1895 Ensemble

[mala_14]

I got pictures of my 1895 ensemble before I presented on it at a conference. This ensemble has parts for multiple HSM challenges, including: Tucks and Pleating, Protection, and Gender Bender. The skirt is Tucks and Pleating, with it's double pleats at the CB. The corset cover is for Protection. And the bow tie and shirtwaist are for Gender Bender. I'm too lazy to put in the whole spiel for all three of these. But here are pictures!

The dressform's torso is too long and the neck too big plus no arms, so everything isn't fitting perfectly. But it's remarkably close to me in size, which is cool, considering it was a random find in the university's archives. I was up past 1:30am the day before the conference sewing the darned bow tie. It gave me fits and and is actually really crappy. You can't see, but the entire middle section is topstitched instead of properly finished. I made it too narrow and couldn't turn the ends through it and the silk was fraying. It was a mess. But I thought the outfit really needed it.

For my presentation, I gave a short talk about modern historical costumers and how the goal of historical costuming isn't always 100% accurate reproduction, but that we can learn a lot about the era as well as our present mindsets from historical costuming. I talked about how reproducing the past isn't possible, but that there are a lot of interesting things going on between the past as it actually existed and how we think about it from our modern viewpoint. I used these articles as examples to frame my talk, showing the current interest worldwide in historic costume:
Sarah Chrisman "I love the Victorian era. So I decided to live in it."
Rebecca Onion "Vox's Victorians"
Leimomi Oakes AKA The Dreamstress "A Practice in Practicality: Doing Housework, 1910s style"
Ruth Goodman "Getting Clean, the Tudor Way"
Then I undressed the dressform so that people could see all the layers. One of the ladies wanted to try on the corset, so I let her. It was a lot of fun. I really enjoyed this conference and am looking forward to next year's. But I am SO exhausted. I've spent the past 3 weeks finishing final papers, moving, sewing a bunch of this ensemble, writing my conference paper, and attending the conference. Whew!

Comments

[redthreaded.livejournal.com]

This is lovely! That sounds like a fun presentation.

[mala-14.livejournal.com]

Thank you! It was fun. Something a bit different from a standard academic talk.

[jenthompson.livejournal.com]

That looks so great! And what a fun topic for a presentation too. I wish I could have heard it!

[mala-14.livejournal.com]

Thanks Jen! I really enjoyed doing something different.

[reine-de-coudre.livejournal.com]

wow, this is SO sharp! it looks fantastic! i'm glad to hear your talk went well!

[mala-14.livejournal.com]

Thanks! I'm pretty pleased with how this outfit came together. :)

[theladyrebecca.livejournal.com]

It looks so cute!

[mala-14.livejournal.com]

Thanks! :) Bow ties look so dapper.

[fleurdelysa.livejournal.com]

So nicely tailored! Love those back pleats. I'd be interested in getting info for next year's conference - sounds really interesting if people like you are presenting!

[mala-14.livejournal.com]

Thank you! It's the VSAWC (Victorian Studies Association of Western Canada) conference. Next year's will be in Vancouver. It tends to be mostly English literature types presenting. It's a bit smaller of a conference (about 80 people) and everyone is really friendly.

[fleurdelysa.livejournal.com]

Vancouver, darn. Oh well. As a book historian, I find I often land with English peeps as well as early modern historians. Interdisciplinary FTW! :D

[mala-14.livejournal.com]

Yeah, it's always in a different city in Western Canada. Book historian sounds fascinating! Old books are so much fun. I helped curate an exhibit in our archives last year that was featuring 19th century books for the blind. One of the things I love about English is how interdisciplinary it is. Keeps things interesting!

[ashamanja-babu.livejournal.com]

Ooh, so pretty and smart! Sorry the bow tie gave you trouble, but you're right, it does give a needed touch.

Good for you on the presentation!

[mala-14.livejournal.com]

Thanks Elizabeth! I decided at 12:30am that I just needed to power through on the bow tie.

[nuranar.livejournal.com]

It sounds like it went really well! Very interesting, and the ensemble looks great. Good job!

[mala-14.livejournal.com]

Thank you Ginger! :) I'm pretty happy with how it turned out. It needs a hat next, and maybe a belt.

[atherleisure.livejournal.com]

Very, very nice! I think the tie gives it just the right finishing touch.

That skirt pattern gives a really nice shape and wonderful pleats at the back. Did you find that it came out to much more than 27" when made up as shown?

[mala-14.livejournal.com]

Thank you! The bow tie was an accessory that I really wanted for this ensemble.

When I made up the skirt, I didn't make it exactly like the pattern. I cut the pieces out to the same shape and measurements as the original, but just pleated it to a waistband that would fit my corseted waist, which is about 25.5". The pleats are really deep, so I think that there is a fair amount of room for playing with them, if you need to give or take a couple inches.

[atherleisure.livejournal.com]

I liked yours so much it hi-jacked my current sewing. I cut it out to the pattern because it claimed to have 27" waist, and my corseted waist is 26"-27" so it sounded perfect. Either I somehow let the waist stretch abominably between cutting and stay-stitching, or the pleat markings are completely wrong, or the measurements on the pattern are wrong because I had something like a 32" waist after pinning the marked pleats. I just wound up taking up all the excess in the back pleats, but I wondered how you had fared. Thank you so much for sharing the pattern.

Did you finish your hem with crinoline or any kind of stiffening?

[mala-14.livejournal.com]

If it turned out that big, it makes sense why my back pleats are so deep. The waist of my skirt must have been huge because the double pleats are probably close to 3" deep. Weird.

I didn't put any stiffening in the hem. It's a fairly drape-y suiting flat-lined with a medium weight cotton. In retrospect and upon further research, I wouldn't have lined it this way because the back bias-y bits don't have the same amount of stretch and made for a bit of wonkiness that can't really be seen because of the pleats. I relied mostly on my poplin petticoat for skirt shape. However, nearly everything I read recommended putting in stiffening, from 9-12" at the hem, as well as using hem braid, which would give a really nice shape, I think. (I read one thing that said that in Paris, it's not being done anymore, but that most of the English houses still are.)

Looking forward to seeing yours!

[atherleisure.livejournal.com]

The way mine worked out, the mark for the first pleat ended up about at the inside fold of the first pleat, and the mark for the second pleat ended up at about the outside fold of the first pleat. I'm wondering if when they made the pattern the accidentally marked the X's the depth of the pleat instead of double the depth of the pleat.

I didn't flat line mine, which is made of a mid-weight wool twill. It's got some weight to it, but it's not ridiculously heavy. I think I'm going to do the crinoline at the hem and a hem facing of plain cotton. It will be interesting to see a comparison of how the two skirts hang.

I hope you don't think I'm being a copy-cat, but imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, right?

[mala-14.livejournal.com]

Hm, I could see that. I think I always just assume period patterns are likely to be incorrect some way or have some sort of weirdness.

Sounds like a really good plan. I bet that you'll get some good results.

I don't think you're being a copycat at all! I love it when different people use the same patterns or do similar takes on things. It's so neat to see how they turn out. And we're all just building on the same information and research.

[tigerweave.livejournal.com]

LOL, not in Paris anymore, but England is so behind!!!

Love the whole outfit btw :-)

[mala-14.livejournal.com]

I thought it was funny too. And thanks! :)

[koshka-the-cat.livejournal.com]

It's simple, but absolutely wonderful! Fabulous job!

[mala-14.livejournal.com]

Thanks Katherine! :)

[wanda-victorian.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you shared that the goal of costumers is not always 100% accuracy as time and money and not BEING Victorian prevent me from getting closer than 80% in most of my items.

[mala-14.livejournal.com]

Right. Like sometimes accuracy is really important, but sometimes we are interested in other things, like how does my weird theory about stockings hold up if I run a marathon in 1860s garters. ;)

[girliegirl32786.livejournal.com]

Your ensemble turned out great! I'm sorry the bow gave you so much trouble but it really is the perfect touch. And the conference sounds really cool! Glad your presentation went well!

[mala-14.livejournal.com]

Thanks Aubry! It's a really great conference. Not too big and lots of repeat attendees. Plus it's Victorian studies! :)