So, after getting the bodice mostly ready to go, I turned to the skirt. The pieces were easy enough to cut out: if you look at the pattern (Regency Women's Dress, p.98), you can see that there are mostly rectangles, plus one gore on each side. It was fairly simple - I used the same … Continue reading The Clarissa Dress (Part Two)
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The Clarissa Dress (Part One)
I like giving my projects names - in this case, it's the "Clarissa dress" because I made it to portray Clarissa Moody Wright (1804-1871) in Canton's Dairy Festival Parade. It was difficult to figure out exactly what date to aim for: Clarissa was ten years younger than her husband, but the man who was going … Continue reading The Clarissa Dress (Part One)
Petticoat (and Stomacher) Situations
The Facebook discussion on my last blog post was really helpful - it made me realize that I should have been much more explicit about what I was discussing regarding timeframe and class level, and I plan to update the other post to reflect that in a bit. But I also thought it would be worthwhile … Continue reading Petticoat (and Stomacher) Situations
Some (Unasked-For) Advice
So, there's a stylistic issue that's started to stand out to me in 18th century costuming. And you can feel free to disregard this post if you want to; I'm not the reenactment police. The issue is: stomachers and petticoats that match each other while contrasting with the gown. Outlander here serves as a great example, … Continue reading Some (Unasked-For) Advice
The Invention of the Fashion Label
Almost a year ago, I wrote a post about re-evaluating the many claims made about Charles Frederick Worth's innovations in the couture industry. It included a paragraph on how there aren't any labels in dresses that predate Worth's career (or, technically, the existence of Worth & Bobergh, 1858-1871) and on the existence of labels in other items … Continue reading The Invention of the Fashion Label