Dinner Dress Begins . . .

As promised, here's a bit of a diary on the Edwardian corset construction. I used a striped sage satin as the outer fabric, and lined it in a heavy twill and cotton, using a three-layer construction to protect the silk outer layer from shattering.

The construction itself was fairly straight-forward; I ignored the boning chart included with the pattern (as I usually do) and boned along the seams, and it was just a matter of putting everything together. The only real altering I did was to give the front a slight sweetheart shape, which I find more flattering than a straight edge. All told, it took two days, which is about average for me and corsets;)

Once again, I hand-tacked lace at the top edge, threading a mint green ribbon through. I think it sets off the sage silk nicely.

I used Sandra Altman's #106, the 1901-1908 "Straight-Fronted" Corset. It doesn't give me a straight front, but I don't have a particularly straight front to begin with, and even corsets can't do miracles;)

I also started beading the black lace overlay for the Edwardian Dinner Dress. Don't worry; I'm not crazy enough to bead all of it. I'd go blind! I'm intending to bead the bodice (which is what you see the beginning of here), and then 3-4 inches of the edge of the over-skirt. Once it is placed over a white fabric, as you see here, the lace really pops.

There's still a metric ton of beadwork to do, so I guess I better get busy! I do have until April to get it done, so at least I've given myself enough time . . .

A Night to Remember . . .

Those of you who aren't history nuts like me probabaly aren't aware that next April marks the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic. Those of you who are history nuts are probably already planning your wardrobe for the occasion;) As ghoulish as it seems to celebrate so many people dying with a party, that's still what plenty will be doing, serving it up true Edwardian-style with eleven courses and music and fabulous ensembles.

I've had to shelve my Halloween plans for budgetary reasons, so instead I'm focusing on something slightly farther out, and I'm starting work on a 1912 dinner dress. I already have some of the material for it and I'm beginning to bead a lovely black chantilly. As for the rest, I'm planning to make the dress out of white silk taffeta with a black silk velvet sash.

I don't have any extent garment images that exactly match what I'm planning so I posted these as a more general idea. I like the sleeves on the above image, and the stark white and black of the top image was the inspiration for my color palette. Hopefully I'll be able to post some in-progress pics; I just finished my Edwardian corset, and I'll try to do a short diary on that soon.

Insecurities . . .

One of my favorite bloggers recently posted about blogging insecurity, how she goes through it, sometimes to the point that bloging becomes more about stats and popularity, and becomes a chore.

I've never had an overly popular blog or made a whole lot of money with it; I never expected it to. But, I definitely get blogging anxiety too, and it can feel a litle like being back in high school:

"Do they like me?"
"Are they getting bored?"
"Is anybody paying attention?"
"Am I keeping them entertained?"

There are times I feel like a complete failure as a blogger, and times I want to quit. But I try to remember that I got into this to have fun, and damn it, that's what I'm doing, for me. I hope I have been entertaining most of the time and educational some of the time, and never completely inane. Thanks for hanging in there with me as I find my feet out here in SoCal, through all the stress and the journey; I promise better posts are coming soon!

Some projects lined up so far for 2011:
-an Edwardian/Ragtime ensemble for March
-a costume for SDCC (anybody have suggestions?)
-a ballgown bodice to go with the money dress skirt
-a steampunk ensemble
-a Regency day dress and pelisse

Edwardian Hair Tutorial!

Welcome to part three of my four-part Victorian Hair Tutorial series. Today I'm cheating a little, as Edwardian era hair is not Victorian, but I wanted to cover a wider range of hair styles and it was this or Romantic-era hair (shudder!).

Today's tutorial is for a hairstyle that was popular around 1911-1914. Women became interested in styles that seemed exotic, and this was "Greek", or at least their approximation of it. Fashions were changing pretty radically from just ten years before; dresses were long and close to the legs, and the pigeon-breast was out. Hair became freer too; gone was the over-the-top Gibson bouffant. It was replaced with a softer style which would last pretty much up to the '20's (no; I am not planning to bob my hair for this blog. Not yours.).

1. As always, start with wavy or curly hair. In my case, I used a wave-barrel curling iron to acheive the cascading waves you see here, and regular curlers to give the ends some curl. Part your hair down the middle (or somewhere near it, as with my hair!). If your hair is shorter, you're in luck; some women were wearing their hair shorter in waves, the precursor to the Marcello-wave hairstyle, though less controlled. You can get away with short hair in this period, though most women were still wearing their hair fairly long.

2. Section your hair into two, a front section and a back. I used a headband which I threaded ribbon through, looped twice around and pinned in the back.

3. Take the front two sections and pin them back, loosely. Nothing about this style is tight or contained; everything is very soft. Take the back section of hair and put it in a low ponytail.

4. Now take the hair in the ponytail and divide it into two. experiment with looping it to make an interesting, loose bun, and pin the sections into place. If you have long hair, now is the time to have fun with it; make figure-eights, loosely braid it, get creative!

Now, break out your Titanic-era dress, and stroll with first class! A simpler style for a changing time; give it a try for your next Edwardian-themed event. Stay tuned for the final installment of my Hair Tutorial Series: Late Victorian Evening Style!