrangled my super hair sprayed hair into a Regency style. But I did get photographic proof that I made good use of my new Refreshing Apron and that I was able to wear my new red and gold tiara.

While preparing the refreshments someone realized we didn’t have a knife to cut the pound cake. That didn’t stop us for long, though, because it’s entirely normal for the men in our group to have swords in the car. All that was required was a quick walk out to the car to get one, and just like that we were back in business!

One of the pretty cards labeling the refreshments.

The ball was a huge success. I think there were about 70 attendees, which quite filled up the room we were in. There was live music played on a piano, cello, and violin. People seemed to really enjoy themselves.

I was so busy dealing with refreshments I didn’t get to dance much, which was a little sad, but this was one of the dances I was able to dance.

People were very well dressed and it’s always fun to look at the clothing people who are new to one’s acquaintance.

One of our friends made a new dress for herself as well as a friend who was visiting and attending the ball. So kind!

And there were a surprising number of new faces. This group of young men requested a picture with us, and we obliged.

I’ll leave you with this further, slightly artsy, proof of my new tiara being worn.

HSF #21: Trim For Evie In Time For A Ball

October 16, 2013October 19, 2013 ~ TheQuintessentialClothesPen ~ 2 Comments

I’m taking a quick break from the 1950s adventure posts to insert my HSF #21 post into the mix. More 1950s coming soon!

It’s been on my sewing list for a few months to add a bit more trim to the sleeves of Evie, my most recent Civil War era dress, but I’ve been working on knitting my sweater and completing other projects, like my 1822 Walking Dress, so I hadn’t really been inspired to complete the trim. However, the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers were asked to run a ball as part of recent Civil War reenactments in Worcester, MA, and that gave me the perfect incentive to finish up trimming Evie! She also happens to be green, so this is my entry for the HSF Challenge #21: Green.

Oh yes, I forgot I had some other minor changes to make to Evie since I last wore her in March as well. Boring things, like changing out the boning at center back, and enlarging the armsceye a bit under the arm, and adding hooks and bars to connect the bodice to the skirt. I got all those things done, too, though they don’t get their own photographs. I really like the added trim. It gives the bodice a little bit more interest and helps balance out the immense skirt.

IMG_4987 - Version 2 — Here is Evie, with her new sleeve trim.

Another view. The sleeve trim is a smaller scale version of the trim on the skirt.

IMG_4988 - Version 2 — A cropped version of the picture above. I can’t decide which way I like it better, so I’m including both.

And here is what the bodice of Evie looked like before I added the sleeve trim.

Most of the trim on this dress is based on two images I discussed in this previous post: a fashion plate from 1864 and a costume made by Tirelli Costumi. The sleeve trim is based off of yet a third inspiration source: the painting, below, of Princess Helena in the Royal Collection. It’s perfect that it’s from 1864, just like my inspiration fashion plate. It’s even better that it echoes the bertha trim I already had and the zig zag on my skirt.

b5e346822ebb9589dd64aca144479f35 — This is a copy by William Corden (1819-1900) of the portrait of Princess Helena by Albert Graefle (RCIN 403988). The original was painted for Princess Helena as a birthday present for Queen Victoria on 24 May 1864. Princess Helena (1846-1923), nicknamed Lenchen, was the fifth child and third daughter of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. She was lively, outspoken and something of a tomboy. In 1866, two years after this portrait was painted, she married Prince Christian of Schleswig Holstein and in 1916 they celebrated their Golden Wedding anniversary; she was the only child of Queen Victoria to do so. Queen Victoria recorded in her Journal that ‘Lenchen’s picture by Graefle, is extremely good & pretty’.

Now, the facts:

Fabric: small bits of leftover gold silk shantung and green silk taffeta from the construction of the dress.

Pattern: none.

Year: 1864.

Notions: only thread.

How historically accurate?: Well, shantung is not accurate, but silk is (and this doesn’t look very shantung-y). I give this trim a 98% on accuracy.

Hours to complete: 4? All hand sewn.

First worn: With the new trim, on October 11, to a Civil War ball.

Total cost: $0, because it’s leftovers!

Now for the bonus part of this post where I include pictures from the Civil War ball.

The entrance to the building had these fabulous doors.

And it was nice to see unfamiliar faces and meet new people.

There was a constant swishing sound of skirts brushing against one another.

The Commonwealth Vintage Dancers interspersed short performances throughout the evening.

The ball room had large, dark, seriously-faced portraits around the perimeter. I’m not sure they approved of all the dancing!

There were also Civil War era flags that the reenactors had brought to help decorate the room. And here’s a full length shot of Evie with her new sleeve trim.

I had a lovely time. This ball was nicely different than our usual evening balls with all the new faces. My senses were most struck by the abundance of rather more sturdy and thick wools worn by the military gentlemen than I am used to feeling at most balls, when there are more gentlemen in smoother wool tailcoats. The occasional feel of the thicker wool on my left arm was a tangible, and rather transporting, connection to the past. It seems quite likely that at a ball held during the Civil War a lady would have felt more thick wool on uniformed gentlemen than she might have felt at a ball pre or post war when there would have been more civilian tailcoats at a ball.

Have I inspired you to want to learn 1860s dancing and attend a ball? I’ll end with this small encouragement for your attendance at the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers’ next Civil War events. The Commonwealth Vintage Dancers have a Civil War Dance Weekend coming up in November, 2013. It’s super reasonably priced and includes lots of dance classes, two balls, and a German. There’s no experience necessary. If you’re at all interested and in the New England area you should check it out, because we’re doing lots of awesome Civil War dancing in 2014 as well (they are listed at the bottom of the Civil War Dance Weekend link, above), and why not get started learning or brushing up sooner rather than later? I’d love to see you there!

HSF #20: Finally Finished 1822 Walking Dress

October 6, 2013 ~ TheQuintessentialClothesPen ~ 7 Comments

…It’s only been a year! Or pretty close to a year. I posted an overview of my early 1820s project last November. The project included a petticoat, 1824 ball gown, 1822 walking dress, muff, tippet, bonnet, and chemisette. Some of these things are still in the UFO pile or on the to do list, but I’m super pleased that this post is about the completion of the 1822 walking dress!

The image below is my inspiration for the now complete walking dress. I wore it last December to go caroling outside before Fezziwig’s Ball, but at that point my time had run out and though the construction was complete there was no trim. Below the image of my inspiration is an image of the walking dress as it looked last December with no trim. And below that is an image of the now completed walking dress with trim! It certainly fits me better than the hanger, but you’ll have to wait a few months to see it on me.

19562579602401776_TvaRkZoN_c — Promenade Dress. Ackerman’s Repository. December 1822.

December 2012. Unfinished early 1820s ensemble.

Before I share some close ups of the trim and construction, let me share the facts:

Fabric: 4-5 yds of dark pink wool, 4-5 yds of ivory super soft and thick cotton twill, 1/2 yd-ish of lavender polyester velvet, 1/2 yd-ish of lavender silk shantung, and a bit of canvas for the collar.

Pattern: Adapted from my 1822 green ball gown pattern, I think. It’s pretty much exactly the same except that it has a higher back, collar, and sleeves. The ball gown pattern is based off of a pattern in Janet Arnold.

Year: 1822.

Notions: Pink and lavender thread, polyester batting in the hem, and hooks for the waist.

How historically accurate?: Very, having used modern materials and a few very nice looking modern fabrics . The pattern is from Janet Arnold, so you know it is good on accuracy and the trim scale and pattern is taken from a fashion plate from 1822. As a historic costume I give it 98%.

Hours to complete: Oh goodness… I’m sure the main construction took at least 40 hours and the trim took probably 50ish hours to cut, press, and hand sew. I didn’t keep track at all on this project.

First worn: To Fezziwig’s Ball in December 2012, though with trim it will debut at Fezziwig’s Ball in December 2013!

Total cost: $40 perhaps?

Ok, now for the trim and construction shots.

Top of the sleeve. First I had to sew the bias into a tube so the raw edges would be finished and the bias could “float” without having to be sewn down all along the edges. Then I tacked the bias tubes in a zig zag then crossed and tied other zig zags to get the finished pattern.

The front. The pattern looks very much like an oak leaf to me. The bias is stitched in a tube with the raw edges showing on the back, then the edges are stitched down all around to create the pattern.

The sleeve. The bias is stitched on the same way as it is on the front. The motifs are sewn on the front of the arm rather than the outside.

I actually had forgotten that I’d taken these construction shots. In fact, I had totally forgotten the method I had used to construct my sleeves until I saw the picture again! These pictures where the wool looks more pink than maroon show the color best. It’s really much more vibrant, and much less brownish, than some of the pictures make it look.

The canvas pad stitched into the collar before sewing the pieces together.

The top of the sleeve before the gathered sleeve top was sewn on. I didn’t want to waste wool where it wouldn’t be seen, so it stops part way up the lining, then the gathered cap is sewn on and hides the raw edge of the wool.

The lining is stab stitched to the wool at the cuff.

And just in case you want to read more about my entire project from the early 1820s, here’s a link to that category of entries on my blog. As I continue to finish up other bits and pieces I’ll keep adding them to that category, and it’s neat because the category filters only those posts so there’s a nice continuity.

Picnic At The Commandant’s House

September 26, 2013 ~ TheQuintessentialClothesPen ~ 6 Comments

A few weekends ago I participated in a picnic and dance performance at the Commandant’s House. You might remember that we danced there last August? It was great fun last year and we were pleased to be able to participate in another event at this lovely location.

This time around we were there mostly to picnic, so that’s what the majority of my pictures are from. But we did dance a little in the house and lounged around to take a few pictures. Enjoy!

I love how picturesque we all look in this photo! It’s sort of funny how the white dresses all clumped on one side and the colored dresses on the other.

It’s much more fun with lots of people and lots of hoops!

We played it in a big circle and would just call someone’s name to get their attention (hopefully) before flinging the hoops at them.

There were some really good catches and really close misses.

With trees around, I’m sure you can guess what happened…

I didn’t want to do a boring bun, so I opted for two rolls of hair instead.

We were called from Graces to dance inside the house. I was particularly appreciative of this wallpaper this time around. It’s in the entry hallway. You can see other interior pictures of the house in this post from last year.

The curtains in this room have a lovely glow when the sun shines on them.

IMG_4988-001 — Looking for Mr. Darcy, perhaps? I just love the shadows and the glow.

Get Me To The Church On Time

September 14, 2013 ~ TheQuintessentialClothesPen ~ 11 Comments

Well, not me, exactly… (But please, tell me you know what movie the title of this post is referencing! I love that movie!)

Anyway, let’s start at a place that’s not at the beginning (yikes, I’m full of movie references right now!) and explain about the church, and getting there on time.

It’s hard to see, but right there in the middle of the board is the Parish Church.

This is the Pride and Prejudice board game, one of the amusements we took part in at a somewhat recent Regency picnic! There are four players who each control two characters (a male and a female). The goal is to collect various tokens either by visiting different places on the board or answering trivia questions and then, finally, to be the first person to get both of your chracters to the church. Now does the title of this post make more sense?

The game was quite fun and amusing, though I could imagine it would be a lot slower and less interesting if the players had a very low level of knowledge about Pride and Prejudice.

To back up to the beginning, though, the game followed food eating time at the picnic. We had a pretty elaborate picnic set-up with vases, and silver, and vinyl lace table cloth…

Sandwiches, muffins, cupcakes, pastries…

Obviously, Newman was around in the Regency.

After food and board games, we took a walk around the park we were picnicking at for some photos. The park is full of lovely little dips, stone walls, creeks, waterfalls, and plants. It’s quite lovely!

So picturesque! This could totally be out of a Jane Austen scene.

Group shot. I wore my 1815 Tree Gown and bonnet, accessorized with a sapphire cross necklace, my stripe-y reticule, blue American Duchess stockings, and pointy tan shoes.

I didn’t bring a fan, but the other ladies did. Aren’t they all lovely?

Ok, so if you have read to the bottom of this post and you’re still wondering what movie the title is referencing, I’ll give you the answer. It’s My Fair Lady. Fabulous hats, gorgeous jewels and tiaras, cups of tea, fun and funny songs, Audrey Hepburn, and Rex Harrison. Please go watch it, if you like these things and have never seen it! (Oh, and the second movie reference is The Sound of Music. Another amazing movie you should watch many, many times!)