(My version of "stashbusting" - the Historical Sew Monthly challenge for March - means finishing a post that had been languishing in my drafts for some time.) The term "nightgown"/"night gown", as used in the 18th century, is somewhat confusing. J. P. Ryan defines an English nightgown as synonymous to robe à l'anglaise, a fitted … Continue reading The Nightgown (and the Negligee) (HSM #3)
Category: historical sew monthly
Marie Antoinette à la Rose (HSM #2)
I haven't done a portrait costume analysis in a long time, but it seemed like the most appropriate way to deal with the second Historical Sew Monthly challenge: Blue. Marie-Antoinette dit « à la Rose », Marie Louise Élisabeth Vigée-Lebrun, 1783; Versailles MV 3893 This portrait of the twenty-eight-year-old Marie Antoinette was painted in the same year as the … Continue reading Marie Antoinette à la Rose (HSM #2)
From Hoop to Bustle: 1856-1875 (HSM #1)
(For a while I intended to join in on the Historical Sew Monthly 2015, using it to put together an outfit for a Halloween wedding, but I realized that the themes were not lining up exactly with what I needed to sew. Before I thought I might participate properly in '15, I came up with … Continue reading From Hoop to Bustle: 1856-1875 (HSM #1)