This past weekend I had the opportunity to wear the core of the 1895 outfit to afternoon tea, so the ensemble had its first cruise. The plastron, hat, and final touches have yet to be made, so as a shirtwaist and skirt combination with a few accessories to accent it, it's an everyday sort of outfit worn by millions of women through the 1890s. It proved comfortable to wear, and in my eyes, anyway, it's attractive, but it needs some fine-tuning before I take it out again in any of its forms.
Alas, I have no photos from the event -- and oh, it was good fun! -- so what you have here is photos afterwards, mostly in front of one of our only large mirrors. No one was home, so I had to set the camera on an improvised surface and take timed shots or the classic in-the-mirror shots. Dullsville, I know.
Below you see the outfit with the elements that I have made during this project: skirt, shirtwaist, collar, and collapsible sleeve plumpers, the little bantam-weight bums: we'll hear about those later in the post. The belt is missing in some photos -- again, the why of that is later in this post.
It was all supported underneath with the usual underthings, including an 1879-style corset from Kay Gnagey, and a petticoat I made several years ago with the practically-regulation-for-the-period outer flounce in broderie anglaise. Yes, I should have worn two, but it was so hot already!
The photo has been made black and white in an attempt to see how the outfit compares to photos of the time: is the silhouette right? Do the details evoke the period?
Unfussy hair, side part acceptable, contrasting collar and pleated and puffed shirtwaist: check!
Alas, I have no photos from the event -- and oh, it was good fun! -- so what you have here is photos afterwards, mostly in front of one of our only large mirrors. No one was home, so I had to set the camera on an improvised surface and take timed shots or the classic in-the-mirror shots. Dullsville, I know.
Comparing the Effect With 1890s Photos
Below you see the outfit with the elements that I have made during this project: skirt, shirtwaist, collar, and collapsible sleeve plumpers, the little bantam-weight bums: we'll hear about those later in the post. The belt is missing in some photos -- again, the why of that is later in this post.
It was all supported underneath with the usual underthings, including an 1879-style corset from Kay Gnagey, and a petticoat I made several years ago with the practically-regulation-for-the-period outer flounce in broderie anglaise. Yes, I should have worn two, but it was so hot already!
The photo has been made black and white in an attempt to see how the outfit compares to photos of the time: is the silhouette right? Do the details evoke the period?
Unfussy hair, side part acceptable, contrasting collar and pleated and puffed shirtwaist: check!
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| Young woman. Flickr: 912greens |
Narrow-fronted skirt with distinct waist and especially sudden hip spring: check!
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| Pinterest: Brandy Auset |
Collar with bow in the back, cute as a bug's ear, and belt harmonizing, if not actually matching. In this case, matching: check!
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| The bow in the back of the collar just shows beyond my neck. |
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| Mabel Payson. Flickr. Uploaded by Rob van den Berg. Originally from Library of Congress. |
I also wore a rolled gold bangle from the Edwardian-teens period just following, but in the style of the period; I had taken it off by that point. Oh, and small timeless pearl earrings: check.
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| Flickr. Uploaded by Curt W. |
Those Sleeve Plumpers Played Me False...
Look at the two pictures below.
Why, the sleeves are puffier and rounder in the picture at the bottom. In fact, the silhouette has changed. The fact that the belt is missing is also at play, but my waist looks smaller in relation to the wide sleeves and wide hips, just as it should.
So what happened? Well, when I made the prototype plumper, it was of wire. Not particularly heavy wire, and very springy, but heavier than I liked. The plumper, which is made of multiple hoops connected with cotton tape, is made to collapse flat, but its weight assures that it opens up when worn. All I have to do is to tack the cotton tape at the top of the first hoop of the plumper to the seam allowance in the shoulder seam in order to set it into place.
Here's a picture of the wire plumper doing its work -- it's under the right sleeve in the photo below. The left sleeve has nothing supporting it, and looks limp.
The next pair of plumpers, the ones worn inside the sleeves during the afternoon tea, are made of cane. They weigh next to nothing. They are, however, nice and springy. On a tip from Mrs. C. in New Zealand, I soaked the plumpers, which had been brittle, in water for 10-20 minutes, I guess, and when they dried, they had regained their pliancy and were less likely to break if I bumped into a doorframe or something else silly.
The cane sleeve plumpers were so lightweight, though, that they would not remain extended when worn -- the hardly-there force of the sleeves and my movements were enough to keep them collapsing flatwards, so to speak, up towards my shoulder, so that the resulting puff was conservative.
To make them work better, I had to remove the shirtwaist, and not only ensure the top of the plumper was still attached by its tape to the shirtwaist shoulder seam, but also safety-pin the bottom of the first hoop of the plumper to the bottom of the armscye. Then the rest of the plumper hoops extended fairly well, if not perfectly.
The other thing I am not fully keen on is that the hoops show a bit. Like many circa 1894-1895 "balloon" elbow-length sleeves, the sleeves are supposed to have dents and ins and outs, rather than be smooth like grapes. Mine do have dents, but I think that the hoops are a bit more obvious than they might be.
I chose hooped sleeve plumpers because I didn't want to line the sleeves with book muslin or interfacing that might not wash and still retain crispness, or press easily, and that might be hot to wear in the summertime. So, what to do?
I might build a last set of plumpers out of a thinner wire than the first prototype, and see if the effect is almost invisible. We shall see. The likelihood is rather low.
I made the belt in 45 minutes or less, and it rather shows. The belt itself is made exactly like the crush collar, including featuring a bow at the back, except that I added far fewer folds to the face of the belt, because the belt was so narrow. Time was short. The bow is nothing more than a bit of voile with each long side folded under and a few rapid stitches taken through the middle. It lacks tails, which are common in belt bows. I frankly forgot about them. It's pinned on -- I ran out of time to add hooks and eyes to the front.
I think the belt made my waist look wider, counteracting the large sleeves. That's especially so from the side, for which I don't have photos. A corset always makes your waist look thicker than it does normally, but the white of the belt emphasizes that.
First, I want to run up a plastron in voile, and try that with the shirtwaist. It will be a more formal look. Oh, and show you the rosette option!
Second, The belt is to be renovated. I will try making my belt less bulky, and/or make a self belt from the skirt fabric, and copy the neck bow, but size it just barely larger, and add short tails.
Third, I am going to work on the skirt's hem diameter. The front looks well, but the back does not extend out the back very much: the interfacing was too light to encourage the bottom to stand out, and my petticoat situation was under-powered.
The petticoat issue can be fixed. I can wear two very sturdy antique petticoats I have that run on drawstrings, starching them well, and nudging most of the gathers to the back to create fullness there.
Yet, there's more I can do to make the back of the skirt more expansive, and it's not terribly time-consuming, and may be fun to do. Through reading all of those women's magazines of the era, I have discovered that editors and readers and modistes alike worried about the hem issue, and promulgated all sorts of ways of holding out the skirt in the "regulation" manner. Some of the commentary about hem diameter woes is a gas. Wires, stays, candlewicking, stuffing: let's test some out and see what we get!
Lastly, hat and hair. I want to try out the bun-atop-the-head look with soft curls around the face; and hat? Well, I have hat and trimmings but haven't married them yet. I've been too engaged :)
Today I'll leave you with a view out over Lake Cumberland, taken from a trail our family took that winds partially along the cliffs some two hundred feet up. The flash drought, we found, dried leaves on the trees, shriveled undergrowth, and lowered the lake level, yet it's still an inspiring sight. Praying for rain, and climate action...
The boys and daddy stop to rest.
Why, the sleeves are puffier and rounder in the picture at the bottom. In fact, the silhouette has changed. The fact that the belt is missing is also at play, but my waist looks smaller in relation to the wide sleeves and wide hips, just as it should.
So what happened? Well, when I made the prototype plumper, it was of wire. Not particularly heavy wire, and very springy, but heavier than I liked. The plumper, which is made of multiple hoops connected with cotton tape, is made to collapse flat, but its weight assures that it opens up when worn. All I have to do is to tack the cotton tape at the top of the first hoop of the plumper to the seam allowance in the shoulder seam in order to set it into place.
Here's a picture of the wire plumper doing its work -- it's under the right sleeve in the photo below. The left sleeve has nothing supporting it, and looks limp.
The next pair of plumpers, the ones worn inside the sleeves during the afternoon tea, are made of cane. They weigh next to nothing. They are, however, nice and springy. On a tip from Mrs. C. in New Zealand, I soaked the plumpers, which had been brittle, in water for 10-20 minutes, I guess, and when they dried, they had regained their pliancy and were less likely to break if I bumped into a doorframe or something else silly.
 |
| Cane sleeve plumper extended open. |
The cane sleeve plumpers were so lightweight, though, that they would not remain extended when worn -- the hardly-there force of the sleeves and my movements were enough to keep them collapsing flatwards, so to speak, up towards my shoulder, so that the resulting puff was conservative.
To make them work better, I had to remove the shirtwaist, and not only ensure the top of the plumper was still attached by its tape to the shirtwaist shoulder seam, but also safety-pin the bottom of the first hoop of the plumper to the bottom of the armscye. Then the rest of the plumper hoops extended fairly well, if not perfectly.
The other thing I am not fully keen on is that the hoops show a bit. Like many circa 1894-1895 "balloon" elbow-length sleeves, the sleeves are supposed to have dents and ins and outs, rather than be smooth like grapes. Mine do have dents, but I think that the hoops are a bit more obvious than they might be.
I chose hooped sleeve plumpers because I didn't want to line the sleeves with book muslin or interfacing that might not wash and still retain crispness, or press easily, and that might be hot to wear in the summertime. So, what to do?
I might build a last set of plumpers out of a thinner wire than the first prototype, and see if the effect is almost invisible. We shall see. The likelihood is rather low.
The "Crush" Belt
I made the belt in 45 minutes or less, and it rather shows. The belt itself is made exactly like the crush collar, including featuring a bow at the back, except that I added far fewer folds to the face of the belt, because the belt was so narrow. Time was short. The bow is nothing more than a bit of voile with each long side folded under and a few rapid stitches taken through the middle. It lacks tails, which are common in belt bows. I frankly forgot about them. It's pinned on -- I ran out of time to add hooks and eyes to the front.
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| 1890s belt with crush effect and back bow. |
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| The full belt with its crush effect. That's the bottom of my petticoat in the picture. |
I think the belt made my waist look wider, counteracting the large sleeves. That's especially so from the side, for which I don't have photos. A corset always makes your waist look thicker than it does normally, but the white of the belt emphasizes that.
Changes For the Next Wearing
First, I want to run up a plastron in voile, and try that with the shirtwaist. It will be a more formal look. Oh, and show you the rosette option!
Second, The belt is to be renovated. I will try making my belt less bulky, and/or make a self belt from the skirt fabric, and copy the neck bow, but size it just barely larger, and add short tails.
Third, I am going to work on the skirt's hem diameter. The front looks well, but the back does not extend out the back very much: the interfacing was too light to encourage the bottom to stand out, and my petticoat situation was under-powered.
The petticoat issue can be fixed. I can wear two very sturdy antique petticoats I have that run on drawstrings, starching them well, and nudging most of the gathers to the back to create fullness there.
Yet, there's more I can do to make the back of the skirt more expansive, and it's not terribly time-consuming, and may be fun to do. Through reading all of those women's magazines of the era, I have discovered that editors and readers and modistes alike worried about the hem issue, and promulgated all sorts of ways of holding out the skirt in the "regulation" manner. Some of the commentary about hem diameter woes is a gas. Wires, stays, candlewicking, stuffing: let's test some out and see what we get!
Lastly, hat and hair. I want to try out the bun-atop-the-head look with soft curls around the face; and hat? Well, I have hat and trimmings but haven't married them yet. I've been too engaged :)
Today I'll leave you with a view out over Lake Cumberland, taken from a trail our family took that winds partially along the cliffs some two hundred feet up. The flash drought, we found, dried leaves on the trees, shriveled undergrowth, and lowered the lake level, yet it's still an inspiring sight. Praying for rain, and climate action...
Oooh it's all so logistical, I do love a good sewing engineering project!!
ReplyDeleteThese bumpers, so pleased the soaking helped! Can you add a fabric skin to them, like side pocket panniers almost? That would have them hold their shape better?
I love hearing about the same struggles for hem padding that we have. I mean, there was no internet, women would be in smaller places trying to work out how to get their makes to sit like the fashion plates, and all manner of ideas and techniques were no doubt tried! I am sure if they had the web, they'd all be in a Facebook groups sharing ideas!
Dear Mrs. C.,
ReplyDeleteYou're right, I could add a fabric cover and to help the plumpers sit properly and to soften the outline. Wonder if gauze would work, or if it's too lightweight to encourage proper plumper position :) Late spring through fall can be very hot or hot AND humid here, so one of the aims has been to use as few layers as possible.
I happen to have collected three or four antique wire bustles and crinolines, but had forgotten about them because they're in a bin. Perhaps it's time to pull them out and show them off in photos and videos and measurements. Perhaps we all can learn a lot together. They're clever, can be resized to a degree, and are so lightweight! If I can find the right wire and connectors, we might have a pattern possibility.
Yes! You nailed it re numberless sewists trying to figure out how to get their skirts to sit to the ideal. There +was+ a sort of social media outlet: magazine write-in columns. A sewist wrote her question, and the columnist answered in the next issue. There'd be many, many answers per month, and the columnist wrote in such a way that the sewist knew she was being addressed, and other readers with similar questions could also learn. This sort of communication had been going since the 17th century, as I recall from an article about a magazine of that day called the "Mercury", I believe. I do not know if there were conversations that went on and on, issue after issue, as I believe they did in magazines like the 18th century Spectator. I do know that columnists would sometimes address on-going issues. For example, in Ladies Home Journal, the King's Daughters columnist would address reader concerns in her columns, as would the magazine editor on issues such as women's suffrage. It's fascinating.
Very best,
Natalie