#historic costume

[calendae-creations]

I finally finished the second piece of torchon ground with scalloped headsides for the cuffs of my 18th c shift! It turned out a lot better than the first, but even the first piece looks nice enough now that it's actually on a garment. I just basted the lace on with a running stitch so it'll be easy to remove for laundering.

If I want to do more historic work, I need to save up somehow for some books on it. There's more online all the time about making bobbin lace, but as far as I can tell disappointingly little about the history of it available on the internet that goes into the kind of depth and specifics that I need. Even digitized museum archives have virtually no information about their lace collections.

Like my art? Want to see more, buy my textiles or jewelry, or commission something? Check out my ko-fi page and shop, or message me here on tumblr!

[historicalcataloguesandplates]

1869

[threadtalk]

It is not often that auction houses provide high resolution photos, but Kerry Taylor is a wonderful exception. This 1770 robe à la Française gown is EVERYTHING.

And I couldn't be happier given this particular gown. It's got two features I particularly squee about: gold brocade and a quilted petticoat. It's got silk for miles, and that delicate floral pattern of stripes and texture really works to the advantage of brocade. The quilted petticoat, which has been in and out in terms of fashion for some time at this point, is a gorgeous merlot hue in contrast. The note from the auction house says it's an early 19th century addition, but it still keeps with the dress's look and feel.

You'll notice we've got some wide hips here, but with a slant downward as starts happening at this time--moving toward more of a bell shape rather than the straight out panniers. Due to the shaping on the dress, I immediately thought it must be continental, and I was right. The note says it's either Spanish or Italian. You often see that lower drop at the bodice outside of England and France at this time.

A stunning gown that is both elegant and slightly understated (compared to some of its contemporaries) yet maintains a sense of decadence and sumptuousness all the same.

[jewellery-box]

source

[gentlyepigrams]

ERTÉ. Costume design "Californie" for the revue "American Millionairess,", Thêatre Fémina, Paris, 1917. by Halloween HJB https://flic.kr/p/2oAMuf9

[nuri148]

18th century French dresses and fabrics.

Arts and History Museum, Orange.

[wellpresseddaisy]

I'm working on what I call my Citizen Bibliographer Project, which is currently an Airtable database of publicly available vintage and historic sewing books (and which will, with more free time, be a website at some point). I'd like to include a field so people can see at a glance if they're going to find drafting/tailoring/sewing instruction for what was then considered women's or men's clothing, but I also think the gendering of clothing is unhelpful in our more modern age.

Would 'Clothing Type' be a good solution? The fields would be things like trouser suits, skirt suits, dresses, petticoats, shirts, shirtwaist, etc.?

And is there any information people would like to see at a glance beyond:

date

title

author

subject

publisher

pub location

clothing types

target age

holding library

the current hosting website

link

[comicalfellow]

Programm und Videos am Montag, dem 25.12.2023 - ARD | Das Erste

[shelikescloth]

Currently thinking about a Jedi cosplay because my partner and I bought ultrasabers and well, one follows the other. He wants Ob-Wan’s lil blue outfit from the show. I, on the other hand, have to be extra, so I was thinking about what historical eras could translate well into a Jedi costume. 

Now of course the Jedi have a variety of outfits, but they generally are all sort of loose with simple construction, often involve several layers, have some kind of belt, and a cloak or robe. 

Here’s my girl Jocasta Nu, Jedi librarian (thus close to my heart)

Depa Billaba has a short tunic and tabard, with leggings

Shaak Ti has a really cool outfit, with more embellishment

Luminara also has a more intricate outfit. Her live-action version looks like a skirt, but in TCW it seems to be split up the front and she has leggings under. I think for some of the Jedi, their outfits relate to their cultural background or have other significant meanings. 

The art for High Republic outfits includes their white and gold formal wear, as well as “leathers” that they wear in regular life

So anyway, these are my basic elements to work with. Up next, some historical periods that I’m looking at!

[devilscreekballad]

Calling tumblr historians, especially costume and dress historians:

Does ANYONE have scans available of Ardern Holt's 'Gentlemen's Fancy Dress: How to choose' ?

'Fancy dresses described is readily available on archive org, but the men's version is not available anywhere.

Help is most appreciated.

[calendae-creations]

18th century style knitted garters!  These are 100% wool, and ~ 30 inches long without being stretched (wild stretchy tho!) by ~ 1 inch wide.  They are generally worn tied about the leg just below the knee, with the knot in front and the excess at the ends tucked under, as shown in the last picture (the ones in the pic are my own, and not the ones pictured for sale.). 

$6 a pair, plus $5 US shipping*, and as always if you order any 2 or more items at a time, I’ll throw in a free hand made watercolour bookmark. 

*international shipping available at additional cost

[historicalcataloguesandplates]

1810

[lho-archive]

Ram in the clothes from his youth. (He should probably be playing the harp, though).

Drawn 07/11/21

[elizabethplaid]

Colonial Williamsburg ad - “88-inch hips”

archived from my flickr account

Smithsonian Magazine, sometime in 2001? The outer edge (right side) of this page was folded to fit into a plastic page sleeve, since Smithsonian Magazine's pages are wider than the usual format.

Got some old magazine pages scanned at 600dpi, but I had to resize them to get under the 20mb size limit for files.

Now that I know more about fashion history, this concept is just extra-silly. Regardless, it’s eye-catching and memorable. 

[gentlyepigrams]

Gloria Swanson and Milton Sills in "The Great Moment", 1921, in costumes designed by Ethel P. Chaffin

[nuri148]

Some old bras for your historical fiction, from the textile collection of Barcelona Design Hub!

These two from the 1940s

This one from the 1930s

And this one from the 1920s