A new article published in ECF journal on the cold, cold Canadian winters and how that season and its effects were portrayed in one of the first Canadian novels, The History of Emily Montague (1769) by Frances Brooke:
“’Set the winter at defiance’: Emily Montague’s Weather Reports and Political Sensibility,” by Morgan Vanek, University of Toronto.
Fashion plates from Gallery of Fashion, 1795-1796 and a picture of my inspired-by look for a 1790s ball. These are related to my recent blog post about diamond jewelry in 1790s fashion plates.
NEXT UP on my commission schedule is this Season 5 Claire Fraiser ensemble! I sourced this gorgeous Herringbone 100% tweed wool. It’s going to be GORGEOUS! This is the first of two such ensembles on my schedule! Listing includes waistcoat, linen pleated skirt, and apron.
18th Century Robe a’ la Polonaise commission. I’ve been missing in action this past year! COVID has wrecked havoc on my schedule. Finally catching up. This gown just went out.
I really really like late 18th century waistcoats. Especially the 1790′s ones with the little lapels and straight waistlines, so here’s a photoset of some of my favourite ones. (And here’s a link to my pinterest board with more of them.)
For anyone who may have taken a recent interest in historical sewing for pirate related reasons.
It’s quite a long post, and a bit disorganized. I keep meaning to write it up in a more organized way on my blogspot blog, but haven’t yet. If any of the links are dead let me know and I’ll fix them.
The costumes on Our Flag Means Death were all over the place in terms of historical accuracy & decade (none of it was 1710’s!), but Stede had quite a few decent mid 18th century looking suits, and there were lots of good square cut shirts, so this ought to be helpful wether you’re going for screen accuracy or historical accuracy.
El delantal del Sammlung National Museum esta formado por dos piezas; la falda y el peto, comencé con la falda que lleva un poco mas de trabajo. He dividido la colcha de Ikea en dos (el largo que era de 2m que he cordado en dos piezas de 1m) obteniendo dos piezas de 1′20cm x 1m, que uní con una costura francesa.
Antes de empezar a coser, hay que cortar en la parte superior una inclinación que desciende unos 9cm y que será el pico central donde que se unirá al peto. Tras ello ya podemos ir rematado ambos laterales y hacer el bajo. Yo personalmente tengo predilección por los bajos anchos, así que he dejado unos 10cm.
Con toda la tela preparada de la ‘falda’ del delantal, he fruncido la parte superior dividiéndola en dos partes para controlar mejor los frunces.
In my last travel, I visited Santiago de Compostela (Spain) and I could pass this opportunity for bought this wonderful traditional earrings. I can’t wait to use it in the next reenactment!!!
‘Gabrielle d'Estrées and One of Her Sisters’ but make it kid-friendly This was actually painted back in 2020 after I binged 'The Great’ and started itching to draw some 18th century looks ✨ It was one of those pieces you just can’t seem to get the colours right no matter how much you try so you have no choice but to leave it to marinate for a while in your WIP folder. So, here it is now to celebrate the new year!
18th Century Woman’s Hairstyles A collection of 18th Century paintings from France & England, depicting some of the hairstyles of the time, among them the tête de mouton (or “sheep’s head”), the pouf & the hérisson (or “hedgehog”).
Interestingly as I was gathering paintings for this reference , I came across this excerpt regarding the elaborate hairstyles that were fashionable during the 1770’s from Marie-Antoinette Mother, Queen Maria Theresa to Marie-Antoinette.
In 1775, Queen Maria Theresa of Austria-Hungary wrote to her daughter Marie-Antoinette -“Likewise I cannot help but touch upon a point that many of the papers repeat to me too often: it is the hairstyle that you wear. They say that from the roots it measures 36 pouces high and with all the feathers and ribbons that hold all of that up! You know that I have always been of the opinion that one should follow fashion moderately, but never carry it to excess. A pretty young queen full of charms has no need of all these follies. Quite the contrary. A simple hairstyle suits her better and is more appropriate for a queen. She must set the tone, and everyone will hurry to follow even your smallest errors…”
Marie-Antoinette responded - “It is true that I am a bit occupied by my hairstyle, and as for the feathers, everyone wears them, and it would look extraordinarily out of place not to” (source: Hosford, Desmond. “The Queen’s Hair: Marie-Antoinette, Politics, and DNA.”).
Ladies “Macaroni” jacket and embroidered skirt. Late 18th century. French. Silk.
The jacket of striped two tone silk and satin, with silk fringed fronts and bustle, the cuffs with three blue silk covered buttons, lined with a charming patchwork of silk brocades in the French manner, the associated skirt embroidered with a border of flower-filled urns. | Christies
A Printed Handkerchief Showing The Cab Rates In Hackney London. 18th Century. English.
Red to a natural ground, the centre divided in four panels variously illustrating rates for Hackney Coaches, Hackney Chairs, Watermen on the Thames, and of the distances between principle cities of Great Britain, the border of transport-themed vignettes. | Christies
In eighteenth-century dress, the torso was encased by layers of quilted linen and boning that constitute an exaggerated exoskeleton. An inevitable consequence of this redefinition of the torso is an emphasis on the hip and bustline. By mid-century, especially in France, the style was for the bust, veiled by lace or a sheer mull , to emerge above the top line of the bodice. | THE MET
Dress (robe à l’anglaise) c. 1780. England. Cream silk taffeta; two-layered “compères” front with buttons; matching trim; black lace decoration at front bodice and cuffs; wine-colored ribbon lacing at cuffs; matching petticoat; fichu at neck.
A dress of surprisingly modern taste appeared around the time of French Revolution, during the transition period from the gorgeous Rococo style silk dresses to plain cotton dresses after the Revolution. Simple dresses from that period have. This dress made of light plain silk taffeta has a “compères” style double front bodice. The sole decoration to this dress is black lace trim. When wearing this dress, a thin “fichu” was placed in the large opening at the top of the bodice. | KCI
Court Gown C. 1770’s. Fine white Indian muslin with silver metal embroidery, the robe sack-back with train and scalloped cuffs to the sleeves, matching ruched robings, the cuffs and robings edged in delicate silver thread chain; the matching petticoat of silk to the upper back and tiered at the front bottom; the stomacher to a linen ground and trimmed with wide silver tape. | Christies
