#rococo fashion

Webcam Model(Hwayoung98) is live
LIVE

Fixing my Robe à la Polonaise to make it more ✨historically accurate ✨

With every project I do, I learn more and more about techniques, sewing, and dress history as a whole. So there’s no surprise if I look at an older dress I made and find all kinds of mistakes that need fixing, and I know even in a few months I’ll look at my current projects with the same criticism. Just know that the obvious mistakes are something I’ve been very much aware of since I made it, I just added a fichu because I didn’t know how to fix it.


Here’s the dress. You can immediately tell that something went terribly wrong with the neckline, but there are also some issues with the undergarments that I’m going to deal with.

I made the mistake to cut the neckline straight when it should have been slightly rounded, that’s why it slopes up in the middle. For that, I’m taking out the boning in the front (and later replacing it with actual synthetic whalebone) and folding that slope over to make it rounder. This will however create an even lower neckline which is also one of the many flaws of this dress, so that’s what I dealt with next. Another problem that I had was with one of my sleeves. The right sleeve (left in the picture) wouldn’t lie flat on my shoulders. I have no idea how that happened as I cut both sides the exact same but it’s something I needed to fix so I folded this part over on the inside and stitched it in place.


I did this on both sides so I could raise the neckline as well.

Then I noticed that the front of the bodice wasn’t laying flat, and I noticed that it’s probably too long. I folded the bottom seam over until I felt like it looked flatter and stitched that in place as well. It does look a bit awkward and is not the historically accurate way to fix it, but you can’t really tell from a distance so for the sake of facing my mistakes to practice it was good enough.


The gown still has many more issues that I’d need to make a new one to really make it work so I only tackled the most obvious parts.

There was this big fold in the back that I planned on fixing by resewing the side seam but for some reason after fixing the front it wasn’t so bad after all so I left it as it was.

Now to the petticoats. They’re fine overall, but I didn’t use bands for the ties, I made a tube out of the same fabric, which made it super bulky when tied. And since you have like, two or three of those underneath the actual gown it could make it look a little bulky in the waist area, which I wanted to avoid so I bought some cotton bands about a centimeter wide and replaced all the ties.


This is the fixed dress for now. The back is very boxy so I might resew the side seams after all but this is it for now.


Like I said, to fully fix it I’d just have to make a new one and I will eventually but probably in the distant future as I have many more projects that I want to do. But all in all I can say that I’m really glad I fixed this dress as best as I could because like I said, every project is a big learning experience and fixing something even more so. This way I can make sure I won’t make the same mistakes again!

White Wedding Dresses Throughout History


The rumor that Queen Victoria started the “white wedding dress trend” is so widely spread that many people don’t question it, but while it is somewhat true, it’s not the full truth and here’s why.

It is true that after Queen Victoria’s marriage in 1840, the white wedding dress gained popularity up until in the late 19th century, when it became a standard color for wedding gowns. However, white wedding dresses already existed prior to that.

I’m starting this wedding dress history in the 18th century, when a wedding was less about love and romance and more about politics, so a wedding was the perfect opportunity for the bride to showcase her status, and since white fabrics were generally more expensive and rarer than other colors, it was a popular choice. However, that doesn’t mean that other vibrant colors and/or prints weren’t just as popular back then, if not even more.

But since I’m focusing on white dresses in this post and I will make a separate post on non-white wedding dresses soon, here are two examples of an 18th century wedding dress.


The first one from 1747 is a Robe à l’Anglaise, the second one from 1775 a Française. As you can see, they both have trimmings and decorations and that is because the focus wasn’t on making the dress white as it is today, it was more about showcasing what you were able to afford, so intricate trimmings and embroidery were the way to go. People would also continue to wear their wedding dresses for other special occasions, it wasn’t really an exclusive garment that you’d only wear once. Maybe the super affluent ones could actually afford to do that, but it was way more common than not to wear one’s wedding dress to other events, as the wedding dress wasn’t really a separate type of dress but rather just a more expensive version of a formal dress.

The early 19th century brought light muslin dresses, so a lot of special occasion dresses were already white. In the later regency decades, these muslin wedding dresses were more intricately decorated with embroidery for example, as shown in these beautiful extent pieces from 1807 and ca. 1830.


I couldn’t possibly make this post without including Queen Victoria’s wedding dress.


I read that the reason the white dress was such a big deal was because she was expected to wear the crimson velvet robe of the state. Instead, she announced that on her wedding day she would focus on being Albert’s future wife rather than the monarch and chose to wear a white dress as a symbol of innocence and romance. But either way, the monarchs were the fashion icons of that time, so it’s no wonder those who could afford it started to wear similar things to the queen.

Moving on to the next decade, here is a lovely muslin wedding dress from 1851.


It’s a very down to earth dress, not very flashy and it’s interesting to note the gathered/smocked front as it’s something that was very popular during the 1840s and very early 50s.

From the 60s, we have this pretty light beige dress, and yes I know I said white dresses only but none of them are perfectly white so I think I’ll let it pass.


Notice how all of the dresses so far strictly follow the fashion trends of that time? I think it’s really interesting if you compared it to today because it would essentially be the equivalent of just wearing a white version of a semi-formal outfit, which isn’t really a thing and shouldn’t be in my opinion. I’m all for wear what you want but I feel like we’ve already lost the charme of beautiful fancy outfits and I’m glad we still have the traditional white gown for weddings at least. If you’re already wearing fancy gowns on a daily basis, obviously the only thing you can do to make it stand out is make it white (or any other uncommon color for that matter). I would also like to mention that when I came up with the idea to write about wedding gowns I was expecting them to be white versions of evening/ball gowns but they’re mostly just day dresses. Very surprising I think.

For the 1870s I have two examples, since one is strictly speaking not white and they’re both really lovely and worth a mention.


You can totally see the completely different styles and approaches even though they were made within two years from each other. I also really adore the leaf trimmings and the sheer (-looking?) fabric. What I don’t love though is the robe-like front, it looks a little too casual for my taste.

Let’s move on to the 80s with this gown.


Now, that’s what I call a wedding dress! It’s not too casual, it’s most definitely fancy and those pearl accents- It really reminds me of Worth’s work with pearls (I am seriously contemplating making a post just showing pictures of Worth gowns with pearl decoration cause those are my absolute favorite thing) but it was actually made by Messrs Gladman and Womack in 1885 and has never been altered.

Alright, next up we have the 90s, another amazing decade in fashion and I couldn’t possibly not include a Worth gown.


Here you can see actual high fashion of the time. The princess cut had already been popular since the 70s but by the 90s, it was mostly reserved for formal wear. I don’t know what it is that’s so pleasing about this dress, something about the shapes, they’re so balanced and perfect. It always amazes me how Worth can work with seemingly plain colors/without much decoration but have the result still outshine every other dress. Maybe there’s even something contemporary in this dress - it doesn’t represent the typical “kitsch” we associate with the Victorian era, like the 1880s piece for example which is an almost stereotypical example of everything fashionable in the mid 80s. It’s none of that, but at the same time it’s everything.

And finally, I couldn’t possibly leave out my favorite decade—


You got it. The 1900s.

Once again, it just looks like a white, fancy version of the day dress but notice how it has a really long train. Trains did become a thing again in the Edwardian era but weren’t that long for everyday wear. A lot of the examples above also have a longer than normal train, which was common for formal court gowns and the trend of having a long train stuck to this day! I think it’s really fascinating to look at old trends and analyze how they affect how we dress today. You might find more similarities than you’d expect.

Anyways, that is it for now. I hope I can actually get more consistent with my posting because I have quite a few ideas but I am also starting uni again next week after my semester break so we’ll see how that goes. Super nervous about it but I’m also excited!

The longest time ago when I finished my Robe à la Polonaise, I promised a photoshoot but then Life™️ happened and I never did. So today I got up the courage to actually venture out into the world and take some photos! We used to come here a lot when I was younger and I totally forgot this place was so beautiful until we went there for a walk a couple of days ago so I had to come back.

So here’s the long overdue photoshoot of me with my dress. Let me tell you it was nerve wracking to go out like that but thankfully nobody said anything… I just got a few stares but oh well, I can’t blame them. I also forgot my cap at home so please ignore my flat hair. Another note about the hairstle though, I actually copied Jenny’s hairstyle from Outlander and I really think it can pass as a “peasant” or lower class style, hair wasn’t super pouffy all the time! And a Robe à la Polonaise would have totally been worn by middle/working class ladies so it’s not completely off. And I need to finally make a bumroll. I keep putting it off but panniers weren’t really worn with this style

Anyways, sorry for all the rambling, here are the photos!

Making a Robe à la Polonaise (Part 4 - final)

Aaand my gown is complete!

I have to admit, I pretty much already finished it on Sunday, but I had some final touches to make which I did today so now I can finally officially say, it is complete.

First of all, if anyone remembers my seams from my other 18th century gown, please forgive me but also know that thanks to this blog, my sewing has gotten so much neater and I love it so much! If I’m sewing just for myself, I usually don’t care about the little things but I think I will now because it makes such a big difference! It looks so much more professional.

But anyways, I left off in my last post with just the bodice finished, so now I had to add the skirt - my favorite and the easiest part. I cut a rectangle of 180cm+110cm (the 110 obviously just depend on your height from the waist down to the floor, but make sure not to forget the undergarments and a pannier/bumroll! It will add a few cm). I cut it out with a very useful technique I learned from watching Bernadette Banner’s videos, which involves pulling out a single thread from the piece of fabric at the point you want to cut it. This way you can cut the straightest line across! I only use it when I have to cut very big panels that aren’t that easy to just measure evenly and draw a line across.

I did it by cutting a tiny bit into the fabric where I’ll pull out the thread and then I used some tweezers to pull out the thread. You have to be really careful and patient, the thread might break a few times especially if you’re doing this for the first time but you’ll get the hang of it!

And then I finished all the seams except for the bottom one.

After that, I measured around my waist to the points in the front where I want the skirt to end as it doesn’t close all the way in the front. Technically you should follow the edges of the bodice but I didn’t think of that so I just measured my waist but it still worked. Now I knew when I would pleat the top edge of the skirt, how small it had to become when pleated. In a weird way, I made tiny pleats of maybe half a cm all the way across and it was close enough to the length I needed it to be, so I left it as it was.

I then secured the pleats by stitching over them. You don’t really have to do this as they’ll be secured enough when you sew them to your bodice but I just didn’t want the mess of having so many pins to take care of that would just be in the way so I just did this real quick.

Afterwards, I pinned the pleated fabric to the bodice right sides facing together and stitched it up to the waist seams. I made a point of not going further because I wanted the front piece of the bodice to lay on top of the front piece of the skirt. I saw that in photos of extant garments so I’m just assuming that’s one way to do it. So I tried to lay the bodice on top of the pleats so I could now stitch the edge of the bodice to that skirt to have it visibly be on top.

The dress was now way too long on me so I folded the bottom over by a few centimeters and finished the seam.

I generally like wide bottom seams. I know it’s not really a thing but I just like them that way!

Now came the challenging part. Originally, I’d given up making that one gray gown into a Robe à la Polonaise because I could not figure out how to drape it properly. But thankfully, while I was researching something completely different (that I’ll hopefully make a post about soon, as soon as I can gather enough information about it), I came across an article explaining that they would attach small rings to the underside of the skirt to pull a ribbon through it. I didn’t really find anything that could work, but from making my 1890s corset, I still had some eyelet plates (idk what they’re called), they were a little flat but they would work while I would be looking for something more fitting. So I measured exactly where I wanted to pin the skirt up and sewed six rings to each side, each 19cm apart. Then I put the band through.

Sorry for my orange nail, it stained from dying my hair red)

Finally, the hooks at the front of the bodice and I was ready to wear it! To be completely honest, yes, it has some flaws but it still felt like I was wearing something straight out of the movies, or another world. I have to use a fichu, not just because it was actually fashionable back then but also because my stays are a little visible at the neckline. I do have another pair of stays, maybe it works better with those, I haven’t tried them yet.

But anyways, here she is - my ca. 1775 (stays are 1750s) Robe à la Polonaise.

The photoshoot I talked about is going to happen at some point in the future. It’s very hot at the moment and I’m barely venturing out in shorts, I’ll have to wait until it’s more bearable to wear all those layers! (Also, I have to build up the courage to go outside in 1770s wear.)

All in all I’d say that this is definitely my favorite thing I’ve ever made. I’m still so in love with that fabric!

Making a Robe à la Polonaise (Part 3)

After being very nervous about starting to make the sleeves to the point where I dreamt that my grandmother told me they were really easy to do and I was stressing out way too much, I finally made the attempt to make a pattern.

Of course, I couldn’t just use one from the internet because I love making things more difficult for myself. Besides, I still had to fit it and I didn’t feel like doing it, so I just looked at the general shape and tried to use my long forgotten high school geometry skills to figure out how to transfer my measurments into an actual drawing, and surprisingly, after some trial and error, it actually worked!

I then proceeded to make a mock-up and pinned it to the bodice to check if fit and after confirming that it did, I could finally cut it out of my actual fabric and lining. I messed up and cut the lining too short (aka I forgot the seam allowance that I’d decided to make 1 inch (2,5cm) which is much bigger than what I usually do so it does make a difference), but I decided that maybe it would be alright if I could somehow fold the bottom edge of the front facing fabric over the raw edge of the lining and conceal it that way. (Spoiler, it worked!)

Anyways, I sewed the lining to the fabric, right sides facing each other and turned it inside out. Then came the pinning to the bodice…

It took a while to get it right, especially the little pleats at the top, but I finally did and attached it to the bodice by sewing very dangerously close to the edge. I don’t think that would’ve been possible with my old 50s sewing machine! With every project I appreciate my new modern version more and more haha.

So then the sleeves were finally attached to the bodice! For a moment I contemplated whether or not I should fell the inside seams on the sleeves as that’s not really something anyone ever gets to see but I finally decided to just do it, to be honest part of the reason I ended up doing it was so I wouldn’t be embarrassed to post my terrible seams on here! To make hand felling easier, I put a water bottle inside of the sleeve. I don’t know if it really does anything as I didn’t even try it without the bottle, but I saw this tip somewhere a while ago so I just thought it might help.

To finally wrap up the day, I finished the bottom sleeve seams by folding the floral fabric over the shorter lining and machine stitched it real quick.

And then, the bodice was complete!

I still have trouble putting it on the mannequin and I might have to change a little bit of the neck line, depending on how it sits on my actual body, but so far I’m very pleased. I’m also super excited because I’m planning on going into the woods and doing a little photoshoot wearing this gown once it’s finished!

 Gallerie des Modes et Costumes Français, 1787 {click for higher res}

Gallerie des Modes et Costumes Français, 1787

{click for higher res}


Post link
 Journal des Luxus und der Moden, 1793 {click for higher res}

Journal des Luxus und der Moden, 1793

{click for higher res}


Post link
pirates of the caribbean ~ elizabeth swann icons you are free to use my icons, no need to ask. just pirates of the caribbean ~ elizabeth swann icons you are free to use my icons, no need to ask. just pirates of the caribbean ~ elizabeth swann icons you are free to use my icons, no need to ask. just pirates of the caribbean ~ elizabeth swann icons you are free to use my icons, no need to ask. just pirates of the caribbean ~ elizabeth swann icons you are free to use my icons, no need to ask. just pirates of the caribbean ~ elizabeth swann icons you are free to use my icons, no need to ask. just pirates of the caribbean ~ elizabeth swann icons you are free to use my icons, no need to ask. just pirates of the caribbean ~ elizabeth swann icons you are free to use my icons, no need to ask. just pirates of the caribbean ~ elizabeth swann icons you are free to use my icons, no need to ask. just

pirates of the caribbean ~ elizabeth swann icons

you are free to use my icons, no need to ask. just don’t claim that you made them <3 reblog would be nice!


Post link
Miniature portrait as jewellery in 18th century portraitsGrace Newman, painted by Thomas Beach betweMiniature portrait as jewellery in 18th century portraitsGrace Newman, painted by Thomas Beach betweMiniature portrait as jewellery in 18th century portraitsGrace Newman, painted by Thomas Beach betweMiniature portrait as jewellery in 18th century portraitsGrace Newman, painted by Thomas Beach betweMiniature portrait as jewellery in 18th century portraitsGrace Newman, painted by Thomas Beach betweMiniature portrait as jewellery in 18th century portraitsGrace Newman, painted by Thomas Beach betweMiniature portrait as jewellery in 18th century portraitsGrace Newman, painted by Thomas Beach betweMiniature portrait as jewellery in 18th century portraitsGrace Newman, painted by Thomas Beach betweMiniature portrait as jewellery in 18th century portraitsGrace Newman, painted by Thomas Beach betwe

Miniature portrait as jewellery in 18th century portraits

  1. Grace Newman, painted by Thomas Beach between 1770 and 1790. She wears a portrait of her husband John Newman. From Sotherby’s.
  2. Isabel de Farnesio, queen consort of Spain, painted by Louis-Michel van Loo ca. 1739. From Prado, Madrid.
  3. Maria Luisa de Parma, painted by Anton Rafael Mengs ca. 1765. From Prado, Madrid.
  4. Maren Christine Holbye, painted by Peder Aadnes ca. 1786. She wears the portrait of her husband, vicar Poul Christopher Holbye, around her neck. From Blomqvist Auctions.
  5. Portrait of Johan Georg Büchler, 1750s. The miniature portrait is mounted on a brooch with blue forget-me-nots. From The National Museum in Oslo, originally belonging to Helene Cathrine Büchler, his daughter.
  6. Catherine Vedastine von den Driesch, painted by an unknown French painter in the 1770s. She wears a miniature portrait of her husband Louis Claude de Bretteville. From The National Museum in Oslo.
  7. Elisabeth de Badorot, Countess de Saint Germain, painted in the 1770s by an unknown French artist, though I believe this is a newer copy. She wears a portrait of her husband on the wrist. Sold on eBay.
  8. Maria Luisa de Bourbon, painted by Anton Raphael Mengs ca. 1764. It was made as an engagement portrait, and the miniature on the bracelet shows her fiancé Leopold, Grand Duke of Tuscany. From the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna.
  9. Unknown Italian lady, painted in the 1780s by an unknown Italian (possibly Venetian) master. From Walter’s Art Museum, Baltimore.

Judging from this and from other portraits I have seen, wearing the miniature portrait as a bracelet, and preferably on a pearl bracelet, seems to have been much in fashion. But as shown here, it could also be worn around the neck, on a chain, or as a brooch. The important thing was to display the loved one to the world, and yet wear the portrait on an intimate place near the chest or wrist.


Post link
Quilted hooded morning robe and skirt, probably for a bride, 1770-80. From Design Museum Denmark 

Quilted hooded morning robe and skirt, probably for a bride, 1770-80. 

FromDesign Museum Denmark 


Post link
 Victorian Rococo Lolita Fashion Hime Cuffs Off-the-Shoulder Mini Dress & Tiered Midi Flared Ski Victorian Rococo Lolita Fashion Hime Cuffs Off-the-Shoulder Mini Dress & Tiered Midi Flared Ski Victorian Rococo Lolita Fashion Hime Cuffs Off-the-Shoulder Mini Dress & Tiered Midi Flared Ski Victorian Rococo Lolita Fashion Hime Cuffs Off-the-Shoulder Mini Dress & Tiered Midi Flared Ski Victorian Rococo Lolita Fashion Hime Cuffs Off-the-Shoulder Mini Dress & Tiered Midi Flared Ski Victorian Rococo Lolita Fashion Hime Cuffs Off-the-Shoulder Mini Dress & Tiered Midi Flared Ski

Victorian Rococo Lolita Fashion Hime Cuffs Off-the-Shoulder Mini Dress & Tiered Midi Flared Skirt with Train & Short Cape Elegant 3pcs outfit set: 

https://store-ut7esxk.mybigcommerce.com/ceremony-time-victorian-rococo-lolita-fashion-hime-cuffs-off-the-shoulder-mini-dress-tiered-midi-flared-skirt-with-train-short-cape-elegant-3pcs-outfit-set/


Post link
a mixed media piece I made in November for a juried student show at my college I don’t expect it to

a mixed media piece I made in November for a juried student show at my college 

I don’t expect it to win any awards but I’m still pretty happy with how it came out


Post link

vinceaddams:

vinceaddams:

“This is one of my favourite extant late 18th century waistcoats!” I say, as if I had it narrowed down to just a few.

@flintandpyritereplied:

I humbly request an image post of your top ten picks

Oh man, it’s hard to narrow it down that much, but here are 10 Really Good ones. I shall restrict myself to the ones that are squared off across the bottom, and only ones that are sewn up and more or less intact.

Silk, c. 1795, Cooper Hewitt collection.

This one is made of satin with a net overlay, and if you zoom in you can see the net is made of teeny tiny little ribbons all hand knotted together. Wonderful! I’ve seen this kind of netting in a few dresses and purses, and some much finer lace netting used on waistcoats, but this is the only example I’ve seen of this kind of fairly large handmade net on menswear.
The edges have a binding, which is a nice way to finish them off, and it’s got lovely little death’s head buttons.
It doesn’t have pockets, which is very unusual for an 18th century waistcoat, but which I think was the right choice in this case.

Silk, c. 1780’s according to The Met but with that high collar I’d put it more 90’s.

Look at those appliqué velvet triangles! I love them!! All the dark bits are embroidery and tiny metal spangles, which have tarnished but would have originally been silver and very sparkly.

Silk, c. 1780’s, Cooper Hewitt.

There are plenty of weirder embroidery designs from the era (I have a whole pinterest board for them) but I’m just so fascinated by the choice to put all these bizarre fish on here, along with a mixture of chenille seaweed and normal land flowers.
It’s in pretty rough shape, but when it was new the colours would have been brighter, and there were more black lines and whiskers on the fish.

Also silk, c. 1780’s, and in the Cooper Hewitt collection.

Lookit all the bugs!! There are multiple other bug embroidered waistcoats on the aforementioned pinterest board, but this one has an especially nice layout.

This one was posted in a facebook group, so all I know is that it was photographed at an exhibition in Bilbao, but I’m going to guess it’s also silk and 1780’s.

It’s just.. sublime. I love the tone on tone embroidery and the way the tree branches up to cover the whole thing in leaves, and the fringe around the edges. I’m not a huge fan of fringe in a lot of cases, but I think it works here. There’s also a monkey swinging from the tree, and it looks like there are some metal spangles on the trunk.

Silk, Cooper Hewitt collection.

This one is printed to shape! It’s got all these funky little neoclassical designs which they engraved into a metal plate and then printed right onto the fabric!! It’s far from the only example, and some other waistcoats have similar little oval shaped printed scenes that are sewn on and mixed with embroidery.


Silk, 1780’s, V&A museum.

Aesthetically this isn’t really one of my favourites, but you’ve got to admire it for the strips of green rabbit fur. It’s also got some tarnished silver spangles that would have originally been sparklier, and I love the contrasting velvet lapels.

Wool shag, c. 1790.

Isn’t it awful? I love it! It looks like someone skinned Elmo and made him into a waistcoat. You sometimes see this kind of thick piled fabric woven from silk or wool, and sometimes it’s used for the outer fabric and sometimes for linings or facings. Most of the ones I’ve seen are more restrained than this.

Silk, Abiti del Passato. This one might be 1800’s instead of 1790’s, but I’m counting it anyways.

At first glance you think “oh neat, ikat, I’ve not seen very many examples at all of ikat used in 18th century menswear” but no! If you look at the closeup you’ll see that instead of warp dyed threads, it’s actually embroidered to look like warp dyed threads!
(The post about ikat I linked to has some technical difficulties that messed up the punctuation somehow, and some of the pictures won’t load, but it’s still a good post)

I can only assume that this was made because someone couldn’t afford the expensive imported fabric, and did their best to imitate it with what was more readily available.

Museo del Traje but I cannot get the damn source link to work and can’t find it on the website. It’s also probably silk and 1780’s-90’s.

I mentioned that some waistcoats have little appliqué bits with printed pictures on them, and this is one of those. I’ve seen very few examples of this weird lapel shape, and I can’t recall ever seeing another diagonal band like that. It’s strange to see such asymmetrically sized lapels, but somehow it works.

Ok, that’s 10! There are plenty more beautiful and interesting ones that I don’t have room for here, even without getting into earlier styles and ones on portraits and fashion plates (like that one triple breasted one).

I’ve got tons more on my extant 18th century waistcoats pinterest board, and if you want to see them sorted by more specific things like fringe or contrasting lapels I’ve got some sections for that on this board, and for pattern things like being woven to shape or having vertical stripes I’ve got more sections on this board. (Though the woven to shape section needs adding to, I only have a few late examples on it and that was waaayy more popular in earlier decades.)

loading