A few things I learned at Costume College
The twenties are a wonderful decade. Not only might a dress still fit if you cut two fronts (as I did on one muslin of the 1920s bathing suit. Oops), but if your bandeau falls around your waist within five minutes of putting it on despite the fact that when you were trying it on, it didn't need the straps to stay up and you end up wearing it around your waist all night, it makes no difference. You see, the way the shoulders were on the robe de style, there was no way to wear the straps, so I just tried to tuck them in. Turns out it really needed the straps.
Ordering two pairs of stockings is good too, just in case one of each pair decides to be wonky and not fit. This is especially important if you know you're going to be showing your garters and side hoops all night.
(Oh, speaking of the bathing costume, I need to take pictures! It's too cute to not. So far I only have a mirror picture an one not so good in a recently unlocked post that I took right after making it.)
If you want your skirts shorter, don't iron your petticoats. This is the opposite of what happened at Williamsburg. I noticed there that my red petticoat I wore with my shortgown was longer than I expected it to be. And it was the first time my petticoats were ironed. Oops.
Another thing. Don't tie a petticoat too tightly under your stays/bodice/corset whatever it happens to be. I did this with the Frances Stuart dress. I tied the underpetticoat very tightly so it wouldn't slip after I put the bodice on. Well, in the riding habit class, at first I thought I was just overheated and stood up. Then everything felt very, very bad. So I waded through the very full class into the lobby. I thought I was going to have to find someone to undress me, but then realized it was the petticoat. So I just took that off in the middle of the lobby. Fun times! I also discovered that the blue petticoat was heavy enough that I liked the silhouette more without the underpetticoat than with. Who knew?
The dress, with the exception of extremely limited arm movement, was quite comfortable after that.
Speaking of limited arm movement, it's really quite fun to have everyone do things for you. As long as you're in a situation where other people understand it, which I very much was. Seriously, you should've seen me trying on a 19 teens hat.
My mistress dress was the most restrictive of the ones there, and it had to do with a few stylistic choices. One, very low neckline. I learned on the spring garden dress that because of my size, to have a low neckline look low, I need to make it lower than average, so that I did. Two, the armscye is cut very far back and when paired with the short sleeve, you have amazing posture. Amazing posture that restricts your arms quite a bit. I did notice after making this that the 1670s bodice on the next page of The Cut of Women's Clothes had a more normal armscye, but at the same time, there was a fashion engraving that I used as inspiration that had the armscye cut very far back. I quite like the impracticality of it though, and I think it will help me get in the right mood to play as Frances Stuart when that event happens.
Crumbs that fall down your chemise can be very, very itchy.
And when pulled back, the drapes in your skirt come in very handy for catching any fake hair that may decide to fall off your head. I admit, I was very lazy about attachment techniques, so this ended up being a very good thing.
And first floor hotel rooms? So nice! I can't say how much I loved being right next to the room and never having to worry about elevators. A small thing, but a good thing nonetheless :)
Ordering two pairs of stockings is good too, just in case one of each pair decides to be wonky and not fit. This is especially important if you know you're going to be showing your garters and side hoops all night.
(Oh, speaking of the bathing costume, I need to take pictures! It's too cute to not. So far I only have a mirror picture an one not so good in a recently unlocked post that I took right after making it.)
If you want your skirts shorter, don't iron your petticoats. This is the opposite of what happened at Williamsburg. I noticed there that my red petticoat I wore with my shortgown was longer than I expected it to be. And it was the first time my petticoats were ironed. Oops.
Another thing. Don't tie a petticoat too tightly under your stays/bodice/corset whatever it happens to be. I did this with the Frances Stuart dress. I tied the underpetticoat very tightly so it wouldn't slip after I put the bodice on. Well, in the riding habit class, at first I thought I was just overheated and stood up. Then everything felt very, very bad. So I waded through the very full class into the lobby. I thought I was going to have to find someone to undress me, but then realized it was the petticoat. So I just took that off in the middle of the lobby. Fun times! I also discovered that the blue petticoat was heavy enough that I liked the silhouette more without the underpetticoat than with. Who knew?
The dress, with the exception of extremely limited arm movement, was quite comfortable after that.
Speaking of limited arm movement, it's really quite fun to have everyone do things for you. As long as you're in a situation where other people understand it, which I very much was. Seriously, you should've seen me trying on a 19 teens hat.
My mistress dress was the most restrictive of the ones there, and it had to do with a few stylistic choices. One, very low neckline. I learned on the spring garden dress that because of my size, to have a low neckline look low, I need to make it lower than average, so that I did. Two, the armscye is cut very far back and when paired with the short sleeve, you have amazing posture. Amazing posture that restricts your arms quite a bit. I did notice after making this that the 1670s bodice on the next page of The Cut of Women's Clothes had a more normal armscye, but at the same time, there was a fashion engraving that I used as inspiration that had the armscye cut very far back. I quite like the impracticality of it though, and I think it will help me get in the right mood to play as Frances Stuart when that event happens.
Crumbs that fall down your chemise can be very, very itchy.
And when pulled back, the drapes in your skirt come in very handy for catching any fake hair that may decide to fall off your head. I admit, I was very lazy about attachment techniques, so this ended up being a very good thing.
And first floor hotel rooms? So nice! I can't say how much I loved being right next to the room and never having to worry about elevators. A small thing, but a good thing nonetheless :)