The 14 hour Regency dress (Sense and Sensibility Regency Ball 2011)

February 18, 2011October 4, 2011 ~ TheQuintessentialClothesPen ~ 2 Comments

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!

Project Journal: Victorian Women’s Tailoring Part III: Mockups

February 15, 2011October 18, 2011 ~ TheQuintessentialClothesPen ~ Leave a comment

I reached a point where all my patterns were complete! The next step was to make a mock-up, or toile, of each garment. My mock-ups are made out of muslin: their goal is to determine what changes I need to make to my patterns so that the garments will fit well before I cut and sew the garments out of my fashion fabrics.

By eliminating major fit issues in my mock-ups I am able to achieve a better fit in my final garments with fewer alterations. In these photos you can see the pins that mark the areas of the garments that I need to go back and change on my patterns so that the fashion fabric garments will fit better.

Look 1: 1883. In my brain this is the “bustle dress.”

My inspiration "cheat sheet" for this look.

Look 2: 1903. This is the pigeon breast dress.

Look 3: 1913. This is the tubular suit look.

Yay! My project is on its way to becoming actual garments. There’s still more work to do, but it’s inspiring to see it beginning to take shape!

Project Journal: Victorian Women’s Tailoring Part II: Patterns

February 7, 2011October 18, 2011 ~ TheQuintessentialClothesPen ~ Leave a comment

The first step of this women’s tailoring project was to research what exactly I wanted to recreate. That being finished, I embarked on the next task: to create patterns for each of the garments I would be building. Each look is made up of about 8 separate garments: a chemise/combination, corset, corset cover, petticoat, blouse, skirt, jacket, and hat (the 1883 look also includes a bustle). To create the patterns for these garments I used a combination of the methods mentioned below.

Basic Bodice block — Basic Sloper: a starting point for patterning

The simple undergarment patterns such as the chemises and corset covers were drafted using my models’ measurements. Pattern Drafting for Fashion Design, by Helen Joseph Armstrong, was a great starting point for creating these shapes.

The corset patterns were adapted to fit my models from the book Corsets and Crinolines by Norah Waugh.

The petticoat patterns were created using a combination of methods. For all of them I found an image I wanted to recreate, then I either used the drafting method I used for chemises and corset covers, or I used a historic pattern that was lifted from a historic garment like the patterns for the skirts and jackets (mentioned below). The images came from a wide variety of books, including The History of Underclothes by C. Willett Cunnington, Everyday Fashions, 1909-1920, as Pictured in Sears Catalogs edited by JoAnne Olian, and Victorian Fashions and Costumes from Harper’s Bazaar, 1867-1898 edited by Stella Blum.

For the outer garments (skirts and jackets), I used patterns from historic garments that were resized to fit the models who will be wearing the garments. The patterns are lifted from historic garments and printed in books such as Patterns of Fashion 2: Englishwomen’s Dresses and Their Construction C. 1860-1940 by Janet Arnold, Turn of the Century Fashion Patterns and Tailoring Techniques by S. S. Gordon, and The Cut of Women’s Clothes: 1600-1930 by Norah Waugh.

In addition, I also consulted a variety of books to get more background information about the fabrics and colors, method of construction, and look, name and use of each garment. Other helpful reference books include, but are certainly not limited to, English Women’s Clothing in the Nineteenth Century: A Comprehensive Guide with 1,117 Illustrations by C. Willett Cunnington, Underwear: Fashion in Detail by Eleri Lynn, and Authentic Victorian Dressmaking Techniques edited by Kristina Harris.

For the hats, I found an image I liked and then used millinery reference books to get more information. Millinery books included From the Neck Up: An Illustrated Guide to Hatmaking by Denise Dreher and Edwardian Hats: The Art of Millinery by Anna Ben-Yusef, edited by R. L. Shep.

More coming soon! Next, a look at my mockups of these garments!

Project Journal: Victorian Women’s Tailoring Part I: Overview

January 21, 2011October 18, 2011 ~ TheQuintessentialClothesPen ~ 2 Comments

My current historic sewing project is reproducing three tailor-made garments and their undergarments from the end of the 19th century. The project aims to show the development of women’s tailoring from the 1880s to the 1910s–essentially the turning point between a tailored dress and a suit.

Look 1: 1883.

This garment is characterized by its bustle. The bustle goes in and out of use, changing shape and size, throughout the 1870s and 1880s. In 1883 the bustle is at a point where I call it the “shelf bustle,” extending from the back at an almost ninety degree angle once being covered by the voluminous skirt layers. During the 1880s, in particular, “tailor-made” garments were fashionable, but these were essentially dresses, not suits.

Look 2: 1903.

This garment is characterized by its romantic figure, featuring “pigeon breast” blousing and gracefully flaring skirts. The foundation of this shape is the new corset design introduced at the turn of the century, augmented by extra padding at the bust and rear. Tailored looks of this period separated jackets from skirts, but still these do not qualify as suits.

Look 3: 1913.

This garment stands between the corseted Victorian woman of the 19th century and the independent, working woman of the 20th century. Just a few years after this the rigid corset disappears in favor of new, lighter undergarments such as brassieres, knickers, camisoles, and girdles. Clearly, this garment is a suit, not a dress, but its undergarments remain in the past where dresses, not suits, were what women wore.

More journal entries will be coming with more information about each look as well as updates on the actual construction of these garments. Stay tuned!

Sources of Images:

1883. http://www.digitalchangeling.com/sewing/periodResources/Delineator-July1883/

1903. http://people.virginia.edu/~sfr/enam312/fashindx.html

1913. http://www2.uvm.edu/landscape/dating/clothing_and_hair/1910s_clothing_women.php

“Belle” of the ball (Fezziwig’s Ball 2010)

December 27, 2010December 8, 2013 ~ TheQuintessentialClothesPen ~ 2 Comments

My first large sewing project for myself was, fittingly, an 1860s gown nick-named “Belle.” (This is the full story of Belle.) Owning a gown like this was a childhood fantasy for me, ever since my first days of loving Gone With The Wind. I finished construction of this gown about four years ago and since then I’ve lovingly stored it and its accompanying undergarments and hoops in my closet, alongside all my modern clothes.

I’ve been hoping for an opportunity to wear Belle for the last four years, not only to give a purpose to the dress I so lovingly created, but also to see how it feels to wear it for a hours at a time. I just recently attended an event called Fezziwig’s Ball, which was presented by the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers in Salem, Massachusetts. I was able to sing Christmas carols, dance, and have a real experience wearing Belle–and I was in the company of others who not only appreciated my hard work, but who had also worked hard to create and wear their own 1860s dresses!

I learned a vast amount of small details about the practicalities (or hindrances) of wearing 1860s clothing. For example, I understand now why vintage dances from this period turn constantly in the same direction: because your hoops gain so much momentum that they can only sustain fast, continuous movement in one direction, not changing directions. That particular sensation was just not as clear when I was practicing dancing in modern pants or knee length skirts. Also, I have much clearer idea of why women would faint so often. Imagine dancing fast for four minutes in modern clothes, but then imagine doing the same amount of movement while laced into a corset! I felt faint after four minutes of fast dancing, and my corset wasn’t laced nearly as tightly as ladies would have been laced in the 1860s.

I had so much fun learning first hand and am quite sure I have more lessons in store for me in the future! I’m eagerly awaiting the next 1860s themed ball to be presented in March 2011 by the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers, the Returning Heroes Ball, a specifically 1860s Grand Ball.

Fezziwig’s Ball (shoeblogs.com)

My favorite period-the 1860s

November 14, 2010December 21, 2011 ~ TheQuintessentialClothesPen ~ Leave a comment

Hoop skirts and crinolines make me so excited I get the wiggles. I was in ninth grade the first time I read Gone With The Wind. Scarlett O’Hara, while being a debatably lovable character in my mind, has inspired my absolute love of the 1860s, crinolines, hoops, and costume history ever since that first time I read the book. It only took once.

Years later, I am fascinated by costume, material, and social history. I get excited about the entire 19th century–but the only period that really gives me the wiggles remains the 1860s. There’s just something about women resembling giant moving cupcakes that is fascinating and inspiring.

There is something very dreamy about imagining the world these huge constructions moved through. The world had to adapt to these gowns: chairs for ladies had no arms and doors were wider to accommodate their skirts. Can you imagine wearing clothing five feet across? That’s two feet too wide to fit through a modern door! How does a person cope with that all day every day? Sometimes I can envision it and sometimes it just seems impossible. But these questions just remind me that THIS is why the 1860s are particularly fascinating to me.

Gone With The Wind is definitely a controversial story. I found this report to be an interesting and factual discussion of its merits and faults. It clearly states why it is such a classic story and how it glosses over reality. This blog also has an interesting post about Gone With The Wind, discussing if it is a “great American novel.”

As a side note, I love both the book and movie versions of Gone With The Wind. While both are moving, sweeping epics, the book has much more depth and character exploration than the movie. Thus, I encourage you to read Gone With The Wind for yourself and to be inspired by history and by skirts with a circumference of 124″!