Similarities...

This following fashion plate has appeared on my Pinterest feed quite a few times over the past couple of days and I guess many of you, who have already seen the said fashion plate and spent a lot of time browsing the pages of The Cut of Women's Clothes by Norah Waugh, have noticed that the cut of the dress depicted in it looks quite close to one of the patterns in the book (see diagram XXXII). It's a pity London Museum doesn't have photos of the original garment, that the pattern was taken from, on their online collections so we can't compare the fashion plate with it.

Journal des Luxus, December 1795.

This fashion plate also reminds of a quite similar dress (in cut) in a painting by Louis Léopold Boilly (below).

At the entrance (1796-1798), by Louis Léopold Boilly.

Why am I bringing this up on the blog, then? Mainly, just out of the joy of sharing and, secondly, because I find the raising waistlines of the 1790's very appealing and would love to sew a gown similar in style to these dresses in the future. This is something I'm only dreaming about so therefore it's not going to happen any day soon. But I wanted to write a brief post abut it anyway since the dresses of this type were definitely on my mind when I began to sew my pair of transitional stays that I think would work wonderfully for something like these gowns, with rising waists and gathered fronts.

Now, who's tempted to buy that fashion plate from Ebay? ;)

Fabrics (and cars)

The transitional stays are finished now, along with a new regency chemise, and I'm now eagerly waiting for a chance to photograph them. In the meanwhile, I thought I'd share photos of some exciting fabric purchases.

Thanks to Hertzwerk-Freiburg, I was able to get enough of this pretty floral print cotton with a brown background (something I've tried to find for a while now) to make a dark floral robe à l'Anglaise out of. I'm hoping to get the dress done by August.

The next cotton fabric will turn into an early 1810s gown - very soon, I believe. This is the fabric that has been kicking me to get those regency undies done.

And the following fabric is actually polyester taffeta but at -70% discount I couldn't pass, so I bought six meters for 21 euros and have no regrets. It's a very nice quality and will eventually become a late 1780s/early 1790s robe à l'Anglaise... with a vandyke collar.. maybe... I haven't really decided yet because, in all probability, it's not happening this year.

In case you're not interested in seeing some old cars, you may stop reading this post now... ;)

Naval riding habit inspiration

The time has come for me to make a riding habit, another one of those projects that I've hoped to make for so long, maybe even longer than any other project. As a child, much before I got into costume making, I used to be interested in pirates as well as naval history. So I've been hoping to make a naval inspired riding habit ever since I realized it would be a much better option than making a naval officer's uniform for myself. The design started to evolve when I stumbled upon a naval inspired riding habit on deviantArt but the original photo got deleted from the site a long time ago so I can't link it here. But I had to mention it anyway because I don't want to take credit from something that wasn't originally entirely my idea.

Anyhow, my major source for inspiration comes from the naval uniforms of National Maritime Museum, which I visited a few years ago. My favourite type of uniform is the full dress uniform of a captain, from 1774. If you've read my post about the floral robe à l'Anglaise, you surely understand why. The reason why I didn't start making a riding habit earlier than this is that I hadn't found suitable wool for it. But a few months ago I did, when I was out visiting the local fabric stores with Noora. I also hadn't found good linen for the habit shirt, but Couture Mayah kindly sent me some linen for it some time ago. The only material I'm still missing is the trim but I'm ready to start making the outfit now because I can order it later.

A Portrait of a Lady (1747) by Roberet Harvie.

At first, I wanted to make the outfit in the 1770s style so I had already bought a pattern for it from Reconstructing History, but after seeing this painting, I changed my mind. Especially because I still have some fabric left from the recent robe à la Francaise that I plan to use for the waistcoat. The details that I love about this painting in particular: The lace collar with a black bow.

And the mariner's cuffs, plus the golden trim.

 For comparison, here are some painting of men in naval uniforms.

Captain Horatio Nelson (1781) by John Francis Rigaud.

John Jervis, Earl of St Vincent (1769) by Francis Cotes.

Captain James Cook (1775-76) by  Nathaniel Dance.

Mrs. Epes Sargent (Catherine Osborne) also wore a blue riding habit for her portrait. But I don't like the wide ribbon tied around her neck with two bows in the front and back because it's quite large. And isn't that pale pink bow in her hair just a bit silly? Maybe she tried to add a feminine touch to the stiff, tailored outfit with it but I don't like it. I also prefer the coat open in the front so that you can see the vest. 

Mrs. Epes Sargent (Catherine Osborne) by John Singleton Copley (c. 1764).

Nancy Fortescue looks fabulous in her blue riding habit, though. I love the tassels!

Portrait of Nancy Fortescue (1745) by Thomas Hudson.

This picture is very small but you can see the lady in the blue riding outfit has got a coat with ermine cuffs and collar. 

Trevelyan family of Wallington, Nothtumberland, English school (1745-50).

For more blue riding habits and uniforms, take a look at this Pinterest board.

Thoughts on the striped robe à l'Anglaise

I didn't want it to come to this... But it did... I realize that the striped robe à l'Anglaise has got way too many issues for me to ignore them any longer. So among a lot of other things, I've been thinking about revamping it for a while. The issues aren't so obvious you could tell them from photos right away - but I surely can spot them when I look at the photos. Most of them are caused by lack of patience to fit and finish the dress properly and carefully. But revamping yet another dress doesn't make me feel very excited. It makes me feel the opposite way. I don't feel like taking it completely apart just to sew it back together the same way it used to be.

However, some time ago I stumbled upon a similar striped robe à l'Anglaise on Ebay - someone probably linked it on Facebook but I can't remember who it was - and it gave me some good ideas about how I could change the construction techniques for the better as well. I really like that the seam allowances are turned on the inside of the dress. It has got at least two benefits: The bones can be put into the channels created by the seam allowances and, since my fabric is quite sheer, the seam allowances also won't be seen through the fabric on the outside of the dress like they do at the moment.

I pretty much know how to fix the problems with the fit so it wouldn't be too much trouble. But... Meh. The dress has been worn out to an event twice by now and I'm starting to get tired of wearing it already. I hate to feel that way but it's how it is. And it really should be mentioned that there are also a couple of stains on the outside of the bodice and they won't wash off so it can't be left as it is. So what should I do? Give the dress another chance? 

...Or should I make something completely else from it...? There's probably a couple of meters of the striped fabric left in the stash so I could definitely do that as well. And since I have very high expectations for the pale blue robe à la Polonaise, one option is that I could make a sort of "practice" version of the polonaise from the striped fabric so I wouldn't have to worry about something going really wrong with the pale blue one because I will be able to tell the things that need to be changed from the first version. And don't you just love the striped polonaise from Kyoto Costume Institute...? And wouldn't a striped pet en l'air jacket be so cute as well?

At the moment I'm still working on the stays and the next part of the tutorial will be up probably later this week. I just can't stop thinking about the striped robe à l'Anglaise while I'm working so I wanted to write this down and ask what you think about it so maybe it will be easier to decide what to do with it.

Also, thanks to Isis, I received this new book in the mail yesterday! It has got several patterns, too. Some of them are available on the net - here - but there are also many that aren't. I wasn't expecting the book to have quite so many patterns so I'm positively surprised. Yay!

Second Robe à la Polonaise - planning stage

I've got so many exciting projects coming up it's getting hard for me to pick which one I want to do first. As a lonely seamstress I've recently been easily tempted by online group costuming projects because that's the closest I can get to sewing together with friends right now. Before I start blogging about 18th Century Court Ensembles Project (hosted by Kendra of Démodé) there's at least one dress of my dreams to make.  Ever since I realized the purple robe à la polonaise isn't going to fit anymore I started visualizing a new robe à la polonaise. At the moment it's my favorite style of all 18th century gowns and now that I'm used to it, I even find the hanging front kind of appealing. My original idea was to make a pale blue robe à la Polonaise with either wide self-fabric or silk organza trimming and black bows. But by now I know there are at least two light blue robe à la Polonaise gowns made in the recent past by other seamstresses and I'm getting very concerned about the uniqueness of this dress. Or should I say, the lack of it. I'm pretty sure many of you have already seen photos of the recreation of the robe à la Polonaise worn by Madame Elisabeth of France in the painting below. In case you haven't, here's a link to the blog about that dress in particular.

Madame Élisabeth seated at her harp by Charles Leclercq, 1783

At the time I first saw photos of that dress on the net I had just decided to order ice blue silk taffeta from Renaissance Fabrics but had not yet done it. It felt like a really big drawback for me because it started to feel like I'm going to copy that recreation, careless of the fact that I already had had that design in my mind for a long time. Not precisely the same design, but close. So this is where I got stuck. After a short while, I also saw another very similar dress made by Les Corsets de Lola on facebook (also found on this website) and lost almost all will to make the whole dress. That made me ponder the possibility of mixing two dresses: a Spanish robe à la Polonaise from Museo del Traje with light blue robe à l'Anglaise from Abiti Antichi. But somehow I didn't feel as excited about it as I had felt about the original idea. With the two following prints featuring two totally cute robe à la Polonaise gowns, I'm still considering making it in light blue. I would also love to make the petticoat daringly short, with shoes and a hint of ankle covered by stockings showing.

Fashion Plate (1780) from Los Angeles Public Library

The straw hat and the walking stick really complete this pretty little outfit...

1870s print of French Baronesses from 1783

Talking about group costuming projects, some time ago Merja started writing about her thoughts on making a robe à la Polonaise on Livejournal so we thought it would be fun to make them at the same time and arrange a group photography session after we're both done with our dresses and it really brought back my inspiration for this project. I hadn't lost it completely but I guess I just needed something to push me forward. Because I love to draw quick sketches to clear my thoughts, here's the design I was thinking about back in March. And still am, with slight alterations.

And another sketch that was actually made right before the one above. I don't like this as much as the other, but I thought it might be nice to share it anyway. 

Currently I don't feel so well because I've probably caught a cold or something but as soon as I get back on my feet I will finish revamping the floral robe à l'Anglaise asap and then head to see what the local fabric stores have to offer and  then I really hope I will come to a conclusion so that this dream project can finally start coming true. And hopefully, I'll end up having a cute dress something like this in the end: 

Portrait d'une Jeune Dame de Qualité, 1777, by Jean Laurent Mosnier.

Revamping another floral robe à l'anglaise

First of all, I must introduce my new friend to all of you who aren't my friends on facebook. A while ago I found this nice dress dummy from a second hand store and even though she isn't exactly my size she can wear my dresses surprisingly well for a random find. I'm considering padding her at some point I but at the moment I'm feeling too lazy to do it. And I'm not yet sure if I want to do it anyhow because right now she can wear one of my friend's dresses (without stays) as well as mine (with stays).  

Currently I'm revamping yet another floral robe à l'anglaise that was made a few years ago. Basically it wasn't in desperate need of a revamp but it bothered me so much that something had to be done to it. I ended up taking it almost completely apart because it was badly machine sewn and because the lining was loose and made out of sheet so I had to cut new pieces for it from linen. At the moment the dress nearly completely reassembled, lacking only the sleeves and hooks and eyes. Eventually the skirt of the robe will be looped up with tapes on the inside of the dress. This is how it looks now:

Since this is an old gown, I'm starting to feel like it needs something new to it - to cheer it up a little bit. This is not my gown so the final decision lies in the hands of it's owner but I'd still love to hear your opinion about it. The original plan was to decorate the dress with self-fabric trim but after some research on the net I realized that none of the similar extant gowns had self-fabric trimming. Evidence can be seen on this Pinterest board. 

I know many costume makers just love to trim their dresses heavily with self-fabric and I sure love to do so as well. But now I feel like I really don't want to do it with this dress like I did with the earlier robe à l'anglaise that was already doomed to be historically inappropriate because of it's fabric. But this fabric looks much more historically appropriate so I wouldn't like to ruin it by decorating it in a way that isn't. So what do you think? Have you stumbled upon a floral robe à l'anglaise that is indeed decorated with self-fabric trim? Or any other kind of trim that I could use? Of course accessories will make the whole costume look a bit more interesting but I still feel like the robe itself needs something to it. Please let me know what you think!

And here's one more quick shot of the bodice...

This is what the gown used to look like when it was made.

I don't think I have quite enough fabric left to make a matching petticoat but I'm thinking about making either a light blue or a sheer white petticoat instead. Or maybe even both. The petticoat seen in the two old photos no longer exists.