#6: Book Recommendation

This is a book that I have discussed before, so I'll be brief...well, maybe not. I can't say enough good things about this book.

I purchased the Dressmaker's Guide by Elizabeth Stewart Clark about 3 or 4 years ago. It is PACKED with dressmaking knowledge, specifically between 1840-1865. It contains practical ideas on how to draft your own undergarments and dresses from scratch, so that they work perfectly for you. Mrs. Clark also includes some tips and tricks for how to either make garments last longer, how to make them more personalized for your preferences, and some money saving ideas.

My favorite chapter is the one on bodice drafting; she teaches you how to draft a basic bodice, and then after that is instructions with every bodice style under the sun that is derived from that pattern. Same with sleeves! While this time frame isn't very long, it's given me some great tools that encompass all of the Victorian era and beyond. 

This book is perfect if you are a Civil war reenactor, or do pioneer treks. This is really geared towards functional practicality; most of the content leans towards how to represent the general population in that era. While the bodice styles and sleeves can be adapted for higher fashion, she doesn't go into as great a depth on that subject in regards to dress trimming, but the base patterns are usable for any social status.

Mrs. Clark's other free resources, including the Sewing Academy forum, are must-haves for any reenactor!

Birthday Gifts, and Other Stuff

My 17th birthday was last week, and all kinds of good things happened!

Let me just say, my family knows me well.....

It's a good thing I got these, because I considered checking them out from the library and reporting them 'lost'.....

Camille bought me this beautiful brooch; it's called a micro-mosaic. They are period, but I'm afraid to say that silver was not particularly popular during the mid 19th-century. No matter; there's no way I'm not wearing this beauty with my white dress!

My parents totally surprised me by taking me to the Idaho Shakespeare Festival. It isn't really a festival, and not all of it is actually Shakespeare, but they put on amazing musicals in an outdoor amphitheater. It was really neat, and I was completely surprised. Especially when we got lost and ended up in a neighborhood on the edge of the desert, and I still didn't know where we were going.

Unfortunately, pictures during the performance were prohibited, but the singing in particular was phenomonal. And yes, we saw the Secret Garden. In comparison with the book, not my favorite rendition as they chose to focus more on the father and his grief in his deceased wife than between Mary and Colin in the garden, but still very enjoyable.

And....look what finally arrived! It took a little under two weeks.

It looks like a small amount all folded up, but it is beautiful! I started on the bonnet right away, which is made of the turquoise. Out of the two fabrics, the turquoise is my favorite. Photos don't do it justice, because it has a greenish-iridescence I wasn't expecting. It's quite a bit darker than in the pictures. The red doesn't have that same quality. 

The texture also wasn't what I was expecting; it isn't quite as slippery as I thought it would be. Then again, I've only worked with polyester stuff, which is terrible in that respect. On the fabric website, which is http://bangkokthaisilk.com/, they mention to order extra fabric to allow for some error in the fabric. I didn't think much of it, but there are a couple flaws. Not purposeful, like in dupioni, and they don't show very well. I would never avoid ordering from them again, and I don't plan on cutting around them because of how small they are. It's a little above my finger, in between the stitching lines, which are the casings for the boning in the bonnet.

Last thought: it doesn't fray nearly as much as dupioni. That is what it's lined with, and it's driving me crazy. Touch it, and it frays.

American Victorian Costume in Early Photographs, by Priscilla Harris Dalrymple

This book is an awesome resource for CDV's, beginning in the 1840's and going up through the 1890's. The pictures are really great, with equal amounts of men, women, and children photo's. I was very surprised to see that some of the pictures are very sweet; it gives a very real sense that people did actually have lives back then.  And all of the kids were so cute! Most of the kids actually smiled.

English Women's Clothing in the Nineteenth Century, by C. Willet Cunnington

This book is by far my absolute favorite for historical research; really interesting to read, including insight as to the mentality of the women in each decade throughout the 1800's.
Very detailed in everything; undergarments, hairstyles, fashion plates, popular colors, even popular trim in each section of the Victorian era. I love exactly how detailed it is about everything; it gives descriptions of different kinds of dresses, year by year, with a larger explanation every ten years to give a broader view.
The fashion plates are my favorite; I could look through this book all day! I really would love to own it sometime.