Draped to the Ankles

By the Bog of Cats

I have no current projects right now because I am working on costuming for the high school play, By the Bog of Cats. I sort of named myself costume director, and formed a costume club for that and a few other fun things we want to do. All unofficial - since I am not directly an employee of the school district, I only count as a "parent volunteer." That's ok, as long as we come up with some interesting things.

Tombstone Costume Competition

I know I promised to reveal the dresses I had been working on here, but since no one reads this blog, and everyone I know is on Face Book, I wound up putting pictures there. But I will post the WIP pictures. Unfortunately I forgot to get a picture of Gogie's outfit before I gave it to her. I do have pictures of the skirt, which I think turned out divine.

And here she is in the parade.

Unfortunately, the costume competition was tough this year. Gogie's didn't get anything. My last minute saloon woman entry did, though - 3rd place in the Saloon Woman category:

And here I am outside the motel:

I did take one other prize - 3rd place in the Madame category with Annie's dress:

Now I have to rest up and clean the house before I can start on any other projects.

Bustle Dresses

There is a Most Beautiful Bustle Dress in the World Contest going on right now over at Bustledress.com. I urge you to click on over there and scroll down to have a look at these entries. These are the seamstresses that make me feel like a complete failure. My dresses never look like that!

Of course, I am 1) lazy, and don't spend as much time on my creations as I should and 2) poor, and can't afford the lovely silks and satins that they use. But I think my ultimate reason is that I tend to make gowns more for everyday, middle class women who couldn't afford a House of Worth gown. I get my inspiration from photographs, while I noticed that most of the gowns in the competition are inspired by fashion illustrations. I am sure that every few people actually wore those kinds of outfits. After all, how many of us can buy an original Givenchy creation?

Still, I would like my current projects to be able to stand up with the dresses on that website and not look too shabby. My saloon girl one is shaping up to be outstanding, one because it's so pretty, and two because it is unique while still being period. I'll be posting pictures on that soon.

Annie's Dress - Half Done

I have finished the basic sewing of this outfit. Now I have to get her over here to do the fitting. Then, I only have to add the sleeves and trim. I will use the same little gold and white buttons you see on the back. The hem of the polinaise will be trimmed in the same red lace as the back of the peplum. Then I have a really neat red/black fabric that changes color depending on how you view it (what is that fabric called?). That will be the box pleats at the bottom of the skirt, probably about 10 inches high, to just under the corner of the polinaise. I need to find some red ribbon to match the other trims - I need to finish the pleat at the back of the sleeves with a bow (and perhaps more lace). I will also be adding the lace to the throat, and I think adding ribbon would give it a more finished look.

The last picture is closest to the actual color. My camera is old for a digital, and it never wants to give me the colors as they are. These images have been fiddled with, but it's tough to get the colors right. Too bad, because the color of this fabric is a rich rust color. It's also polyester, which I would normally abhor, but I really wanted something that would look spectacular without breaking the bank. I don't even want to think what that much silk satin would cost.

1836 Dress Finished

Yesterday the dress made it's debut. It may be the only time I ever wear it! I'll hang onto it just in case, though. You never know when we'll need to reenact the Battle of the Alamo.

The first two pictures were taken at a friend's house, with the pelerine. The Pelerine - or fichu - was made out of a big scarf folded in half. I sewed a nice lace around the edges. The silhouette is good, but I ultimately didn't wear it, as you can see in picture three. I thought we would be outside, and the polyester was just not that cool. Oh well.

I made the hat, too. I have the book "From the Neck Up: An Illustrated Guide to Hatmaking," which has lots of patterns and instructions. This hat just used two layers of heavy interfacing under two layers of fabric, all sewn together. I got lazy when I was finished with the sewing part, so the brown velvet ribbon is just pinned on, and the feathers are attached using a cameo broach. Works quite well, and you can change it whenever you want.

I got lots of compliments, and I was the only woman dressed up for the event. Three of our gentlemen were there, two of them did a little skit about the events that lead up to the treaty, then they unveiled one of two original copies of the Treaty of Velasco. They were quite proud of it. Nice evening all around.

Another 183o's dress...

... not mine. I just stumbled upon this version of the same dress. Looks very much like mine, but hers is better - she added piping, where I'm just too lazy to do it. But what I really like about this blog is that she does some gorgeous repro stuff. Check out Wearing History.

I'm off to make the hat now.

So Sari

I had to share this find from Savers the other day. It's a Sari, probably made of rayon or polyester of both. The colors are off here, but it's tan, with dark blue flowers and edging. I saw this huge length of beautiful fabric, so I picked it up for 4$. I wasn't sure what I would do with it, but once I got it home and looked at it, I realized it would be nice to just have a sari. So I looked up How to wrap a sari and tried it a couple of times. I'm likin' it. And the fabric smells nice, too.

I also picked up a dark blue beaded shawl/head scarf that looks like it goes with it. Yay, Savers!

1836 Dress

I have gotten quite far on the 1836 dress. I had yards and yards of this one calico for it. It's an overall small design of tiny red flowers, black vines, and white and green leaves. Unfortunately, I didn't realize until too late that some of it was slightly different - the bodice fabric has more green leaves in it. I don't think it makes that much difference, though. (You may notice that I am NOT a perfectionist).

I really had some trial and error with this one. I made it too big, but since the fasteners are in the back (what was I thinking!?!? I live alone!!) I am going to have to go find help for a final fitting. I haven't put the lining in the bodice, yet, either. It calls for doing that last because it covers the ragged edges where the skirt is attached to the bodice, and makes it look nice on the inside. Then I will add 3 buttons to the sleeves, and take up the hem. I'm thinking of adding just a touch of brown lace, but I have to be real careful that it doesn't seem un-period (yeah, I AM a perfectionist about that.)

And those sleeves! I love them, but when I made them I did not account for the fact that the sleeves are off the shoulder. Now they are too long. Won't matter, though, once I have them tightly buttoned. I do have to put some kind of support in them to fluff them up a bit.

I will try to get a picture of the finished product in action, so to speak.

Plaid 1883 - Finished Outfit

I wore the entire plaid outfit to a gig in the park yesterday. Unfortunately, I had to "die" twice, so after all that falling, I have some finishing stitches to attend to. Other than that, the outfit looked great. It's probably going to be my entry at Tombstone this year.

This is what it looked like after the gig. I have made two very different outfits. This one has a small bustle, so it's more appropriate for 1883-4. The other one (which I need to get pictures of - thanks Brian) is the sleek natural form look of 1881. It was just a matter of making two different bodices, and adding a bustle pad.

Now that I look at it, I don't particularly like that hat with it. I made it yesterday morning specifically for this outfit, but I think it's too dark. Plenty more where that came from though!

A Challenge

Someone here in El Paso (probably the history museum) is celebrating the Treaty of Velasco, 1836. All I really know is that we need to dress up on July 16th. I need a new dress! I have the fabric - printed cottons were all the rage back then. I just ordered a Romantic Era dress pattern from Truly Victorian. Talk about pouffy sleeves!

When I saw that the date was 1836, I realized I knew nothing about that era. I knew about the Napoleonic era Empire style dresses with their sheath-like tubular quality and high waists, and I knew about the huge hoop skirts and Garibaldi sleeves from the Civil War era. But I had to look up the era in between. I kind of like it, though it can make a short woman look really squat and fat. Here is a description I found in an article at the Illinois State University website:

This fashion plate from the September 1831 issue of The Royal Lady's Magazine demonstrates many of the the characteristic trends of the Romantic Era.

These include:

-a silhouette that is wide and top-heavy, especially when compared to the vertical columnal silhouette of the previous period.

-demi-gigot sleeves (full and balloon-like from shoulder to elbow and tight fitting elbow to wrist). Other popular large sleeve styles included the leg-of-mutton/gigot sleeve, the imbecile/idiot sleeve, and the Marie sleeve.

-a tiny, corsetted waist sitting a few inches above the natural waistline

-cone-shaped skirts created from gored (triangular shaped) panels. Hem widths gradually increase throughout the period. During the early years of the period fullness at the waist is minimal.

-Sleeves sit low on the shoulders and necklines are wide, baring the shoulders. Here the exposed neckline is concealed by decorated, coordinating pelerines (large removable collars) for proper day wear.

The only trouble is that I have so many costumes in the works right now, and where I thought I would have the summer to sew, I just discovered that I will be teaching a PSAT book camp for the next two weeks! Aaaagh! Then there's the annual 5-day vacation at camp, then I have a week of cross training for the ACT (another standardized college entrance exam). When the hell am I going to have time for all this?

On a brighter note, I finished the second bodice for the plaid outfit. I will try and get pictures taken at the gig this afternoon.

1895

Last August I made an outfit for the re-enactment of the killing of John Wesley Hardin (a man who needed killin' if ever there was one.) My usual time period is late 1870's to early 1880's, so this one had to be a bit different. Fortunately, I have always loved those huge puffy sleeves.

Unfortunately, I did not put enough crinoline in the sleeves to make them stand up. I also cheated and used velcro for the front closure instead of buttons. I guess that just means it's unfinished. Before the next Hardin event, I will fix those sagging sleeves, put proper buttons down the front, and add a lace mantilla-type decoration that sits across the top of the sleeves and fastens at the throat. I have some pink lace that will work well.

Rio Bravo!

I was downtown today on personal business, so I decided to go hunting for a fabric store. Downtown El Paso used to have several cheap fabric stores, but most of them have closed down. I figured they were all gone, so I was actually about to give up when I saw Rio Bravo Wholesale Fabrics. It had moved to a smaller place, but it is still in business. I got 8 yards of a good quality polyester satin for 2.99 a yard. It's a russet brown, so I can make Annie's dress (below). I also picked up a beautiful shade of green crepe satin for the same amount. That will be for the Miss West costume (also below). I'm pretty happy with what I found today.

Widow Makes Big Time

Someone just sent me a new El Paso Pride commercial featuring Concordia Cemetery. Members of Six Guns feature in some of the still shots they use, including yours truly. This is the picture:

This is my favorite outfits. I'm also wearing it in the picture in the banner above. It's great for atmosphere - in fact, I never wear it for performing, only for when we need cemetery atmosphere. Here is one of my more "atmospheric" pictures:

It's a very accurate outfit. It has a button-down French bodice, an overskirt and underskirt, no bustle, and a bow in the back. It would be about 1882. The fabric is a moire patterned cotton/polyester blend that is available in the home decor section of Hobby Lobby. I added a veil, feathered hat, black gloves, and a big locket/ring with a picture of my dearly departed inside. The ring was a wonderful find on eBay. The purse was from a used clothing store.

On the Wearing of Corsets

Most modern women have no idea what it's like to wear a corset. We have all been brainwashed by the reform movement of the turn of the last century. They were quite adamant in their belief that corsets were nothing more than torture devices meant only to enslave women to fashion and keep them oppressed. The reformists won eventually, and the corset disappeared, but only after the prevalence of the S-Curve corset, which was, indeed, proven bad for the back as it contorted the body into an unnatural position. Another reason it fell to the wayside was that it was difficult to work in it, and as American women became more working class - some moving higher, some moving lower - the wearing of a tightly laced corset became impractical. That, I think, is probably the most important reason.

The corset was considered indispensable to every woman of good taste, fashion sense, and propriety for many decades. So much so that many women could not even contemplate a world in which the corset was not a necessary part of her underpinnings, much like the bra is today. Think about it, how often do you ladies leave the house without one, or how many women do you know who would never leave the house without one? Nowadays, the bra is the underwear item that many of us - especially those of us who have reached a certain age - could not imagine doing without. But I digress.

The corset is not the iron maiden of all underpinnings that most women think. As Miss Teresa Dean said in her 1889 article "How to be Beautiful" (excerpt reprinted at Your Wardrobe Unlocked), "There is nothing more comfortable than a well-fitting corset." This is quite true. You don't have to be a tight lacer to wear a corset. To me, wearing a corset is like wearing a hug. Think of it this way, are you one of those people who like to wrap your blankets around you at night? Then you are probably a swaddler, and are more likely to be comfortable in tight fitting rather than loose clothing.

To be graceful one must be comfortable. Comfort does not mean wearing clothes loosely, quite the contrary. There is decided discomfort in wearing clothing loose enough to hitch out of place.

A snug fit is desirable, just tight enough to convince us our clothes were made for ourselves and belong to us individually. (Miss Dean)

If you have ever bought a corset "off the rack" you may have deduced that corsets are "not for you". But cheap, mass produced corsets are totally different from one made for your body. When I first started making corsets, I made several that didn't quite fit. The first one I made did, fortunately, so I was never discouraged from soldiering on. But when I found a corset that fits AND gives me the desired shape, I was thrilled. It was the Dore Corset from Laughing Moon, and I intend to use it from now on. Yes, I admit to tightening it a bit more than is necessary in order to give myself the wasp waste popular in the 1880's and 90's. But I can also wear it as fashion accessory, and not tighten it quite so much. It's still flattering and quite comfortable. When I gave my friend her corset, she sat and admired the feel for quite some time. The other people at the table were intrigued by her reaction, and I just told them it's natural. I often pat myself on my braced and armored stomach, just because it's nice to feel a flat stomach where a paunchy one used to be.

You needn't be afraid to wear a corset. I am not saying that everyone whould wear one, or even that everyone will find it comfortable. Some people just hate tight-fitting clothing, and should not even consider wearing one. I am just saying that it may be worth a try for many women, especially anyone interested in re-enactment, or any kind of historical costuming. At the very least, it won't kill you.

Next Project

I haven't decided what my next project will be, at least the next one for myself. I want to make another corset, but I don't NEED a corset. But by that argument, I wouldn't make any more outfits because I don't need them either. I do have three projects yet to be started for other people. While I don't make these to sell them, I do take pride in our theatrical troupe's appearance, so I am willing to make outfits for some of our less needlework-inclined ladies. One of them is a corset, one will be a gown fit for a wealthy madame, and one will be a saloon girl. Now when I say saloon girl, I don't mean Miss Kitty from Gunsmoke. I mean something like this:

This is a Tobacco Card, probably from about the late 1880's or early 1890's. Tobacco Cards were like the Playboy of their day. Lot's of "actresses" (the term very loosely used) in scanty costumes. These cards came with tobacco products, so they weren't very big. But there were lots of them. I imagine a lady of ill repute, who smokes, of course, might look at these for costume ideas. Many were too risque, though, and would have been considered pure porn. Men liked them, though, so they thrived and endured. There is always a market for sexy pin-ups.

Anyway, Miss West is wearing a sleeveless bodice and what amounts to a draped overskirt without the underskirt. Shocking, but very becoming. I haven't found the fabric I want yet, but my client wants it in red and gold. I'll keep you posted.

The Ballgown

During the last Christmas break, I made a ballgown. Ok, maybe it's not truly a ballgown, but it's close. I was going for something really fancy that a high class bordello girl would wear. I was pretty pleased with the result.

I only wore it in the winter. Why? Beats me. I guess I feel it isn't complete without the shawl, which is lined with the same creamy white velvet that the bustle is made from. I also tend to burn easily in the El Paso sun, so Showing that much skin could be dangerous. As you can see, our venues are not very sophisticated, and parking lots can be very hot. This one was at a Moose Lodge. They were very appreciative.

The skirt and bodice are made from a polyester moire fabric. Normally, I hate polyester, but I can't afford silk. And this was a nice eBay purchase of 8 yards. There are certain bargains that are too good to pass up. The velvet is from my mother's old stash - very heavy and luxurious. There was just enough for the bustle and the shawl. I am wearing a bustle pad in the picture, but it's gotten kind of flat - I really need to leave it off to drive, and put it one when I get there. Sometimes I forget. I am thinking of making a bustle cage, though. Then I could get the proper silhouette for the mid-to-late '80's outfits.

This was my first attempt at fork pleats. They came out well, if a bit uneven in places. The bodice pattern was from the Laughing Moon Saloon girl pattern, and I put the hooks on the side (I cheated and used velcro, too). When you live alone, you can't really design bodices that need to be laced up the back, which would be more accurate. So, I improvise. It works.

Such Eternal Delight

I just came across a blog that has the most gorgeous photos. Such Eternal Delights is a blog by a woman who is also a 19th century costumer and reenactor. I hope someday that my blog will grow up to be just like hers!

What Did She Wear?

I recently had a Google search referral for "what did soiled doves wear?" This is an excellent question, and one I have been researching myself for over a year. I have the answer, and I intend to put it in a book, but here is the Cliff Notes version.

Soiled doves, sporting women, brothel girls, crib girls, or women of low moral standards, whatever they were called, did not dress much differently than other women of the period. Unlike today where a hooker must stand out in order to pick up a john, prostitutes of that era tended to be a little more conservative. Consider the fact that showing too much cleavage or calf could get a woman arrested. You can't make money in jail.

However, brothel girls did wear clothes of a finer, more elaborate style than their more upstanding sisters. Jewels, silks, satins, lace, anything to make them more appealing to the men who came to the bordello looking for a good time. But rarely would they wear these outside. In most places, they were restricted in where they could even be seen on the streets. That was one way to tell if a woman was in business - if she is in the right place. That's why no respectable woman would be caught dead in certain areas of town.

What few street photos we have of Victorian era prostitutes show mostly that they tended to defy convention; they are often seen in loose dresses without a corset (unlike the brothel girls in every western movie ever made.) Otherwise, there is very little to differentiate them from respectable women.

There is a set of books by Jay Moynahan called 50 Years of Prostitute Photos that has lots of photographic information. However, what you find is that these ladies didn't mind being photographed in the nude or almost nude in their boudoirs. That doesn't help the reenactor who has no wish to be arrested for indecent exposure herself.

My advice - wear really nice clothes, show a little bit of cleavage, and you'll be accurate. Or, you could go the whole dance hall girl route, which in most cases is just a parody of the Hollywood image created by characters like Miss Kitty in Gunsmoke.

1881 Blue and Plaid

The color on this pic is a bit washed out, but here it is.

It's mostly finished. There are a few small adjustments/additions I want to make, but it is ready to wear. I have a show this afternoon, but it's short and I will have to fall down, so I think I'll wait and wear it tomorrow. Tomorrow is a Tea Party at a historical house here in town. That should be fun. And it's a nice change of pace to play a lady instead of a "sportin' girl."

The year for the costume competition in Tombstone is 1881. No bustles, tight bodices, skinny skirts. I like the silhouette on this one. I have a picture of this silhouette on a Scottish woman with a 'tude. I'll show it to you next post.

I will be making another bodice to go with this one. It will be the same plaid as the overskirt, and high necked, like the one in the photo below. I'll post that when it's done, too.

Not Enough Time!

We have a show on Saturday, and I had some idea of finishing my latest outfit for it. That was before several things screamed for my attention. First, I had to take this blasted laptop into the Geek Squad because it had some kind of infection. Good news is that it was a relatively easy fix. Then I had to wait for the air conditioning man to come and service my swamp cooler. It reached about 99 degrees today and we had to get it done ASAP. The whole evening was a bust. I was thinking I had tomorrow until I remembered I have a work-related dinner party to go to. That's ok - free food and good company always is. So I've given up my idea of finishing the new one and wear my same old standby:

It's the second outfit I made for the group, and still my favorite "shady lady" one. I tried making a second one - black and white satin - but I don't like it as much. It doesn't fit right. Maybe next time.

Pattern: Saloon Girl from Laughing Moon.

Gold Corset

I just finished this corset for a friend of mine. When I started sewing my Victorian fashions, I started with the underwear and worked my way outwards. My first corset was ok, but it wasn't until I bought the Dore Corset pattern from Laughing Moon that I made a corset I really liked. This is the second one from that pattern. But since it's only my second, it's one of those things where I will tell my friend "just don't look too close." Works from a distance, though!

To Train or Not to Train

The fashions of the 1870's give us some of the most gorgeous day dresses. I love all those ruffles and frills that trail behind even the simpler dresses. I imagine it would be like having a swath of sea foam following you around wherever you went.

This is an example of a relatively simple dress, probably from about 1875. It is elegant and - for that time - understated. This is certainly the kind of dress I look for when I want to start a new dress.

But, beautiful as it is, simple to make as it may be, it still has one problem - a train. It's a relatively short train, but it's a problem nonetheless. The problem stems from the fact that my dresses need to withstand the El Paso environment. I have walked over rocks, gravel, tombstones, dust, and thorns. The worst environment, though, is parking lots. The black top collects the wickedest, blackest, grimiest dirt, and deposits it quite readily onto petticoats, ruffles, lace and fringe. While I want my dresses to be stunning as well as accurate (who doesn't like to hear the "oohs and aahs" of admiring spectators?) I cannot wear a train. All my dresses - except the short ones - are "walking skirt" length. This isn't so bad historically. If you look at enough pictures of the "common folk," you'll see that most women wore dresses that didn't necessarily touch the ground. A surprising number actually rose about 3 inches or more above the ground. So, though I don't think it looks as eye catching or gorgeous as it could be, I have to go trainless. Oh, well.

The Gray Lady

I recently purchased a dressmaker's dummy. My mother had one we called "the gray lady," but when she died, I sold it because I had no use for it. I have been regretting that decision for a while now. It is impossible to create the sort of complex draperies common to 1870s and 1880s dresses without one. I have had to resort to "borrowing" my friend's teenage daughter to play dress dummy for me. It worked, but really, how often can you do that, even when the girl is very interested in costuming herself?

So I gave in and bought it online. I am SOOOO happy I did. I have been playing with my current creation for over a week. I only have time to do real sewing on the weekends, and sometimes not even then. I also have to admit to rushing through things in order to get them finished. But with the Gray Lady, I now have the leisure to play with all sorts of ideas, pinning and unpinning, trying several different things before I actually commit to sewing. Below is the result.

This is a basic underskirt with a cotton fork-pleated ruffle under a draped overskirt of lightweight cotton plaid. Normally by now I would have just put the fringe on and moved on, but with the Gray Lady's help, I discovered that the way the pattern was sewn made the front all wrong - the plaid was too obviously pieced together. So I turned it around and started messing with the back. What you see is the result of several different permutations and combinations of ruffles, fringe, lace and a variety of pinning techniques. It isn't finished yet, but I'm pretty sure this is what it will be. I won't complete the sewing until I have finished the bodice and I know what the whole outfit will look like. I will keep you updated.

Patterns:
Skirt: Truly Victorian, TV 201 1870s Underskirt
Overskirt: TV324
1878 Long Draped Overskirt

Manifesto

So it's been over a year since I posted to my blog. I had considered just deleting it, but I kept getting this urge to post my new projects and fascinations somewhere online. Why waste a perfectly good blog, especially when one is paying for the space?

Out of Lascaux has gone through a metamorphosis, much like the one I go through when I lace up my corset and wriggle into my petticoats and head out, derringer tucked into my bodice. I become Nellie Boyd, the 19th century actress/manager who traveled the west, playing every place from canvas-tented mining camps to San Francisco opera houses. Hers was the first professional theater company to play El Paso in 1881, the year the railroad came to town. I'll tell you more about her later.

I am a stickler for accuracy, so I have become - IMHO - an expert in costuming and fashion of the 1870s-1900s. It's not far from researching paintings by Caravaggio to researching fashion or finding the biography of a relatively obscure 19th century actress. I plan to show you everything that has excited me in the past past year or so, and will continue to do so, because I have found that I REALLY like creating historical costumes.

So I will be spending some time taking pictures and scanning others. Until later!