Seeing double

It's definitely spring because I have so many projects on hold at the moment. The francaise, the Vernet project, a 1920s inspired dress for everyday wear, the red bonnet, a new pair of Regency short stays... But am I rolling up my sleeves and digging into any of those? No.

Instead I browse Pinterest.

And the other day it hit me. I've come across some extant pieces of clothing that aren't actually that unique. There are doubles. Two of the same. Or at least very similar pieces, in different collections.

Like these hats from the Kyoto Costume Museum and the Met:

These two are not exact copies but the style is very similar. (Source: KCI, Met)

Or these spencers, both from the Met:

The material, the decoration, the time period... They all match. These would be identical if it weren't for the sleeves.

And because I've been on a 1920s fashion binge all week, let's take a time-warping jump, 100 years forward:

Again, not an exact match, but remarkably similar. The dress on the left is from the Museum of Vancouver collections, the one on the right is at the Museum at FIT

These two are listed on antique/vintage clothing auction sites, here http://www.thefrock.com/FW_page6_main.html and here https://www.pinterest.com/pin/562527809682184862/

I'm sure there are other examples and I would love to see them!

Adventures in hatland

I'm procrastinating with the francaise, so I decided to try my hand at hatmaking. The hat still needs to be trimmed, but I must say I like the result!

 A big thanks to Sabine and Megan who generously shared their hattery wisdom and patterns!

I'm going to trim the hat according to the hats on the right on this fashion plate:

No idea of the source, sorry! If you know, tell me!

Apparently Regency is my go-to project period with which to regroup when I'm stuck with sewing projects from other eras. I also found new (and cheap!) Regencyesque shoes in the local supermarket which I can restyle for my dresses. I already have two older pairs of the same model in black and nude, and I was thinking that I could keep the new black shoes as they are and use the older black pair for my Vernet project shoes. The new white pair I might decorate or paint since I've never done that before.

I'm also waiting for a lace order to arrive so that I can really start with the Vernet project... Maybe next week!





But no worries, the francaise has a deadline in late April, so that I can wear it at a masked ball, so I'm not forgetting it and I'm going to finish it, I swear :)

Guess what I'm making...