It is in the wash - honest!

Spot of imagination required - finished facing the collar and trimming off the whiskery bits and chucked it in the wash to get rid of the soluble marker and old machining holes. " Fortunately" it has taken me so long to get this together that it has finished, been pressed and dried in the sun!  Imagination may still be used to ignore the creases.
 This is a Victorian bustle dress based on one in the Snowshill Wade collection  dated 1878. Both Janet Arnold and Nancy Bradbury recorded it and this has been made working from their measurements and patterns to fit my  model, Gwendoline.,







This  afternoon dress  from the Met Museum's collection is the look and shape I was aiming for, showing the sloping rather than shelf like shape of the bustle and the gathering of the polonaise to give the fullness at the back of the skirt. The bustle's  weight   is supported by  petticoats flounced at the back while inside the skirt tapes held the  volume of the polonaise in place. The dress is cut in one length from neck to hem, no separate bodice and skirt, and with the open front is very reminiscent of the gowns  from the late 1700s.

 

The bulk of the dress is complete, a few odds and ends of finishing remain - such as taping the arm hole seams and the internal waistband, but nothing structural.  The amount of fabric needed for this has been a surprise - only a few scraps of each is left. It was the trims that gobbled up great swathes of material and these are the bare minimum. I would have liked a double layer flounce at the hem and something down the bodice to compensate for the lack of buttons.( Perhaps  Hobbs who retailed the original pillowcase could help to source more of the fabric). This was done as a direct draping experiment so isn't lined, which would have made it even heavier, but would  have made fitting the bodice easier and covered a multitude of sins on the inside. Stupidly I didn't think to take any pattern pieces so this is definitely a one-off!  I may try the stained glass trick and try a rubbing  to record the seam lines but it is complicated in 3 dimensions. As for the fabric - it  is a crisp, dense cotton, nice to handle, but showed every pin hole. These seem to have closed in the wash (phew!) but the main reason for choosing it was the bold, almost freehand quality of the pattern. The tailored shape and the uncompromising design should be at odds with each other but seem to work well together  resulting in something theatrical, certainly not for a shrinking violet. My favourite part - the bottom of course!

 

A lot of the week has been spent painting - trying out different styles of work to suit this dress.  The bold pattern is  an anachronism but reminded me of Audrey Beardsley's black and whites from the 1890s. These tend to be stark and hard edged, graphic illustrations rather than formal portraits.

Rejane.  He often worked  quite sparsely, choosing when to omit or include detail, sometimes working in silhouette and outline, sometimes focussing on patterning. In the painting above I tried working without outline, not trying to give a full 3 dimensional idea of the dress with careful tone, but letting the distortion of the pattern do the work.  I quite like the outcome but am still considering adding a background. In the smaller study the cloth pattern fills the page with the figure merging in to it or being outlined by it. I was also trying to work more loosely ( attempt at sanity) working  wet onto wet paper and letting the paint spread as it wished. Not very successful - the paint was far too civilised.

 I am not sure which gives a better idea of the gown. Stylistically I prefer the top one, but rather like the second - need a better face approach so she looks less gormless, but enjoyed doing the last- playing with the medium. Umm


The major problem is what to do next - there are painting tasks, full sized garments to resolve or raid the stash of pillowcases and try another combination of shape and pattern.
Pillow cases win. The others will plod onward but  what to make? I like decisions. Should I try panniers? Putting 2 of the designs together?.... could  be a real car crash of a outfit! Would I mind? Nope, it isn't me going to be wearing it!

And must be getting closer to being a real costumer - alien cat is trying to join in!