Return of The Pink Dress

I was in Helsinki last weekend for a dance work shop and I also had a chance to pop in Ateneum (the national gallery of Finland). They had a very interesting exhibition on called "Japanomania" and it basically dealt with the japonisme boom that was all the rage in Europe during the latter half of 19th century. The fad reached Finland (and other Nordic countries) a bit later than the rest of Europe, but it was very popular and many artists of the Finnish golden age lived in Paris and other large European cities at the turn of the century, soaking up influences and applying them to their own work. It was very interesting to learn that japonism had a strong influence in the development of the Finnish Jugend (Art Nouveau/national romantic/Arts and Crafts) style.

But I digress. As I was viewing the paintings and artefacts I came accross The Pink Dress again. A little explanation: last year I made my first natural form gown based on this painting by Gustave Courtois:

Anne-Marie Dagnan Bouveret, painted by Gustave Courtois 1880

My dress is blue but pink seems to have been a popular colour with the French ladies, or then the artists liked the colour particularly. The Japanomania exhibition had these two paintings by Albert Edelfelt and Gunnar Berndtson:

Albert Edelfelt: A Parisienne Reading, 1880

Gunnar Berndtson: Yes - No, Pause in the Studio, 1879

This leads me back to the pink dress in the Courtois portrait, and this painting by Pascal Dagnan-Bouveret (Courtois's friend and Anne-Marie's (see first painting) husband):

When I first found this painting, I thought that it showed Anne-Marie's dress (portrayed in the Courtois painting) from the back and in full length. But now I'd be inclined to think that this ^ dress, and the ones in the Edelfelt painting and the Berndtson painting following it are actually the same piece of clothing.

Of course there is no way of knowing if all these three dresses are actually the one and same dress, but there are some details that do point to that direction.

First, the collar. In Edelfelt and Berndtson paintings it's obvious, the dress is the same. I can't be so sure with the Dagnan-Bouveret painting, but it would seem so:

The middle dress looks like it could have the same lapels as the other two. The collar ruffle is there, though.

Then there's the waistband and the basque style of the bodice:

The dress on the left is the Dagnan painting and it definitely has a prominent waistband piece. Since the other two dresses are the same and have the waistband, I'd be inclined to argue that all three are the same.

The dress (and possibly also the model) is the same in all these paintings. According to the info I found here, this is not surprising, since Albert Edelfelt and Gunnar Berndtson both used the same model for their paintings, namely Antonia Bonjean, who features also in this painting by Edelfelt (wearing another (or the same?) pink dress):

Albert Edelfelt: An Idyll (Antonia Bonjean & Gunnar Berndtson), 1878

Are you still with me? All these artists (Courtois, Edelfelt, Dagnan-Bouveret and Berndtson) actually had studios in the same building in Paris at one point in the late 1870s. They also had the same model sitting for them all, pictured in several paintings painted within no more than 5 years. I think that's very interesting and also the artists kept liking the pink dress.

After taking such a good look at all these paintings and especially the dress I'm sort of half-heartedly planning another natural form gown, based on the pink dress. I don't know when I will have time to make it (March madness, so busy at the moment) and I'm not really sure about the colour but I like the shape and the froufrou of the dress and its connection to the Finnish artists.

On the bias

Here's a little post about a dress I made recently. It's sort of 30s-40s inspired little number that turned out very nice in the end though I initially had my doubts. I had no set pattern for this dress, instead I combined several blouse and dress patterns and cobbled together something that corresponded to my vision.

The fabric is viscose, with black and cream stripes and because I wanted the dress have a little 'something' I cut the pieces on the bias and tried to place them carefully so that they made large chevron pattern at the seams. The dress has a zipper at the back and first I thought to have the neckline open too at the front (it actually has a slit and a hook and eye closure) but I then put on the giant bow and had to stitch it's upper corners on the dress for it to keep its shape.

I did most of the sewing by hand because of the bias cut; it would've been too fiddly on the machine, I feel.

The hem is not uneven, I think it's just clinging oddly here.

Red and white stockings

I'm back! Not that I really went anywhere but my blogging break was a bit longer than intended. I have a lot of stuff going on at work and with dancing, and there are also several projects on the sewing table so it should be a busy year and no mistake.

Yesterday I finished knitting a new pair of stockings and I'm very pleased with them. They are a simple toe-up model, the pattern is my own and I used a common toe and gusset increase method, as well as a common heel option for toe up socks. The yarn is silk and merino wool blend and I knitted the stockings with needles that are maybe 1-1.5 in metric size.

I chose to tie my garters above the knee because these stockings have tendency to droop and I don't see why my knees should be bare.

I knit the socks in the round with double pointed needles and that's why the change of round can be seen at the back and on the sole.

Vernet project finished!

I think it was around mid-September last year that I got involved in the Vernet project, a fashion recreation challenge conducted by costume bloggers and other fashion history enthusiasts around the world. The idea was to recreate the fashion plates drawn by a French artist Horace Emile-Jean Vernet in 1814. There are 30-odd plates in the collection titled Incroyables et merveilleuses de 1814.

When I joined the project there were only 2 ladies plates left which in retrospect was probably a good thing, because I'm not sure if I could have chosen just one from all the plates. My choice was the plate number 23 which portrayed a "chapeau de paille, orné de coquelicots, robe garnie de bouillonnés", meaning a straw hat trimmed with poppies, and a dress decorated with poufs.

Plate number 23, source http://digital.bunka.ac.jp/kichosho_e/search_shousai.php

I started with the hat because I thought that it would take the most time to make and I've already written a separate post of it. I've since added the poppies and a simple ribbon trim to it and I like the result. The hat is fairly top heavy, so when I wear it outside it needs serious pinning to keep it on.

The dress was a fairly straightforward affair, I used my trusty bodice pattern cutting it with a very high neckline, and adapted a 1820s hem pattern from Jean Hunnisett's book. The Hunnisett book also had an 1815 hem pattern, but to me the 1820 pattern looked more like the fashion plate dress's hem so I chose to use it. For the decorations I used readymade whitework trim which I attached to flounces of the dress fabric to achieve the needed width for the frills and ruffles. I sewed narrow channels to where I wanted to gather the pieces and then threaded them with cotton yarn. I'm pleased with the tidiness and tightness of the gathers and they work well with the collar ruffle and cuffs which need to be adjusted every time the dress is worn.

The collar ruffle is a separate piece, simply a lenght of lace attached to a rectangular piece of dress fabric. It has two layers, the bottom one has lace on both the long edges and the top one on only the lower edge. The top layer is attached to the bottom one and it is gathered and positioned so that it creates the pouf layer when the collar is tied close. The hem flounces are done in a similar manner. The smaller lace frill and pouf are attached to the very hem of the dress and the wider flounce is attached higher on the hem.

The dress closes at the back with 5 hooks and thread loops and has a separate sash of blue and white gingham ribbon. I might change the ribbon later, I really couldn't find anything remotely similar to Vernet's original drawing so I went with the least offensive option. I also didn't attempt to make the shoes because I don't have any use for such weird colour boots outside the fashion plate project.

I bet you want to see the dress already?

Attempting an imitation of the fashion plate pose. I don't have the parasol and couldn't make my face to produce that smug smile that the lady in the Vernet drawing has...

It's so... frilly.

Silly, silly cap :)

Seemed like a perfect chance to pose with my faux-Chinese teacup.

The dress is very high-necked. I actually like it better with the collar on, this just looks a bit odd...

Closeup of the hem.

A new chemisette

Two posts in one week, what's come over me?

I made this chemisette earlier this autumn but haven't got around writing about it. It's very similar to the other chemisette I have but I chose to make a double gathered collar rather than a pleated one and I also played a little with the pleating on the front pieces. The fabric is silk-viscose blend and very nice to sew. Everything is handsewn and the pattern came from Janet Arnold's book, I think.

Busy

... hence no posts for a long time! I'm working on stuff, I swear. I've been busy with work, dance training and other dance related stuff. My ceili team is going to the Mainland Europe qualifiers this weekend and I'm also doing solos there so it's been a very dance-filled autumn. I also had the team dresses (8 of them all together) over at my place for a quick makeover because the original seamstress had no time to finish them... Also, I'm working full time with my PhD. dissertation and did I mention the dancing already? :)

But. The Vernet dress. I'm fairly confident I can finish it in time for the December deadline because everything is cut and nearly sewn and I just need to assemble everything. The hem looks like this at the moment, though minus the pins, because I did sew the first bubble-frill on after taking the photo.

Because I apparently can't write a coherent post concentrating on just one topic, here's another random post on shoes. Take a look at these beauties that I got recently:

I fell in love with them earlier this year and have been hunting for a good deal for them as their regular price was a bit too steep for my taste. As luck would have it, I found one and got the shoes. They're super comfortable, ridiculously pretty and pink. What more could you ask?

Update on the Vernet project and other random Regency stuff

I've been insanely busy since the last post in early September with work and travelling and playing tunes and dancing and more dancing and... so there's not much to post. However, I have made a little progress on the Vernet project dress and I'm fairly confident  that I get the whole thing done by the deadline which is set in early December.

I have all the bigger pieces sewn up and the next thing would be to sew them together and add the frills. I still need to order cotton organdy for backing the bits in the dress decoration that need a bit more body to keep the intended shape. Other than that, the dress in my Vernet fashion plate is pretty unfussy and I've luckily made the hat already, so everything is chugging along nicely. A couple of photos below of the bodice I put on today to ascertain the fit and pin the bust darts:

I didn't iron the seams and the whole thing is just pinned on, hence the wonkiness.

This might be the plainest bodice ever. It has a certain strait jackety air.

I recently managed to find some Regencyesque accessories from normal, high street shops so I thought to share.

There's this paisley shawl, not exactly a period pattern, but close enough and I like the colours and the price was ok. Of course there are several places online where to find these too.

The shawl measures ca. 70cm x 220cm

The reverse side

I found these shoes when I was in Bath for the Jane Austen Festival in September. I don't really follow fashion trends that much but apparently this style has been a summer hit or something because there were several variations of this style on the reduced price shelf. These shoes have a zipper at the back, but I'm going to cover that up with a bit of tape since the front lacing is functional and I can put the shoes on by opening the laces.