A bit more from Costume College

Off to the Thursday night pool party! I wore some new Wearing History pants I made out of very lightweight wool. I love this pattern! They are just the best pants.

We had an absolute blast staying in our Airstream by the beach. It was kind of a bummer to drive back and forth to the Marriot every day, but I think the view was worth it! It was only about a 20 minute drive through the canyon. And we were able to have our pups with us!

I didn't dress up fro Friday, but Saturday morning I got up and into the 1770's early so I could make it to my limited class, which required one to come dressed in stays and petticoat. For fun, I went the extra mile and dressed completely in 18th Century undies. I wore my new stays and shift, a Marseilles cloth petticoat, striped linen bedgown (which I love love love!), dimity kerchief and Sarah Juniper shoes. I also dressed my hair. I had brought a wig, to make it easy, but I decided I hated it at the last minute. Surprisingly, my hair only took about fifteen minutes. I teased the crown, smoothed hair over it, and strategically arranged my shoulder length hair into buckles with a curling iron. I'm shocked, but I have had better luck making historical styles out of shoulder length hair than I ever did with hair down my back! I didn't bring any period hair dressing supplies with me, so I used hairspray and brushed on some face powder.

After the class, I changed into my yellow silk gown for the afternoon. I attended a very full class, so I got a bit wrinkly smooshed into the seat. I'll have to get better pictures of it one day, because I really like the dress, and it fits well.

Sunday morning I was totally exhausted, but wanted to make it to one of the 9am classes. Laying in bed, hitting snooze, I decided it was just as easy to put on early 1900's as it was to put on jeans, and it was the last day anyway, so I put on the Robe de Madras for the class. I like this dress, but hated it on me that morning. I should have taken the time to accessorize properly and do my hair, but I was just too tired. I had a cap with me, but was holding it when someone snapped my picture in the Starbucks line. 

When I packed, I wasn't sure how much I would get to actually wear. I am pleased to say, I made the effort, and wore everything I brought, except my teens evening coat. When I left for the gala, I totally forgot to bring it! But it was fine, because I would have been hot anyway and then had to carry it around. I'll try to remember to post about it soon.

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Inside the Robe de Madras

While I finish up some accessories to complete the look, I thought I'd share some of the inside of this dress. After all, the guts are my favorite part. I always look forward to seeing the insides of garments. Reproductions and originals.

The dress is mostly hand sewn. I only cheated on the long skirt seams. I have this weird, skewed view of hand sewing vs. machine, depending on the era. For 18th century, I enjoy hand sewing every centimeter. I revel in it. For mid 19th and forward, I mostly do machine, though I have been doing more and more by hand for convenience (yes, I just said that - I love hand sewing, both for the results and the process of it). 

For early 19th, it kind of falls in the middle. I don't reenact the era, so authenticity is for my enjoyment/education alone. I really enjoy sewing the fun bodice/hem seams, but get a little bored on the long skirt seams. I don't know, when 90% of the dress is done by hand, maybe I should just suck it up and get my running stitch on for those skirt panels... 

I will say, for 18th and early 19th, there are seams that are simply impossible to do by machine. 

Ah, here was a new one. On my other dresses of this era, I have just pinned the closures. On this dress I tried something different and did hooks on one side and eyelets on the other. I have not seen this in an extant dress, but it worked out great. The hooks go into the eyelets and the front is then very smooth under the bib. Also, having eyelets instead of metal loops doesn't cause the same pulling that can happen where the loops are stitched on. I like it. I'll have to look into seeing if hooks were even used for this at all. And hey, if not, I can always remove the hooks and just finish up that side with eyelets.

On a side note, that one layer of linen, at the front, is surprisingly strong! I tried on the dress without stays, after I had finished it, and the bodice really holds you up! It gives me ideas for a new, lighter, bust support, instead of my short stays, depending on the dress, of course.

The dress was based on the fashion plate of the same name. The pattern was draped over my Museo del Traje dress I wore to last years Jane Austen Evening. I love the fit of that dress. I only had to change the back closure to a bib front for this dress.

And my favorite part of any patterned fabric: the matching. 

I'm not kidding. I totally love doing this. It's like a puzzle! I love me some symmetry :)

And so it begins.

Here's to knitting my little fingers off. Cheers! Oh, but those sleeves are just so fabulous and worth it.

And, in other news... The Robe de Madras. One of my favorite fashion plates. Such a crazy, loud, bonkers fabric. I totally love it. A totally different direction than the LWD. Toquet a Pointes in the near future. And snazzy little polkadot bag, too, I'm sure.

Details (and better pics) to come. Have a wonderful holiday weekend, all!