Red chemise gown: Inspirations

On a crisp day in early fall, I was wandering through my local Fabricland when I happened upon the most wonderful bolt of red cotton voile in the bargain discount room. While red was a very unsuitable colour for any kind of chemise/shift undergarment sort of thing, it was still the perfect weight for something else: that perfectly scandalous upscaled outer-garment cousin to the chemise, the Chemise Gown!

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More specifically, the idea of metres upon metres of red voile made me think of a pretty red 1791 gown featured in Hansen's Costume Cavalcade (which I swear was one of my favourite books when I was a kid). Some wonderful costumers on the 18th Century Sewing facebook page directed me to the original after which the illustration in the book was based. Here it is, the original fashion plate:


Journal de la Mode et du Go(u)t, 25 décembre, 1791-13ème cahier,
 in the collection of the Rijksmuseum.
 Displayed in glorious detail here, on their website.



The original source1 description of the gown:
"The coiffures en cheveux [hairstyles without a hat or pouf], having been for some time neglected, have returned more stylish than ever. Here is one in the new taste. It is formed all in large curls, and is trimmed with a garland of poppies. Gold earrings, totally round. Necklace made of a nakara [a shade of red] ribbon.

Kerchief of gauze or linen batiste, as you like, all plain.

Chemise gown, a la Coblentz, of nakara satin, trimmed along the bottom and on the amadis sleeves with black satin. We observe again, in passing, that the color of the gown is very striking in fabric, and one must not judge it by the illustration which necessarily renders it dead.

White gloves. Nakara shoes trimmed with black satin."
(Translation by Cassidy Percoco)

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My cotton voile will obviously have to stand in for satin, which I don't have. I'll be writing updates on the progress made on this dress in later posts!



1 18th Century Sewing group also alerted me to the fact that you can also access the full magazine it came from (with the original French text) digitally, through Gallica BNF- the full magazine makes an interesting read too- there are book/theatre reviews, small anecdotes and even sheet music in some of these editions!

A Châtelaine: HSM Challenge #1

 Challenge: Procrastination. I started this in the summer- and I finished it only about a week ago (ok, I guess not so bad, but still...).

Material: Metal (mostly brass with some gold-covered parts, I think)- more specifically, two old buttons, chain, some wire and some small metal bits for attaching pieces of jewellery to one another.

Period: Late 18th century/early 19th century

How historically accurate is it? I made it mostly to look good. While the design is inspired by one that I saw in a museum (see below), it's not particularly historically accurate. I used jewellery bits I already had, or could easily buy at the nearest beading store, and I have no actual metallurgy skills (that belt hook in the inspiration piece, pictured below, would certainly take metal forging skills, not to mention everything else). The accessories I have hanging on it aren't particularly historically accurate either, but are my very modern approximations of accessories someone could hang on one of these.

Hours to complete: About 4 or less for the actual assembly of the piece (figuring it out and trying to find parts was much longer, hence the procrastination)

First worn: January 10th, at Montgomery's Inn for the Twelfth Night Ball. Just saying though, these things are awesome (and convenient if you haven't got pockets) but are a heck to position right so they don't tangle as you walk!

Total cost: about $7 (Can.)

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The inspiration for this piece came from a wonderful little section in the European design gallery at the ROM which focussed on 18th century ladies' accessories. Although I don't have a photo of the entire set-up they had, I was able to take a photo of the châtelaine itself:

18th century châtelaine, in the collection of the Royal Ontario Museum.

Unfortunately I don't think there are actually any good photos online of this artefact,
 and this was the best pic I could get with my camera

I decided to copy the general shape of this one (as well as the metal tongue- mine's just basically some twisted wire, but that part goes under the waistband and no one sees it, so it's ok). I also found the metal tassels a really cute detail. This detail appears on other châtelaines as well, like this gorgeous one in the Museum of London:

Gold Châtelaine, 18th century. Museum of London.
Picture source: http://www.museumoflondonprints.com/image/141871/tawney-gold-chatelaine-and-case-watch-18th-century