A Shimmering Drop Of Crimson On Gold

A gift from Sir Thomas Sharpe, acquired under far more desirable circumstances than its previous owner contended with.

As you might have suspected, I'm also gathering odds & ends, and pulling fabrics from my stash for Crimson Peak-inspired sewing. I'll likely do a replica of one of Edith's costumes from the film eventually, too. The trick is picking which one to do (first), and finding that perfect russet gold silk taffeta if I make her suit.
For now, I am planning a gown for the Edwardian Ball in January. It will be inspired by Edith and the blood red stain left on her memory of Crimson Peak. Or from a still-broken heart; like a mended porcelain teacup it's never quite the same again. Perhaps it still bleeds a little for Thomas.

I have a lush gold silk taffeta in my stash, 6 yards worth, that would be plenty for an 1890s evening gown. The only issue is that it's not a glowing color, much like Edith's pallet in the story, but more dusky.
Then again, maybe after her survival of Crimson Peak her colors would have become richer, deeper and sometimes more like dusk than the dawn-like shades before 'the calamity'.
But, my desire to have a brighter base fabric is because I'll be adding a small dose of rich blood red velvet and crystal trimming on the bodice, and I want there to be a striking contrast between the two.

While I can't spend money on 6 more yards of silk taffeta, I may break my historical sewing rules, and choose a nice quality synthetic if I can find some at my local discount fabric shop. This gown will be worn to a sometimes raucous and always crowded ball. So, if anything gets spilled on it or the hem gets soiled, there will be little difficulty or worry in washing it out!

That's all for now, folks. I'll keep you posted on what I find in place of the silk taffeta XOXO

A Fabulous Antique Clothing Reference

Scrolling through Pinterest during lunch today, I stumbled across a great website chronicling a vast collection of historical clothing between the 18th to 20th centuries. Some of you may have already known about this little corner of the web, but it's new to me.
It's all in Italian but navigation is pretty straightforward, especially after you learn a few of the words via Google Translate ;-)
The photos are not the greatest quality and some of the dates on a few items seem off a bit, but it's still a great resource for ideas and inspiration.

Abiti del Passato:  http://www.abitidelpassato.it/contents.aspx

One of the beauties found on the site: