Project: Polonaise- Part 12, Finale

So I only just realised that I never got round to publishing this post, but here is the final instalment of the polonaise project which I completed almost a whole year ago, eek!

Once the costumes, coursework and dissertations were all completed the final part of my classes grade was a show and exhibition of our work. This meant a stressful week of rehearsals, decorating the theatre and organising shelves, plinths and mannequins for displaying our work.

My section of the exhibition, my other two costumes are Papageno from The Magic Flute by Mozart (my design project) and Aravis from The Horse and His Boy by C.S Lewis (interpreted for stage from the book illustration by Pauline Baynes)

Project: Polonaise- Part 11, The Gown

I finally got round to writing this post, I'm so sorry it took so long! But it's time to talk about The Gown!

Project: Polonaise- Part 10, The Jewellery

This project would not have felt complete without a bit of bling! The fashion plate I was re-creating showed the figure wearing a chatelaine, bracelet and necklace with gold colour schemes.

                                                                                  

Project: Polonaise- Part 9, The Hat

I'm going to start off by saying that the hat was probably the least historically accurate part of this entire project. Having said that I do still really like it (and it helps to cover up the wig).

Historically most 18th century caps would be muslin or linen that was stiffened with starch. However this would mean that the hat would require almost constant reshaping practically every time it was worn. In order to avoid this I decided to support the hat with a crown of buckram.

The hat from the fashion plate I was re-creating

Project: Polonaise- Part 8, The Shoes

It took a while for me to decide what to do about the shoes. I spent a long time on the American Duchess website fawning over their wonderful creations and wishing I could justify spending a pretty big slice of my budget on them. Unfortunately my model had quite large feet which would have made getting the right size difficult. This, added to the shipping costs and customs charges I would have had to pay, plus the fact that I was on a deadline meant I had to look for other options.

The look I was aiming for

 Whilst scrolling through Pinterest in a fit of stress and worry I came across two different blog posts by ladyannabelle-of-didmarton and  couturemayah were they demonstrated how to turn an ordinary pair of high heels into 18th century style shoes! I was saved! I gathered together shoes, epoxy putty and fabric glue and got to work...

Project: Polonaise- Part 7, The Wig

As my model had dyed, bright coloured hair making a wig for the costume was very important as a way to keep the authenticity. I had made a wig in a previous Year of my course which I actually felt ended up looking much nicer.

The Second Year Wig

The Third Year Wig on my model

Project: Polonaise- Part 6, The Petticoat

During the 1700's women would wear quilted petticoats in order to smooth out their silhouette over the false rump or panniers. This was also a sign of status, earlier in the century rich, fashionable women would sometimes wear their gowns with a visible petticoat (as in the picture below) and so they were often made of silk. As the character for my polonaise costume was a rich lady I decided that I too had to make the petticoat out of silk.

Project: Polonaise- Part 5, The False Rump

In the 1770's and 80's the emphasis moved backwards from the hips and the panniers that everyone associates with Marie Antoinette were discarded in favour of false rumps. These 'rumps' would be stuffed with horsehair of made from cork and came in various shapes and sizes as can be seen in the caricature 'The Bum Shop' (R.Rushworth 1785).

Project: Polonaise- Part 4, The Pockets and Garters

This part of the underpinnings was one of my favourite to construct. During the eighteenth century women would wear sort of bag shaped pockets around their waists and the other layers of clothing would have slits cut into them so they could be reached. Garters would be worn to keep stockings up. Both of these items would often be embroidered and I decided to make them to match. My main source of inspiration was a pair of pockets from the Snowshill Collection and two pairs of garters from the V and A that I got to sketch during my visit.

Pockets from the Snowshilll Colllection

Project: Polonaise- Part 3, The Stays

The next stage of the project was the stays, which is essentially the eighteenth century name for a corset. The Stays worn during this period were designed to elongate the wearer’s silhouette. The corsets typically had a low Scooped bust-line to accommodate the fashionable low necklines of the gowns and were pulled together at the shoulder blades to give the wearer a more upright posture. I decided to make my stays using the 1780's pattern from Nora Waugh's 'Corsets and Crinolines' and also took inspiration from the pair below which is from the V and A that I got to see personally during a visit. I will say this is definitely not the be all and end all of how to make a pair of stays. There are A LOT of things on this project that I would do differently given a second chance but I hope this post is helpful anyway.

Project: Polonaise Part 2, The Shift

A Shift or Chemise (They seem to have been used interchangeably) is the base layer of any pre-19th century European outfit. I chose to make mine out of linen, as the vast majority seem to have been at the time due to cotton still being a luxury item. The majority of this garment was stitched on the machine (as per our course guidelines) with finishing done by hand.

Project: Polonaise - Part 1, Reserch

So here's the beginnings of the details I promised about how I made my Polonaise Costume. As you can imagine I did a TON of research for this project but here's an overview of the important stuff from a cannibalised Statement of Intent and a Historical Fashion Overview from my degree folder.

  A Polonaise was a style of dress popular in the Eighteenth century as an informal style that grew from the habit many women had of tucking their expensive overskirts into their pocket slashes during walks to stop the fabric from trailing in the mud as you can see in the picture below which is from the Kyoto Costume Institute.