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Hello all!
Finals are nearly over (after Thursday) so I’ll finally be able to post more on this blog! I know I’ve been neglecting it. In the meantime, though, I’ll invite you all to take a look at my pinterest which has a great amount of historical clothing pins organized in era, style, or decade boards. I hope you all can get your historical fashion fix until I’m posting again on tumblr!
Best to all (and good luck on finals!),
L
thepragmaticcostumer asked: Thank you for posting those sources for Eleonora di Toledo's wedding dress. I had been looking everywhere for a photo of it before they partially reconstructed it and the Extant Italian Dresses link you posted had that and so much more! My museum science thesis thanks you! :)
I’m so pleased I can be of assistance. Good luck on you thesis!
Day Dress | c. 1947
An enormous bustle bow dominates this striped silk dress by Victor Steibel. In February 1947 Christian Dior had launched the New Look featuring pinched waists, full skirts and a soft shoulder line. It was an attempt to reinstate feminity in dress after a period of wartime austerity and shortage. The impractical scale and frivolity of Steibel’s bow was clearly a defiant gesture against rationing. It makes lavish use of material and is so large and weighty that it requires the support of a sturdy horsehair frill beneath the skirts.
La Mode illustrée. Revue de la Mode. Dec 7, 1884.
(via fuckyeahvictorians)
Spring suits and tailored dresses, fashions from 1913
Random progress on the 1780 Levite! Both cuffs are now attached, meaning the sleeves are 100% complete. Onto the collar and closure!
With some very crappy photos, here is my latest project - just completed ten minutes ago!
And I’ve realized that making an 18th century rose-colored satin skirt was probably one of the greatest decisions of my costuming life:
Habit a l’insurgente, c. 1780
Hello there! I’m still working on an 18th century levite gown - today I’m completing the waistband of the skirt, and I will be moving on to the finishing touches for the robe itself - trim, closure, and skirt. I won’t finish that today, but within the next couple of days I expect I shall!
Vintage swimsuits were made with materials that seem completely foreign to us - wool or wool flannel in the very early years up until the 1930s and 40s, and cotton in the 40s and beyond. I’ve made one in cotton myself, and it’s really not that uncomfortable or strange to wear in the water. It’s a bit heavier than contemporary swim fabrics, it takes longer to dry, and you obviously have to use different closures (i.e. zippers for bottoms, if a two piece, or the whole thing, if one piece). Additionally, there is the problem of the fabric fading after contact with chlorine from swimming pools. I recommend that you always rinse your suit off as soon as you can when you get out of the pool! Just run into the bathroom and jump under the shower for a second if you’re lounging in between - that way you can preserve your color much better. You can also just use modern lycra for your vintage suits, tons of people do! I don’t see anything wrong with that either.
Bodice, dated between 1804–14, probably British.
Constructed of silk and cotton. +
What is this? I’ve never seen a bodice so ornamented from this period! It must be mine..
(via notwiselybuttoowell)
