The 1850 Gown

When my gent came home for lunch today, we were able to get a few quick shots in the backyard by the lemon tree.

The fabric I used is a (dare I speak its name) polyester silk blend. I NEVER use polyester in historical sewing, but I decided that due to time and $$ constraints, this would have to do. Blends I generally have no problem with if they have a good hand/drape, the proper crispness if I'm going for a 'silk' look, and if they photograph well (as in, not looking like plastic). My preferred blends if I use them are a silk acetate, or silk cotton.

This one surprised me with how well it worked, but me being the picky type, I still wish I could've used a 100% silk. But I digress....
it's a shot taffeta in a lilac color with black on the cross grain, and has a steely effect. I chose to make the bodice separate from the skirt.
The pattern I based it off of is the Truly Victorian 1845 German Day Dress, which works well for very early 1850-51.
I cut the neckline lower, omitted the reveres, drafted split bell sleeves for it, and left the skirt alone.
Hoops were not worn until around 1855-56, so this has a very fluffy crinoline petticoat underneath.
At Dickens I wore a garibaldi blouse underneath, but left it out for the photos we took. I also made a little detachable fichu collar, to allow the dress a more modest look for daytime and while strolling about the fair.
Otherwise, this is the perfect evening or dinner gown.

The trim is self made from the same fabric, done in the Austrian 'Rosenrusche' style. When the photo viewer opens after you click on an image, right click and 'view image' to see these full size.
Please excuse the sun glare, but it does give an interesting ethereal quality to the images ;-)









With the fichu attached:

The question of accuracy in fabrics when on a budget...

I will probably catch some flack for what I'm about to write, but this is just my opinion in a sea of many.
When it comes to sewing historical fashion on a budget, for me personally it's going to require even more research into fabrics used, to make up for lack of discretionary income :-)

So often I see beautiful formal 18th century reproduction gowns at events made of expensive silk in taffetas, velvets, brocade and duchess satins. The keyword here is Formal wear.
Naturally, people who choose to create a formal gown want it to look expensive. Yet more often than not, the materials they desire are too expensive, very rare, or just not available any more...so they choose a modern synthetic range of fabrics in place of actual silk.

I will admit that this can bug me. A lot, but we do what we need to do and use what our wallets will allow. I save my pennies so I can by silks when I find it at a great deal
But, why would it *always* need to be silk or satin in the first place?
Here's an idea; how about cotton?

Cotton prints and wovens during the last 2/3 of the 18th century were in high demand and highly fashionable. They were not only seen in day wear, but often at social functions and dances, even at court(!).
Yet today cottons are overlooked when costumers are on a budget to create a formal ensemble, and instead they end up with a plastic, way-too-shiny acetate or polyester outfit...that I might add, photographs horribly. Seams on poly satin ripple and the fabric doesn't breathe. Acetate can often look too stiff or shiny as well.

That's not to say there aren't some nice blends out there that work quite well, but it's all in how you use it, and being knowledgeable about how the synthetics are going to behave. In drape, fit and texture.

I've used synthetics plenty of times, including the blue gown in the previous post.
That was an acetate cotton blend bengaline (it has a faille texture), and behaved much like a heavy silk. It's sheen wasn't too shiny and the drape was wonderful. I only used this fabric however, because I was familiar with it's content and behavior.

This is a great post about cotton fashion and how it is too often excused as 'casual', or only used later in the century, at another 18th century blog, At The Sign Of The Golden Scissors:
http://thegoldenscissors.blogspot.com/2011/08/cotton-sacque.html

I think one point I should state, is that when the use of synthetic fabrics truly bugs me, is when someone brags about how "perfectly accurate" their polyester ensemble is.....perhaps not for 1782, but 1982?
:-\

Modern wigs and making them work for 18th C. styles

The hair.
In some cases, it's all about the hair.
And it has to be right, otherwise you run the risk of looking "costumey".
We've all seen it, or had to deal with it ourselves; that Halloween costume wig at an historical event, its synthetic fibers gleaming with a blinding sheen from any light source that hits it. Worst of all, from the camera flash.
Synthetic hair shine can be tamed down, and a little shine is ok. It's when the hair *looks* plastic, and that's a common problem.
Victorian style hair falls, braids and pieces are one thing, but the 18th century dos from the last third of the century are particularly difficult.
All the piling, winding, smoothing, bouffanting(is that even a word?), bunting, pomading, gluing, curling and balancing.
In some cases, such as wig and hair styles of the 1770s, the less 'natural' the better. Again, just don't let it look too shiny, gods forbid.
Here is an early experiment of mine, using a costume wig and stuffing from an old pillow (Obviously shiny, before I applied powder).



Then in the 1780s and 90s, hair became this kind of large, free flowing teased halo of waves, curls or frizz, often with tendrils of long ringlets cascading from the neck down the back, or caressing a shoulder.
I did this style once with a costume wig called the Alonge, made by a wig co. called Lacey.
I wish I had photos of this wig after my alterations to it. My only problem was that the wig I had was black, and I wanted blonde.
I just bought a blonde one via Ebay, and it's on the way to me now.
Many people think that everyone had white wigs during the 18th c., but most of those were actually a medium to light blonde, then powdered. Red and deep auburn/brown was also popular, powdered or not.
This is the Alonge wig in blonde, un-brushed:

But with the previous one I had in black; by brushing out the curls on top and trimming/teasing as needed, it created the perfect Georgian era hairstyle. I ended up trimming away some of the long ringlets that hung down from the lower back of the wig, only keeping about 4 or 5 at the center back. I brushed up and styled the trimmed ringlets into the rest of the wig.
It looked amazing, but again, it was a random experiment I did while bored. I thought about powdering it, but didn't really want a black wig powdered. It just made me think I would end up with an 'old lady with grey hair' look.

When I get the blonde wig, I will post my progress with tips and photos, so you can see how I do it. I'm going for a look similar to the styles in these portraits:




Oh! Tip of the day in regard to making powdered wigs; Instead of using powder then hairspray, or vice-versa; Use hairspray to do most of your setting, then spray lightly with that temporary hair color spray in white. Or even pink or blue, popular 18th c. "costumey" colors for wigs ;-)
Start light for lightly powdered look, then add more coats for a more heavily powdered look.
Kryolan is the best, and used by theater and film professionals:
http://www.alconeco.com/products/character/temporary_hair_color/kryolan_color_spray
If you don't want a powdered look, but want to cut the shine of a synthetic wig, use a spray color that matches your wig color.

xoxox,
~Vienna

My hatred of synthetic fabrics....

has reached an all-time high.
The swatches I ordered from 800Fabrics.com of a supposed "cotton" velvet for a frockcoat, turned out to be nasty polyester bits of crap not even my grandmother would have used on her couch in 1974.
Yech!
*sigh* back to the drawing board.
A word of warning; if you ever order from the above supplier, or anywhere you don't already trust to have natural fiber fabrics, order swatches.
I'm glad I did.