Jane Austen Festival Morning Ensemble: Hat Notes

The new-to-me Italian straw gypsy hat. It will be steamed to
reshape the crown and the brim.

I cannot but jot down some thoughts about hats. As springtime advances and outside the sunshine becomes stronger, the more I think of a turban or cap in the hot Kentucky sun, the more disturbing get the almost certain prospects of muggy heat and blazing sun. A hat, with cap beneath, is more reasonable than a turban, even a gauze one.

How far we stray from original plans! "And we like sheep, have gone astray..." (hummed to the Handel tune). Anyhow.

Reference Images

June 1794, Gallery of Fashion:

Original text (thank you, cathy Decker!): Fig. X.:  Straw-coloured gipsy hat, trimmed with lilac riband formed into a large bow in the front, and into a very small one behind; tied under the chin with a lilac-coloured silk handkerchief. One white, and one lilac ostrich feather, placed on left side. The hair in light curls, falling down behind, bound with a white half-handkercheif, tied in the front into a large bow. Round gown of fine Indian callico, trimmed with a narrow flounce; long sleeves trimmed at the wrist with lace. Lilac-coloured sash tied into a small bow, the ends as long as the train. Lawn handkerchief, over it another of lilac-coloured silk, turned under the arms, and tied behind. Yellow shoes. Jonquille-coloured gloves.

A gipsy hat is simply a large-brimmed hat, according to online dictionaries. The name for this shape appears not to have altered over time. The "demi-gipsy" hat on the rightmost figure has the back of the brim cut off, hence "demi".

The hat need not be of fine straw braid; the plates clearly show wide hat braid.

I would not use so many ribbons as my leftmost reference figure, thank you, but the hat shape is fun and suits me well (see my profile picture at right? That's a similar look.). Underneath, a cap; you can see it peeking out. Silk gauze caps are acceptable, as we know from Colonial Williamsburg. I have silk gauze in the stash.

Here's a 1790-1804 cap from the Met, item C.I.37.45.22. Mine need not be fluffy, with two layers, but I prefer no band on a cap.

Side notes: look at the dress neckline and sleeves of the figure on the right! Fluffy with frills, like my reference portrait miniature. Yum.

Also see how her chemise dress (that's how the original text identifies it, too, by the by) is a loose-backed one, so that the sash doesn't look odd in the back like sashes did on my fitted-back dress. Of course, a loose-backed chemise dress with a high waist is not going to make me look slim. DO go see this figure in a drawstring gown in Napoleon: The Empire of Fashion. Here's the side view. A pretty dress? Yes. Slimming? No. Not even on a rail-thin mannequin.

Back to the subject at hand: hats.

Perhaps I should wear a veil, too, unless that is gilding the lily. Natalie Garbett offers a super image of what wearing a veil can be like.

The veil below, on the leftmost lady in the from August 1794, is green gauze. Again, I have gauze, and the veil can substitute for frilly ribbons. I have the ostrich feathers, too, left over from past years, and can color one green. Stripes, maybe!

So, the germ of an idea emerges.

In Other News...Our Bluegrass Regency Society met for the First Time

It was fun! We have a full calendar! From picnics and house tours to dance lessons to the JASNA festival to museum tour to attending our local Christmas ball, (sure hope they have it again this year) we have it all. If you're in driving distance to Lexington, Kentucky, come join us! See our blog for details.

Renovating My Sheer 1795 Morning Dress: Sleeve Design



First toile: my assistants

 The first toile was too narrow when I basted it to the bodice. Of course, it's regular old quilting cotton, so it doesn't drape, but you can see below that it doesn't have much excess to create the folds of the reference sleeve.

So, I widened the sleeve further. Because the voile is 32" wide selvage to selvage, I made that a convenient width to work with. That also meant I could simply combination stitch the selvages together with a 1/8" seam and dispense with further seam finishing, a period solution.

Here is the original Sense and Sensibility pattern sleeve, laid atop my first toile. The change in shape, which is closer to full sleeves as patterned in Janet Arnold, is to create sleeve fullness.

Now here is the final sleeve, as cut out in the voile.

Voile is a pain to cut. It does not like to cut neatly, but pulls out of shape with the barest movement. That won't matter when sewn into such a full sleeve shape.

I sewed the seams and began the two rows of stroked gathers for each sleeve last evening. Creating the two rows of gathers for each sleeve I expect to run an hour total. I am getting to be so used to stroked gathers that they move fast.

We're getting there...

It always helps when your son hands you a bouquet of yard violets clamped in his round hand.

For those of you across the pond, common violets here are pesky, free-seeding little plants, without fragrance but with such a rich color that I haven't the heart anymore to root them out, so they speckle our lawn with clots of deepest blue purple.

Violets symbolize modesty, faithfulness, affection, watchfulness, and the color relates to Easter. What a gift.

I should ribbon-embroider my silk gauze shawl with violets. In fact, that is what I will do. So there.

Renovating the Wrap Front on My Sheer 1795 Morning Dress, Part 4

We have a bodice. I pinched myself to make sure, and since the pinch pinched, it's real. Here it is, put up sans chemise or stays on the dressform. I am quite happy with the collaresque draping, and feel that it pretty well reflects the reference portrait, a pretty miniature of an unknown woman, dated 1795. for details, see http://collections.vam.ac.uk/item/O82015/miniature-portrait-of-an-unknown-woman/.

In a slight variation from the reference dress, I am making a separate kerchief with a frill per this English example in the LACMA collection. It's 75 x 10 inches long; mine will likely be shorter but about the same width.

Here is a view of the back.

I made the back very high on purpose, to help with the columnar effect I wish to achieve. In 1795 those high waists really began to take off in high fashion.

If you look closely, you'll notice that the bodice bottom is fully finished at the edges, by turning each side inwards and combination-stitching them together in a traditional 18th century manner. Many dresses weren't finished at the waistline, but both the linen and the voile tend to fray, and I wanted a strong, neat edge to which to stitch the skirts. I will do that by folding the raw edge of the skirt down, gathering the the fabric, and then topstitching it to the bodice.

In addition, the inner, wrapped front bodice pieces are longer than the front bodice itself. I did this for coverage and strength, wanting the inner panels to help support the dress by taking the stress off the top layer so it can drape nicely and not pull out of shape. Those inner panels will be pinned very tightly and securely to my stays.

Next up, the sleeves. I will be stitching them quite close to the "collar", as in the reference portrait, in an effort to further visually narrow my shoulders.

Now that progress is made, the dress has become fun again, although I must say, I am glad that I only do a few garments annually. They take so much research and time! Being a hobbyist with no formal mantua-making training, what is easy for some only comes with great effort for me.

The Twins and Their Robin Hood Caps...and a Wrap-front Dress Update

We've been living with Robin Hood and his Merry Men lately, and have introduced them to Tinkertoy longbows and plastic jewels. Yesterday, it was time to be formally inducted into the gang, and so we made caps of felt.

I looked online for patterns, found them needlessly complex, and made up my own.  Two seams, a cut with the scissors, and two tucks, and you're done.

All you need is two rectangles of green craft felt, a pair of scissors, and needle and thread. I suppose the rectangles were somewhere about 15 inches long. Forgot to measure them and now it's too late, but they're the standard Craftology small size sold at Michael's craft store.

Here's a schematic for how to make them:

1. Sew two rectangles of craft felt together along one long side.
2. Then sewn them together along one short side.
3. When turned inside out, you have sort of this shape. I've drawn the seam on the outside so you know where it is, but the seam allowance is actually on the underside of the cap.
4. Flip up the fabric at the left side of the cap to make the back brim, and flip up the bottoms too to make the brim along the sides. Trim the brim along the sides so that each side angles down to a point in the front. You can trim them straight or with an interesting curve. (Consult books about Robin Hood and look at the illustrations for help. Each artist seems to draw the cap differently.)
5. Punch down the top to create a nice dent. Now, pinch one side into a tuck, with the fold facing towards the back of the cap, and tack that tuck down; I made two tacks in each tuck. Do the same on the other side. This tightens the hat and shapes it to the head a little.

You're done! You can cut slits to add feathers...we did.

The boys enjoyed adding feathers and denting their cap tops to taste.

A Wrap-Front Dress Update

I finished the bodice yesterday, except for arranging the neckline folds into place and invisibly tacking them down in one or two spots. Will show pictures this evening if I get a chance!

Now for the sleeves and attaching the skirt. This project is so slow and painstaking that it is becoming rather dull. Cannot wait to move onto the accessories.

Also, I purchased for a song an old plain gypsy hat constructed in Italy. Since it's so basic and the current trim looks like it was chewed by a dog, have no compunction in reshaping the crown into the shape I need for my hat.

Selling Part of My Collection, Part 2 -- Yves Saint Laurent, Fendi 365, and More

Suits, dresses, fabric, more!

(edited to note: all garments gone at this point.)

Here's a second batch of clothes that need to leave my closet and find new homes. Yesterday I posted a Mad Men lace little black dress, a circa 1940s peplum dress, and so on. If you haven't looked at Part 1, please look now! It's rather funny, actually, what is leaving: all the slender-skirted clothing. The bouffant dirndl skirts and A-line dresses are staying.


Are you ready?

Circa 1980s Yves Saint Laurent Rive Gauche Sun Dress

This dress is mint condition, and very nice on, and it's the real deal. See the label. I bought it at a top consignment shop when I loved in New York City back in the 1980s and, guess what, never wore it, for the neckline did not suit. Still, it was such a favorite to look at when I opened the closet that I kept it. Made of polished purple satin-weave cotton, it features grosgrain straps and a fitted silhouette, with kick pleats to help you move. Look at how clever the design is: even the folds of the dress fold symmetrically. Measurements: 27" waist, 42" long. On Vintage Textile and other dealers, and on Ebay, prices vary wildly, but are in multiple hundreds of dollars. Price negotiable.

Fendi 365 Cropped Black Jean Jacket with Silver Metallic Threads

For the slightly luxe rocker girl, a little Italian jacket. Again, it's mint condition, with no signs of wear. I wore it infrequently because it was too big. It's size 46 European sizing/ size 16 U.S. Again, this is a pricey little number on vintage dealers' sites. Price negotiable.

Handsome 50s or 60s Tropical Wool Check Suit, Hand-Tailored in Lexington for the Carriage Trade

This is a great little suit and in such perfect condition it could have been made yesterday. A checked tropical weight wool, the jacket features covered buttons, handsome fitting, and the coolest little twisted cord self-belt in the back. Lexington is horse country, and this is the sort of hand-tailored suit that one would have worn to the Fall Meet at Keeneland, perhaps with spectator-style heels and a perfect hat. Measurements: jacket: 32" waist, 35 1/2" bust, 20" long. Skirt: 30 1/2" waist, 27 1/2" long. $75.00, which I think is a very good price indeed for such a suit.

Circa 1950s Nipped-Waist Wool Double-Breasted Jacket...With the Skirt, If I Can Find It

I wore, and wore, and wore this little jacket. It looks great with jeans, with a black pencil skirt, with a little black dress underneath. It's the coolest dark mocha and black check. I bought it in Atlanta in 1989-1990, with a matching pencil skirt, but right now cannot locate the skirt for some reason, and it's driving me nuts, for this is a sweet suit. It has a few small moth holes, which a clever needlewoman could reweave. Also, the top right button doesn't match the others, but I bought it that way. I will have to get better pictures of the jacket as a whole. Measurements: 29" waist, 20" long. $35.00, and $10.00 for the skirt if I can locate it in whatever box it's hiding in.

Circa 1980s Metallic Velvet One-of-a-Kind Smoking Jacket

We sure wore big clothes back then, didn't we? This single-button jacket was handmade by someone fairly accomplished in New York back in the 80s, from velvet printed with a multi-color, metallic pattern featuring paisleys and I don't know what all. As you can see, the back shows the fabric to be well centered. I wore this to the office a good deal, because it was warm and cozy and suited the Metropolitan Museum where I worked in Membership in an often-chilly room. Measurements: 32" long, and approximately 40" around. $35.00

Jim Thompson Thai Silk Fabric, 180" long by 39 3/4" Wide, in Original Packaging

How the silk looks when it's set
in front of a light.

Long ago a boyfriend traveled to China for vacation, and stopped in Thailand on the way. Before he left he asked what I'd like him to bring back, and I asked for three yards of plaid silk fabric. He didn't return with plaid or with three yards, but with three 180" lengths of printed fabric, which was very sweet. Sadly, I have never used them, for the prints didn't lend themselves to the bouffant tea-length skirts I preferred during the 1990s. Here is the first dress length. It's buttery-soft silk, very slightly translucent, and enough to make more than one vintage-style dresses, and still in its original package. I didn't know what I had until I looked him up this morning. It's a little embarassing that I never appreciated it for what it was, for Jim Thompson silk is very high end, and very, very nice. $50.00, OBO

Four Vintage Patterns, All Used, and Somewhat Tattered, But Still Usable

Quite a funny mix. Still, three of the four patterns have some good age on them and the garments to be made out of them are nifty. $10.00 for all four.