Dragonstone Landing Part 2

This is the second part of my blog about recreating Daenerys’ Dragonstone Landing dress from Season 7 of Game of Thrones. Click here to read Part 1.

Where we left off, I had just reached the part of this build that I was most looking forward to: the embroidery. There are two major sections of embroidery one this costume: the shoulders of the dress, and the shoulders of the cape. Both form vague, stylized dragon-shapes that wrap from front to back, and there are a lot of elements that evoke dragon skin, scales, wings, or tails.

My first step was to get the basic shape I would need for the dress embroidery piece. The major embroidery isn’t done directly on the garment, but embroidered on organza in a hoop, then appliquéd on with a bit more embroidery done around the edges to mask the join.

• 

• 

I used a piece of scrap linen to trace out were the embroidery needed to go. The dragon head sits on the bodice front, while the rest of the design falls on the sleeve-capes. The line of pins below marks where an area of smocking will sit below the embroidery.

This gave me a pattern that I could transfer onto the charcoal grey silk organza that forms the base of the embroidery.

• 

• 

I used a silver sharpie to sketch in a rough idea of where the major design elements needed to go, and started layering the bottom portion with crumpled and pleated fabrics. Almost none of this shows in the final design, it’s just there to add some texture behind the sequined dragon wings that will come later.

• 

• 

I added another element of texture to this portion with a bit of wool roving, and a few rows of black, grey, and silver backstitching.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

After deciding that the grey lockstitch would look very dull against the plain organza, I added a layer of linen and wool over that portion as well before doing the lockstitch.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The large chunk of lockstitch got broken up with sinuous lines of long stitches in light and dark grey wool.

• 

• 

A dragon head rests on the front of each shoulder, outlined in couched silver cord and filled with a web of the same.

• 

• 

I gradually layered more of the grey yarns, the silver cord, and sequins. The sequins are the same ones that were used in the show. They were purchased from Top Fabrics of Soho.

• 

• 

• 

Layers of sequins fill the top portion, where they will stick up along the shoulder of the gown like the spikes on a dragon’s neck and back.

• 

• 

• 

The raw edges at the bottom edge are ok, because they will get covered by a lay of chainmail-like Italian Mesh Ribbon. Mine came from Specialty Beads on Etsy. They seemed to have the best selection I could find on the internet. Italian mesh is used as embellishment on quite a few Game of Thrones costumes.

Believe it or not, this is only the base stage of these embroidered shoulders! The next step is a 3-d element. Each side has three pieces evocative of dragon wings that flare out along the upper arm. I made these from buckram covered first in a layer of the grey organza, then a layer of Italian mesh, and finally with rows of sequins. I did not actually attach the wing pieces at this point, because I wanted to be able to see them placed on the curve of the sleeve before I sewed them in place.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

It’s funny going through the pictures again, when I can’t remember why I did things in a certain order. Clearly, at this point, I started working on the cape, but I’m not sure why I didn’t attach the embroideries first! Anyway, that’s what I did!

I had to do a lot of fiddling with layout in order to get the undersleeves and the cape cut out from the fabric I had left, but I managed it!

In order to get the desired fullness in the cape, while keeping it flat along the back of the shoulders, there are two pleats at the back of each shoulder. I think that the original costume only had one (though it’s hard to tell in the one blurry back view available), but I liked the fullness I got from two, and the way it evoked an 18th century robe à la Française.

Like the dress edges, the pleats were topstitched in place with metallic thread.

The structure of the shoulders comes from Pellon Flex-Foam interfacing. I had to play around quite a bit before I got a scale of shoulders that I was happy with–the original pattern I draped turned out comically large once it was made in foam!

• 

• 

• 

The cape is constructed over them the same way as the dress–corduroy outer and linen lining prick-stitched together at the edges with metallic thread.

• 

• 

• 

• 

The large embroideries on the shoulders of the dress and cape are not the only pieces that need to be made! There are also smaller embroidered scales–one at the closure of the cape, and one on each sleeve.

I sketched a little pattern on a scrap of buckram, and used that to test the size and shape, then transferred the pattern to some more organza. The shapes are outlined with couched silver cord, filled in with herringbone stitch in cotton floss and augmented with silver bugle beads and red seed beads.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

I braided together several lengths of grey crochet cotton to make the ties that hold the back of the dress. This is one of those little steps I had been putting off for no particular reason, but at this point I wanted the dress to be supporting itself a little more accurately on the dress form.

• 

• 

Before attaching the dress embroideries, I added some red accents to them. This was done between the dress’s first wearing in season 6 and its second appearance in season 7.

Here, the embroideries have been attached, with a section of smocking pinned below. It looks like a bit of a mess around the edges here, but you’ll soon see how that gets blended in!

• 

• 

• 

The edges of the smocking are masked and blended in with lockstitch in black silk and metallic thread.

• 

• 

• 

The dragon wings are placed along the center of the embellishment. I stitched them on only at the corners, so that they maintain their dimension.

• 

• 

• 

Here you can see that the back corner is blended in with rows of long stitches in silver cord, additional sequins, and grey lockstitch.

Finally, the tops of the sequins around the shoulders are strung together and wrapped with more silk thread.

Here is the finished dress embroidery.

• 

• 

• 

I made the sleeves as separate pieces that were attached to the finished dress, because they were only added to this costume for the second wearing on the show. They are quite a simple straight sleeve, but with an added seam at the front of the arm, which is embellished with feather stitch, which spread out to become a triangle of fly and feather stitch at the wrist.

• 

• 

• 

• 

The base of each of these embellished seams gets one of the embroidered scales I made earlier, which is incorporated into the design with grey herringbone stitch and a line of alternating silver bugle and red seed beads.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

Instead of being left raw, the sleeves are finished at the top, and whipstitched into the armscye.

• 

• 

• 

At this point the dress is finished! Now, back to the cape.

I marked out the embroidery design on the cape with pins, then sketched it out on organza once again and put it in the hoop.

• 

• 

This one starts with some of the Italian mesh ribbon along the shoulder.

• 

• 

• 

Like on the dress, there is a dragon head sitting at the front of each shoulder, done in silver cord and metal thread.

• 

• 

The base of this design is made from braided and twisted wool yarn, picked out with silver cord, which defines areas of the design that will be filled with other textures, and fans out at the back to become three dragon tails.

• 

• 

• 

I used a kind of modified fly stitch in grey crochet cotton to create the shapes of scales along the ends of the dragon tails, then filled them in with wool yarn and created a spine to connect parts of the tail with yarn and silver cord.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

I accented the bottom two tails with red–heavier on the bottom and lighter on the middle tail.

• 

• 

• 

• 

The ‘body’ of the stylized dragon is filled in with lockstitch. I did this portion in grey silk thread.

Layers of sequins form a ridge from the back of the dragon’s head all the way down its back. The sequins divide into two lines and break up the large lockstitch section, and they also form a fringe along some of the braids.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

The base of the sequins are stitched over with thread and silver cord, and surrounded by a sea of red beads like smoldering embers. I used a combination of size 9/0 and 11/0 3-cut seed beads in two different shades of red. The 3-cut beads have a gem-like appearance compared to standard round seed beads.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Following the advice on Michele Carragher’s (the GoT embroiderer) website, I painted the backs of the embroideries with glue to help hold the stitches fast. I did this on the dress embroideries as well, but must not have taken photos at that point. I used watered down fabric glue.

• 

• 

• 

Before attaching the cape embroideries, I built up a little area of fly stitch for them to sit in, and attached an embroidered scale over the cape closure.

• 

• 

• 

• 

Here are the cape embroideries pinned in place:

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

I clipped and turned the edges of the organza under as I stitched the pieces in place.

• 

• 

• 

The backs of the pieces are left as-is, but the front gets a bit of additional blending in the form of beads. There is also a row of red yarn and beads that masks the shoulder edge.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

And that’s the cape and dress finished! But, there was still more to do…

I made the wig as part of my job at Custom Wig Company.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

I made the boots by dying down a pair of my own boots, and making covers to go over the tops and make them taller. The covers are made of faux suede backed with heavy interfacing to give them structure.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

I made two of Dany’s pieces of jewelry as well: her iron ring, and her three-headed dragon hair-stick. Sculpting does not normally form a part of my costuming, so this was an adventure! They are made out of Sculpey, and pained with acrylic paint. I know there are lots of other, probably better options, but I was in a hurry and wanted to work with things I was familiar with and could acquire easily. This was the part of this costume I was most nervous about, and I’m actually really happy with how they turned out!

I pictured the iron ring next to my actual wrought-iron dress clasp because I was pleased with how similar the color I painted turned out! The clasp was made by a blacksmith I know–I thought about making it, but I was not confident of being able to make something strong enough to bear the amount of weight it needs to. It’s not perfectly screen accurate, but for something he threw together after I ran up to him at a re-enactment with nothing but a sketch, I’m really happy with it. It makes me feel pretty bad-ass.

• 

• 

• 

I did watch a tutorial about making this piece on YouTube, and then I used some of the things they did, and went in my own direction for some parts.

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

• 

And there we have it! I only have some behind-the-scenes images from a photoshoot so far, but keep an eye out for the finished photos coming soon! I will put them in a separate post and link them here.

How to Make Basic Lucet Cord

If you’re just getting into historical crafts, and you need a little something to do with your hands while at an event that is cheap, portable, and easy to pick up, lucet cord may be a great option for you!

There is some controversy about when exactly throughout the course of history lucets were used: if you are interpreting in the medieval period, or in the 19th century, you’re probably pretty safe–between those two periods you may want to do a bit of your own research or check with the site or group that you are interpreting with before you demonstrate it at an event.

That said, lucet cord is simple to make, and makes a nice, strong cord that can be used for drawstrings, lacing, trimming, and any other use you can find for a nice bit of string.

What You Need

Here’s the great thing about luceting: you only need two things!

1. A lucet. This is the shaped wood that you will use to hold your loops of thread as you work. You can buy a basic one for $5-$10, or spend a bit more if you want one with some pretty fretwork or other ornamentation. Just search the word ‘lucet’ and you’ll come up with plenty of options, and you can also usually see them around at events from vendors that sell basic sewing supplies.
2. Thread or yarn. Exactly what you want to use will depend on the final use and look you are going for. Basic heavy linen thread will make a nice strong cord. Making a cord from yarn can make a great accent for knitting or crochet projects. In these photos I am using a green size 10 crochet thread because I was looking to match the color of a particular fabric. Experiment away!

The Process

I will go through the process in pictures first–there will be a video of the process lower down!

Put your thread through the hole in the middle of the lucet. Contrary to this photo, you should do this from back to front. Whoops, sorry!

Let an 8″ or so tail hang down the front of your lucet, and hold it in place with your thumb.

Keeping the thread tail held in place with your thumb, take the working thread (the part that is still attached to the spool) around the left arm from back to front, then around the right arm from back to front.

Wrap the thread again around the second arm from back to front. you should now have the thread around the left arm twice, and the right arm once.

Bring the thread across the front and hold it in place against the front of the right arm.

These next few steps can get a bit frustrating until you have built up a little cord. Because there are no knots yet, there is nothing to hold everything in place, which makes things a bit delicate. Be gentle and try not to get frustrated–it will get easier soon! You will be repeating these steps over and over again to create your cord, but I will go through them a couple of times so that you can see how it works as you begin to build up a bit of cord. It will seem complicated at first, but as the cord begins to build up, the process becomes simple and feels more natural.

Continue to hold both threads against the right arm with your thumb, Let go of the bottom thread and take hold of the lower thread on the left arm.

Lift the lower thread up and over the upper thread and off the arm. Be gentle so that you don’t pull the thread tail back through the hole.

Put your left thumb back on the thread tail to hold it still. Pull the working thread gently with your right hand to tighten down the loop that you just pulled over the arm. You can see how the thread is now wrapped once over the middle of the threads between the arms. No need to pull it too tight here.

Continue to work slowly and carefully until you have a little tail of cord built up, at which point you will be able to speed up a bit.

Holding the working thread in you right hand, rotate the lucet so that the right side moves towards you and around to the left. This will cause the working thread to wrap around the right arm, which will then become the left arm.

You will now once again have two threads on the left arm and one on the right. Once again, hold the working thread and the wrapped thread in place against the right arm with your right thumb. You will be working again with the lower thread on the left arm.

Again, lift the lower left thread up and over the upper thread and off of the arm.

Here you can see the thread loop that has now been pulled over the arm.

The tail will have loosened a bit when you did this, so give it a gentle pull, continuing to hold the right threads in place.

Hold the tail in place with your left thumb. Keeping the working thread contained in the space between your thumb and finger, take hold of the loop around the right arm and pull it gently, this will tighten down the loop in the center between the arms.

You can see the tightened knot in the center here.

Rotate the lucet again: right arm towards you, holding the working thread.

This is the point at which the process really solidifies and feels the same as it will through the rest of the cord.

Lift the lower left thread up and over again. You can see how the center knot lifts up and to the left when you do this.

Holding the working thread against the right arm, pull gently on the tail in order to bring the center knot back down.

Hold the tail in place with your left thumb. Tightening the knot is a threefold process: first, pull the working thread to tighten the knot most of the way. When it is nearly tight, pull on the front of the right wrap to tighten it the rest of the way (doing it this way will help keep the knot centered. Finally, pull on the working thread again in order to tighten the right wrap back down.

You can see the tightening process in more detail in this video:

Finishing

When you have a cord of your desired length, cut the working thread.

Remove the loops from the arms of the lucet.

Put the working thread through the right hand loop.

Pull on the left loop. This will tighten the right loop around the working thread.

Here it is tightened down.

Put the working thread through the left loop.

Pull the working thread to tighten down the left loop.

Ta-da! You have just completed a pice of lucet cord.

If you enjoyed this, it is just the beginning! This is a very basic lucet cord. There are many other variations on the art, including multicolored variations using different colored threads. Go out into the world and use more things, and perhaps I will add more tutorials here later!

Daisies and Bluebells: A New 18th Century Jacket

Since I started building 18th century wigs using period techniques at work, I’ve been doing more and more 18th century events. And you know what that means: I need more 18th century clothes! 

In preparation for 18th Century Market Fair at Locust Grove this year, I set other projects aside to give myself time to build a new jacket and petticoat so that I wouldn’t have to wear the same outfit both days. When I bought this jacket fabric, I had hoped to get enough for a gown, but sadly by the time I bought it there were only two yards left, so I could only make a jacket. But I do love a smart 18th century jacket, so no real harm done! 

This was a quick project, and I didn’t take as many photos as usual, so this will be a bit of a short post for me, but I love the way my new outfit turned out!

I was loosely inspired by this plate from Galerie des Modes 1778.

I started with the petticoat while at a cabin getaway with some friends. It is made from a lovely dark red wool from 96 District Fabrics.

Making an 18th century petticoat is incredibly simple: just sew the side seams, leaving them open at the top for pocket slits. Hem the bottom (which I didn’t take a photo of).

Pleat the top so that both the front and the back measure a few inches longer than half your waist measurement. Pleat the front away from the middle, the back towards the middle.

Bind the pleats at front and back with tape long enough to tie around your waist. You put the petticoat on by tying the back waistband in front, and the front waistband in back. You can also wrap the back waistband all the way around and tie it in back as well if your tape is long enough.

And now, the fun bit: my new jacket! This is made from white linen with a woven yellow stripe from Renaissance Fabrics.

I was a dingus, and completely forgot to take photos of cutting and putting the main pieces together. Luckily, the body is basically the same as this jacket, except that I modified the back to a swallowtail, and sewed it all by hand.

My first photo is of the sleeves, all sewn together with their lining, and ready to be set. Since my other striped jacket has vertical stripes on the sleeves, I went with horizontal on these ones just to shake things up.

Setting 18th century sleeves is a fascinating process, in which you sew the bottom of the sleeve to the body, and then sandwich the top of the sleeve between the fabric and lining of the shoulder straps. This lets you really play with the pleats on the shoulder until you get a look you really like.

Brandon helped me drape the shoulder straps for this, and you can see his sense of humor in the notes to tell me which strap is for which side.

• 

• 

• 

• 

The edges are finished by pressing the fabric and lining towards each other and topstitching.

• 

• 

I pleated some lovely blue ribbon from Wm. Booth Draper to trim the neckline and sleeves, accented with bows.

And here’s the finished product in action at Market Fair! 

Wig by Custom Wig Company. Photo by Wayne Tuckson.

Wig by Custom Wig Company.

Wig by Custom Wig Company.

Wig by Custom Wig Company.

Leveling Up Your Regency Look Part I: Planning your Outfit

The Jane Austen Festival in Louisville is fast approaching! Are you looking to amp up your Regency costuming experience? Maybe you love the festival, but have never dressed up. Maybe you made a dress last year, and are now intrigued by the whole idea and want to know how to make it more authentic. Maybe you’ve been inspired by the outfits you’ve seen at the festival, or in photos, but you don’t know where to start. Maybe you’re coming for the first time, and just want to jump in headfirst.

Whichever, if any, of these describes you, I’m here to help!

On the surface, Regency era clothing seems simple: empire waist dress, hair in bun, bonnet, slippers, done. And that’s all fine! I’m not here to tell anyone they can’t have fun in the basics. Costuming for an event like the Jane Austen Festival is all about finding an outfit that makes you feel comfortable and happy so that you can enjoy yourself! But if you’re ready to dig deeper, there’s so much more to Regency fashion than the basic sketch. I’m here to guide you through and help you get the most out of the time that we all have left to get ready for the Festival this year!

1. Which part of the Regency?

While technically the actual Regency of Prince George for his father, the infamous Mad King George, lasted from 1811-1820, for the purposes of fashion, we usually look at a larger period. Using a broader definition of the Regency, from around 1790-1820, makes particular sense when we’re talking Jane Austen since, though her publishing history all lies within the political Regency, several of her books were written, and are probably set, earlier.

So we’re looking at a thirty-year period from 1790-1820. Fashion, even if the basic forms remain similar, can change a whole heck of a lot in thirty years, as any three decades of the 20th century can tell us, and there’s no one item of clothing that was fashionable through all thirty years, except maybe your stockings and shawl.

We begin in the early 1790s, when the fashionable silhouette still has as much in common with what we think of as 18th century fashion as it does with any part of the early 19th. The waist is still more natural, expanding into a large volume around the hips, with a large “pigeon-breast” created by a voluminous handkerchief wrapped around the shoulders and stuffed into the front of the dress.

Journal de Luxus, 1791

Despite the silhouette, however, you can see how this fashion is moving away from the stiff, heavy under-structure of the mid 18th century, and towards the lighter, more diaphanous fabrics we associate with the Regency period.

As we move through the decade, you can see how wide ruching at the waist, or a wide sash, both of which cinch in the fluffy volume of fabric above and below the waist, begin to create the appearance of a higher waistline. As fashion moves forward, this separating band between skirt and bodice will grow smaller and smaller until it creates the empire silhouette we all know and love. Hairstyles, however are still the fluffy confections with dangling curls that we have been seeing since the 1780s. Keep an eye on those turban-like headdresses, though. Those are coming forward in time with us.

Journal de Luxus, 1796

By the time we hit the late 1790s, the silhouette has come to distinctly resemble our basic mental picture of “Regency.” Here is the empire waist, the bonnet, the short Spencer jacket. But here we can also see the continuing influence of the 18th century. The skirt is still heavily gathered and voluminous, though some of the under-structure and padding that gave it its shape even a few years ago are gone. There is still a hint of the pigeon breast, which will hang on for several more years before a new bust shape takes its place.

Journal de Luxus, 1799

Now we come into the early 19th century, and the Empire silhouette really starts to come into its own. The skirts, while still full and gathered all the way around the waist, have less and less support underneath, so they have become drapier, and more column-like, with elegant trains or ‘sweeps’ at the back. The hair is shrinking down as well, though it tends to retain the frizzy curl of the late 18th century, reworked into a different shape.

Ladies Monthly Museum, 1800

As we continue on into the 1800s, the skirts are becoming narrower in the front, with the volume beginning to concentrate at the back. This trend will continue through the rest of the period. You can also see examples of small hem decorations. The woman on the left has a braid of fabric around her hem, while the woman on the right seems to have embroidery. Notably, one of the dresses has lost its train, making it more convenient for walking. The busts are losing the rounded, pigeon shape, and beginning to migrate higher in order to make way for ever-higher waistlines. The hair is small and contained at the back of the head.

Journal des Dames et des Modes, 1804

In the late 18-aughts, the trend of “lift-and-separate” as the fashion for bust shape is really beginning to take off, though you can still see a natural amount of chest and collarbone above the bust. You can also see that the skirt volume has completed its migration to the back of the dresses, creating an elegant sweep even without the added length and weight of a train. Hemlines have risen enough to show most of the foot. We are also seeing much more pattern and color than we have in the gowns up until now.  These ladies are demonstrating both an evening look with very small short sleeves, and long gloves, and a walking dress with long, narrow sleeves topped by sleeve caps that mimic the short sleeves.

Journal des Dames et des Modes, 1808

As we move into the early 18-teens, you can see that the bust has risen considerably above where it was even four years ago, and is beginning to encroach on the collarbone. This lift is created by the long stays of the period, and will become even more pronounced as the decade goes on. The waist, however, has not yet migrated up to meet the higher bust line. The hem of the skirt is beginning to widen towards an A-line shape, but there are still minimal petticoats underneath, so it retains its fluid drape. The front of the hair is growing slightly more elaborate, but most of the hair is still concentrated at the back of the head, so we cannot see the style from the front.

Journal des Dames et des Modes, 1812

Now we come to the part of the Regency in which I usually live. As the 18-teens move along, embellishments become more and more elaborate, with hem decorations ranging anywhere from a single ruffle to an elaborate confection that nearly reaches the knees. Long sleeves were very fashionable for day wear, and sometimes for evening dress. The narrow sleeves with larger cap were still around, especially on outerwear, but even more prevalent were large, loose sleeves, gathered in at the wrist, such as the extremely elaborate ones on this fashion plate. For Louisville in July, I absolutely love these sleeves. Made from a lightweight cotton, they keep the sun off while acting like an enormous fan on your arm. Day dresses are often made with high necklines, accented with elaborate ruffs or lace collars.

Waistlines are as high as they can get without actually migrating above the bust, and in order to make this possible, ‘the girls’ are hoisted as high as a good pair of stays can get them, with virtually no flat collarbone/sternum area between bust and neck.

See how the skirt appears stiffer here than in our 1812 example? The volume continues to grow at the hem, and it is now supported by several layers of petticoats stiffened with tucks or ruffles and starch. Hemlines are rising still more, and dresses in this part of the Regency often show the entire ankle. The bow at the back of her waist is highly fashionable in the mid-18-teens, and her hairstyle is now sitting on the crown of her head. This fashion in hair also affected the fashionable bonnets, which had to grow high crowns in order to accommodate the style.

Journal des Dames et des Modes, 1816

And here in the late teens, the Regency style is cresting its wave, and about to move on into the lower waistlines, wide shoulders, and enormous, bell-shaped skirts of the Romantic era. The waistline is still high in the late-teens, but won’t remain so for long, as the fashion began to move lower and lower over the next several years. The decoration is still elaborate, but the hem is widening yet more, and dropping down to cover more of the leg, though shorter styles remained in vogue for dancing. The bonnet is growing even more, and the brim is not only wide, but very tall and open, creating an oval frame around the face. Underneath, the hair is still high on the head, and the styles are getting wider.

Fashion Plate by John Bell, London, 1819

The change over the course of the Regency period is gradual, with one style leading gently into another, bit by bit, but over the course of thirty years, these gradual changes add up into a vast difference in style from one end to the other. Compare our first image with the last one: the two are vastly different, and yet clear, minor changes, year by year, led from one to the other, and both looks are beautifully appropriate for the Jane Austen Festival, although the last image is from two years after her death.

You can see from this timeline how important it is to narrow your look down to a specific point within the broader Regency period. A gown from 1792, with a spencer from 1812, and a hat from 1818 would all look very strange together, because each of these pieces of clothing co-developed with one another as time went on. The 1812 spencer is perfectly suited to complement an 1812 gown. A dress from 1790 looks beautiful with its own understructure of false rump and petticoats, but very odd with the minimal underskirts of 1808. A tall 1819 hairstyle would be destroyed by the neat little hats of 1804.

Though it may seem limiting, narrowing yourself down will make coming up with an outfit much easier. Looking at images from the whole of the period can get extremely overwhelming, but once you have picked a year, or at least a small period of 3-4 years, it will become a lot easier to make decisions. It will also ensure that each part of your outfit complements the rest, and you will look like you stepped right out of a fashion plate.

There are many ways to pick which bit of the Regency you would like to interpret. The most obvious is to pick the part that you find most attractive, or that you think will look best on you. If this doesn’t help, start by thinking about your favorite Austen book, when was it written? Published? When does it take place? Would you like to bring to life the heyday of Jane’s youth in the 1790s, or would you prefer to live for the weekend as one of the public who first got to enjoy her works in the 18-teens?

Once you have figured out when you want to be, there are several other factors that will help you in creating the perfect outfit.

2. What time of day is it? What sort of activities will you be doing?

Throughout the course of the Regency, day and evening dress differ. Women tended to be mostly covered from neck to feet during the daytime, while evening dress tended towards lower necklines, and more bare arms. Fabrics also differ. Day dresses are mostly cotton or linen depending on status and the exact time period, while both silk and cotton were fashionable in the evening. As with everything, there are no set rules that apply to the entire period. Use your chosen date or date range to guide your research.

Think about what you might be doing–if you are planning to attend the ball, do you want to dance, or simply to observe and play cards? If you are dancing, you will need to think about how your dress will affect that. Is there a train that needs to be pinned up? If you are interpreting a part of the period where shorter hemlines were in vogue, I would advise that you take full advantage of that for your evening gown. If you do not plan to dance, explore the wonderful world of “evening dresses”, “opera dresses”, and “dinner dresses” to provide the event with a bit of variety. Not every dress worn in the evening needs to be a ball dress.

Journal des Dames et des Modes, 1806

For daytime, a walking dress or promenade dress is the obvious choice for strolling through the shops of Meryton and taking tea with friends, but it is not the only choice. Are you a sporting lady? Consider the fun of an archery dress, or the elegant simplicity of a riding habit.

The Lady’s Monthly Museum, 1816

Riding Habit, Journal des Dames et des Modes, 1817. Note the style differences and similarities between this and the dress from 1816 that we looked at earlier. While riding habits did develop with the rest of fashion, they also maintained their own very distinct appearance.

If you are interpreting the mid-late 18-aughts, you may want to wear a short sleeve with long gloves for day time. If you are looking to the 18-teens, consider a long, loose sleeve. Remember the two part sleeves from earlier, with the narrow long sleeve topped by a puffy short sleeve? Those long sleeves can simply be basted to the band of the short sleeve, so that they can be removed if you would like to wear the dress with short sleeves for evening-wear.

Plenty of people won’t want to make two different dresses for day and evening, especially if you only dress in Regency clothes once or twice a year. Don’t worry, there are plenty of options to make a single dress do double duty. Many Regency dresses have low-necklines, with the necks filled in by any number of things during the day. In the very early Regency, this might be a large square or triangular handkerchief. Later on, you could wear a light fichu (a smaller, usually triangular or modified triangle-shaped scarf that either tucks into, or sits atop the neckline of your gown). Later still, the chemisette comes into fashion. This is an undergarment much like a dicky which closes around the neck, and ties under the bustline, worn with any number of interesting collars or ruffs. It’s relative, the habit shirt, also has sleeves, and is lovely with a jumper-style gown.

Journal des Dames et des Modes, 1816. This walking dress has been accessorized with a fichu and ruff.

Jumper dress with habit shirt, Journal des Dames et des Modes, 1812

In the evening, simply remove your fichu, chemisette, etc… and you have a whole new look.

The same thing can also be achieved with an outer garment. During the day, you can cover your bodice with a spencer (short jacket) or pelisse (long coat). These can be made of light materials so as not to add too much heat, and the pelisse can be left open down the skirt front. Both can add a lot of fun to your outfit. By changing out fichus, chemisettes, spencers, and pelisses, you can have a different outfit for each day of the festival out of a single gown.

Journal des Dames et des Modes, 1809. Look just how light and lovely a pelisse can be!

Ok, you know when in the Regency you want to be, and you know what time of day or activities you are dressing for. What more planning could you need?

3. Personalize it!

Don’t just stop at “What year?”, “Day or Night?”–you won’t really feel comfortable in your outfit unless it feels like ‘yours’. Think about your Regency persona–this can just be an interpretation of your own personality, or you can choose or make up a character to be while you’re dressed up. Ask yourself some questions:

• What class are you from? Are you a Bennett? A Bertram? A Smith? Or are you a Mrs. Hill? Wealthy, poor, or somewhere in between?
• What do you like to do? Would you rather lounge around in a morning dress à la Lady Bertram, or traipse about the countryside?
• What is your personality like? Are you a Mary, or a Lydia? Introverted or extroverted? Plain, practical clothing, or daring frippery? Perfectly appropriate to any occasion? Likely to make a gaffe?
• What are you attracted to? Piles of ribbons, oodles of ruffles and lace, or sleek, clean lines?
• How old are you? Does this affect how fashion forward you are? Are you nostalgic for the past, or do you still love to keep up with the latest styles?
• What do you (or your character) want to show the world? Are you Lady Catherine, determined to project power and control? Fanny Price, always happier to fade into the background? Mrs Weston–suddenly thrust into a higher rank of life, or Miss Elliott–desperate to embody a level of wealth you no longer possess?

There are no wrong answers to these questions, simply use them to direct your research and help you narrow down an idea of what you, or your character, might have worn in this period. Looking at portraits and genre paintings from the time is a great way to get a sense of what people of different classes and personalities were wearing.

Look at the paintings below. What do the ways the subjects have chosen to be portrayed make you think about them?

Mother and Her Daughter, Henri-François Riesener, 1816-1823

Portrait of Martha Arbeneva by Vladimir Borovikovsky, 1798

Mesdemoiselles Duval par Jacques-Augustin-Catherine Pajou

Portrait of a Young Lady by Martin Drolling the Elder

This part has been a basic overview of the period, with some tips on how to make your outfit specific to the period, and right for you. Next time, we will look at some of the details that make a Regency outfit really come to life!

Click here to read Part 2: The Devil’s in the Details

Ravenclaw 1870s Gown 4: Bodice

Wow… what I had hoped would be another week or two of work on this bodice has turned into months. To be fair, not all of that was working on the bodice, since the bodice work ran into prep time for the Fort Frederick Market Fair, and I had to take a break from the Victorian Era to spend some time in the 18th Century. I hope you’ll all agree that it was worth the wait!

Truly Victorian’s 1871 Day Bodice made the perfect blank canvas for me to play with. I modified the back pieces in order to create the peplum I wanted, but otherwise I used the pattern as-is.

Cutting out the mock-up.

Truly Victorian includes a system in the pattern booklet to help you get a fit as much like a custom garment as possible. Using certain measurements, you decide which pattern size to cut each different piece of your bodice. My back pieces were one size, my front and side another, and my sleeves a third. It seems weird at first, but it worked great. The mock-up fit well right out of the gate!

The bodice, like the skirts, is made of silk taffeta, flat-lined with cotton organdy, apart from the sleeves, which are lined with cotton lawn for less stiffness. It has flat steel boning along the seams and darts.

The bodice front has two darts to help it shape around the waist.

Sewing the bodice together in my undies so I can try it on as I go.

The peplum also has a ruffle of feather-like shapes. You can see the gown that this was based on in my research post. I originally cut this with the shapes all one even length, then trimmed it down to a shape that I liked while it was draped over the bustle.

Before I could attach the ruffle though, lots of details had to fall into place!

Firstly, I made a triple row of piping in alternating colors to go around the bottom edge of the bodice.

Finishing the inside edge of the piping.

Testing things out on the dress form:

Getting shaped sleeves the right way around on the first try is so satisfying!

Stitching the sleeve lining into the armscye by hand.

And they fit!

The front edge of the bodice is faced with some of the blue taffeta:

And the neckline and sleeves are bias bound with more taffeta. It’s the easiest way to finish off the raw edges, and since they will be completely covered with trim, the binding will not be visible.

The feather peplum also has quite a few layers of decorative elements that needed to get done before it could be attached to the bodice.

The top, connected part of the peplum is covered with a layer of velvet, which extends partway down each of the feathers in a triangle shape that mimics the velvet appliqués on the skirts. Each of these triangles (of course), has its very own piece of bronze piping.

Piping around the entire feather peplum!

Using cord or braid to create a design on a garment was a popular embellishment technique throughout the 19th century. I used brown crochet thread to create more detail on each of the feathers.

When that was finished, I backed the feathers with another piece of taffeta to hide the stitches and complete the piping.

Stitching the peplum to the bodice just behind the triple piping.

The finished peplum draped over the skirts.

Ok, one section of embellishment finished, on to cuffs and collar!

There are rows of small knife pleats along the neckline and wrists, bound at the edge to match the pleats on the skirts.

The cuffs also have a band of feathers similar to the peplum, but in this case the chevron shapes are only at the feather tips, and since there is no velvet, I put a Fleur-de-lys in between each feather to fill in the empty space.

They are also backed with blue taffeta. There is a layer of organdy backing on the embroidered piece in order to help it keep its shape, since it will be defying gravity a bit.

Stitching the feathers to the sleeve so that the raw edges abut those of the pleats.

Those raw edges were covered with a band of velveteen, piped with bronze taffeta.

The finished cuff!

The neckline didn’t get any feathers. They’re all done, thank goodness! But it does get a velveteen appliqué. This starts at the back as a reflection of the same shapes I used on the skirts, and the ends extend up over the shoulders and cross in the front, where they will be closed with a brooch.

I used pins to smooth out a piece of  velveteen and sketch out the shape I was looking for.

I then piped the edges in bronze, and backed the parts that will not be sewn down with blue taffeta.

And then I stitched it down:

The final result:

For a fun contrast with the taffeta bodice, I covered the buttons with the velveteen, and embroidered a small feather on each with bronze silk thread.

The buttons, however, aren’t functioning. I was afraid that a velvet covering on such a small button would be too delicate to withstand a lot of use without shredding, so the bodice actually closes with hooks and eyes.

There we have it! It hasn’t quite hit me yet that this enormous, months long part of the project is finished.

All that’s left now is a hat!

Once that’s done, I’ll be doing a big photoshoot of the whole outfit with Ben Marcum Photography. I’m just showing the bodice for now because I want to do all the starching, and pressing, and adjustments, and get all the bits together with a beautiful backdrop and wig and everything before I spoil the effect!

Eep! I can’t wait!

Ravenclaw 1870s Gown 3: Overskirt

Pant…pant…pant… It’s here! It has been six months since my last post about the Ravenclaw bustle gown due to more time-sensitive projects barging their way to the front of the line! When last we met here in Ravenclaw-land, I had just finished the underskirt, but that wasn’t the only thing going on the bottom half. Here we have…(drumroll)…the overskirt!

In the true spirit of bustle-era excess, I ask: why have only one skirt encrusted in intricate detail when you could have TWO?!

I started the overskirt by mocking it up in some very fun harlequin print quilting fabric that I had sitting around.

Here is my sketch so that you can get an idea of what I was going for.

The mock-up was draped right on the dressform, just moving bits around and bunching things up until I was happy with how things looked.

Cutting out the real fabric. The pieces are also flatlined with cotton organdy.

Checking the fall of the front panels with the tucks at the waist.

In order to give myself a solid base on which to gather the polonaise (the puffed-up portion) at the back, I made an extra organdy lining to go inside the back.

Finishing the front hems with the help of my new sewing bird!

The back piece is pleated into the side seams in order to give extra volume to the polonaise (the puffy portion) at the back.

Finishing off the extra back lining.

I got the base of the skirt done pretty fast…

…and then had this thought that kept bugging me in the back of my brain. Wouldn’t those side seams look extra cute with a bit of bronze piping? So I tore it apart again.

Which wasn’t so bad, because I decided to put the trim in place before putting it back together so that I would only have to wrestle with one piece at a time.

The first stage of trimming involved figuring out the size and placement of the velveteen false turn-backs at the skirt front. I did this in the pretty non-scientific way of sketching a shape I sort of liked with a marking pencil onto the skirt front, and then cutting the velveteen to match, plus extra for hem allowance.

I had a slight crisis-of-faith after cutting the first one, and tried out a couple of other shape variations with fabric scraps before deciding that I did like the first one best after all.

I folded the edge under, and backed the edge with an offset piece of the bronze taffeta for extra contrast against the main skirt body, then set these pieces aside to attach later.

The rest of the overskirt decorations are the same as the underskirt, so I will only go through them quickly.

Binding the hems of what will become the pleated ruffle:

The velveteen appliqués are also bias bound.

Piping and attaching a strip of blue taffeta to cover the raw edges of the pleats and appliqués.

And then I attached the false turn-backs. I stitched along the edge of the velveteen, through all layers, so that the edge of the bronze isn’t held flat against the skirt.

The velveteen is hemmed to the inside of the front edges several inches in in the hopes that it will provide some weight to keep the skirt from flying open when I walk, and to provide a bit of coverage over the white organdy if it does.

The piping on the side seams extends past the seam and all the way down the edge of the back piece. The swallowtail at the lower half of the back is finished with a backing of blue taffeta to make sure the white organdy lining doesn’t show.

The inner edges of the swallowtail got a row of pleats, and one of the blue bands to finish the pleat tops, but no velvet appliqués.

Yes, I did pick out the basting on the pleats once things were in place.

A slightly blurry look at the side seam piping.

Finishing off the top edge of the taffeta backing.

Gathering in the back and stitching the waistband in place:

This waistband was out to get me. First a thread broke about a third of the way through. Then I ran out of bobbin thread another five inches after that. Then when I got to the end, I realized that the gathers hadn’t made it into the seam in two places, and had to go back and open it up to get the raw edges back inside the waistband. It was a lot of drama.

The final step was to put it on the dress-form, play around with the bustle area, and tack the polonaise in place when I liked how it looked!

I feel like this has taken me for-absolutely-ever (not the six month break, just building it took waaaay longer than I had anticipated). Hopefully the bodice will be a bit friendlier. I can’t wait to see what it all looks like together, though! Wish me luck!

18th Century Stays (Finally!)

It has been a year of starting new periods for me! I began venturing in the the 1870s with my Ravenclaw bustle dress, I dipped a toe in 1890 with my Adora Belle Dearheart costume, and now I’m diving headfirst into the 18th century. This particular new period goes along with a passion project for me at work: Custom Wig Company will soon by launching a line of historically-constructed period wigs, researched and developed by Yours Truly! The line won’t be released quite yet, but I’ll be demonstrating several wig-making techniques at the 18th Century Market Fair at Locust Grove this coming weekend.

It has been rather slow going. I actually started mocking up my stays shortly after we returned from the North American Discworld Convention in September, but with the ever-busy Santa season in full swing at work, and a few small projects and adjustments that needed to get done, I was going pretty slowly. Everything would have been back on track, but of course then I got sick in early October, and ended up (most unusually for me), too lethargic and cranky to work on much of anything. You know I’m feeling bad if I’m not even knitting! Being knocked out of commission for 10 days seems to have jump-started me, though, since I’ve been extra productive since I started feeling better!

But things are certainly moving now! With only 5 days to go until Market Fair, my stays and false rump are finished, and my dress is well underway. For the moment I’ll just be using my Regency chemise, and under petticoats from a couple of different outfits in order to be dressed in time for the event!

I used the JP Ryan Half-Boned Stays pattern.

My purple sateen mock-up (leftovers from my bustle) turned out so pretty, I’ve decided I need to turn the rest of it into a new Victorian corset! I’m thinking whisper grey flossing.

The stays are made from a nice, sturdy linen canvas.

The front! (Lots more boning channels to come on this piece, both horizontal and vertical.)

There are two horizontal boning channels along the front neckline, which help keep everything in that nice, rounded, ice cream cone shape.

My boning is 1/4″ reed, which you can purchase in enormous quantities from William Booth, Draper. There are two pieces, flat sides together, in each boning channel. The reed was very easy to work with, and so far is comfortable to wear (definitely my most comfortable period shapewear! I’m reserving total judgement until I’ve worn them out for a full day or two, though.

All the bones in, except the two at each center back. I waited until I’d sewn the eyelets before I did those.

I love hand-sewing eyelets and buttonholes! These are opened with an awl, and then secured with a simple overcast in buttonhole silk.

At this point, it’s time for binding! I used chamois leather–just the basic piece you can get for detailing from any auto supply store. One piece was big enough to bind two pairs of stays. It’s cut into 1 1/4″ strips, then sewn to the front side of the stays with a 1/4″ seam,  just like ordinary bias tape, then wrapped around and secured at the back with a whip stitch–no need for any folding under the raw edge like you would with fabric. It was so soft and easy to sew! I did all the binding by hand in order to have more control going around corners and curves. I used a thimble, but that was much more for the canvas than the leather. Chamois is broken down so much in order to make it soft that it’s more like sewing through craft foam than leather.

The top edge of the stays, bound!

I was especially impressed with how the chamois went around the tabs!

My computer is being a putz about the completed photos for some reason, but luckily it’s ok with this composite I did for Instagram! Like I said earlier, these are definitely the most comfortable shapewear of any era I do! I will put a linen lining in them as well, but I’m skipping that for now due to the need to make a petticoat and jacket before next Saturday! Better get back to that now!

Adora Belle Dearheart Part 2

With ten days to go until the North American Discworld Convention, my Adora Belle Dearheart costume is finished!

If you missed the first part of this blog, which talks about design, patterning, and building the main body of the dress, you can read it here:

Adora Belle Dearheart Part 1

When I left off, the dress still needed a collar and sleeves. The collar is a simple standing collar, which was very popular in the 1890s. It is lined with the same red fabric as the rest of the dress, and interfaced with canvas to keep it stiff.

Stitching the lining, with attached interfacing, into the collar.

The sleeves are two-part with bent elbows. They are fitted through most of the arm, with a puff at the shoulder that gives them an almost spiky appearance.

They have false cuffs–meaning that an extra piece of fabric was superimposed onto the end of each sleeve piece before construction. This is merely decorative–the cuffs can’t fold down or anything, as they are permanently attached to the piece, and sewn into the sleeve seams.

I attached the false cuffs with a row of decorative herringbone stitching in grey buttonhole silk,

The under and upper sleeves with false cuffs attached.

The upper sleeve has a slight gather at the elbow when it attaches to the under sleeve–this helps give it a bit  of flexibility when moving.

The sleeve lining is cut to fit smoothly into the armscye, while the fashion fabric is cut to create the large poof. There is a piece of wadded up stiff netting inside the puff between fabric and lining to keep it, well, puffy.

I ended up having to tear out and re-pleat, reshape, and otherwise adjust the sleeves seven different times before I was satisfied with the look, but it turned out worth it!

With all the pieces attached, it was time for lots of finishing touches. That started with finishing off the raw edges of the crossover pieces. The neckline and armscye edges are simply turned under and overcast, but the shoulder seam edge has a piece of heavy cotton facing to give the buttonholes more stability.

The darts also each got a row of herringbone stitching, which both looks nice and holds down the extra fabric on the inside. I got this detail from one of the original dresses I referenced in Part 1.

At this point, I remembered that I wanted to add a pocket to this dress–never underestimate the importance of having a pocket in any costume you’re planning to wear at an all-day event!

The pocket sits flat inside the bulk at the back of the skirt, with an opening in the center back seam. It is just under the bum-pad, so that any bulk from items is completely hidden in the extra volume. It is made of three pieces–one back piece, and two front pieces, joined above and below a slit that matches up with the slit in the skirt.

Here is the pocket on the inside of the skirt. The ties keep the bulk of the skirt contained in a nice tail, so that it doesn’t just flop all over the place.

I also stitched a piece of re-enforcing twill tape up the center back skirt seam to help keep it from stretching, since it is both cut on the bias, and the only part of the dress that isn’t lined.

Adding a final row of herringbone stitch just below the collar.

I swear I also hemmed the dress, though I seem to have forgotten to photograph that part. There is a cotton hem facing out of the same material as the one on the shoulder.

The final task was also one of the most daunting: buttonholes and buttons. I don’t normally have an issue with buttonholes, but this particular dress required 47 of them. I did have a contingency plan whereby if I drove myself mad doing buttonholes before they were finished, I would close the lower half of the skirt with hooks and eyes, and simply sew buttons over the top, but I really liked the look of a row of silk-bound buttonholes marching down the skirt, so I pressed on. Adora Belle is a character whose clothes should be a pain to get off.

I used a pair of calipers to mark the buttonholes evenly down the side of the dress.

I was sewing buttonholes for days… I could get about six done on a week day after work, more on a weekend day.

There are four buttons on the shoulder, and 43 down the side.

I absolutely adore the vintage buttons I found on Etsy store The Vintage Pillbox! And there are still more available!

It was so satisfying to get the last few on!

I wrestled and fought with this costume a lot as I was building it, but I am so thrilled with how it turned out! The fit is great, the crazy closure worked out properly, and the way it moves makes me want to turn in little circles with joy! (You can see it moving in a video on my Instagram, which is also linked on the right.)

Disclaimer: I do not smoke, but you can find New Rule FX’s fantastically realistic cigarette prop (available in filter or non-filter varieties), here.

If you are interested in the wig I’m wearing, which is hand-tied human hair, and can be styled in almost any way you can imagine (I have so far used it for Snow White from Once Upon a Time, 1840s, and Adora Belle/1890s, and plan to use it in many more ways in the future), check out my day job at Custom Wig Company!

You can see pictures of this wig in action in other styles on my Facebook page or Instagram. You can also read more about the process of making one of these versatile beauties in my post To Make a Wig.

Slideshow of detail shots, including me being very excited about my pocket! Also my super awesome black and red clocked stockings from Amazon Drygoods.

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Only ten days left, so I’ll be fully immersed in Brandon’s golden jacket until we leave. I am so excited!!! In ten days, I depart for a city I’ve always wanted to go to (New Orleans), to attend an event celebrating my absolute favorite book series (Discworld), and just as an extra bonus, it’s my first anniversary! What could be better?

Edit to add a few photos from outside our hotel in New Orleans! (Including Brandon in his Moist Von Lipwig suit!)

 

 

Adora Belle Dearheart Part 1

If you read this blog, you’ve probably noticed that I’m a bit of a geek. You’ve seen me build Harry Potter cosplays, Game of Thrones cosplays, Once Upon a Time cosplays. You’ve heard me geek out about the wonders of historical garment construction techniques, and apply both sides of that geekery to the beginnings of a Hogwarts-themed 1870s bustle gown.

Well, I’m doing it again. No kind of costume makes me happier than when I get to combine my love of historical costume with the fun of cosplay, and I am now working on another one of these ultimate mash-ups. More than that, it’s a character from my all-time favorite fandom: Terry Pratchett’s Discworld.

The first four days of September this year will be the North American Discworld Convention in New Orleans–since that Sunday will be our first wedding anniversary, Brandon and I are splurging on a trip to celebrate our favorite fantasy world. Of course a big part of this venture is the costumes! We will be dressing as two of our favorite characters: Moist Von Lipwig and Adora Belle Dearheart.

Brandon’s golden suit will be coming along shortly, but today I’m here to talk about Adora Belle. Miss Dearheart was played to snarky perfection by Claire Foy in the 2010 adaption.

But while I absolutely adore this movie, I didn’t actually want to use their Adora Belle design. With Discworld, I’d rather work straight from the source.

Like all of the Discworld books, Going Postal is a brilliant piece of satire: engaging, thought-provoking, and hysterically funny. It features the adventures of Moist Von Lipwig, the unfortunately-named con-man-turned-postmaster-general, after the ruler of the disc’s largest city, Ankh-Morpork, resurrects him from the noose in order to revive the collapsed and out-of-date postal service. Just as Lord Vetinari suspected, Moist’s endless bag of huxter’s tricks and boundless charisma are just the shock the system needed, but it turns out there’s much more to reviving the post office than delivering some letters, and Moist is soon at war with some deadly competition.

Adora Belle Dearheart (a name that will surgically remove any woman’s sense of humor), is Moist’s sardonic love interest. The daughter of the inventor of the clacks system (a telegraph-ish method of communication using towers mounted with semaphore arms or, later, light boxes that flash a coded grid), Adora Belle has even more of a bone to pick with the post office’s main competition than Moist does. The current owners of the clacks swindled her family out of their property and worse.

Terry Pratchett’s character descriptions tend to be short, but vivid. In Going Postal, Adora Belle is described as having “coal black hair plastered down and forced into a tight bun at the back, so that she looked like a peg doll.” Her clothing is very consistent. Unlike in the movie, where she wears black velvet, the Adora Belle of the books always wears grey. Moist comments in Raising Steam (the third book to feature these characters) “She had bought a most attractive and therefore expensive gown for the evening. It was still grey, of course, but with a kind of luster to it that made it seem almost festive” (Emphasis mine). In her first appearance in Going Postal, she wears a “tight, grey, woolen dress,” prompting Moist to realize “how well some women could look in a severely plain dress”. Which brings us to one of the most illuminating descriptions of Adora Belle’s general appearance. This one is from the second book about Moist and Adora Belle, Making Money, “The heels helped, of course, but Spike [Adora Belle] could move like a snake trying to sashay, and the severe, tight, and ostensibly modest dresses she wore left everything to the imagination, which is much more inflammatory than leaving nothing. Speculation is always more interesting than facts.”

Here ends the scholarly portion of this post, so let’s get to the actual design I went with. The “industrial revolution” period on the Disc is generally depicted with a late 19th century aesthetic. But, of course there are lots of different looks to choose from in the late 19th century. Sir Terry does give us one clue though. Earlier in Going Postal, Moist observes that “Bustles were back in fashion in the city for some inexplicable reason.” And if we follow Roundworld fashion history, that one sentence narrows us down to one period of less than ten years. It can’t be the 1870s, because bustles have already been in fashion at least once, so it must be somewhere in the second bustle period, about 1883-1890.  I couldn’t really see Adora Belle in the full-on centaur bustles of the mid-1880s, so I decided to focus my research right around 1889-90, when most would still have been wearing bustles, but the more fashion-forward were beginning to deflate their rears into the sweeping A-line shape of the 1890s. It was perfect: I could keep the narrow, severe front of an 1880s gown, but lose the massive bustle for a more graceful volume supported only by a small bum pad to give my backside a bit of extra oomph.

This dress from the Musée de la Mode is what first made the light go off in my brain. It isn’t exactly what I wanted, but it started me onto the 1890 silhouette as the one for Adora Belle.

Once I had that image in my head, I knew when to focus my research:

Godey’s Ladies Book, 1890

Day Dress, 1891, Gemeente Museum

Harper’s Bazaar, 1892

But it wasn’t until I found this gown, that everything really came together:

Afternoon dress ca. 1892. Met Museum

It was perfect! The sleek silhouette, the slinky train, the power shoulders. I loved that it was one piece, instead of a bodice and skirt–I didn’t want to break up the line of the dress. Without the embellishment, it was everything the books describe–tight, plain, severe, but still unbelievably sexy. I couldn’t have asked for a better piece of inspiration.

I was slightly tripped up about the mysterious closure–the only hint to it is a slight rippling on the left-hand side. Luckily, Janet Arnold breaks down a jacket that closes the same way in Patterns of Fashion 2. The dress is from the Fashion Museum in Bath.

It gave me a couple more little details that I think are perfect for Adora Belle. I like the idea of having her dress be very plain from afar, and then, as you get closer, little details start to jump out. This dress, instead of closing with invisible hook and eyes, has a row of little buttons along the shoulder and down the side–what could be more severe yet scintillating? It also has a little row of feathered embroidery along each dart to hold the extra fabric still. In tone-on-tone, this will be invisible until someone is standing near it, but give a nice bit of depth to an otherwise plain ensemble.

The Janet Arnold pattern was a godsend. I was able to use the jacket as a jumping-off point to draft the pattern for the full dress.

I started by tracing out the original pattern, as is, in orange.

Then I made some initial adjustments based on my own measurements in blue.

I sewed the grid interfacing into a mockup I could try on, and made further adjustments from there, but I didn’t take any photos of that fitting.

I massively overestimated how much volume I would need in the front of the skirt, so all of the skirt pieces got a slim-down except for the center back.

After much searching, a picked out a charcoal grey linen/wool twill from Fashion Fabrics Club. It took me a long time to find a fabric I was happy with, because I wanted as dark a grey as I could find, and I wanted it to have some texture to it–twill, herringbone, pinstripe, anything to add a bit of depth. I was very pleased to find the linen/wool blend because it looks and feels like wool, but will hopefully breathe as much as possible in the New Orleans heat.

The pieces are flat-lined with a plain red cotton, which helps support the twill. I didn’t line the skirt portion of the center back, though, because I wanted it to keep its fluid drape.

Testing out the drape on the back.

The front lining is done in two pieces, with a piece of hook and eye tape between them. This will attach to an overlapping lining from the other side to help keep everything in place.

There are two darts on either side of the front to help it shape around my waist. These will be accented with tone-on-tone embroidery later.

This is the ‘underlap’ for lack of a better word. It is a glorified piece of lining that gives the left sleeve and collar something to attach to when the dress is open, and is hidden by the front piece when the dress is closed. It is made of lining material, with a facing of the grey twill only where it is possible that it will peek out from behind the actual front.

Once the underlap was attached, we did a quick fitting, and I had to adjust the waist and darts a bit.

Conveniently, I had some vintage seam binding sitting around in my stash. I used it to finish the raw, open left side of the skirt. It will give some nice stability where the buttons are attached.

A piece of twill tape around the inside waistline of the gown helps support the fabric. The waist will be taking strain both because it is so tight, and because of the weight of the skirt, so it needs all the help it can get from the inflexible twill tape.

And then it was time for another fitting–this time to check my adjustments were right, test the placement of the closure, pin up the hem, and test a collar.

I’ll be back soon with sleeves, buttons, and other embellishments!

Read Part 2!

Ravenclaw 1870s Gown 1: Research and Design

When anyone asks “what is your dream project?” I can’t answer because of all the bustle dresses battling in my mind. There is something about the more-is-absolutely-more level of detail, and the unique silhouettes that gets my creative juices flowing. This dress started as an idea that we were batting around at work several years ago: Hogwarts themed bustle dresses! Hogwarts houses are a fun bit of inspiration because they are associated with three different things: a color scheme, an animal, and a personality type. Now, if you’re going to design a Hogwarts house themed dress, you obviously have to start with your own house. In my case: Ravenclaw, hands-down. So for Ravenclaw, that means:

Color scheme: Blue and Bronze (yes it was blue and silver in the movies, don’t get me started)

Animal: Eagle

Personality type: studious, bookish, intelligent, witty, driven by knowledge above all

It was fun to imagine a muggle-born Ravenclaw witch paying calls to her muggle family while sporting her house colors. I’d imagine Victorian witches pioneered the idea of hiding wands inside of umbrellas.

I started by digging through photographs of extant dresses from the early 1870s for ideas of ways to use color, and for bird and feather-like details.

Those tiny knife pleats around the neck are wonderfully feathery, but the real kicker here are the wing-like foldbacks of the overskirt front. I knew I wanted an overskirt, but there was something about the apron-y look of many of them that just didn’t stand out to me for this dress. The overskirt here was a breakthrough for me.

Dress, early 1870s, from the Irma Bowen Textile Collection at the University of New Hampshire

This dress gave me the perfect swallow-tail back to go with my winged overskirt!

Walking Dress, 1870-1875, The Met

I love the amount of contrast bias edging on these ruffles! This photo also shows just the silhouette I’m going for.

Dress, 1870, Kent State University Museum

I love the skirt trim on this–knife pleats on the bottom, scallop-y shapes on top, with what seems to be a velvet ribbon in-between.

Day dress, American, ca. 1870-75. Henry Art Gallery at the University of Washington

I’m having trouble finding the exact documentation on this dress, but the shapes look right for the time period, and that feather-y trim everywhere was too good to resist looking at!

I also looked at lots of fashion plates in books like this one:

You can find it here.

And I’ve been absolutely loving the book Embellishments: Constructing Victorian Detail, which not only has wonderful detail shots of extant gowns, but also teaches you how to create some of the most common yourself! Unfortunately, it seems to have gone out of print, but you can find used copies around. Edit–the author has since let me know that a few more copies of the book will be available when they come back from an exhibition at the end of August! Keep an eye out for them here.

After putting all of this information into my brain, and stirring it around, this is the design I came up with:

I wanted to keep the bodice plain–a bit uptight and schoolmarm-y, and then make the skirt magical and bird-like.

It will be made in Midnight Blue and Cocoa Brown Silk Taffetas with Navy Cotton Velveteen details. All of the fabrics come from Renaissance Fabrics.

I’m currently working on bringing the underskirt into being, and in the meantime you can read all about the making of my Victorian understructure:

Chemise and Drawers

Corset

Bustle and Petticoat