Sisi's Gala Gown Research

I remember when I first saw the famous portrait of Empress Elisabeth of Austria, better known as Sisi. It was a stock photo used in a picture frame my mom bought for me. I had originally planned to put a picture of my own in it, but I loved the picture that was in it already and never changed it. It sat on my desk for years before I finally took it down and put the frame in storage.

The dress she wears in the portrait quickly went on my mental bucket list of costumes I wanted to one day make when I had the skill. That stock photo lead to my interest in Sisi, and she remains one of the most fascinating historical figures to me. She had such an interesting life that ended tragically with her murder in 1898. There's a wonderful German musical about her life called Elisabeth Das Musical. If you speak German or don't mind looking up translations, I highly recommend listening to it.

The famous painting of Empress Elisabeth (Sisi) by Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1865)

Back to the portrait, or rather the dress. After Costume College last year I got it into my head that this dress would make a perfect Gala gown. However, I wasn't able to attend this year and I didn't start the dress. After CoCo ended this year I heard that next years theme is Dressing the Royals. Could the timing be any more perfect?

I'm not sure if I'll be able to attend CoCo next year, as I have a lot going on the next several months and am not sure if it will work out schedule wise or financially, but I've decided to take the first steps in creating this dress starting with the research.

Winterhalter's sketch for the famous star dress portrait of Sisi

This has been a difficult dress to research, because the portrait is the only real reference there is for the dress and there's a lot of unknowns. But here's what I do know:

• The dress was worn in 1865 to a gala event (though I still can't find out what gala event it was)
• The dress was designed and made by Charles Worth
• The dress was likely only worn once and is no long extant (existing)

That's not a lot to go on.

I've been asking around on some costuming groups and here's what I found:

• The gold "stars" were likely embroidered of gold thread
• Worth was a big fan of tulle, so there's likely tons and tons of silk tulle in this dress

There have been various reproductions of this dress, from the German musical I mentioned early to the 1955 movie titled "Sissi". This dress also served as inspiration for one of Christine Daae's iconic dresses in the film version of The Phantom of the Opera (2004)

Left, Elisabeth Das Musical; Middle Sissi (1955); RightThe Phantom of the Opera (2004)

I was chatting with my friend Michaela about this dress, she knows a lot more about 1860's fashion than I do, and we were talking about the color of the gown. The painting is likely romanticized in a lot of the details, one of which is the color. The lighting in the painting is very warm and makes the dress look like an off white/cream color, but in the 1860's white gowns were just that, white. Crisp white.

I decided that I really like the romanticized version of the dress, so I've decided that when I do make it I will make it to look more like the painting than what the actual dress would have looked like. The colors will be an off white and because I don't want to spend the next eight years of my life on embroidery, I want to look for either,

1) tulle with a gold pattern already printed on it or a bead type embellishment

or 2) find some sort of bead type embellishment and stitch it on myself. I don't mind sewing something on, but I'm not going to embroidery 20 yards of tulle. That sounds like a nightmare.

Although this project is dependent on a lot of things coming together in my life right now, I'm very exited to be starting the beginning phases of research.

Look, I made a thing!

It feels like forever since I actually made something! Other than mock ups I haven't actually made anything in a couple of months. And I made it just in time for the 3rd HSM challenge, YAY!

This last week I've been sick but I was feeling good enough to sew over the weekend. I was working on the mock up for my 1871 dress and I decided that I would need something to add some modesty to the low neckline.

In my research I've noticed that this type of thing wasn't a huge fashion fad at the time, but I was seeing similar things, coverings for the low necklines (a lot of them, I suspect, were removable to so the dress could also be worn in the evening without having to make a whole new bodice).

I pulled out my old Simplicity 1818 pattern that I've had literally forever (it was one of the first patterns I ever bought) and dug through my pathetic excuse of a stash to find some fabric. Luckily I actually had fabric that would work and that I liked!

I had the hardest time with the collar. As usual, the instructions were making no sense to me and the only reason I figured it out at all was because of the pictures. And even those were tough to decipher. What's worse is that the pieces weren't even the correct size!  It ended up taking me till the next day to figure it out.

 

The Challenge: Stash Busting

Fabric: White cotton (I think were old sheets) and printed cotton

Pattern: Simplicity 1818, although I did deviate from the pattern just a little bit.

Year: Technically 1860's but I'll be using it for the early 1870's

Notions: Buttons and ribbon

How historically accurate is it? I really have no idea, but I'm just gonna say 60%

Hours to complete: Probably around 5? It took me forever to figure out the collar

First worn: Not yet, as soon as I finish my 1871 dress

Total cost: $0.00! Wahoo! I suppose if you were to buy it new it would cost around $10-15?

Costume Love | Going Green!

Happy Saint Patrick's Day everyone! Today I have a special Costume Love post filled with my favorite green costumes. I hope you enjoy and have a great Saint Patrick's Day!

One of my favorites, Tiana's wedding dress from the Princess and the frog. I love this dress, but I would want to make it most since I'm Tiana. Yes, I'm a Disney Princess ;)

Anna's coronation dress from Frozen. One of my all time favorite Disney costumes!

Jacqueline's green dress from Ever After. The costumes in this movie are amazing. If you haven't seen it already, go and watch it. Like right now.

I love this Rapunzel cosplay based off of the concept art! Some of the concept designs had some beautiful costumes in them and I would love to make some of them one day.

And on the historical side we have a beautiful green 1860's dress.

What are some of your favorite costume?

2014 Costume Recap & 2015 Costume Bucket List

Well, 2014 is almost over (I know, crazy right?) so I thought I'd do something I haven't done before. A year in review of all my costuming progress I've made this year and plans for 2015. Now, since I don't really have any specific events next year I'll probably just post a few items on my costume bucket list that I may decide to do. But I don't know what I'll actually get done.

2014 Accomplishments

The only costumes I completed 100% this year is my 1940's outfit and my 1870's undergarments.

  

Completed Costumes

I worked on and mostly completed my Obi Wan inspired Jedi outfit for May the 4th and my Rose Tyler Idiot's lantern costume. Unfortunately I don't have any pictures of my Jedi outfit yet.

In Progress costumes I started this year

I started the year off with the goal of finally making Padme's Packing Gown and made some progress, but never got past the mock up stages. I've sort of put that one back on the shelf for now, but maybe I'll get around to it next year. I've learned so much about pretty much everything this year that I know I'll be able to do a better job now than I would have been able to at the beginning of this year.

And last but not least, Christine Daae's Wishing Dress from The Phantom of the Opera. I've got the undergarments done and am currently working on the wig. I'll be starting on the mock ups for the skirt and the bodice as soon as that's finished.

This costume has me so excited because I love it so much, but also because it's helping me get into another side of costuming that I've wanted to go to since I started sewing. Historical Sewing. The only downer is that I don't have anywhere that I'll be able to wear the dress, but hopefully that will change between now and when it's finished.

This year I have learned so much about sewing and costumes and have been able to see a huge difference in my skills just between the last 12 months. I still have a long ways to go and a lot more to learn, but I'm so glad I am where I am today. It's taken a lot of hard work, a lot of research, a lot of frustration, and a lot of patience. But that's how all the good things are in life, right?

On with my goals for 2015!

I'm super excited to be participating in The Historical Sew Monthly challenge next year for the first time! The challenge use to be every two weeks, but this year she changed it to once a month, which is perfect for me!

I've wanted to do this challenge for a long time but never did it because I haven't done any historical sewing in the past. But I decided to get a little out side of my comfort zone and give it a go in 2015! So we'll see how it goes.

My friend Michaela is also doing it for the first time, so I'll have someone to go through it with. :D

As for more specific goals... 

1. In January I will finally be 18 which means I'll be able to finally join the Rebel Legion! YAY! My plan has been that I would finish the Packing Gown and use that as my entry, but seeing as I never got past the mock up I have to figure something else out. I've bee thinking about this for weeks and still haven't decided on what to do. I'll probably just finish my Jedi outfit, which mostly just needs a tone of snaps sew on, and to make the belt (which I have all the supplies for but just haven't got around to actually making yet). Other wise I think i might do Mara Jade, my favorite character from the EU.

I don't think it would take too long since I would buy most of it from the store, but it would just be kind of expensive because of the wig and the leather. But this is definitely a costume I want to make soon.

2. Finish the Wishing Dress. I'll definitely be working hard on this for the next several months.

3. Belle from Once Upon a Time. I have been in love with Belle's blue dress from OUAT since before I started watching the show. It's so simple and yet so pretty!

4. Elphaba's Defying Gravity dress from Wicked. I really love Wicked, and I really love Elphaba. I really like all of her costumes (especially her Act II dress) but would like to make her dress she wears when she and Glinda go to the Emerald city. It's very simple but is a fantastic costume!

For anyone who just has no idea who Elphaba is, she's the green one on the right.

5. One of Anna or Elsa's Dresses from Frozen. Okay, I've wanted to make one of their dresses since before the movie came out. I still haven't decided on which one I would make first, but maybe I'll get around to making one of them this year.

And on the historical side...

1. I would really like to make some more clothing from the 1930's and 40's. Those are my two favorite era's from the twentieth century and I would get to wear them to events at the Historic Flight Foundation.

2. I'm thinking about joining the my local Civil War Reenactment group this year. My only hesitation is that I'm the only one in my family that's interested and I don't know anyone here that's into reenacting. So I'd kinda be on my own and I don't think it would be as much fun.

But if I do end up joining I would need to make myself and 1860's day dress along with the proper underpinnings.

3. I really love the dresses from the Medieval and Renaissance era's. I'd love to make a simple kirtle (sorry if my terminology is wrong, I haven't done a lot of research on these era's) sometime this year.

And last but not least, possibly the most important costume of the year will be my Masquerade dress for my graduation party next year. I'm planning on having a Phantom of the Opera themed masquerade for my graduation and will be designing my own dress. As of the moment I have absolutely no idea what so ever as to what it will look like.

Well, that's about it. Everything I did this year and possibilities for next year. I would absolutely love to be able to make and wear all of the costume listed above, but who knows what will actually get done. Costuming is a very unpredictable thing. ;)

Masquerade Inspiration

Next year I'll be graduating high school, and since I'm homeschooled I'll be having my own graduation party. I've decided that I want to have a Phantom of the Opera themed Masquerade! I'm so excited!

I've already been planning what I want to do for my costume. I was originally wanting to do Christine's Masquerade dress from the 2004 POTO movie, but because our house is so small we're going to have the party outside and I don't want to spend all that time and money on a dress that's going to get dirty and possibly ruined.

My next thought was to do the stage version of the Masquerade dress, but I don't really want to spend all the time dying the fabric and hand sewing everything on the bodice. Besides, it would require a ton of tulle which I don't really like working with. Which is a shame because it's so cheap!

I've decided that I should do like my sister keeps telling me and to design my own dress. I've mostly been pinning inspiration on Pinterest, but I need to actually start sketching some ideas out soon.

But here's some of my inspiration I've gotten from Pinterest.

Please Note: All images link back to original source if I have one.

This was a mask from the gift shop when we went to the Seattle Opera.

As you can tell by the variety of inspiration, I really have no clue as to what I want to do. Well, I guess I have plenty of time to figure it out. 

My "Go To" Reference Books for Period Clothing

We all have those books that we keep going back to whenever we have a question about our current projects. I thought I would share my favorite "go to" books for period clothing research. Even though I have yet to sew a non movie historical outfit, I do know a bit about period clothing. I just haven't gotten around to making anything yet.

My first book I go to for Victorian clothing is Victorian Fashion and Costume from Harper's Bazaar. This book is filled with great illustrations of fashions from 1867-98. The pictures have dates with them and usually a small, sometimes large, description of the piece. It covers everything from day wear to evening wear, from hairstyles to shoes. 

And you wanna know the best part? It's only $3.99 on Amazon!

My next favorite is Victorian Fashions Volume I 1880-1890. I was lucky to find this book at Half Price Books a few years ago for under $10, but I didn't know it at the time.

This book is also filled with illustrations from the Late Victorian era. It covers young girls, young ladies, and women's fashion between 1880-90.

Next is Period Costume for the Stage and Screen. This book is filled with patterns from 1800-1909. Just a warning, the patterns do not have any seam allowance. You have to add that yourself. And the instructions aren't exactly the best either. I don't recommend this book for beginners unless your using it for reference only.

Nineteenth Century Fashion in Detail. This book has beautiful pictures of men and women's clothing through the 19th century. The only thing I don't like about this book is that there's usually only 1 image per outfit. There are line drawings, but it would be nice to be able to see the whole dress rather than just the one close up.

But the dresses in this book are so beautiful! I definitely recommend at least checking this book out from the library!

1860's Dress Inspiration

I've started making a toile for an 1860's day dress! I'm using patterns from Jean Hunnisette's book Costume for the Stage and Screen (1800-1909).

I really love this dress! The style is looks like it's very close to the pattern I'm using.

I never realized how much I'm drawn to blue dresses of this era. When I make the real deal it'll have to be blue!

Costume Bucket List

I have a page on this blog for the costumes I want to recreate and the other day I updated it.. Well it turns out I have lot of costumes I would like to make! I put together some collages with the costumes I would like to make the most.

1. Aurora (AKA Sleeping Beauty)

2. Snow White from Mirror Mirror

3. Alice

4. 1860's dress

5. Rapunzel

6. Disney's Snow White

7. Wendy Darling from Disney's Peter Pan

8. Pirate Dress.

And now we come to Padme's costumes from Star Wars. I narrowed it down to just 8, which was really hard to do. I mean who doesn't like her costumes? They're all amazing!

1. Handmaiden from episode I

2. Battle outfit from episode II
3. Battle outfit from episode I
4. Celebration dress from episode I
5. Senate dress from episode III
6. Packing gown from episode II (my favorite!)
7. Tatooine disguise from episode I
8. Picnic dress from episode II

I finished the Beru costume but haven't got pictures of the shirt yet. I want get some pictures soon, but I'm not promising anything because it's a pain to get it onto my sewing form because the material doesn't stretch and I had to take it off so I could work on my corset.

1860's Fashion

The 1860's is one of my favorite fashion era's. Probably because of the big skirts. I've always loved big, poofy, and frilly skirts. On my other blog, Tiana's Treasures, I wrote a little about the 1860's day dress. You can check that post out HERE if you want to. I thought I would share a few of my favorite 1860's dress that I've found on Pinterest.

All images will link back to the original source.

Silk moiré ballgown with metallic gold appliquéd hem border, c.1860. I just thought this dress was so pretty!

This is what was written about this dress on the page it's from.

Starched organdy dress, 1865. Typical of mid-19th century styling, the very full skirt was worn over a hoop petticoat and is further widened by layers of ruffles. The starch used on this garment has discolored it over time.  This dress was worn by Marianna Heyward (b. 1844) when she married Benjamin Walter Taylor on December 14, 1865.

This dress is one of my favorites! If I ever make a reproduction of a dress from this era I would probably replicate this one. Be sure to check out the site this one came from. At the top of the page they have silhouettes from different era's that will take you to pictures of clothing from that time.

I love the purple color of this one! This one's from 1864.