Happy New Year: 1826 and 1926 Dress Designs

 I do enjoy the difference that a century can make in clothing styles. Here's where we were 100 years ago:

Summer 1926 day dress, House of Paquin. From VAM.

And to the folks of 1926, this style was just as old as their clothing is to us:

Promenade Dress from Ackerman's Repository, January 1826. From LACMA.

It's interesting to reflect on these styles side-by-side. Both eras are playing around with waist-placement: the 1920s have dropped it to an all-time low near the hip, while the 1820s are also moving low(er) from decades of all-time-high waistlines under the bust. They're also at different stages of a major silhouette shift: Empire style of the late 1790s-1810s, like the "flapper" style of the late 1910s-1920s, are remembered as looser, shorter, and simpler styles which directly respond to (and reject) the more elaborate, structured, and formal designs of, respectively, the Ancien Regime and the pre-War/Edwardian period. But our 1926 dress is barely a ten years into its fashion revolution and shows that style in its full development, the 1826 one is nearly three decades into its silhouette, and the metaphorical pendulum is starting to swing back the other way. While the fur muff obscures the lowering waistline (which is creeping back towards the natural waist, allowing for structured bodices to make their return), we're also seeing more visual weight through the shoulders created by the double row of vandykes, as well as a wider, more bell-like skirt, stiffened by its wide fur hem. The trajectory is clear: Empress Josephine is out, and Empress Eugenie's on the (distant) horizon. 

2025 Costuming Year in Review

It's time to see how I did this year.

• Projects finished one week before the event. Helpful with triaging projects, and mostly adhered to.
• Finish the chemises and drawers in my WIP basket. Yes. Didn't post them though. And I found a few more cut-out pieces that weren't in the to-sew basket.
• Green plaid 1850s dress. Was able to wear it this summer as planned, though late in posting it. 
• Red wool 1850s basque ensemble. Got it done by Christmas Regale, though not Candlelight.
• Shoes for 1850s wear. And some red plaid side-lacing gaiters. And remade the green/purple plaid gaiters.
• Dotted swiss undersleeves.
• 1850s Nightgown. 
• Wrap Cape. 
•  Linen divided skirt.

Draft Folder: 100. Mission accomplished!

Stretch Goals

• A bloomer costume for Nelly. Turned out to be very quick once I got all the pieces into my workbag.
• 18th century peignoir
• 1850s tucked petticoat 
• 16th century wool gown and kirtle; 14th century wool cotte and surcotte

I also finished some presents this year: warm undersleeves, several different styles of muffatees. 

In the not-planned-before-January projects list, there's also two doll dresses (Harriet's early Victorian dress and Nelly's late Victorian one); storage for my period flatware; a shoe-making tool roll and a hand-bound copy of Every Lady Her Own Shoemaker; an 1850s collar and matching cuffs; and new pair of knit undersleeves.

From the In-Progress basket, I bound the c.1901 corset which I'd originally made for an event in 2023. I also finally finished the tablet-woven girdle that's been on my box loom for a few years. 

Corset, c.1901

Another old project which never got posted; I made this corset for wearing with my linen traveling suit for an event in June 2023. I ended up wearing it with the edges raw, and then it spent another two years in my to-do basket before the binding got added.

Nothing like a photo to reveal the last few threads that need snipping.

 

I used the same material and hardware as for the 1870s and 1890s corsets: busk and 1/4" spring steels from Wawak, second-favorite coutil from I-forget-which supplier (might have been from Renaissance Fabrics). The pattern is one that was custom-drafted for me by Marie of The Fitting Room, right before everything shut down back in 2020. It's based on the corset design of c.1901 on page 84 of Nora Wraugh's Corsets and Crinolines. 

I was looking for a corset that I could use for as much of the 1890s-1910s as possible (since I don't do enough events from that time to get multiple specific corsets), and while it's not really a substitute for the longer-lined corsets c.1910, it is much easier for me to put on than one of those would be, while also being closer to the desired shape than any of my earlier corsets. 

Dotted Swiss Puffed Undersleeves, c.1858

Puffed undersleeves.

One of the last items out of the "to do" basket for this year: the puffed undersleeves I started for a long-cancelled workshop back in January 2020. At the time, I recall working from one of those small magazine illustrations, excited to find one made from Swiss dot, which I had on hand. 

Possible inspiration, Peterson's Feb 1858.

Unfortunately, I didn't seem to save illustration I'd used back then. I think it was the one above, from Peterson's Feb 1858, though I don't recall that second ruffle between the two lower puffs (nor do I can for it). Another similar Swiss dot sleeve, but with only two puffs and an extra bow appears in Godey's April 1859, though the one I used definitely had three.  

Working from an illustration only, I made up my own pattern. I decided to try using three rectangles: a base piece (width desired for upper arm by length of finished sleeve), a ruffle (2" by 1.5 times finished wrist measure), and a piece for the three puffs (about 6" wider than the base piece and 3/4 it's length). I started by closing each rectangle into a tube (running and felling the seam), then hemmed the upper edge of the base sleeve and the lower edge of the ruffle. I folded down the upper seam allowance of the puff, and then did rows of running stitches for gathering along the raw edges of the base and ruffle, as well as the upper and lower edges of the puff piece and two rows dividing it into thirds. From there, I pinned the puff to the base, then stitched all three pieces together at the wrist. Working up from the wrist, I gathered the puffs to the desired size and tacked them to the base along each of the three lines of gathers. 

I like the final effect, but am at a loss for how to iron the sleeve. More experiments are clearly in the future. 

December Mending

December was pretty busy with Christmas living history events and making presents, but I found time for some mending tasks which came up.

My long-suffering apron.

I pulled a few inches of gathering out of my print apron late in November, but re-stitched it all while waiting for a car repair appointment. Timely, now that I'm back in the Nisqually kitchen about once a month.

I also managed to tear a seam on my gray mantle, but it was a quick repair when I got home from carolling.

Small, easy to stitch, and no damage done to the fabric!

 Last item added to the pile are my red stockings, but those will have to wait until January.

Resource: Royal School of Needlework Stitch

Computer troubles have stymied my usual 'blog all 12 days of Christmas' plan, but I did find a fun new resource to share: The Royal School of Needlework's online Stitch Bank. They have a written description of each embroidery stitch, with step-by-step photographs and video of how to do it. I really enjoyed the tagging system (covering both the type of stitchand its uses), which allowed me to browse through all the early modern blackwork options.

Merry Christmas

 

The Christmas Tree, in The Children's Treasure, December 1, 1873.