Saturday, December 18, 2010

19th Century Me






I don't have long to post this morning as we are on our way to church. However, I promised that I would get these up and I couldn't finish them last night. I was asked to do a fashion show for my quilting group on Thursday so I was able to wear my newly finished and trimmed dress, as well as my new petticoat and drawers. I will post pictures of those a little later when I have the buttons and buttonholes finished. The dress is complete with white collar and cuffs which were a necessity as those were what was taken off and washed. I was also able to find some silk ribbon to trim the sleeve jockeys and tie at my neck. The belt is black ribbon through a reproduction buckle, strictly a fashion statement and not functional. Many dresses were accessorized with belts during the time to emphasize a lady's waist. With a functional cotton dress such as mine they would have only been in black or brown. The other colors would have been used with a very fine cotton, such as a sheer, silks, or wools. I absolutely love this dress and even wore it to our church Christmas party in the evening - even cooking and serving in it. It is completely comfortable, corset and everything, and once I got used to the width of the hoop in the kitchen, I had no trouble at all.
My hair is done in the correct style as well. A Y part towards the back, sides twisted, and the back put up in a chignon at the neck. No, it isn't all my hair, the bun is made from a false switch, braided and then attached. This was only my second attempt at doing my hair this way so I'm quite please with how it turned out.

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