Our Belle Epoque picnic at the Historical Festival at Museum House Doorn

Two weeks before our first Victorian event during summer I decided that I needed a summer outfit. What followed can only be described as a sewing and costuming frenzy, of the kind I had promised myself long ago never to do again. In my defense I have been working on getting my traveling outfit and my son his Belle Epoque summer costume done, which left me with little time to work on a proper summer outfit for myself. More details on the construction etc of the outfit will be described in an another blog post.

For now I'll just share the lovely pictures of the event.

You can find more photo's and the original colour photo's on our Facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/DeGracieuse/

and here is a link directly to the album https://www.facebook.com/pg/DeGracieuse/photos/ but than you will be missing out on all the excellent photo's of others I have shared on the page.

The photo's on this blog have been edited using https://photofunia.com/ online editing software, which was easy and great fun. I thought it was a great way of seeing if we had achieved the desired effect/look and I must admit that I am quite pleased with the end result.

Ode to Dutch Fashion/Ode aan de Nederlandse Mode

Being thoroughly fed up with working on the house and not doing any costuming related things. I decided it was time for a treat and went to the Ode to Dutch Fashion exhibit in the Gemeentemuseum in Den Haag with a friend. Ode to Dutch Fashion features more than a hundred creations from the history of fashion in the Netherlands from 1900 to 2015 with some much older pieces. Although my main interest is historical fashion, which will become apparant when you see my pictures, I had a really great time.
I forgot to the photograph a lot of the information provided with the costumes. That is why it is missing under a lot of the pictures. Just enjoy and do a game of guess the era! ;-)

Silk dress 1826-1827

Silk dress 1850-1855

Female Jacket 

ca. 1770-1780

Chintz with linen lining

detail of quilted skirt.

 Corset, 18th century, silk, linen with boning

Skirt, 1750-1800, quilted silk

Jacket ca. 1800-1850

Wool damask, metal

Silk dress, Robe ajustée

ca. 1765-1775

Wool damask skirt 18th century

Dress and cape worn by Her Majesty Queen Maxima,

at the investiture of His Majesty King Willem Alexander,

30th of April 2013

(l) Silk cocktail ensemble by Maison Kuiper, Zeist, 1966

(r) Wool ensemble by Koos van den Akker, 1966

A very inspiring 1970's crochet dress.

Fun idea but I think I'll pass.

This is a contemporary design 

and I loved the Edwardian feel.

Looks good on me, doesn't it! ;-)

The museum also provided some costumes you could try on and ofcourse I couldn't resist a chance to play dress up.

It was a one size fits none dress and the bustle was way to low but trying it on was great fun.

Projects on hold

I am still working on various project, here is an update on some of them.

The 1840's - 1860's coat project is on hold. The sceond mock-up model I made showed that I still needed a lot of changes to the pattern to make it work. I am putting aside for now.

The 1880's hat has been finished and I have found some really nice hat decorations, some antique, some new. 

Hat decoration front idea

Hat decoration back idea

Nevertheless the hat still hasn't been decorated ! I still have to make a decorative band before I can sew on the rest of the decorations. The problem is that I am not fully satisfied with the hat. It sit on top of my head, which is the way they where worn in the 1880's, but I really really dislike the feeling. So the my internal debate is now: authenticity vs comfort. Also I would like the crown a little higher and the brim a little wider. Maybe it would be best to make a new hat and consider this a mock-up version but with no money for supplies this means this project is also on hold for now.

For now I have decided to concentrate on making things I need on a short notice. My son needs a new pair of nalebound viking socks as he has outgrown his old pairs. We already made him a new linen undertunic. The rest of his viking costume just needs to be let out.

And I want to make myself a new summerdress Burda #7179

I have traced the pattern on to paper weeks ago but only got around to shortening it today. Due to lack of time and energy progress is slow but it's still better than doing nothing at all I guess.

A while ago we went to the international collectors fair in Utrecht. We have been going there for the last 15 years and to our great sadness it keeps getting smaller every year. It has become so bad that we have decided not to go anymore, it's simply not worth the high entrance fee. Still there where some nice items, so I made some pictures for you to enjoy.

I've been kinda down lately so one of my sisters gave me a very early birthday present to cheer me up. It's the blue version of the Sheila apple daisy print dress by Hell Bunny. I wore it to the wedding of one of my husbands cousins last friday. Thanks Sis!

As you can see I messed up the settings of the photo camera but it gives the photo a vintage feel, don't you agree?

Sixties dress

I haven't been doing much costuming or sewing lately. So all projects are progressing very slowely. but I did manage to finish one project. a sixties style dress. Usually I am a fifties style girl but I bought a lovely piece of fabric at a thrift store and this was the only dress I could make with it. Fifties style dresses with swing skirt  take a lot of fabric. As I only had a small piece I had to look beyond my comfort zone.
I ended up going for simplicity #3833, which has the elements that I suit my figure best,  as it is a high waisted a-line dress.

I made version A, with the long sleeves and the backstrap because I needed a autumn/winter dress. When it was finished I wasn't pleased with it because I thought it was a little bit plain/boring. Which is strange considering the bold pattern of the fabric. I added cuffs, backstraps and fake pockets in a very different style fabric to give the dress a little bit more visual interest. I don't have any pictures yet of me wearing it. So for now pictures of it on the coat hanger will have to do. 

The style of the dress took some getting used to. The first time I put it on I really hated it but today I am wearing it for the second time and it is growing on me.

Antique Clothing on Marktplaats

IUUÖoI always enjoy looking on Marktplaats (sort of Ebay) even when I don't have money to buy anything. Here are some nice items I came across.

Silk bodice, ca. 1880 according to the seller. I think it's earlier, around 1860.

http://link.marktplaats.nl/892361457

I think this silk bodice dates around 1890-1900. That is not my favorite Victorian era but I absolutely love the silk floral fabric.

http://link.marktplaats.nl/892383863

Black wool coat lined with moleskin. I would love to buy this for my husband but as he is quite tall it would probably be too small. Like most antique/vintage clothing unfortunately.

http://link.marktplaats.nl/892574700

Black wool folkwear vest, Zuid Beveland, Zeeland

No longer available/sold.

Still working on our new website, it's nearly finished....