1860's Project: Pantaloons and Chemise

The 1860's outfit has been started! It seems a bit mad that Abby and I first started planning this project over a year and a half ago, and since then Imogen has joined us.

Elizabethan Kirtle

In February I began making a Tudor kirtle, and it's finally finished! As I started it so long ago and then left it till the end to write this post I may have missed out some steps (Sorry). This costume was made with the intention of it being a fun project for myself that would use up some fabric and also give me the chance to explore a new era without having to worry to much about historical authenticity.

Grandma's Dresses

So a few months ago my Mum and Auntie decided to clear out my Aunties old bedroom at my Grandparents and my Grandma gave my cousin and I permission to try on the clothes in the wardrobe and pick out anything we wanted. As the room got used for storage after my Auntie moved out there was tons of old stuff in there, only a fraction of which is included in this post. Although I've titled this post 'Grandma's Dresses' there was a lot of stuff that belonged to my Auntie and even my Great-Grandma. Unfortunately as my Grandma no longer lives at home I haven't had time to talk to her about any history behind a lot of the clothes. There may be more of a post about that in future, including the stuff I haven't got pictures of yet like my Great-Grandma's fur coat and stoles.

We kept this dress despite it being too small for either of us,
also I apparently forgot to wear matching socks

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)

Elizabethan Bonnet

What do you do when you have half a metre of black velvet? You make a hat (of course)! I began this project with the initial idea to make a gable hood but it quickly became apparent that I wouldn't have enough fabric. While searching through my books for inspiration I found the patterns for the men's velvet bonnet in The Tudor Tailor and the bonnet worn by Don Garcia De Medici in Janet Arnold's Patterns of Fashion no. 3. These hats were very fashionable across Europe during the latter half of the 16th century and can be seen in many portraits.

The bonnet worn by Don Garcia De Medici for his burial,
a pattern for the hat appears in J. Arnold's Patterns of Fashion no.3
The once black velvet has faded to brown 

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!

1860s Pantaloons

Myself and my friend Abby (her Instagram is here) spent a day obsessing over all things Little Women and decided that, once she's graduated, we needed to make 1860's costumes. While researching for this project I remembered the 1860's Pantaloons from Jill Salen's 'Vintage Lingerie' and decided I wanted to recreate them as part off my ensemble.

In the first half of the nineteenth century women wearing pantaloons became more popular. These garments would be worn as a base layer with a chemise. All pantaloons had a split crotch for when their wearer went to the loo, and was actually considered to be more modest than a joined crotch would have been. The bottom hems of pantaloons would often be embellished with frills and lace.

A pair of 1860's pantaloons from The Met