msmcknittington: Queenie from Blackadder (Default)
msmcknittington ([personal profile] msmcknittington) wrote2007-05-13 02:44 pm

Am I ready for the Age of Enlightenment?

I've been doing random Web site cruising tonight, and now I can't get these lines from Beauty & the Beast out of my head:

Gaston: Le Fou, I'm afraid I've been thinking . . .
Le Fou: A dangerous pastime.
Gaston: I know.

Because I'm afraid I've been thinking, too. About what?

Pet en l'airs. Striped anglaise. (Which makes me think of creme anglaise, which makes me want Boston cream pie. Yum.) Saucy little jackets. Quilted petticoats. In my stripey green fabric.

The only problem is that I only have barely five yards of the fabric. Oh, and I have absolutely none of the underpinnings for an 18th century outfit. ButI do have an 18th-century corset pattern that fits me. I've just never gotten around to making it.

And there is a French & Indian War reenactment that takes place every fall near my hometown, though I'm not sure I'm bold enough to just show up in full regalia, since nobody else does except the sutlers and guys who fire the cannon. Apparently there is also a period dance group in Milwaukee, that I wish I had been aware of earlier.

But stripes! New corset! Silk petticoat with ruffle!

On the Tudor kirtle front, I've bound the armhole, and I think I'm going to end up ripping out the neckline and doing it by hand. There's some wonkiness in the front that needs to be taken care of.

Would anyone like to weigh-in on my embellishment question from a couple days ago? Mad Photoshop skills, I know.


Plain


After Eleanora di Toledo's burial gown


Version 3


Version 4

[identity profile] paillettes.livejournal.com 2007-05-18 04:12 am (UTC)(link)
are you doing a forepart? and would you be trimming the edges of the split skirt over it?
ext_46111: Photo of a lady in Renaissance costume, pointing to a quote from Hamlet:  "Words, words, words". (Default)

[identity profile] msmcknittington.livejournal.com 2007-05-20 10:28 pm (UTC)(link)
I was thinking no forepart, but your mention of it has the idea suddenly growing on me. I was going to trim down the front of the skirt and around the hem, and fake an opening with ties or something.

The thought of having a kirtle that could double as an overgown is growing on me, though. It wouldn't be hard to baste the opening on the skirt closed or to sew ribbons down the front. It's not like I don't have the things for a forepart.