Edwardian Adventuress: The Skirt

Sneak peek there ;) Yes the Edwardian adventuress ensemble is finished! However, I'm not showing you yet (I'm mean, I know, sorry folks) because today I want to talk about the skirt for this costume and show you some extant examples from contemporary photos that inspired me when I decided how to draft my pattern.

I knew I wanted something on the shorter side for an Edwardian skirt as I intend the finished ensemble to be very adventure ready as opposed to having an elegant sweeping trained style seen in more formal gowns. The adventuress needs to climb over rocks, sketch hieroglyphics, and hop off and on the boat moored over on the Nile... you get the idea. Seeing this amazing image of a young woman in a shorter length skirt was encouraging. The street style snap is one of Linley Sambourne's photographs (check out more snaps here) and I find this young woman's entire outfit rather inspiring. It's so nice to get a candid more casual photograph from such a "posed portrait" time period! It seems her skirt has seams down the front which is something I certainly took note of as well.

These lovely ladies by the seaside are just so elegant aren't they?  These skirts are a bit longer but still short enough for walking about. I like how this photo gives a good idea of the sort of drape of the back of this style skirt.

Then there is this group again. They may be posed but it is far from a studio setting! It seems they are perhaps doing some serious hiking in their finery! The slightly flared skirts with princess seams down the front seems to be the style of the day, and these look to be made of sturdier fabrics and at a shorter length conducive to walking and hiking. I also love the addition of sash/ribbon belts at the waist with nice buckles! It's an accessory I copied for my costume and I even managed to pick up an authentic gold buckle sash pin on Etsy!

My antique buckle pin!

So once again, like the shirtwaist before it, I drafted the pattern for the skirt myself. I know drafting patterns isn't for everyone, but I truly enjoy pattern making. For me it is a fun challenge to take some muslin and paper and go for it! The worst that can happen is I fail and end up having to buy a pattern, so I am a great advocate for just giving it a go if you have a general idea of pattern making and the period of fashion in question (and muslin to spare for mock ups).

The image above (from a great free online pattern- here) shows the basic idea I went with for my skirt. I drafted this skirt by draping a piece of muslin on myself (while wearing my Edwardian corset) marking the center front, waist, and side seams, then pinching out the excess from the curve over my abdomen with a small dart at the waist. Once I transferred these basic lines from the muslin onto paper I used the slash and spread method to open the dart fullness into an A-line shape for the skirt. Then I separated the skirt into three panels along where the darts had been. I doubt that will make sense to the non-pattern drafters out there but hopefully it's intelligible!

Now I cannot in good faith really recommend drafting on one's own self, as moving around does distort and disrupt the measurements, best case scenario you have a friend to help but that isn't always possible. I have always drafted historical patterns on myself  (since I can wear the correct corsetry, unlike my dress form who doesn't squish) so it is something I am comfortable doing after all the years I have been costuming. I think with trial and error and some muslin to try things out you can achieve a lot on your own for sure. I did end up checking my pattern by trying it out in inexpensive ivory cotton, and since it worked I finished it and it became my petticoat for this ensemble!

I actually did make a mistake somehow in the finished skirt when I pleated the back. Somehow I ended up with 1 less pleat than I'd meant to have, so the back was too large and overlapped farther at the center back than I had intended. It worked on the day but I will fix it by taking off the waistband and adding another pleat to the back. Opps! I did pleats on the back of this skirt, but I think for more formal skirts I will continue to use the tilted-circle skirt shaped Edwardian skirt pattern that I used for my black and white evening gown from a few years back. Also, I need to spruce up that gown and wear it again because I am still in love with that dreamy flocked fabric...

The costume is now finished and I promise you all will be seeing photos soon :) The darn shirtwaist took me forever to finish as I decided to hand stitch the lace onto the front and it took me ages, so believe me I am glad it is done! I think I'll be making another skirt to wear with the shirtwaist in the fall, something in wool and more formal, and possibly for a suffragette inspired Halloween costume ;)

Hope everyone is having a wonderful week so far!

Primary Sources: Edwardian Shirtwaists, 3 Examples from my Collection

Before I jump into making an Edwardian shirtwaist myself this weekend, I thought I would delve into my storage and pull out the three antique shirtwaists I happen to have in my collection! It seems strange I have never shown you all these before, but better late than never right?

My favorite professor from college kindly past these antique items on to me before I left school as she knew I would appreciate them, and I sure do! One day I'd love to have a whole collection of antique garments, but until then these lovely items will tide me over. Each is a masterpiece of its kind, these are much more detailed and gorgeous shirtwaists than I would ever be able to create! I don't have the patience for this much delicate lace insertion! Still the general construction clues and materials are of interest as I begin my own project, so lets take a closer look...

First up is this most lovely white work embroidered shirtwaist that I imagine would be dated later than the other two examples I have based on the fact that it has less of that eponymous pigeon bust shape and looks more like a transition to the sleeker blouses of the teens era. The fullness here is gathered to a waistband and the shirt closes in the front over a central panel. The sleeves are 3/4 length which is something I think I'll do for my own shirtwaist as it seems common enough. Made in a semi-sheer white cotton, I believe the embroidery is actually a boarder print from the fabric artfully placed rather than being done specifically for the piece (or done after it was assembled). Never the less, the white thread embroidery is super gorgeous!

Embroidered fabric panel is set into the sleeve with a boarder of lace. It seems most if not all of this particular example is actually machine sewn with very tiny stitches.

In the photo above you see the front folded open to reveal the center front panel which closes at the bust with a hook and eye. Presumably there was also a hook or closure of some kind to close the shirt at the waist but there is nothing there now.

The back looks nearly identical to the front. I wish I could get a new one of these in my size :)

The second shirtwaist in my collection is a bit more formal, or at least it has full length sleeves and a lot (a ton!) of lace insertion!

The more tapered puff sleeve shape leads me to believe this shirtwaist is older than the first, as the crazy huge mutton sleeves were such a trend in the 1890s. The sleeve caps are covered in both lace insertion and lace ruffles! The front and back of this example have long rows of delicate and sheer cotton lace insertion. The center front is gathered to a waistband and the whole shirt closes at the center back, though I am not exactly how it stayed shut as there are no hooks, buttons or snaps anywhere on this piece! There seems to be a combination of machine and hand sewing on this shirt, the long panels of lace seem to have been sewn in with a machine and then sort-of edge stitched down with tiny hand stitches.

See the back above. The standing collar is entirely made of lace and starts at the center front, wraps around the back and fastens at the center front again. The cotton of this shirtwaist is super thin and after over a hundred years--is quite delicate!

The lace collar and lack of hooks or snaps.

Inside I noted that the seam allowance is trimmed into next to nothing and then whip-stitched finished.

The last shirtwaist is a sort of combination of the first two in design, incorporating both lace insertion and white work embroidery.

As you can see it is longer, tucking into the skirt rather than finishing at the waist. The bottom edge of this old gal is raw now, I assume it was cut or torn at some time and not intentionally done this way! The embroidered panels down the front are a-m-a-z-i-n-g, with sheer cotton net set into floral swirls.

I mean come on, too pretty!

  The back buttons up the center with carved shell buttons, but you can't see them because they are covered with a panel in matching pintucks. The back is rather different from the front with lines of pin tucks and strips of lace insertion as opposed to the embroidered sections on the front. The back of the waist has a sort of half waistband addition where two ties emanate from, I imagine that these ties were once longer and perhaps once tied int the center front to control/create the gathered fullness.

This inside shot shows the french seams used on the side seam and the binding used on the sleeve/armhole seam. Again this examples seems to have a mixture of machine and hand sewing.

Sadly this shirtwaist isn't in the best of shape with rust discoloration spotted all over but it seems it was displayed at one point as I discovered some conservation efforts inside! The front embroidered and lace portion has a piece of ultra fine nylon tulle netting sewn in to protect the embellishment from further damage. Possibly this shirtwaist was on display at one point in its 100+ year history!

I hope you all have enjoyed this look at a few real Edwardian shirtwaists, my own project will be much less couture and fancy! Since I am basing my ensemble on the idea of an adventurer on her travels, I don't think a simpler approach is such a bad idea ;)

Sunday Spotlight: The Edwardian Lady Adventurer

It seems like ages since I did any costuming, and summer isn't exactly my favorite season to be layering on corsets and petticoats, but...the time has come for some Edwardian adventure wear! I think I'll start with a simple skirt and an ivory shirtwaist, luckily I already have an Edwardian corset. Now I just have to draft some patterns and go fabric shopping :) Those of you costumers out there, what are you working on this summer? (See more images that are inspiring me for this costume on my costuming Pinterest board here)

Hair Comb History Highlight #8: Ivory and French Ivory Combs

Paul Follot, Ivory and Mother of Pearl comb, circa 1905-1910 - Musée d'Orsay

Though beautiful, ivory is a terrible material. Lets face it, no comb (or jewelry, or trophy on your wall) is worth the death of an elephant. None the less, ivory was a very popular material for combs during their Edwardian heyday and going back centuries before that too. Thankfully with the inventions of celluloid and other early plastics comb makers began to use 'french ivory' which was basically faux ivory made of such plastics. 

These combs may be beautiful, but like their tortoiseshell companions, are another reminder of humans doing their best to make other species go extinct. Still, we can admire them for their beautiful style, lines, and design and be glad that this material has been banned in the years since. Now with modern plastics and resins there would be no reason to ever use real ivory in any application, and we can make similarly beautiful off-white combs without having to sacrifice elephants in the process.

Comb Made in Spain, Europe 19th century Artist/maker unknown, Spanish

Renaissance Revival Continental ivory hair comb

c1880-1900 carved ivory comb close-up

Ivory hair comb with greek key motif. 1880s-1920

c1880-1900 carved ivory comb, Chinese made for western trade

Egyptian Revival comb made from French ivory

Hair Comb History Highlight #6: Rene Lalique

Horn, enamel, gold and glass, c. 1903/1904

The time has come here on Hair Comb History Highlights to talk about the master, Rene Lalique. When it comes to Art Nouveau jewelry, including hair combs, Lalique is number one. Rene Lalique was born in the French countryside town of Ay in 1860. Though his family moved closer to Paris when he was still a child, they continued to spend summers in Ay where Lalique developed a passionate interest in both botany and insects. His natural talent for drawing and painting lead him to apprenticeships under Parisian goldsmiths Henri Vuillert and Louis Aucoc. He went on to study jewelry design at the Sydenham School of art in London before finally setting up his own business back in Paris in 1885.

Tortoiseshell, diamonds and gold, c. 1906-1908

Though trained as a goldsmith, Lalique was known for embracing (and beginning the trend for) what were then viewed as more humble materials like horn, coral, rock crystal, enamel and glass. His jewelry often captured the beauty of the natural world; Lalique combined his favorite flora and fauna with a unique world of Art Nouveau fantasy. He even incorporated the naked female form into his jewelry, shocking some, but the resulting pieces remain the most stunning examples of Art Nouveau jewelry. But enough talk for now, onto the combs!

c. 1904-1905

Horn, enamel, gold and diamonds, c. 1904/1905

I can't find anything about this comb! So beautiful though! Those gorgeous colors!

Ivory, gold and enamel, c. 1900
I would love to have this comb, I need a white/ivory comb so this would be a perfect addition to my collection! if only...

c. 1905, horn and diamond tiara
Okay so this ins't a comb, but Lalique created beautiful tiara's too!

Horn, enamel, etc., c. 1900

Horn, enamel, gold and silver, c. 1900
Bees! people always call me B, so I have started to collect bee jewelry, I would love to own a bee motif comb like this one!

Horn, silver and diamonds, 1902

Gold, ivory, c. 1900

Horn, gold, enamel, moonstones, silver, c. 1903

Ivory, horn, emamel, gold and diamonds, c. 1903/1904

Ivory, horn, enamel, c. 1902

Horn and glass, c. 1903/1904

Horn, gold, enamel, c. 1900

Horn, enamel, and gold, c.1900

Gold, enamel, opal and diamonds

It seems silly to even try and describe these combs, they are just too beautiful! I would love to just see a Lalique comb, their exquisite quality and rarity today means I will never get to own one myself. Again I must muse aloud how much I wish someone would make costume jewelry versions of jewels like these so that mere peasants like myself could afford to have something similar!