Today, Mom and I did a "Pantaloons to Parasol" underwear show for a local ladies group and I decided that I needed to do a dress rehearsal of the Clara L. Campbell outfit. I am happy to say that this outfit is now my most favorite outfit!! Well, except the 1886 sailor dress. BUT after that, this one is it!! It is so utterly ridiculous that I adore it whole heartedly!!!
The Hat
First off is the HUGE hat of fluffiness. For this outfit, I wanted one of the large, ridiculous, wire framed hats of confectionery goodness. A bit of research and I found a hat that screamed "MAKE ME MORTAL!!!" As always, I obeyed my muse and the following is what came to be!
The hat is super hard to photograph as the white likes to wreak havoc. It isn't white white like my tucked blouse, but a very muted off white. I had some large, antique, off white ostrich plumes that I washed (Ohmygosh, talk about having a heart attack while watching the fluffy goodness be reduced to a mass of sad wetness.....). They had to be washed, as they were exceedingly dirty and smelled like the dump. Gross. Anyhoo, they recovered nicely and after being dried and then steamed , they fluffed back up to their happy glory! The lace is antique bobbin lace and the fluted chiffon lace is antique as well. The flowers are a combination of vintage and antique silk and velvet! The ivory and pink bows are silk.
Inspiration hat. Can you hear it screaming to me!? It was so loud and clear it was quite scary!!!
Fashion plate from 1902.
Source: A Victorian Passage. The description from the magazine is wonderful!
I didn't have enough of the small pink flowers to sew all the way round the underside of the brim, so had to settle with just the little bit I had.
Love the crazy, off kilter, tilt of this hat!
Huzzah! Shock of all shocks I finished the inside of the hat!!!
The Corset Cover
The blouse of my outfit needed assistance with keeping itself inflated, so I was "forced" to make a ruffled corset cover from Truly Victorian TVE02. Can I just say that this corset cover fills my geeky heart with such joy? It is fluffy and huge and utterly ridiculous! I LOVE that sort of thing! It does its job wonderfully and keeps the front of my blouse inflated and all pouter looking!
I used antique lace for the edges of the ruffles and decided to close it with hooks and bars. Sometimes my sewing machine throws a fit while making button holes and I didn't want the head ache!
Look at that fluff!!! To quote Agnes from Despicable Me "It's so fluffy I'm gonna die!!!"
Yes, exactly Agnes!!!
Now that is some fluff!!
Filling out the front of that blouse quite nicely!!!
Mom took a few pictures of me in the dress after the program, but the light and the white were so not cooperating. I am going to have some pictures taken at the capitol building on Monday where the light will be more diffused and will more than likely make for better pictures! But here is one for now!!
Hopefully I can get a suffragist sash made before Monday....that's one thing on the "to do next" list!!
Be blessed my friends!!
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Oh wow, that corset cover really makes the whole silhouette, doesn't it? Beautiful!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Christina! Yes, it totally does make the silhouette!!
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Stunning! Not only Agnes, but we're all gonna die! :D The hat is simply amazing, completely a typical Edwardian big feathery-flowery-ribbony thing :D The corset cover is very neat too, you should do a before (without c-c) and an after (with c-c, like the final photo) photos for comparison to beginner reenactors, to see the difference what undergarment add to the whole outfit! It's always fun to learn about the details :) The only thing I should note, unfortunately the tabs and tapes mold into the skirt, might have been worth it to make them from shiny contrast fabric, to "lift out" from your skirt. But everything about this dress is great! Another beautiful attire from under your hands :)
ReplyDeleteHa! No!! Don't die!!! I do love that part of the movie though!!! Thank you for your lovely compliments! the hat was so fun to make and wear! That is a really good idea about the before and after images with the corset cover!! Thank you! I did consider for quite a while making the tabs and stripes in a different color in the same shade, but the silk that matched PERFECTLY I didn't have enough of. Also, I was afraid that if something bad happened to the skirt and I would have to get it cleaned, the tea dye would come out and the fabric that I used as an accent would not match at all! But yes, I do agree with you that it would have added a great contrast! Thank you again!
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P.s.: I also love how the skirt bends at the bottom, just like on periodical fashion plates, so graceful!
DeleteI am quite delighted that the hem does have the flare at the bottom! Heather's patterns are so wonderful at keeping with the true look of the era! Thank you Melinda!
DeleteI'm officially in love with your hat... and the feathers! <3
ReplyDeleteOh! Thank you so much Bella!!
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Oh my heavens and stars! Agreed! The most wonderful hat ever! Please, please, please come to Biltmore Estate for our costume weekend next April. I can't wait to have the photographer takes photos of you, Lonna, and Rita in luscious hats!
ReplyDeleteHa! Love that Jeanette! Thank you so much for your compliment! It would be fun to have pictures taken with Lonna and Rita!! And of course to see you again!
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hat looks soooo good!
ReplyDeleteThank you so very much Magrat!
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Your entire ensemble is absolutely gorgeous Gina!! How did you get your tabs and bands so straight and flat on your skirt? I would love to know ;-D
ReplyDeleteXoxo,
Cori
Thank you so much Cori! Um...those tabs....grrrrrr...they were quite the pain being the loose weave that linen is. I just used a lot of pins to keep them straight! In the future, I would probably use a light starch to keep them even straighter and a bit more stiff. then upon washing the starch would wash out!
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Oh!! Perfect!!! <3
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Dorfi!
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Ohh, fluffeh! The whole ensemble looks just awesome, Gina. You did a stunning job here. :)
ReplyDeleteFluffeh!! Love it! Thank you so much Nessa!
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You're very welcome. :)
DeleteOh. My. Goodness. Do you ever make anything that's not stunningly, amazingly gorgeous?!! That hat is like something out of a dream, and the corset cover is so....FLUFFY!! In the best of ways!! :)
ReplyDeleteOh my Esther! Thank you so much for your beautiful compliments!! Yes, I have made things that I look at and think, " Wow.... That was so not your best work." I should write a post about them! The corset cover is just so fun and fun to wear!!!
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Oooh that hat!! And ALL THE RUFFLE-NESS!!! Can I just say how much I LOVE your descriptions of things!? Your blog always makes me laugh and smile, and not just because of all the wonderfully pretty things! :)
ReplyDelete-Emily
Thank you so much Emily! I am very happy to hear that what I write makes you smile and laugh! That is exactly what I aim for when I write!! I figure if I can bring silliness to someone's day, that is a great thing!
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That is a gorgeous, ridiculous hat! I love the arrangement of the flowers and bows on the top of it, and the fluted chiffon is beautiful.
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Victoria! My mom gave me the fluted chiffon and she had purchased just the week before I made the hat!! Talk about a crazy happening!!
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And it totally is ridiculous isn't it!!?? Hahaha!!
Gina, as you know this is really Ken. That HAT! What can I say? I would accompany that hat everywhere! Oh, I believe the word is "smashing"!
ReplyDeleteOh Ken!! Thank you so very much!! And I love the word smashing!! It is such a great descriptor!! Can't wait for Saturday's event!!!
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Beautiful! I can't wait to see pictures of the whole outfit put together on you. May I inquire as to how you made the hat base?
ReplyDeleteThank you so much Glennis! The hat base is a wire hat base. I didn't use a pattern, Judy eyeballed everything. I wrote a series of tutorials on how to make a wire frame hat's.. Hold on and I'll fetch them for you!
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http://beauty4ashes7.blogspot.com/2012/07/wire-frame-hat-how-topart-4.html
DeleteHere is the tutorial on how to make a wire frame hat or bonnet. I think I wrote a 5 or 6 part tutorial so you can go back and forward to catch them all! I hope this helps!
Oh and in the first thing I wrote, it should say "just" and not "Judy"! I hate auto correct!!! hahahahaha~
DeleteYou have a geeky heart too? Love it!!! Thank you so much H'M.! I was quite terrified when washing the feathers as the old ones have such a great personality. I was just relieved when, after fluffing they bounced right back!!
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If anything would persuade me to start doing historical costuming, it would be the hats... *Le sigh!* Your fluffy hat is the most divine concoction, I simply adore it. The whole outfit is superbly stunning, but that hat really is the cherry on top! ❤
ReplyDeletexox,
bonita of Lavender & Twill
I totally agree with you when it comes to hats!! The historical costuming ones are so fabulous!!! Thank you so much for your lovely compliment Bonita! I do Loooooooove my hats!! They are so fun and "quick" to make. Very "instant gratification" if you will!
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I see we have the same taste is blouses! Check out my blog at http://amysewfashionable.blogspot.com
ReplyDeleteWell, that is fun! I will check out your blog!
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