Wednesday, December 14, 2011

Late 1830s Striped Dress

Victoria gives the stink-eye
I've come to really like the crazy hairstyles and the puffy sleeves from 1830s dresses. I hadn't really looked at this style until seeing the movie Young Victoria (2009), which was costumed by Sandy Powell, who won an Academy Award for the costuming. Maggie at The Costumer's Guide to Movie Costumes has a great spread of the various costumes in the film. I realized that I had a great striped silk in the stash for making a dress from this period. Since I wanted to wear the dress to the Dickens Faire I decided to style it towards 1838-1840.

From the Stash:
  • 6 yards striped silk (Joanns red tag clearance)
  • 8 yards piping, dyed green
  • 1 yard mint green canvas
  • 1 yard green leaf trim
  • various notions (bias tape, hook & eye tape)
  • Partially finished corded petticoat (purchased from Carol Wood at the Costumers Bazaar)