This Etsy shop (empireroom) has wonderful vintage lace for sale by the yard! The prices are very low and even better for bulk lace (over 20 yards). The seller, Jayne, has been quite helpful in providing me with information about bulk pricing and quantities. The only down side is that she is in Australia, so shipping is slightly expensive. But you should check out her selection anyway!
I have found other lace sources that have lower prices, but not for vintage lace! Usually the low prices are only for modern made lace, which means that a distinct measure of discernment is needed to choose lace that is the right scale, color, and pliability for the project.
Most of the lace listed on this site would work very well for a reproduction 19th century garment, I think. I can especially envision an Edwardian skirt or blouse embellished with some of this lace as edging or insertion, but I can also envision the lace being used to trim undergarments such as petticoats or chemises.
I came across this blog post that I just think is so neat! It’s a post showing the method used to create the fabulous embroidery along the hem of this gown. (Hint: it was machine embroidered, not hand embroidered.) I find this is very inspirational, because I do not have the skills or patience necessary to hand embroider a historic garment. You can see more pictures of this gown being worn at a ball at this related blog post.
So I thought that just to give you a little sample of the use of embroidery on historic garments I would include a few pictures. Embroidery has been a very popular method of adorning historic garments of various sorts (undergarments and outer garments) for hundreds of years.
Now, before you look at this pictures below, just think about how long it would take to hand embroider a garment… keep thinking… keep thinking… keep thinking… keep thinking… keep thinking… Ok, now you can look at the pictures!
Late 16th century Italian Blouse at the Metropolitan Museum of ArtDetail of the above blouse1760-1770 Waistcoat at the Metropolitan Museum of Artc. 1806 Morning Dress at the Metropolitan Museum of Artc. 1806 Morning Dress at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Just recently we looked at pleated trim on 1860s gowns. While I was thinking of that post I was reminded of this gown, which has fabulous pleated trim! It is in the historic costume collection at Smith College, in Northampton, Massachusetts. It was prepared for display and further storage during a historic clothing conservation workshop I took part in a few years ago.
I love the pleated trimming on this dress! It reminds me of origami, in that simple pleats and folds combine to create such a complicated looking outcome.
c. 1870 Dress at Smith Collegec. 1870 Dress at Smith CollegePleated trimming on c. 1870 Dress at Smith College
Did you look closely? The pleats are actually just box pleats whose outward pleats have been pressed up or down respectively at the very edges to create the diamond shapes. It’s so neat! I do hope to be able to use this pleated motif on a reproduction dress at some point. I’ll have to scrounge up lots of patience to make yards of a trimming that will be so detailed… but it will be amazing and if I do it in manageable sections it actually does sound like fun!
I absolutely love the use of pleating as a trim motif in the 19th century! I also admire the immense amount of time and fabric required to edge the dresses of the 1800s in pleated trim.
Take a look at the dress below and note the rolling wave pattern of the pleated trim on the skirt as well as the pleated trim on the sleeves. You can see that the trim is made of the same fabric as the dress, which was a technique often employed in the 19th century for the trimming of gowns.
c. 1862 Afternoon Dress at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Now, take a look at this dress from 1860-1861 (which was also include in this post). Doesn’t the trim style look familiar? Yes, it’s a more bunting-like placement of the trim, but the idea is exactly the same as the dress above!
1860-1861 Dress at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
So now that we’ve looked at a few actual garments with the pleated trim, let’s look at some fashion plates. You know, I went through about 50-100 fashion plates from 1860-1865 and I was surprised by the lack of plates that included dresses with pleated trim! Considering that I have frequently seen pleated trim used on existing garments I am intrigued by their relative absence in fashion plates… I wonder if pleated trim is just challenging to execute when creating a fashion plate? Certainly I found some with bands of trim, and perhaps those could have been executed with pleated trim when constructed?
Godey’s Fashions for September 1861
Godey’s Fashions for September 1862
In both of these fashion plates the ladies on the far left are the ones I’m looking at and think that they are wearing dresses with pleated trim. The one from 1862 as especially clear detail that shows the trim being pleated. It is interesting to note that these two fashion plates correspond directly with the two existing dresses at the Metropolitan Museum of Art.
I have noticed a particular style of trim used on multiple 1860s gowns that I find interesting and want to share with you.
This first gown was also included in my post Bolero and Zouave jackets of the mid-19th century. The bolero style of the bodice is exceptionally well suited to the 1860s: you can read more about that by clicking on the link at the beginning of the paragraph. What I find most fascinating about the dressmaker’s choices in this dress is the fabric and trim. The pale yellow background is wonderful, but to me the foreground (with the cinnamon colored lines and bunches of flowers in between) as well as the small flowers on the background create quite a busy look all on their own. And then to add the green trim on top, with a repeating vertical line motif… but there’s even more! There are tassels and the yellow and green twisted cord zigzagging between the points in the green trim. It’s just a lot going on, and I do think the end result is lovely and congruous, but I think if I was designing a dress I wouldn’t be able to envision all of these elements coming together in such harmony.
c. 1862 dress at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
This second dress is actually a dressing gown. The trimming is not exactly like the bolero dress above, but it is strikingly similar. It is a narrow braid that is used as a border trim in horizontal repetition with points where the trim pattern lifts up into diagonal lattice patterns. The trimming is really quite stunning on it’s own, but consider the time it would take to actually trim a garment in this fashion!
c. 1860 Dressing Gown at the Metropolitan Museum of Artc. 1860 Dressing Gown trim
Let’s start here: with this evening ensemble designed by Elsa Shiaparelli at the Metropolitan Museum of Art. My first thought about this was something along the lines of the following: “The dress has a lovely shape. What’s the abstract embellishment on the bolero?”
Gymnast bolero designed by Elsa Schiaparelli 1938
Well, look carefully at the Bolero picture. It’s decorated with gymnasts!
Evening dress by Elsa Schiaparelli 1938
Here’s the back of the dress without the bolero over it. Such lovely lines. In the picture on the right, you can also see the texture of the dress fabric. It’s difficult to discern what it is. Looks to me like it might be a jacquard or watermarked fabric. Do you have other ideas about what the fabric is?
This next bolero was designed by Balenciaga in the 1940s. Its style is much more traditional than Schiaparelli’s gymnast bolero. The beading and other trimming on this Balenciaga bolero is exquisite!
Balenciaga Bolero 1946-1947
The Oxford English Dictionary includes these quotes regarding boleros in the definition. They are good context for the style and use of boleros in women’s clothing during the mid-20th century.
1941 ‘R. West’ Black Lamb I. 407 The boleros the women wore over their white linen blouses.
1968 J. Ironside Fashion Alphabet 35 Bolero, a short jacket reaching to the waist, worn open over a blouse‥sleeved or sleeveless‥worn by Spanish dancers and bullfighters.
I’m including this final bolero just for fun. I can envision it with a slinky black bias-cut 1930s evening gown with a low cut back… It even has a matching belt! This bolero strongly reminds me of the style of Ginger Roger’s dresses in her videos with Fred Astaire. I’ve also included just a few fun pictures of Ginger’s fabulous dresses below so you can see her general style. Beautiful!
This dress is fabulous! What a wonderful piece of inspiration! It’s beautiful!
1901-1911 Dress at the Metropolitan Museum of Art
I absolutely love the subtle use of vibrant teal! It really spices up the dress. The cream satin and chiffon as well as the detailed trim are especially wonderful. The carefully arranged layers are fascinating–they keep your eye moving while managing to not distract from the fabulous fit of the whole dress.
I think this must be one of those Edwardian dresses that has a complicated closure that is hidden under crisscrossing layers. I just can’t imagine any other closure that wouldn’t detract from the beauty of the dress!
I think this is also one of the dresses that has faked layers. It seems to be an illusion that there is a blouse then a vest then a jacket. I think it is probably just one layer with trim and then the outside jacket. It’s so hard to tell from the picture! That’s the beauty of these Edwardian confections… it’s so hard to figure out how they are made and how they close without actually being able to see its inside construction!
I simply adore this dress! I just keep repeating its praise… Beautiful!
Throughout the 19th century, civilian clothing for men and women imitated all sorts of military uniforms in cuts, trim styles, and names. Let’s look at some women’s styles from the the mid-19th century inspired by military wear.
First: the Bolero style jacket
From Peterson's Magazine August 1865
Popular during the mid-19th century, the Bolero is simply a short jacket, usually worn open in front, often fastened at the neck. In the mid-19th century Bolero jackets were worn in all sorts of colors and with all sorts of trim; however, they were often seen in military uniform colors and with trimming styles reminiscent of military trimming, especially braiding.
1863 Bolero from the Metropolitan Museum of Artc. 1860 Dress with Bolero Jacket and braid trimming
Second: the Zouave style jacket
From December 1859 Godey’s Lady’s Book
The Oxford English Dictionary defines a Zouave jacket as follows: “A woman’s short embroidered jacket or bodice, with or without sleeves, resembling the jacket of the Zouave uniform.” The following quotes are included in the OED definition:
1859 Ladies’ Treas. Sept. 285/1 One of the most decided novelties of the present season is the Zouave jacket.
1859 Ladies’ Cabinet Dec. 335/1 Nothing can be prettier for the interior than the little oriental jackets which we call to-day Zouaves.
During the 19th century, this style gained the most popularity during the 1850s, when French Zouaves were fighting in the Crimean War, and during the American Civil War in the 1860s. You can see a few images of Zouave uniforms by looking at this post from a few weeks ago.
The description of the above image from Godey’s is as follows: “Morning-dress for young ladies, of plain merino or cashmere; the skirt trimmed by an inserting of velvet, several shades darker than the dress, with a row of buttons passing through it, and bordered by a rich braid pattern, known as the Greek. The Zouave jacket, which we have before spoken of, forms the waist. It is modelled from the Greek jacket, and has a close vest, with two points; the jacket, itself, rounding over the hips, and fitting easily to the figure. A Gabrielle ruff, and neck-tie finish it.”
Further information about this style was included in the Chitchat section of the same issue of Godey’s: “The Zuoave jackets may be made in black cloth or velvet, for home wear, with skirts whose waists have “outlived their usefulness.” They are especially suitable with dark silks, and a waist of this kind with a black silk skirt will do any amount of street service. Black silks are trimmed with a combination of black and crimson, black and purple, etc. when intended for dress occasions.”
c. 1862 Dress with Bolero from the Metropolitan Museum of Art
Given the description (above) from Godey’s about the Zouave jacket fashion plate, I think this c. 1862 dress from the Metropolitan Museum of Art falls into the category of a Zouave jacket rather than a Bolero. Clearly, this yellow dress has a jacket with a double pointed vest silhouette, rather than the Bolero style of the jacket with a blouse underneath. Regardless, this dress is quite fabulous! The pattern matches the trimmings exceptionally well in terms of style, and the whole ensemble is quite wonderful (including the crisscross braiding and tassels!).
The quotes are from the digital Godey’s excerpts at the University of Vermont, which can be viewed here.
I found this dress while browsing the Costume Institute Collection Database at the Metropolitan Museum of Art website. It’s beautiful!
It’s actually one of my favorite 1860s dresses from museum collections. Why? Well, the color is particularly striking (it looks like it is constructed of peach/champagne shot silk) and the fullness of skirt makes my heart sing (it’s actually even bigger than the hoops under it, which is why it falls in pleats all the way to the hem).
I also really love the trim! The scale of it is perfect for the 1860s, when trimmings occupied a large portion of the expansive skirts. The bertha and sleeves gracefully complement style of the dress, completing the look. The scalloped arrangement of trim on the skirt and the use of pleating to create the trim all add to my high opinion of this dress. Box pleating of this type was frequently used to adorn and trim garments in the 19th century, but this dress uses this trimming style to better effect than some. (There are close up pictures of the trim below.)
Bertha TrimmingSkirt Trimming
I plan on keeping this dress in mind for future 1860s reproduction dress ideas. I think it would be a fun and fabulous dress to wear to a ball!
I’d decided months ago to attend the Dancing with the Dashwoods (Jane Austen period) Ball recently hosted by the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers; however, I was in a sticky spot about what to wear! I did not have a dress appropriate to the period of this ball and I really needed to focus on my tailoring project… what to do?!?
Well, I decided to spend just one day making a cotton Regency dress. I quickly adapted a pattern from Norah Waugh’s The Cut of Women’s Clothes: 1600-1930 to my size and decided to forgo the mockup step. Cutting out the fabric is my least favorite part of making garments, so I tried to make that part go as quickly as possible.
In an effort to simplify things, I included two petticoat layers in the dress itself and decided not to worry about finishing my seams on the inside. The bodice also has two extra layers inside of it to keep it opaque. Each piece (of three layers) was treated as one piece when I went to sew it.
All in all, the basic seams went quickly. What slowed me down and took about a third of my time on the dress were the finishing steps of completing the neck trim and putting closures on the back. The trim took a fair amount of time to pin, stitch, and thread through the ribbon loops, and the hook and thread loop closures took time because it was getting late at that point…
Fast-forward to the ball! I had the good fortune to be able to bring along friends as well! It was crowded but super fun to dance in period costume and a period hall! Enjoy the photos!
This Etsy shop (empireroom) has wonderful vintage lace for sale by the yard! The prices are very low and even better for bulk lace (over 20 yards). The seller, Jayne, has been quite helpful in providing me with information about bulk pricing and quantities. The only down side is that she is in Australia, so shipping is slightly expensive. But you should check out her selection anyway!
I have found other lace sources that have lower prices, but not for vintage lace! Usually the low prices are only for modern made lace, which means that a distinct measure of discernment is needed to choose lace that is the right scale, color, and pliability for the project.
Most of the lace listed on this site would work very well for a reproduction 19th century garment, I think. I can especially envision an Edwardian skirt or blouse embellished with some of this lace as edging or insertion, but I can also envision the lace being used to trim undergarments such as petticoats or chemises.
The Quintessential Clothes Pen 