Tudor 'Bodies'......

There a lots of pictures on here of things that that have been finished. So I thought, for a change, I'd show you something that has hardly been started! The commission is for a high status Elizabethan and the portrait chosen is one in the Norwich Castle museum & Art gallery of Elizabeth Buxton, by Robert Peake, dated 1588-90. As in nearly all periods, you have to build from the inside out, starting in this instance with shift, 'pair of bodies' and wheel. Over this you build the toile (a canvas 'mock -up')
and then you are actually ready to commence on the gown!


The design for the bodies was taken from the 'effigy' pair in Westminster Abbey (dated 1603),well there are only a few extant samples available to choose from!






The last picture shows the toile in place and it fits well! Now we just have to plan the embroidery, execute it - and make the gown!

Fashion Shows...

Wow,what a busy time we had at 'The Original Re-enactors Market' last weekend. This was on top of Gini being asked to produce the fashion show - at very short notice! Visitors from all over the E.U, Canada, America and even New Zealand attended. The theme at this show was 'Costume and the Media' bringing in items from Film and T.V etc., and hopefully, a good time was had by all.

The pictures show Lynne Osbourne, wearing her 'Regency' pelisse and bonnet,just before her 'exit'. The pelisse has a couple of 'secrets' one being that the skirts can be removed leaving a 'spencer jacket' for warmer weather! The other is that the jacket actually closes with hooks & eyes - not 'frogs'.


The next Fashion show, in the Autumn, is on the theme of "Lethal Beauty", so I am expecting to see Lucretia Borgia or Mata Hari perhaps?

A Portmanteau Gown.....



For a certain part she's playing, Sue needed to look 'outrageous and over the top '.
The discussion began with Sue saying "Well, there's that super purple one in the V&A publication , 19th Century Fashion in Detail" and Gini replied "Yes. And then of course, there's that fabulous magenta pink ensemble by Madame Vignon, 1870".

And so the dye was cast. Much "Oh Yes!" and "we could do this and that" later, a design was agreed on. Certain details from the original were kept, other details were added in [as if it wasn't OTT enough to begin with!].

Over 130 hours in production, including over 83 feet of scalloping and 80 feet of 'box' pleating! The materials used were fushia pink silk taffeta, black taffeta, fushia pink crepe backed satin and black chantilly lace. Each part of the outfit is lined with white twilled silk.

It has now been collected along with its' rather weighty technical instruction manual -'Fit tab A into slit B' etc!
Why? She also needed to be able to convert her outfit to fit any date from 1860 - 1900. And to be able to customise it to wear it for any time of day , from morning, to promenading, afternoon tea and ball gown. A tall order and not quite possible, given the evolving shapes through that period, but we managed to satisfy most by:-

* creating a skirt that can be worn over an 1860's crinoline looking fairly plain, worn with the day bodice
* Add in the lace overskirt, change to the evening bodice and it becomes full evening gown.
* Change the crinoline for a 'bustle' petticoat, pull up the hidden drawstrings within and it changes to 1880.
* Add the scallop frilled apron and tailed bustle pad it becomes a day dress
* Release draw strings and it develops a 'train'
* Change the bustle to a frilled 1890's petticoat, let out the drawstring, pull in the back ties underneath and it becomes 1890 evening gown.
* There are many more permutations - discussions are already in hand as to the adding of other bodices and accessories for 'other looks'!

We normally call this a portmanteau gown, but with the sheer amount of frills & 'Frockage' (Sues' word), I suspect it will take a couple of suitcases...........

These photos were taken at a 'try-on' so no wig, no tiara and the wrong corset, but I'll replace them soon as hopefully, we're getting proper pics done next week.

Finest detail......

We do have our favourite historical films here, things like "Dangerous Liaisons", "Restoration" and "Master and Commander"- the costuming in these is excellent.Unfortunately, Television is mostly at the other end of the scale, with a few notable exceptions lately.
With the introduction of HD television, will a higher standard of costuming be found on the worlds' T.V.screens? In the past, most costumes dramas had a certain leeway in as much as you couldn't see the 'fine detail' and it was only a problem to those like Gini who could spot a machined cuff at a hundred paces or even the hidden bits like "she's wearing the wrong period corset under that dress"!(and speaking of hidden bits - the photo is of Alices' petticoats). Hopefully, in the future, more care will be taken with costume and other details on T.V and while I've no problem with 'entertainment' as such, if you're in education, educate.

With all the trimmings.....

'With all the trimmings' seems to have carried on since Christmas dinner all the way through January, with Victorian and regency gowns taking up a lot of this months production. Gini will often try and work a new piece or new designs just for fun and you can almost guarantee that they will be requested within a year, which is what happened with these trimming sample techniques - they are now being applied to this 1880's Victorian gown.(Isn't it a glorious colour)? We are also producing a shocking pink 'portmanteau gown' for the same event at the end of the month and by this time we also have to complete 4 Regency outfits,1 childs' christening robe and various petticoats and underpinnings. Doesn't time fly when you're enjoying yourself?....

Fashion roundabout

Fashion is cyclic. There are very few things out there that haven't been around before and come back into season. The probable exceptions are 'Ruffs' and leg warmers! Even the engineered jeans that were around a while ago, (You remember, the seams wrapped around the legs)? - these were almost a straight copy of saxon 'trews'. Though it's not our business to project future trends in modern fashion, it is quite easy to do. Some trend appears, it tends toward its extreme, then disappears. The mini skirt is a good example of this. The difficulty is that you cannot predict what we call 'design point breakthrough' - which doesn't necessarily appear on the catwalk. I wonder if this scenario actually happened?
"The last delivery from China of 200,000 pairs of jeans have all got the wrong size labels in, Mr Makuza"! "Nonsense lad, they're just err, um, aah, OVERSIZED jeans, new design and all that, Yes, that's what they are"!

Someone once said "Fashion is where you love something today that you didn't like yesterday - and will hate tomorrow"! and one thing is certain, fashions may go round and round - but true style goes on forever.

Local Resources

It strikes me that wherever we live, we ignore local attractions. They slip to the back of our minds and though we make special trips to the Victoria and Albert Museum or similar, we forget local resources. This week we spent a whole day at Tamworth Castle measuring the interpreters for new costume. Kirsty Sherwood and her team are doing a brilliant job at raising the standards and the castles' overall profile. They came in at 4th place in the 'UKTV Historys'' poll of Best Historical Sites and have won prestigious 'Tourist Board' and other awards.
Now, we must have visited the castle about half-a dozen times and still have never had time to actually explore. This time I made a concerted effort and spent a hour looking round this wonderful, though compact site. I was stunned by the artefacts I found and now have a research list for future projects.
I remember Gini once finding a victorian gown at Cusworth Hall with unusual features,which just goes to show. So, A new years resolution for us all in this 'searching-for-knowledge' industry should be, go and see!

Patterns of the past......

Some people are amazed when they learn that we keep peoples' bespoke patterns forever. Like any good tailor we are able to put our hands on patterns that were made when we first started in the business. We have patterns and toiles all neatly filed away, awaiting the time they are needed. But doesn't the body change over time? Well, yes but it's easier starting from a previous pattern than 'from scratch'. The patterns also act as an educational tool, as research grows and is updated, so we can look back at the old patterns and see if they can be improved.
At the moment we are looking for a new member of staff to join our team and I can guess that a lot of the candidates will say "I learned from my Grandmother/mother/auntie".
Which is always a good start, but the question then arises - and how good was Grandma?
Was she really good enough to replicate the stitching on Queen Victorias' underwear, (which were 32 stitches to the inch)! just a 'home repairer' or somewhere in between?
With patterns and people, I reckon, you have to look back, to look forward!

Braids And Notions

In the 'How authentic' post on here, there's a comment by Gina B who can also be found on the Soper lane forum. We have great respect for these people, who do great research and make narrow wares,notions, passimentarie, buttons etc..At the moment we make most of our own notions - but I can foresee a time...
Getting the right fittings for any costume can be a nightmare, indeed, we received an order of some regimental buttons from a supplier 'across the water'. There's still an echo from the resounding thump as they hit the waste bin! Proper research and manufacture are very important to us. Finding a good Napoleonic button foundry would be heaven!

Talking of research,at the weekend we spent a lot of time with Dave and Miranda from 'House de Clifford' who were discussing the lack of fur on most later period costume. The addition of 'Verre' or 'Minniver', might just solve some of the grey squirrel problem round here!

What to wear?........

We had a phenomenal exhibition at T.O.R.M , the enquiries and orders came thick and fast including large commissions from Nantwich Museum and Hampton Court. We also met up with customers old and new and many posters from the living history forum -which is a good resource for those interested in history and related subjects. It was great to meet all of you .
I love multi-period events, the only problem is what period to dress in! If you dress mediaeval, do customers think that you only make for that period or that is your specialism? We, in the end, plumped for Georgian, this time- a good wool suit, high topped wig etc ., for me and Gini in her new dress. I did have to keep the moustache (and thereby look 'french' influenced), but the rest of the bookings I have before Christmas are all for Victorian 'gentleman'!