Violent Violet Neck Trim & Details

     I realized I didn't get into the details of the trim on my 1828 dress. Here's a little write-up.

     First, I had to make the trim pattern. I just fudged this. I traced the front and back shape of the neckline onto scrap fabric pieces, added seam allowances, sewed them together, traced the scallops on, and added seam allowances to them. It looked like this:

The part to the left is placed of the fold of the real fabric when cutting. 

I cut 1 of these in my plaid and 1 in the pink cotton, which serves as a lining to tack the hot pink piping to.

I carefully piped the scallops by hand, not trusting a machine with such tight corners. Then, I tacked the

piping down. Here it is mostly finished:

Underside. I had to piece the lining here, see that seam in the middle?

Front of trim.

Then, I piped the inside of the trim and sewed the whole thing to the neckline, folded it down to the inside and tacked the piping down to the lining.

   

Outside view.

Inside view. 

And I made a new bum pad! My old one (used for late 1830's through 1840's) was just too big for the earlier silhouette. The old one is on the bottom, new on the top. Both are stuffed with fabric scraps.

I only wore that little green bum pad and my corded petticoat under my dress, but I think I'll make at least one more petticoat for the next wearing. (Which will most likely be at Costume College!)

That's all for now!

Violent Violet: At the Ball

     I (sorta) completed my 1828-ish Romantic dress for the Gaskell Ball last weekend. I say sorta, because I still have a few things I want to do to perfect it. I got scared trimming the skirt would be too much, so I left it off, but now I know I want it again, so I'll have to do that. Also, proper hem facing, sleeve supports, and an extra petticoat or two. On to the ball...
     We had a blast! There were somewhere around 15 of us who were in the group and made their dresses. It was the BEST. We looked frickin amazing. I LOVED EVERYONE'S DRESSES! Pictures: all photo credit to the amazing Vivien and Natalie! They rock.

We were a rainbow! That made me so happy.

Blue/purple group!

Poofy sleeves!

My dress.  

     Boyfriend had a great time smashing my sleeves down. He kinda hates the dress, but I don't!

Here he is with me, before he smashed my sleeves.
Again.

     The ball was filled with laughing, squealing, amazing prettiness, amazing women, TONS of pictures, and lots of dancing. It was a night to remember...

Violent Violet: More Progress

     This little dress has been lots of fun for me so far! The colors and shape make me so happy. Since my last post on this dress, I finished the sleeves, replaced the plastic back bones with steel bones, and pleated and attached the skirt.

     For the skirt, I had to futz around a lot to get the shape I was looking for. I'm dating my dress vaguely between 1827-1831. It's when the skirt and sleeves are still a bit small (well, small for the Romantic era). It's flat in the front and full in the back. I couldn't find many sources on this style. I found many fashion plates from the time frame I am aiming for.

     I also referred back to the PoF 1827-1829 dress, but I didn't think I had the patience for the shaped panels or the pleating style. But it did give me the idea of the knife pleats point in towards the skirt front and the cartridge pleats in the back. 

     I found Jennifer Rosbrugh's 1830's "Slytherin" Dress. She had the right idea. Leave a few inches at the center front of the skirt just flat, knife pleat to the sides of the skirt, and then cartridge pleat the back of it. I think it looks great. I was anticipating having to shape some of my skirt panels, but I like this method (much easier).
     Here's my process. For the front panel, I played around with knife pleats, figuring out how many I needed and how deep to make them. I ended up with 4, 1-inch deep pleats on each side of a 6-inch flat front.

In progress pleats.

Pleats pinned to bodice.

     To add some support and structure, I padded the pleats with purple cotton. I sewed the front panel to the two back panels. Then, I cartridge pleated the back, also padded with purple cotton. To prevent the skirt from pulling on the delicate lower edge of the bodice, I used twill tape as a waistband that I later tacked to to the sturdier innards of the bodice.

The pleats turned out a little too tight for my taste, but
I made it work. 

     All of that brought us to where we are now! The hem is just pinned up right now, but will be faced with more cotton for support later. Now, I just need to finish the hem, make and sew on the trim, and make another petticoat and teeny bum pad.

Over and out.

     

Romantic Dress Progress: The Violent Violet

     I found the perfect purple shot silk taffeta for my 1820's/30's dress for 50% off! And my grandma gave me this awesome plaid silk that my mother originally got for her while she was in Thailand. The bright silks called for bright piping, so I decided on a hot pink cotton piping.
    The bodice is coming along quite nicely. The bodice pattern was originally Truly Victorian's Romantic Era Dress, but is heavily altered. I moved the darts, took in the shoulders, and carved out the arm scyes and neckline. I created a fan-front that I tacked on, which covered the darts, and made a waistband out of the plaid and pink piping.

Bad mirror selfie.

     But those pleats weren't orderly enough for me. So, I pinned them all down and ironed them. 

     Then came the sleeves. I used the pattern from PoF, by Janet Arnold. The 1827-29 wedding dress. In case I didn't mention before, I am obsessed with this sleeve style.

The pattern. 

      I cut out two sets of these in my purple silk and a cotton organdy for a lining. The organdy makes the sleeves stand out properly in the iconic 1820's/30's style. I gathered up the puffs and hand-sewed them to the bodice with piping around the arm scye.

It's not a proper Romantic Era sleeve if  you can't fit
at least one head inside of it.

Kitchen photos!
The left sleeve isn't gathered yet, fyi.

You can see where boning needs to be added in the back.
And look at those matching laces!

And onward!

Romantic Era Hair Styles

     Let me start by reminding my readers ( if I have any) that I am not a professional costumer, nor am I an expert in historical costuming or costuming in general. These are my drawn-out musings and ponderings. Now to the post...

     The Romantic era was notorious for its extreme hair styles. Curls, braids, loops, and twists were manipulated and decorated in a manner of ways. The were big, they were loud, and they defied the rules of gravity. I've been trying to figure out how to replicate these styles.

The Apollo Knot(s): that big bunny-ears thing....often accompanied by forehead curls

Portrait of a Lady miniature on ivory, 1832 by Carl Von Saar 

Evening dress, 1827 France, La Reunion

On Helena Bonham Carter in Les Mis

The Turban: or other weird head devices... Just wrap that stuff around your head.

Evening dresses, 1830

On Lady Harriet in Wives & Daughters

   

February, 1831

     The Hats: (just curl up your bangs, plop on a bonnet and you're done!)

1830

 

1827

Late Romantic: these ones are pretty relaxed. Soft curls and modest buns.

1838 

1838

1841 Grand Duchess Maria Nikolaievna 

     And that's not even the beginning of it! There are so many different styles out there for this period!
But how do we replicate this? I'm still trying to figure that out. I found a few costumers who shared their creations on the internet. Some are just result pictures and some have tips and tricks:

This lady made use of her own hair as well as false pieces:
http://fashionephemera.blogspot.com/2011/12/1830s-wig.html

This one shows you how they made a base for the Apollo Knot:    
http://labricoleuse.livejournal.com/116796.html?thread=451900

A very talented Deviant Artist:
http://ladycafelfenlake.deviantart.com/art/1830-s-extreme-hairdo-252544195

A blogger:
http://madamemodiste.blogspot.com/2011/03/1830s.html

If you're going for a Turban look: it looks like this Regency look could also work for Romantic with some fiddling.
http://americanduchess.blogspot.com/2011/11/how-to-tie-regency-turban.html


     Most Romantic styles (original or reproduction) use fake or added hair pieces. The curls won't be too hard to find out there, but some hair pieces you have to create on your own. But how? I'm not quite sure...
Some theories:
-Fake/extra hair bent over buckram loops and attached with hair pins.
     In The Young Victoria, you can see a pale material inside the Apollo knots of royal ladies. There is scene later on showing the knots actually being unpinned from their buns.

Look at her bun. Doesn't that look like buckram or something?

-Starched hair loops.
     Like how people starch their shirts, collars, and petticoats to make them stiff.
-Wire woven into braid loops.
     Millinery wire, perhaps?
   
    Well, that's my rant. I'll be trying to make my own hair pieces soon enough. Does anyone else have ideas or tips for re-creating Romantic Era styles?

Over and out.