Recently, my husband and I were lucky enough to take a two week trip to England and Paris. Even better, I was able to visit my dear friend Megan and we enjoyed a day of dress up at a nearby English country estate,
Kedleston Hall, followed by tea and gambling at Megan’s. We were joined by Megan’s mom and a couple of her local friends.
The back of Kedleston Hall. You may recognize this from
The Duchess.
Kedleston Hall is a beautiful example of 18th century Palladian architecture. The house and interiors are gorgeous, but I loved the grounds even more. The back of the house features a pleasure garden (a "pretty sort of wilderness" came to mind) surrounded by feilds of sheep. Yeah, I could live there.
I managed to finish my new pink striped polonaise jacket in time for the trip. I was excited to have a new outfit to wear in England, but I completely underestimated the English weather. I guess after attending so many 18
th century events in the hot Virginia summer, I’ve been conditioned to make light summery outfits. But it was decidedly not summery in England! I would have frozen to death, but Megan was kind enough to loan me a cloak, faux fur muff, and extra petticoat. Also, we were very lucky that our day out was one of about four sunny days we had on the whole trip.
My husband doesn’t dress up, but he was such a good sport. He played photographer for the day (putting up with my bossy instructions), and carried my cloak. He even joined in the tea and gambling later, although he lost nearly our whole estate. ;)
The ever-lovely Megan and I admiring the cascade and sheep.
I’ll share more construction details later, but for now I’m wearing a cotton polonaise jacket with matching petticoat trimmed in white cotton voile. Also, I’m wearing a new cotton cap, my blue silk shoes, and a straw hat trimmed in teal silk taffeta. There are a few bodice wrinkles as usual (can’t seem to win despite days of patterning), but overall I’m happy with the finished outfit.
Posted:
5/14/2012 5:10:24 PM by
Aubry | with
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Last weekened I had the pleasure of attending an Edwardian dinner party. It was such a wonderful trip that I don’t know where to begin. Imagine a road trip with good friends, lots of last minute sewing and party prep, and finally an amazing 13 course meal surrounded by old and new friends. It will definitely be a highlight of my costuming life!
Jenny-Rose and her parents were gracious and welcoming hosts, not to mention fabulous chefs! I was thoroughly impressed with everything from the decorations to the servants, but I think the best part for me was the attention paid to the vegetarian options. You could really tell they put an effort into making the meat alternatives delicious and of the same caliber as the rest of the food. It was so refreshing not to have veggie pasta. ;P
My dress was a blast to wear. It was elegant and comfortable and so very me. The only problem is that it was slightly too big (as usual) and the shoulder straps slipped a little, but that won’t stop me from wearing it again!
Posted:
4/13/2012 12:08:45 PM by
Aubry | with
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Now that I'm finished with my Titanic dinner outfits, I can focus on my next project - a pink striped polonaise jacket from the 1780s.
When my husband and I are in England next month, I have the opportunity to play dress up with a good costume friend. We decided on 18th century (being my current obsession) and obviously, I had nothing in my closet to wear. ;) I wanted something lightweight and easy to pack, so I settled on yet another jacket and petticoat combination. To challenge myself, I decided to try my hand at a "true" polonaise jacket, where the front over bodice cuts away from the body with no waist seam.
My main inspiration was this gorgeous jacket and petticoat combination:
Dress, ca 1785 France, Musee Galliera via
Old Rags
I love the tabbed front, the trimming, the cuffs and the stripes! So lovely!
I also love the skirt length on this jacket:
I'm using a really pretty pink, red, and white striped cotton lawn for my main fabric and for trimming I'm going to use white cotton voile. I love the light, fluffy trimmings you see so often in the late 1770s/early 1780s.
So far, I've made the petticoat, patterned the jacket and started construction.
Posted:
3/30/2012 5:43:39 PM by
Aubry | with
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Because one costume is never enough! There will be an Absinthe Afterparty following the Titanic dinner I'm attending in a little over a week, and of course, that means I need a second change of clothes. My original thought was to wear my
Aesthetic dress, but as comfortable as that dress is, I wanted something even more snuggly. Most days I'm bundled up in a "old man" sweater (as my husband says), so my idea of lounge wear is distinctly warm. The perfect soulution? A silk velvet robe!
I started with 3 yards of silk velvet I had in the stash. I bought this velvet back in 2004 (eeep!) when I was determined to make Arwen's Coronation gown from
Return of the King. I dyed it the perfect shade of yellow spring green to match the movie, only to quickly realize that is a horrible color on me! The fabric then sat in the stash for nearly 8 years. I always had good intentions of overdying it and using it, but it took quite a while for the right project to come along.
To line the robe, I bought a printed silk/cotton blend from Thai Silks. Its really lovely stuff - lightweight, drapey and soft. It would make a fantastic blouse, if only I had bought more! I was worried that my washing machine dye job (one packet of turquiose dye) wouldn't match the print, but thankfully they coordinate nicely.
The pattern is also something I've had in the stash for ages. I bought it with the intentions of making a robe to wear around the house, but that was another project idea that took a long time to germinate. Its from the mid twenties, a good ten years too late for the Titanic, but the shape is so basic, it really didn't matter.
To wear under the robe I made a simple greek-style chiton-thingy, for lack of a better word. Its basically a tube tacked at the shoulders made from aqua silk charmeuse and chiffon. It's so unimpressive, that I didnt even take a picture. But it is comfortable and looks nice under the robe. For accessories, I will be wearing an amethyst glass and silver necklace (pictured) and a beaded double bandeau in my hair. I look like an extra from a production of A Midsummer Night's Dream, and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. ;)
Posted:
3/29/2012 10:57:09 AM by
Aubry | with
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In between working on my Titanic stuff, I also made two new spring/summer dresses. Every year around this time I get the itch to make some pretty new warm weather clothes, and despite the fact that I already have a closet full of dresses in this style, I couldnt help making two more. Plus, I plan to wear these on an upcoming England/Paris trip and I cant resist making a new outfit for vacation. :)
The first dress is a gorgeous butterfly print silk crepe. I made a circle skirt from this fabric back in 2007, and with very careful cutting, I had just enough fabric to squeeze out this dress. I can tell this will get a lot of wear; the skirt sure did! The second dress is a simple cotton floral print, piped with some teal linen for added interest. Both dresses are lined in cotton lawn.
Posted:
3/26/2012 12:40:09 PM by
Aubry | with
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