1910 Dress Inspiration and Classification

The next historically clothed event in my life is Titanic-themed and I have five busy weeks in front of me to prepare for it. I’m quite excited to see everyone’s clothes from a whole new era that is so different from the usual 19th century looks. I’ll share some of my progress on my emerging 1912 wardrobe soon, but for now here is a selection of inspirational dresses for your perusal!

In what order would you classify these dresses? You are welcome to create unique descriptions to describe the order you choose! I’ll let you comment and share my classification later (I want to avoid swaying anyone my way, you see).

1=Favorite! 2=Almost favorite 3=Beautiful, but not my style

1910 Ball Gown (The Met)
1910 Ball Gown (The Met)
1909-1911 Worth Evening Dress (The Met)
1909-1911 Worth Evening Dress (The Met)
c. 1910 Worth Evening Dress (The Met)
c. 1910 Worth Evening Dress (The Met)

Only 2 days until pre-orders for the Astorias!

Starting Monday, January 16 you can pre-order these Edwardian shoes from American Duchess!

This link contains an affiliate code, which provides a small benefit to my shoe fund. This does not affect my impressions and reviews of this product.

Over at American Duchess, Lauren just announced this week the pre-order dates for the new Edwardian shoe, the Astoria! These shoes look fantastic! You can place your pre-order here, starting Monday, January 16! Pre-orders will ensure that the shoe has enough popularity to be produced, so if you’re interested then now is the time to show your support.

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1912 Dress Beading Motifs

I am leaving the Regency period for now to focus on preparing dresses from 1912 to wear to Titantic-themed events in April. I’m hoping that by starting early I will be able to spread the workload out and include lots of beautiful details.

I am making the dress on the right side (the black one) and I plan to include beaded panels (this is why I am getting an early start!)… I can see a beaded pattern: the top and mid beaded sections appear to have an inner outlined area that mimics the exterior shape of the beaded panel and the remaining space appears to be filled in by zig zags. Similarly, the bottom panel appears to also be filled in with a zig zag pattern. (Or is it a pattern more curvy than a zig zag?)

(From Vol. 59 of the magazine Bon Ton)

I feel like I have a clear idea and can move forward with the beading, but at the same time I am doubting myself and thinking that perhaps I need to do more research on 1912 beading motifs. Do you think I can take creative license and go forward with the information I can glean from the Bon Ton image? I did find this example of an extant 1912 beaded dress that is similar on the one from Bon Ton.

1912 Beaded Ball Gown
1912 Beaded Ball Gown

I don’t own any books that are specific enough to assist me in this search and various online searches have been generally disappointing. And yet it seems that someone out there must have some good information! Do you know of any sources for information on Edwardian beading motifs? I hope to hear from you, if you do have any ideas!

Edwardian shoes from American Duchess!

Well, Christmas wishes do (almost) come true!

When American Duchess announced the Pemberley Regency style shoe around Thanksgiving I was super excited… but I am even more excited about the most recently announced shoe that is nearing the end of production.

Yes, an Edwardian shoe! It will be for sale before April, when I know we will all be attending Titanic-themed events. I have plans to make Edwardian clothes for some of these events and I have been looking for modern shoes with a historic aesthetic to match; however, it is quite challenging to find a modern shoe with the right heel shape, top detailing, and heel height, just to name a few features of this Edwardian shoe. I am so excited!

New “Astoria” Edwardian shoe from American Duchess
This link contains an affiliate code, which provides a small benefit to my shoe fund. This does not affect my impressions and reviews of this product.

American Duchess has other shoes in development as well: a 1920s t-strap (super cute) and court heels c. 1680-1740. You can check out the designs here, just scroll down.

I say Christmas wishes (almost) come true because when I posted about the Pemberley Regency shoe I wished for a late Victorian shoe from American Duchess. Well, Edwardian is not quite late Victorian, but it is just as exciting! And such perfect, well-planned timing! SO EXCITED!

 

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1912 gowns in 2012: one hundred years after Titanic

 Next year, 2012, is the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. So expect to see an increase in passing mentions of the event as well as reproduction dresses being built by costume historians and seamstresses. There will also be lots of 1912 themed events coming up. Anyway, I want to start the season by sharing this fabulous 1912 dress with you from the Diary of a Mantua Maker. Enjoy!

1912 gown

This gown has a related post on the blog Diary of a Mantua Maker. In short, the dress uses the pattern in Janet Arnold’s 1860-1940 pattern book to create a unique version of the gown. I encourage you to visit the post to read the description for yourself and see more photos! I think it was quite a success.

1901-1911 Dress

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!

Project Journal: Victorian Women’s Tailoring Part XI: Time to celebrate!

As a finishing touch to my Women’s Tailoring Project, I thought I’d share some silly pictures from my photo shoot with you! We received many strange looks and even had strangers whipping out their cameras to snap photos… I’m sure they were very confused about what was going on!

How many people fit behind a bustle???
Can a bustle hide behind a tree???
Waiting to cross the street...
Squeezing between cars (...I mean carriages...)
Let's all promenade!
Laughs are good, too!
Wait for me!
Strike a pose!
Don't forget to smile!
Trading hats and looking great.
Cut! I DID IT!!! Time to celebrate!

Project Journal: Victorian Women’s Tailoring Part X: 1913 Gallery

Here we finally are, at 1913! Let’s look at some truly lovely pictures!

1913: Wool Suit. Wool Hat with matching Taffeta trim.
1913 Suit and Hat
1913 Suit and Hat
1913 Suit and Hat
1913 Suit and Hat
1913 Jacket and Hat
1913 Skirt, Blouse and Hat
1913 Blouse and Hat
1913 Undergarments: Corset Cover and Petticoat
1913 Undergarments: Chemise and Corset
1913 Corset

Project Journal: Victorian Women’s Tailoring Part VII: Fitting 1913 Garments

Finally, here are some pictures of my fitting for my 1913 tailored look!

We’ll start here, where you can see the mostly dressed view. This look is a tailored suit from 1913. In the picture you can see the pleated skirt. I actually wound up making the finished length longer than I originally thought I would.

The skirt is worn with an Edwardian blouse featuring cluny lace, pin tucks, pleats, and pleated cuffs.

To the right you can see the look with the unfinished jacket and hat. The jacket still has a mock-up collar and at this point there is no facing, so the interior canvas is visible on the lapels of the jacket.

This period is a strange mix of Victorian holdover clothing (like the blouse) and 20th century clothing (the tailored suit).

Under the skirt are undergarments that have slimmed down since 1883 and 1903 while still remaining numerous and Victorian in principle. On the left you can see the full length chemise which still features lace, pin tucks, and silk ribbon. The silhouette has narrowed considerably from the Victorian shapes of the 19th century, but the whole look is Victorian, not modern. The corset is much longer at this time, but the bones stop about four inches above the bottom edge so that movement is not impaired. This corset is constructed of a silk/linen blend that is flat lined with coutil. The seams are flat felled on the inside. It is edged in the same fabric cut on the bias. The top edge is also edged with lace and silk ribbon. To the right you can see the corset cover for this look: simple and straight forward, with just a small edge of lace. There is also a matching fabric petticoat for this look. The petticoat (or underskirt) is edged with a pin tucked ruffle and finished at the bottom with matching embroidery. It closes at the waist with a hook and eye. The chemise, petticoat, and corset cover are all constructed of the same ivory cotton.

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

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.”

1883 mockups--including the bustle!
1883 mockups.
My inspiration "cheat sheet" for this look.

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

1903 mockups.
1903 mockups.
1903 garment inspiration "cheat sheet."

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

1913 mockups.
1913 mockups.
1913 "cheat sheet" for garments.

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!