The Paradise

Just finished Netflix binge watching The Paradise.

Credit for the photo and info on the show here.

I liked it.  The show features the above girl, Denise as she leaves her small town to work in a large department store (a new concept in the 1870’s). There were some interesting plot lines and some cool characters but we all know why I watched it…costumes!  Some were really pretty and to my eye, good theatrical representations of what might have been worn.  I did have trouble with Miss Glendenning.  Some of her dresses in season one…they were often white with extremely strong contrasting colors in them.

Link to photo origin here.

They were so strong that it seemed like modern polyester material.  It probably was modern polyester but it shouldn’t have looked like it!  I also had some issues with the actress-seemed too old for the part of a young heiress in the 1870’s looking for a husband (in season one).  They married her off in season two and that suited better.

 

Not really into the roaring 20’s but I love shiny!

I took some photos of non-Victorian dresses at the Costume Museum of Canada’s little black dress exhibit because they were shiny.  That is all.  No other reason.  Shiny is pretty!

This dress was dated 1922

Every inch of it was sequence!

This dress was dated 1922-24

Close up of the 22-24 dress.

So much work went into that!  Love it.

Dress done…now hat tomorrow?

I finally settled on how I will finish my over skirt and kept it moderate.  I decided that I can’t find that delicate line between wonderfully ostentatious and bat crap crazy.  I am a middle aged woman so there really is no reason why I couldn’t err on the side of conservative…if you can call purple floral print conservative. I went with the lace on the front.

And I managed to squeeze enough out of the lace to make a decent coverage of the ties in the back.

And the lace shows up nicely on the sides too.

Too young

My cabinet card collection has many photographs of folks that I assume to be married and they appear to be May/December kind of relationships.  In this card, the couple seems to be closer in age but seriously too young to be married.  They look to be in their late teens.  Gads!  I love Victorian dresses but some of their life style features are a bit much!

With the bangs and the big sleeves, I put this rather plain dress in the late 80’s or early 90’s.

1910 Lace gown

I give you a quicky post of a Costume Museum of Canada dress dated 1910.  I think these photos are a couple of years old…I just hadn’t gotten around to posting them.

I am dressing the mannequin but I don’t remember what the event was.

Dressed, but I wish we had some sort of corset cover and petticoat for it.

Inserts galore. If I were to make an Edwardian dress, this is the direction I would go.

More is more?

I finished the over skirt for Lilac Dream.

Now is the time to decide what, if any, trim will be added to the over skirt.

At first I liked it with nothing but I rather like the lace. With some fancy foot work I can get a lot of the ties done with the same lace.

In the modern world, less is more, but in the 1870’s they seemed to live by a MORE is more philosophy. So let’s try more. I made a pile of bows and still have 3 left. Hmmm.  That doesn’t seem quite right. Asymmetry bothers my modern mind.Nope.  Not the asymmetry that is off.Nope.

Let us try the more is more theory again.I don’t hate it…more?

Gads! I don’t know!  I think I need to walk away from it for a bit and let it marinate in my mind for a bit.

There is also the issue of the contrasting side panels that I am having a love/hate relationship with.  I have to love them…they are there because I ran out of the floral fabric. Maybe they need something…more….

Challenge #2: Blue

Sorry for the lousy photo. The lighting sucked. This was the best angle in my little room. Also, this is very plain but I may add some trim once the bodice and over skirt are done. Hopefully, by that point, I will have a name for this new outfit for the mantle.

What the item is: under skirt.  A dull under skirt.  Very utilitarian! It was made to fit the challenge and to go with the mantle I made two years ago and haven’t worn yet. 

The Challenge: #2 blueFabric: cotton

Pattern: TV 201

Year: 1870’s

Notions: 2 buttons for closures.

How historically accurate is it? I’d guess about 90%. The buttons are modern and I can only guess if the weight, weave and dyes are correct.

Hours to complete: 10-mostly hemming. It is a very easy pattern to whip up.

First worn: not yet

Total cost: @$10

It doesn’t look to bad with the purple bodice.  Options.