9/20/05: Beginning the research

Well, here we are again at the start of a new dress. At first, I went on ebay just to look around and discovered I could probably buy a real Victorian gown for less than it would cost me to make one. Sort of. Complete dresses in wearable shape were between $150-500 or more. I don't think that's at all unreasonable for the quality of clothing and all the beautiful details. Less expensive dresses were also available that would need repairs ranging from minor patching/reattaching to un-wearable dresses that could be used as patterns for a new dress.

What I also found were a great many well listed clothes with lots of photographs including the interiors. This, of course, gave me a fever to make my own. I shut off ebay and backed away from the computer, took a cold shower, then came back to start searching for info on making a Victorian dress. I am used to researching clothes from the 1500's, of which there are very few surviving garments and very few actual tailors' patterns. The amount of info available on Victorian clothing is massive and almost too overwhelming to dive into.

Of great help to my searching were:

Michaela, who posted many great links on her livejournal page, and great diary of a late Victorian.

Kendra has a GREAT listing of extant garments to inspire and make me drool, along with diaries on her own creations.

La Couturiere Parisienne is a great resource and is where I found the actual dress I want to make, with a drawing and an actual period pattern! Here's the drawing of the actual pattern, courtesy of La Couturiere Parisienne. Please read her page on copyright before you take any of the images. :-) I'll be making the dress on the left.

Victorian clothing went through many silhouette changes from, say, the 1860's through the 1890's. I am very attracted to the slimmer, more natural shapes, and I already have a "natural form" corset (even if it does have to be taken in a bit - no easy task!)

The fabric must be silk and I keep seeing this striped taffeta. Can you hear the rustle? I haven't decided whether it should be a stripe or not, though. I like striped dresses but not necessarily for evening.

The Corset

Well, I tried taking in the corset I already had, and succeeded. Sort of. It fit but it wasn't pretty, and a girl has gotta have pretty under-things. So, off to the land where silk goes to die (otherwise known as The Silk Trading Company outlet) since a corset only takes 1/2 yard or so. I found a lovely peach tissue pick silk taffeta with yellow and green flowers. pretty pretty pretty pretty pretty pretty!

Then I started draping on my own body- no easy feat - an came up with a pattern. At the same time I started looking into extant corsets and the shapes, seam placements, boning, bone casings & closures, to get the right look for 1879. That was the year of the actual pattern I found on La Couturiere Parisienne and the silhouette I liked most. Most of my friends who do Victorian think this natural form period looks like someone forgot to wear their bustle that day, but I like it a lot.

But back to the corset. I found lacings, a busk, and pattern resources at Corsetmaking and I highly recommend them. Their prices are competitive and their service is fast. For fun I ordered this pattern even though I'd already drafted my own. I wasn't so confident in it so I got the pattern just in case. I made a mock up when it came but I didn't like it as much as my own drafted one.

So, I had my silk taffeta but I needed a base fabric and I forgot to order coutil. I looked through my stash and then committed a fabric sin (to some). I have a rather large collection of antique linens and a friend had given me a set of monogrammed large banquet napkins and a tablecloth in some very heavy, tightly woven linen. It's so smooth and beautifully patterned with that nice, ornate monogram... wait a minute! Why do I have 13 napkins? Who would ever set out 13 napkins? Clearly, one of these has to go, and believe it or not, I could barely cut my corset out of one napkin, LOL! I also managed to keep the beautiful monogram inside one of the hip gussets. Just a little secret for me and my luvah...

Combinations

I had this pretty little cotton pointelle nightgown that I wanted to turn into combinations but I didn't get them done. *sigh* Someday.

Being unemployed after a couple of rough years meant this dress had to be cheap! And I wanted to have a practice-run at it before I made up the "real" one in nice fabric, so the closet/stash search began.

I had been given a batch of early 1980's Jessica McClintock dresses - yeah, I know - that I was NEVER going to wear. Then I looked at them through my costumer's eyes and saw little ugly ducklings that could be transformed into my Halloween swan! One was a drop-waist gown and the skirt was an interestingly flocked acetate blue satin and the other was a sort-of Southern Belle thing in a black sheer Swiss dot. Just don't ask me what they're made of!

The flocked blue satin was enough for me to get the bodice and most of the skirt out of. I found some cheap baroque satin at JoAnn's (ugh) in that same weird blue so I could supplement the skirt where it wouldn't show under the front swag.

The black Swiss dot dress was fantastic to cut up! The full gathered skirt already had a ruffle all the way around it, and a second ruffle in a V-shape over the front & back. With a bit of planning, I was able to get the long train and the front swaged waterfall overskirt. Then the ruffle that I ripped off the shoulders (yep, shoulder ruffle! Can you see it?) I re-ruffled on my pleater and added to the neckline of the bodice.

Lastly I made two swaged ribbon things (I don't know whachah call 'em) to attach to the back with waterfall overskirt and there you have it.