Girl in the Frontierland

How I wish I was in the faux Frontierland at Disneyland, instead I am out here in the real deal! Colorado certainly has reminders of its frontier days around; old mine shafts pepper the sides of mountains, little Victorian towns remain surrounded by modern buildings and subdivisions, and railroad tracks still carve through the plains. Though I may not be at Disneyland, I have had the ballad of Davy Crockett in my head all day for some odd reason!

This is my new brown cotton skirt, which will soon have a matching jacket. I added pleats in the back of my usual skirt pattern for this one, but I didn't get a good photo of the back! Something to remember for next time. I noticed right away how great this skirt would go with this peasant style blouse I have had in my closet for years. I am in love with peasant blouses right now, I only have two and I want more! I have heard they are easy to make, so I will have to find a good pattern and make a few myself. I would love to make one with a lot of multicolored embroidery as I haven't done an embroidery project in a long time.

I am hoping to finish the matching brown jacket this weekend, I am crossing my fingers everything works out as I sort of Frankensteined the pattern...we shall see!

Skirt: Made by me
Blouse: TJ Maxx
Cuff Bracelet: Forever 21
Link Bracelet: Vintage
Shoes: Banana Republic
Earrings: Vintage

Closet Histories no. 4.8: The Robe à la Polonaise

Today we look into the curious case of the 18th century Robe à la Polonaise! Though the name polonaise is often given to any 18th century gown with the back skirts looped up into puffs, this is inaccurate! There is actually a distinction between gowns a la retroussée (pulled or looped up) and a robe à la polonaise. There are many extant examples of both robe a l'anglaise and robe a la francaise with their skirts "a la retroussée", their skirts pulled up by cords or pulled through the pocket slits. The distinctive features of the polonaise can be hard to spot for those not very familiar with 18th century women's dress.

Late 18th century fashion plate, Polonaise in taffeta with gauze trimmings.

Lets take a look at the fashion plate above. The gown is described as follows "Polish view from behind, it is taffeta trimmed with gauze." One must imagine that the Polonaise style gown originated or was styled after a Polish style of gown in order to have earned it's name. The polonaise was cut in a similar way to men's frock coats, the bodice and skirt cut in one (without a waist seam). The center back seam and two side-back seams terminate in inverted pleats in a similar manner to a frock coat. The bodice appears to be cut as a "zone" front, with the side fronts worn loose over a either a separate bodice/waistcoat or a false waistcoat or stomacher. The skirt is worn pulled up into three sections, though "puffs" sounds more fun!

Dress (robe à la polonaise) 1780, KCI

 In the above extant example from the Kyoto Costume Institute you can just see near the sleeve how there is no waist seam and how the fronts are not perfectly smooth against the body but instead are a bit loose. The skirt on this example is looped up quite high, right to where the waist seam would be, but you can see on the fashion plate above that not all polonaise skirts were this way.

Robe à la Polonaise 1780, Glasgow Museum

 We can see more of the distinctive polonaise details on this second example from the Glasgow Museum. The back view shows off the pleating around the waist. The front view is another great look at the loose front drape of the bodice section.

For more about the Polonaise, you must check out this post from DeMode Couture. Kendra describes the polonaise in detail, and is quite an authority on the subject after all of her extensive research. 

Now let's look at a few faux polonaise, which are actually robe a l'anglaise a la retroussée.

1775-, V&A

 This example, which the V&A describes as a polonaise, is in fact a robe a l'anglaise with it's skirts looped up. The bodice is cut separately from the skirt, and is fitted closely to the body unlike a polonaise.

Robe à la Polonaise 1780-1785, MET

This second example of a "polonaise" from the MET, is again, actually a robe a l'anglaise. To be honest, I am only including this second example because this gown is drool-worthy gorgeous. Hand painted silk in bright acidic yellow? Yes please!

There is one more french term for today though, and describes another way other gowns masquerade as a polonaise. A gown "retroussee dans les poches", in English? "tucked in the pockets". 18th century gowns have slits in the side skirt seams which are virtually invisible while the gown is being worn, but allow a woman to wear a separate pocket (like this one) underneath to store items in. A gown worn "retroussee dans les poches" has the skirt pulled up through these slits to "bustle" the back.

Dress (robe retroussée dans les poches) 1780, KCI

This example, again from the Kyoto Costume Institute, shows a robe a la francaise with retroussee dans les poches to great effect as the skirt is lined in a different fabric so we can see exactly how the skirt is pulled up through the pocket slits!

I happen to like the polonaise and its imitators quite a lot! I'd love to make one someday, they seem ultra feminine with their poufs of silk and rows of pleated trimmings. I think I would prefer to have an anglaise I could wear either dans les poches or with it's skirts down and smooth.

What do you guys think of the polonaise? Too frilly, or just right?

All of the information for this post has been gathered from the textbook Survey of Historic Costume (5th edition) by Phyllis G. Tortora and Keith Eurbank, from the links above or my own knowledge. I want to share the resources I come across with all of you as much as possible. The portraits used to illustrate today's post were sourced from Pinterest and can be accessed here.. Again I repeat my disclaimer that I am not a historian, and if you have corrections or additions for this post, please begin the discussion in comments as I would love to learn more!

Lilacs in Bloom

Dress: Made by me
Tights: Amazon
Shoes: Banana Republic
Scarf: Vintage
Jewelry: Vintage (Avon)
Belt: Vintage
Hat: Vintage

Hat Histories: Sally Victor

1937, MET

Today it's time to look at another millinary master, Sally Victor. Born in Pennsylvania in 1905, she worked at Macy's millinery counter in New York city durring the 1920's before striking out on her own. Sound familiar? Apparently Macy's was the place to start for milliners! The Metropolitan Museum of Art says: 

"She was one of the original members of the Edward C. Blum Design Laboratory, and often used the Brooklyn Museum's varied collections to draw inspiration for her designs. She was so connected with the Design Lab that she participated in several collaborative exhibitions and the museum often used her designs in publicity materials to exemplify how the Lab could benefit designers by providing inspiration. Her work is characterized by a special quirkiness that could often be traced back to interesting sources such as Native American tribes, the artist Henri Matisse or Japanese armor. She also combined traditional hat-making materials such as felt and silk with new synthetic materials in unique ways. According to her May 16, 1977 obituary in the "New York Times," Victor described her mission simply as "designing pretty hats that make women look prettier." 

The Edward C. Blum Design Laboratory was incorporated into FIT in 1973, it seems the lab was part of the museums program to provide access to its collection to students and designers. It sounds like something I would be very interested in were I living in New York in the 40's! 

Anyways, Sally Victor was one of the foremost milliners during the last heyday of hats from the late twenties to the early 1970's. I think her use of color and the "quirkiness" the MET described make for some timelessly wonderful hats, so lets take a look...

Sally Victor at work

1935, MET

I adore this hat, I simply adore it! The semi sheer lightweight straw, with the most diaphanous netting with black dots and a cluster of ivory silk flowers add up to one gorgeous hat. In my dreams, I find hats like this for a fiver in some unknown thrift shop...

1938, MET

This Sally Victor hat has been an inspiration of mine since my first forays into millinery. Just look at the shape! I assume this was blocked, but I can't really say how the thicker flat weave straw was wrangled into the spiraling form! A quirky classic, wear it with anything and everything!

1938, MET

Here is an example where you can start to see what I mean about Victor's use of color. The dark olive green base with the jewel toned feathers and the lighter olive veiling together are delightful. I would wear this in a heartbeat!

1933, MET

This cornucopia looking hat again makes great use of color! The little yarn fruits! So adorable, another hat I'd love to wear.

1940, MET

Just a great shape, imagine this with a great suit!

1953, MET

A great little 50's example. You guys know I am obsessed with straw hats right now, and this coral embellished number is perfect for summer! Notice too how the underlining is aqua blue!

Red Tulips, Silk Leaves, and Glass Bouquets

Hello everyone! I gotta say, I am having a very tired Monday as I didn't sleep well! I'm ready for bed and it isn't even time for dinner. I told you guys I had some good sewing time last week, and this is one of the two dresses I made. I fell in love with this fabric at Joanns a few months ago and knew I had to make a dress out of it. I just love the combination of the red, white, and blue with the mint green! My new white belt is proving itself very useful, I think I'd like a navy blue one too so I'll have to see what other colors it comes in. These earrings are vintage, but are new to me. They're made up of clusters of glass flowers and leaves in white and red and will match a lot of my summer wardrobe. The hat you have all seen before from this post. I hope to show you all the other dress I made last week soon!

Dress: Made by me
Shoes: Amazon (here)
Belt: Target
Tights: Amazon (here)
Necklace, Earrings, Hat: Vintage (etsy)

Wool and Fern Print Chiffon

Do I already have a dress made out of this fabric? Yes. Did that stop me from buying more and making a blouse?...No. I just love this colorful mottled fern print chiffon! Since they still had some at my favorite local fabric store, I decided a long sleeved blouse was just the thing.

The little velvet hat I am wearing here today was a hand me down gift from my grandparents and belonged to my great aunt. It is from the 20's or 30's based on the font of the label inside, which is perfectly deco looking. Today we woke up to a snowy landscape once more. Heavy wet snow was weighing down the poor tree branches and burying the fresh spring growth. Hopefully all of the spring blossoms won't have been spoiled, and more still I hope all this melts soon! I am tired of snow!

Happy weekend everyone, I know mine is off to a great start thanks to that new Star Wars VII teaser trailer yesterday! Nerdy, and proud :)

Blouse: Made by me
Skirt: Made by me
Tights: Target
Shoes: Target
Jewelry: Made by me
Hat: Vintage

Closet Histories no. 4.7: The Gaulle/Chemise a la Reine

Another specific style popular in the later 18th century was the infamous Gaulle, also called the Chemise a la Reine (after Marie Antoinette). Resembling the chemise, an 18th century woman's most intimate garment (underwear!), the Chemise a la Reine was considered quite scandalous when it first debuted. When the portrait of Marie Antoinette in her new Gaulle premiered it only added to the growing mistrust surrounding her reputation. It didn't help that once the Gaulle became popular instead of scandalous, the French Aristocrats were buying  yards and yards of (imported) cotton muslin, instead of French Silk. The French silk market took a hit, and since the trend had been attributed to Antoinette, she was blamed for yet another problem befalling France. Never the less, it was soon one of the most popular styles for fashionable ladies of the 1780's and 1790's, on both sides of the English channel.

Elizabeth Foster, 1785                                  Lady Lemon, 1788                                      Kitty Calcraft, 1787    

Here are some lovely ladies in Chemise gowns and fabulous late 18th century hedgehog hairstyles! (big, curly, bountiful hair ladies) All three of these gowns feature white muslin, layered neck ruffles and fuller sleeves. You can see how the basic white or ivory gowns were accessorized with different colored ribbons and belts. Also, Elizabeth Foster's hat you guys...AMAZING! I actually have a hat just like that, I'll show you all one day :)

Mrs. Bryan Cooke, 1787-91                    Princess Louise Auguste of Denmark, 1780          Baronne de Chalvet-Souville, 1793

Here are some variations on the basic Chemise a la Reine. Mrs. Bryan Cooke has slim full length sleeves and the bodice of her gown looks much more structured. It looks like perhaps only the front of her gown is gathered while the back remains smooth like a robe a l'anglaise. Princess Louise is wearing the fully gathered version, and the muslin of her gown looks super fine and sheer. You can tell she is still wearing stiff conical stays underneath. Though the Chemise a la Reine looked much less formal than other styles of gowns, most often it was worn over just as many layers of structured undergarments. Baronne de Chalvet-Souville's gown also features slim full length sleeves and the muslin of her gown features tiny polka dots. It looks as if her gown also has a layered collar that you can see over her shoulder.

Portrait of a Lady with a Book, 1785                         Marie Antoinette, 1783                        Georgania Cavendish, 1786      

The gown featured in Antoine Vestier's Portrait of a Lady with a Book is amazing! Sheerest fabric, most likely silk in this case, with satin stripes layered over more white for a truly stunning result. The sapphire blue silk ribbon sash sets everything off perfectly, I want this gown! The double puffed upper sleeves combined with the long slim sleeves, the sheer cuffs and neckline, I love it all! The next lady may be familiar to you, this is the portrait of Marie Antoinette I mentioned earlier that shocked the public! She wears a full gathered Chemise with a striped golden silk sash. Her friend Georgiana Cavendish next to her also wears a Chemise gown. It is said that Marie Antoinette gave Georgiana a Chemise gown and thus helped spread the style amongst the most fashionable level of society.

Chemise à la reine 1785-89, musée de la toile de jouy, photos from costumehysteric.blogspot.com/

It seems there are very few remaining extant examples of Chemise a la Reine. The gown pictured here is in the collection of the Musee de la Toilr de Jouy in France. I found these photos on Pinterest, and the source seems to be a blog called Costume Hysteric however on that site the photos are no longer visible. The gown itself is a beautiful survivor. It is a great example of the style, with it's slim sleeves, the multiple gathers in the front, flounced skirt, and lightly embroidered muslin fabric. There are a few other extant examples including one at Manchester City Gallery that this blogger got a good look at though there are few/bad photos available online of that particular gown.

I am not sure of other extant examples, it seems that none of what I consider the big costume collections (LACMA, MET, and the V&A) have one in their collections. I am sure there are more out there in smaller and less public collections, as they were so prominent in portraiture from the time.

The Chemise a la Reine is a popular choice for modern costume designers for films set in the late 18th century. I first fell in love with the various styles of Chemise a la Reine gowns in the Trianon scenes in Sofia Coppola's film Marie Antoinette. I have yet to make one of these beautiful gowns, but I hope to soon. I have to make one so I can wear my big Picture hat!

I hope you guys liked today's brief overview of the Chemise a la Reine!

All of the information for this post has been gathered from the textbook Survey of Historic Costume (5th edition) by Phyllis G. Tortora and Keith Eurbank, from the links above or my own knowledge. I want to share the resources I come across with all of you as much as possible. The portraits used to illustrate today's post were sourced from Pinterest and can be accessed here.. Again I repeat my disclaimer that I am not a historian, and if you have corrections or additions for this post, please begin the discussion in comments as I would love to learn more!