In 1883, the bustle came back with a vengeance. The skirts remained slim in front and sides, but the back ballooned out over a bustle framework. The lines start as a blend of horizontal and v…

One of the dress eras I have been wanting to make for a very long time is the Soft Bustle or First Bustle era. I have plenty of the Second Bustle Era dresses, but now comes the time for the First Bustle. Last week I made the bustle hoop and train support, Laughing Moon 112. It took me two days of construction and at the end, my fingers, hands and fore arms were not on speaking terms with me...actually they were shouting swear words to me, the kind that would make a sailor blush!! I knew that making the hoop and support would be the hardest part and so bit the bullet and just made it. It is so ridiculous and fabulous...I LOVE it!! You know what? Victorian and Edwardian underwear can be so ridiculous and fun...that's one of my favorite parts about this whole hobby of mine!! Anyhoo, this coming week I will be endeavoring to make my first ever Soft Bustle Dress! I am sort of excited. Because of my fabric and the colors, I haven't found the perfect fashion plate, photograph or extant dress to re-create. To that end, I am going to have to make a Frankenstein Dress! I am discovering that this era is going to be fun...HELLO trim and pleats and ruching and flowey, billowy sleeves!!! I think this is my main problem...trying to decide what to do on the bottom of the underskirt. I have found several inspirations that are really blowing my skirt up. I really love the general shape of this dress. It doesn't have a train, but the rest is fabulous. The square neckline is lovely and the sleeves are fabulous!! Source: Truly Victorian My fabrics. Both dupioni silk. The embroidered is one I have had for years and had enough to make a Soft Era Bustle dress. The embroidery is reminiscent of bamboo shoots. The solid color of the embroidered is a tannish pinkish color. The solid is a beautiful periwinkle color and works really well with the bamboo shoots...although it is hard to see in the photographs... I plan on using the periwinkle as the underskirt, trim and possibly the sleeves...we shall see! My fun bustle cage and train support! This is so fun to walk around in!! It sways and bobs...I love ridiculous underwear!!! So, I am really loving the overskirt on this dress. It looks as though it is ruched up the front and then bows are placed at intervals. Oh! And look at the parasol pocket!! Source: Here Here is that fabulous ruching-up-the-front-with-bows-at-intervals overskirt! LOVE LOVE LOVE!!! This is Princess Helena Augusta Victoria of Schleswig-Holstein with her two eldest children. The lower part of the bodice is lovely and the Truly Victorian pattern I am going to use has this option. I'm not in love with the sleeves and their lack of fluff and frill and I'm not sure I will do the all-the-way-to-the-neck neckline. But that overskirt? Oh ya baby....well, only if I can ruche with the embroidery. That may be an issue... Source: Wikipedia I am really digging the trim on the underskirt of this dress. It is ruch-a-licious!!! So many different layers to behold!! If I can't do the ruche up the front, this may be an option. Source: The MET More lovely trim, this time in the form of gorgeous layers of pleats! Both dresses have three layers, although the one on the right has different widths of pleats. I am the pleating fool, so this is a possibility!! Source: Faces of the Victorian Era tumblr More fantabulous pleats on the underskirt. The overskirt has some delicious pleats as well. I like how the underskirt has narrow pleats, but the bustling/train has ruffles! Way too fun!! Source: Faces of the Victorian Era tumblr Now for the top....I am thinking the big bow smack dab in the middle is super fun! Also, I love the pleat work on either side of the opening. This is a possibility!! Source: Pinterest Here is another example of the open neckline. I think this will be happening with this dress as it is a very girly, fluffy sort of dress. For the up-to-the-chin collar, I will wait for a more tailored dress! Oh and check out the trim on the skirts and the sleeves!! I'm in love!!! This is Grand Duchess Maria Alexandrovna with her brother Grand Duke Vladimir Alexandrovich or Russia. Source: The First Waltz tumblr Another fabulous example of the bow in the front of the bodice with the open neck. And those sleeves? Le Sigh!!!!! Source: Pinterest Well, this is only a little bit of the images that I am looking at to make this dress come to life! I am hoping that I have a dream tonight that will tell me exactly how to make this dress! That would be so fabulous!! Be blessed my friends and I hope you have a wonderful week! g P.S...her is the link for my First Bustle Era board!

Fashion plate, 1870's

I originally intended for my cotton bustle dress to be one of many historic costuming projects I would undertake this year, but with all my other sewing it is turning into this year's project! I finally have started in earnest, cutting out the bodice pattern pieces and buying muslin to start fitting everything. The sketch above shows the bodice style I am going for, which will require a few changes to the Truly Victorian Tail Bodice pattern I am working with. This is my first ever bustle gown so I am sure I will have a lot to learn about fitting such a curvy garment. I am also still fighting myself over whether to use a solid color for the underskirt or for the bodice. It seems like real print bustle dresses more often had solid color underskirts, but I personally like the idea of a solid bodice! I have found some examples to support my sketches. It seems that plaid dresses in particular seemed to have plaid over and under skirts paired with solid bodices. The striped style is very similar to what I am after, pattern on the over and under skirts with a solid color boice with a "vest" of the print! I hope to have the bodice pattern figured out by the end of this weekend! It is hard to put other projects on hold, I have fun 1950's dresses to make! I have put off this project for long enough though, so it is time to make something historical!

Because I love green, and always like time lines of fashion. This is by no means a complete overview of clothing in a certain era, but just a list of my own favorites. 15th century 16th century 17t…

Explore ondiraiduveau's 47583 photos on Flickr!

Blue and Brown Clothing Silk Gown, circa 1740 Riding Coat, circa 1760 Men’s Coat, circa 1785 Dinner Dress, circa 1820 Day Dress, circa 1843 American Silk Dress, circa 1845-50 Silk Dress, circ…

Journal des Demoiselles 1877

Earlier this week I posted about plaid matching (or not!) in extant garments, and I mentioned that I am currently working on a project that relates. So far my plaids look pretty good (the shoulders, which will be unfortunately lost in the neck facing/trim and sleeve are my favorite), but not perfect, which seems just about right. I'm taking a pause because I need a new corset, and I don't want to take darts over my old one (which has never fit correctly, even though I made it almost three years ago...whoops). I'm also waiting because this is a special project: I am not venturing into a new decade alone, but rather in a joint expedition with my mother, so I'm waiting until our next sewing date to start the next bit. My earliest experiences with sewing all involve my mom, who made my Halloween costumes every year until I was too cool for it because I wanted to be a "girl from the Civil War" with a dress out of one of those cheesy catalogs (funny how the 1860s stuck and the store-bought outfits didn't! Clearly Mom's influence was in there...). She would insist that she was only ever an "ok" seamstress, but Mom taught me to use a sewing machine, to pick out patterns and follow pattern instructions, and that sometimes making things was just better (those Halloween costumes were killer). My first grade class Halloween party, dresses as Odette from The Swan Princess (my absolute favorite movie at the time) in her wedding dress, made by Mom...check out my opalescent swan "wings"! the inspiration (ending scene from The Swan Princess) Last year my family came to Fezziwig's Ball, hosted by the Commonwealth Vintage Dancers, because we all love Christmas and singing carols and having a lot of holiday cheer. I loaned everyone dresses, which worked out fine, but Mom decided for this year she wanted her own dress. At the ball last December I completely used the opportunity as an excuse to make a dress from a period I wouldn't otherwise have an excuse to sew--I proposed either the 1830s or the 1870s, and Mom chose the '70s. We're aiming for mid-lateish in the decade (with slightly padded butts but still in the natural form era), in between bustle eras. I am also taking the opportunity to make a day bodice and a train extension (I don't want a train at the ball) so that I can wear the dress for swanning around museums or something (for some reason natural form 1870s dresses say "swanning around museums" to me). Mom and I are both using the same base pattern for a bodice, but taking it in different directions. We also have very different fabric, so the dresses won't look "matchy-matchy" even though we're using the same pattern (TV416). The natural form era/mid 70s is interesting, because while it's missing the back end accentuation of the two bustle period it's sandwiched between, but it still follows a lot of the same lines (overskirts drawn up at the back, bows and gathers over the butt) and mixes the hard suiting/tailored elements that were coming into style with frilly details (layers and layers of ruffles, trim, and bows). Plaid shows up quite a bit in fashion plates from this period, most commonly in bodices and as trim on skirts (usually bias cut). Another common plaid element is a plaid (sometimes bias, sometimes not) overskirt, often paired with plaid trim on other pieces of the ensemble. Here are some of my major inspirations; they're almost all day dresses, because I'm planning on this being mostly a day ensemble, since we don't do any 1870s balls besides Fezziwig's (and 70s are sort of late for that). no plaid trim on this one, but a plaid bodice and overskirt. I particularly like the pleated trim on the lower edge of the bodice the complete opposite bodice arrangement from the previous! I like the two shapes of bias-cut plaid edging on the skirts Possibly my favorite of all! Love the double row of bias trim paired with the half-plaid straight cut overskirt Two words on this one: BUTT. BOW. I'm definitely pulling from the barely-there sleeves on these two for my evening bodice And here's a preview of my progress! my plaid ball bodice from the back...you can see what I mean by "almost" on the plaid matching...(also sorry for the awkward mirror/cell phone pic!) you probably won't see much (if any) of the shoulder when the bodice is done, but these make me happy anyways