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So the 1890's have come up in one context or another a few times over the weekend and into this week. There's a dress from the 10/30/1897 issue of Harper's Bazar that I have wanted ever since I saw it while flipping through Victorian Fashions and Costumes from Harper's Bazar in the VT library one day. (The picture in the book is better than the one on the HEARTH website.) Now I'm starting to think about taking steps toward accomplishing it.
I don't have any events planned any time soon that need anything so I'm feeling a little at sea as to costuming plans. Of course, it also means I'm free to work on whatever I want to work on. The two modern things (1940's and 50's are modern, righ?) that are high on my list are summery and therefore uninspiring right now so I'm seriously considering the 1890's.
So to put some thought into the 1897 Harper’s Bazar dress.
I want combinations for it. I have mid-19th century drawers, and I have the polyester eyelet early 20th century combinations. I want late-19th century combinations. There’s a pattern in Vintage Lingerie that would make that book pretty much worth its purchase price. Or I could go with the ones from Fashions of the Gilded Age, but they’d probably be a lot more work to size up. I have the cotton lawn already so it’s no investment except maybe buttons.
Then there’s a corset. I like one in Jill Salen’s Corsets so I think I’m going to see what I can do with it. Then at least one petticoat, and probably two. This time around I’m going to look into what actual petticoats of the period look like rather than making it up like I did last time I was working in the 1890’s. Other than the whole pattern-drafting-directions-are-backward problem that I had, I liked that petticoat pretty well. Still, I don’t think it’s right for the later 1890’s, and I didn’t really do any research first.
The dress is very much like the c. 1898 dress that Janet Arnold patterned in Patterns of Fashion 2. Structurally, the tops of the sleeves and the bodice front are about the only differences. I can at least pattern the dress so I'll know how much wool I'll need and be able to get an estimate on trim too, even if something comes up to take my attention away from a project with no real purpose.
I don't have any events planned any time soon that need anything so I'm feeling a little at sea as to costuming plans. Of course, it also means I'm free to work on whatever I want to work on. The two modern things (1940's and 50's are modern, righ?) that are high on my list are summery and therefore uninspiring right now so I'm seriously considering the 1890's.
So to put some thought into the 1897 Harper’s Bazar dress.
I want combinations for it. I have mid-19th century drawers, and I have the polyester eyelet early 20th century combinations. I want late-19th century combinations. There’s a pattern in Vintage Lingerie that would make that book pretty much worth its purchase price. Or I could go with the ones from Fashions of the Gilded Age, but they’d probably be a lot more work to size up. I have the cotton lawn already so it’s no investment except maybe buttons.
Then there’s a corset. I like one in Jill Salen’s Corsets so I think I’m going to see what I can do with it. Then at least one petticoat, and probably two. This time around I’m going to look into what actual petticoats of the period look like rather than making it up like I did last time I was working in the 1890’s. Other than the whole pattern-drafting-directions-are-backward problem that I had, I liked that petticoat pretty well. Still, I don’t think it’s right for the later 1890’s, and I didn’t really do any research first.
The dress is very much like the c. 1898 dress that Janet Arnold patterned in Patterns of Fashion 2. Structurally, the tops of the sleeves and the bodice front are about the only differences. I can at least pattern the dress so I'll know how much wool I'll need and be able to get an estimate on trim too, even if something comes up to take my attention away from a project with no real purpose.
