May: Specific to a Time [of Day or Year]

May's challenge originally gave me pause, since making some form of evening wear was the obvious path to take, but I didn't want to spend money on silk right after completing a challenge with silk. It didn't take long to figure out an alternate plan though! Instead of focusing on a time of day, I instead thought about the times of year, and here in the tidewater part of Virginia, summer immediately springs to mind. For those of you who haven't visited south-eastern Virginia in the summer (or spring or fall or sometimes winter), it is very warm and extremely humid. I'm almost always cold, so I like the heat, but the humidity can be pretty rough some days.

This problem isn't new at all. In the 18th century the weather was much the same, and people in colonial Virginia were looking for ways to cope. We have a great letter written by a traveler in the 1730's, telling friends back in England what to expect from a Virginia summer: "In summertime even the gentry go many in white Holland [linen] waistcoats and drawers and a thin cap on their heads and thread stockings. The ladies stright-laced in thin silk or linen. In winter [they dress] mostly as in England and affect London dress and ways." For a Virginia society that was often considered to be 'more English than anyone in England', 18th century Virginians were willing to deviate from their standard dress to be comfortable in the heat, and they did so in a way that stood out to those who visited them.

White linen is by far the easiest way to stay cool in the summer; it's breathable, doesn't trap the heat, and can cover your skin to prevent sunburn. So, I made a new linen gown to wear this summer! It's an unlined round gown, which means that there is only one layer and no extra petticoats required, for maximum coolness in the summer. I've worn it to work a few times already, and I can attest that it is indeed very comfortable on days when it's over 90 degrees out. Happy beginning of the summer season everyone!

April: Buttons and Fastenings

April's challenge was buttons and fastenings, and at first I was completely stumped by that prompt! Ladies' clothing in the 18th century doesn't have cool fastenings, or at least not ones that are both functional and pretty! I contemplated sewing a riding habit, and making death's head buttons to go on it, but I don't really need another riding habit, or anything else with buttons. I started looking at different extant garments in online collections, and kept finding myself drawn to yellow silk jackets and gowns - then inspiration struck! I could make a yellow silk jacket with a stomacher, which functions as the fastener, since it keeps the jacket closed.

The stomacher goes on first, pinned to the stays, and then the jacket pins closed to the edges

 I quickly realized that I could expand this project. After all, one of the things that I'm most passionate about is self expression through historical fashions, and this was a great interpretive opportunity. If I added black bows to the stomacher and paired it with a black petticoat, I could talk about how fashion is interpreted in both the 18th and the 21st century, and hopefully draw parallels between the two.

In the 18th century, after the American Revolution, black was often seen as a color that showed support for the new American government. We may wear red, white, and blue to be patriotic today, but black would have also been recognized as a patriotic color in the late 1770's through the 1790's. So, in the 18th century, my black petticoat shows that I am most definitely not a loyalist!

It's only fitting that I began this project while watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs!

In the 21st century, my outfit can be interpreted a little differently. Specific colors and color pairings in clothing today often represent support for a specific team or school, and I wanted my new jacket and petticoat to do that too. Even though I live in Virginia now, I was born and raised in Pennsylvania, and all of Pittsburgh's teams have the same color scheme: black and yellow (gold). As someone who loves hockey, I can dress like a bumblebee to show my support for the Penguins!

The entire outfit is silk, and the jacket is lined with linen. I won't be able to wear it every day at work, although I should be able to wear it on days at the Capitol or the Palace, when I can be a little bit fancier. I was very fortunate however to be presented with an opportunity to wear my new ensemble almost right away! Colonial Williamsburg hosts a spring garden party every year that is an incredible event, and one of my friends invited me to go with her! I finished my jacket and petticoat in time, and also helped two of my friends pattern and sew new gowns to wear as well!

I even got to wear a wig to the party! And it had a bird in it!

The garden party was wonderful, and the fireworks at the end were fantastic!

For the actual construction of the garments, I didn't do anything too fancy. I leaned pretty heavily on the J. P. Ryan Ladies' Jacket pattern, as well as a few extant garments in the V&A and the Met in order to draft my pattern, and simply added bows to the stomacher. I did have to hem all of the ribbon by hand, as you simply can't find good, wide, taffeta ribbon anymore, even though it was available in the 18th century.

The ribbons decreased in size as they went down the stomacher, which looks great, but takes some planning!

The petticoat was also pretty simple, I sewed a standard petticoat and then added ribbon I had cut from the same silk, with the edges pinked, and then gathered.

April was such a nice month that I could sew outside most days!

Pinked and gathered trim...

...courtesy of my awesome pinking shears!

 I was delighted to meet a few people at the Garden Party who recognized my outfit's nod to Pennsylvania, and it was a lot of fun to dive in to discussions about the evolution of color and self expression over the last 250 years of fashion!

Talking about fashion history while sewing at work is obviously one of my favorite things!

I am eventually planning to sew some matching garters for this ensemble, but until then I will simply say... Let's go Pens!

March: Comfort at Home

This post is late because I haven't been able to get any good photos of my project yet... as soon as I get better ones I will update this!

For March, the challenge was "Comfort at Home", and as someone who almost always wears historical clothing in front of other people out in public, I was initially stumped. However, it only took a little brainstorming for me to realize that I wanted a banyan! I've always been a fan of wearing sweatshirts, bathrobes, etc. around the house, and a banyan is just the 18th century version of those things, so it would be a prefect project for me.

After a big sale this summer, I had a lot of pink flowered fabric in my stash, but after sewing a jacket with an almost identical fabric (I'll post that as soon as I have pictures taken), I was kind of sick of the pattern, and didn't want to wear it on a gown or anything like that. So, it was perfect to use for the banyan, since it would be easy enough to re-cut as a gown if I ever changed my mind about the banyan or the fabric.

Simple shapes make cutting many 18th century garments easy

It was easy enough to make; I worked off of the pattern in Fitting and Proper, and altered it for my own height. Banyans are essentially rectangles with rectangles for the sleeves, and they flare out slightly at the bottom. There are pleats at the back of the neckline, which I might tack down the back at some point in the future to give it a more fitted look, depending on if I ever use it for anything outside of the home.

I've worn it around my home, and I also wore it during a sewing circle evening with some friends - it was definitely a much needed accessory for me!

A reaction to dramatic information being revealed in such a historical manner!