1872 Riding Habit Complete!

Good Wednesday to you all!  I hope your week is moving along swimmingly!  Mine is a crazy, stressful week of getting all the things ready for a fashion show at Something Special Antiques in Meridian and getting Colton ready for the new school year at a new school.  I can't wait until Sunday!

I thought I'd write a quick post about the completed riding habit I made for the Women in Sports section of the fashion show.  While this isn't my all time, #1, oh-my-giddy-aunt outfit that I have ever made, I am pleased with how it turned out and feel that it is very elegant in its simplicity.  And this one I won't be selling!!

Here she is on Emma the Mannequin and may I just say that Emma needs to gain some weight!  Poor thing!  She is wasting away to practically nothing!  Oh!  And you can't see in the pictures here, but there are riding trousers under the skirt!  Huzzah!

Inspiration for my riding habit came from this one from The MET.  I like the way the hem of the bodice comes up more towards the waist.  I was using this one originally, but didn't like how the bodice fit me with the hem that low...so I cut up the hem and really liked how it looked!

Will be doing a photo shoot with me wearing this in the future.  One of my fellow bloggers and readers has quite generously offered her horse as a "prop" for a photo shoot!  How fabulous is that!?  I think that will be my most epic "prop" ever in the history of this blog!

Well, I hope you all have a wonderful rest of your week!  

Blessings!

g

Grape Soda Dress Photo Shoot!

*Caution*

Photo Heavy Post!

Why?  Because the dress posing, the dress in action, the accessories, the people and the silly!!!

The fashion show at Something Special Antiques that We Wear Idaho History put on was last Saturday, but I just now had the opportunity to have my fabulous photographer Mom take pictures for me.  I wanted to do it earlier this week, but it decided that it wanted to rain here in the Treasure Valley of Idaho.  Huzzah for rain...boooooooo for picture taking!!  Anyhoo, the rain let up, the grass dried out, the hair cooperated, and Mom was game.  So off to her house I went!!  My sweet niece Lizzie was with Mom so she hung out with us as we snapped away!!

The Dress Posing

Here she is!  I really am quite happy with how this dress turned out and how it wears.  It is seriously one of the most comfortable dresses I have made!

There is a lovely common area right by Mom and Dad's house and in that common area is a lovely waterfall.  Mom wanted to take some of the pictures by said waterfall and so that is what we did!

Take a cup of tea on the rocks by the common area?  Why of course!!!  Doesn't everyone?

The Dress in Action!

Ha!  Hahahahaha!!!  Ok, so the dress in action, in grass.... most entertaining!  I kept tripping over the skirt and the mowers don't bag the grass clippings, so as I walked, I collected quite the large amount of grass!  Hahahahaha!  It was most entertaining indeed.

 

I did love how the pleats rippled as I walked, and the train stayed out nicely behind me without bunching up or folding over on itself!

Note to self:  Lift skirt as you walk in the grass so you don't trip and face plant!

Blackberry picking!  Unfortunately, only one was ripe....

This is what happens when your skirt gets caught in a blackberry bramble!  It does however make for a lovely picture!

Lizzie helped me out!  She disengaged the blackberry cane from my skirt!

Gracefully get as much distance from dress and blackberry bramble as possible!

The Accessories

The antique tea cup and saucer is a set of 8 that I have had for quite a while.  I actually use them every day as I take tea!!  They are lovely fine bone china with a sweet Sweet Violet motif!  The cameo bracelet was given to Mom and me by my cousin Linda years ago to go with our Victorian dresses!  It is beautiful.  I purchased earrings to go with it.  Antique kid leather gloves in a champagne color worked perfectly with the dress.  Then of course I have my re-fashioned straw hat!

The Hair!!!!!

Very rarely does my hair do what I wish it to do.  Ever.  Especially when doing anything Period.  So when the hair decided to bestow upon me the gift of behavior today, I was over the moon, pleased as punch, blow my skirt up thrilled!!!  Aaaaaaaaaand....it ONLY took me 1.5 hours!  Ha!  Take that hair!!!!

Er...I mean...

Thank you my sweet cascading, lovely auburn hair!  You make my heart so happy....

hahahahahahaha!!!!!

Whatever, the reason, the hair decided to do this....

Oh!  Oh!  Oh!!!!  You can see my mad matchy-matchy skills of the bamboo embroidery on the back of the bodice.  Bwahahahahaha....  I had totally forgotten I did that!  Fun!  Actually matching prints, stripes, dots and spots makes my brain hurt as I always have to remember to add in the extra seam allowance!

I added a lovely hair comb with a faux amethyst to my hair, but you can't see it very well in the picture....

Ya.  I was kinda happy with it!!

The People

Had to get some pictures with some of the most important people in my life!  My fabulously sweet Mama and my wonderful niece Lizzie! 

My beautiful Mama!!!  She is the delight of my heart!

My sweet Lizzie!  One of my "IE" sisters!  She is so fun.  We like to eat at nice restaurants in Downtown Boise, and I am introducing her to antique shops!

Liz found two HUGE sticks and I thought we should have a stick fight!  She thought I was crazy.  

Exccccccccccellent.....

The Silly!!!!!

Yes.  I did spin around and around and around and around and around.  

Yes.  I got very dizzy.

Yes.  I had fun!

This is me trying not to fall over after spinning around and around and around!!!

Mini Tutorial

The following is a tutorial on how to gracefully climb over a fence and cross the street in a first era bustle dress!  

Could be helpful to someone.  

Right?

Gather your skirts up OVER your knees so you don't go face first over the fence.

While holding on to the fence, find a place on a rung to firmly plant your left foot.

Swing your right foot quickly, but confidently over the fence.

While holding firmly to the fence, place your right foot on the ground, and....

Swing your left foot over the fence.

Gather up your skirts so they don't drag on the dirty road....

Look both ways before crossing the street....

Aaaaaand off you go!!!

Scandalous I know, but what's a lady to do when no gentlemen or gate in the fence is around?

And that's it for the Grape Soda Dress Photo shoot!!!

I have decided to wait until snow falls to do a photo shoot of the 1916 Wearing History Jacket and dress.  The jacket is wool and the accessories are black fur....ergo. Snow!!!

Here is the link to the Fashion Through the Ages fashion show that We Wear Idaho History put on:

Fashion Through the Ages

Ok!  Up next?  1840s mourning dress and appropriate underwear!

Be Blessed my friends!!

g

Grape Soda Dress.....Compete!!! Huzzah!

She's done!!  I am so excited as I can get back to my life!  Seriously!  I don't think I have ever spent this much time on a dress...except for the "Faithfulness" Masquerade dress I made for the SASS Convention waaaaay back in 2005!!  I think I spent more hours on this dress than I did on the Wedding Dress I made in January/February of this year.  I don't want to make another one of these time consuming dresses again for a long time.  That being said, I am super happy, excited, thrilled with the way this beast dress turned out!!!

Sadly, I didn't have enough of the periwinkle silk to make any long tails for the bows on the bustle or the back of the "belt", but that's just fine with me.  I think the addition of a bigger bow or tails would have overwhelmed a balance that was teetering on the knife edge of just right and "HOLY COW, IT'S A BARBIE DOLL CAKE!!!!!"  

These are the Barbie Doll Cakes of which I speak.  Of course if I were a 6 year old little girl, I would totally be all over these, and if I were per chance to be at a 6 year old's Birthday Party, I would so totally partake of said cake.  However, I am a 43 year old woman and do not wish to look like a Barbie Doll Cake.

Edited to say:  I LOVE Barbie Doll Cakes....I just don't want to wear one!!!

Source:  Cake Gallery

Right....Back to the subject at hand....

The way the colors of the silks blend together really makes my heart and eyes happy!!

The trim at the front is a spray of antique lilac flowers.  I LOVE them so much!  I have had them for a very long time and they have been used on a couple of hats and another dress.  I was going to go for a solid periwinkle bow, but decided on the bamboo print silk instead to give a nice contrast.

UGH!!! These sleeves caused me to have quite the anxiety!!  I started out using Truly Victorian's 1873 Polonaise for the sleeve pattern.  I had them all sewn up and pinned into the bodice and they just didn't blow my skirt up.  So I futzed around with them and finally came to what is now sewn onto the bodice!  I added pleats and ruching/shirring and a bow to carry on the theme that the rest of the dress was employing.  If I find some wide, inexpensive antique lace, I may add them to the sleeves.  Purchasing college textbooks and homeschool curriculum has cut into my costuming budget though...which is just fine with me!!!

And that's the end!!!  Hahahahahahaha!!!!

The Hat

For whatever reason, I didn't wish to have a bonnet to go with this dress.  I wanted something nice and simple.  Maybe it was the thought that a little coffee will cut the sweet.  I had the feeling that if I made a bonnet, it would only cause the almost saccharine sweetness of the dress to become overkill and way too much.  So, a simple hat was the solution!

The hat started out as a large sun hat.  I found it at a thrift store and about 5 years ago re-worked it into what I thought could pass for a first bustle era dress.  The crown was super skinny and the brim was....well, different.  I decided that I didn't like the shape and so set about re-shaping it with steam and clothes pins!!  That's how I got the tip of the brim to fold over...clothes pins!  Hahahahaha!!!

Below are some of the inspiration images that helped in the designing of  my hat.

The one on the left...I love that it doesn't have any ribbons trailing down the back.  Again, I ran out of silk for this dress and so didn't have any extra to make ribbons for the back.  It's nice and neat!

Again, the hat on the left. This one has the ribbons though....

An antique buckle, antique fabric flowers, and antique ostrich plumes were used as decorations.

Pardon my bald head...I am still working on a suitable hairstyle to go with this era...ACK!!! I have my own hair and then a nice braid that I am going to use!

The shoes I am thinking of using can be seen here. They are a wee it darker...ok a lot bit darker and pinch my feet.  So, not 100% sure they will be worn.

There you have it!  Huzzah and away!!  All done!! Well, except to sew on the bows at the sleeves and add the buckle to the bustle cage...then.....I will rest!!!

Be Blessed my friends!!!

g