My Sewing/Cosplay Projects

[Server Room Gremlin]

Heh, I'll sure know if I don't, because it will hurt like heck to wear a hoop skirt and several heavy skirts without it!

To expand on why wearing a corset is super important, even if you have a small waist already, let me explain further.

Probably the most important thing about accurately portraying a time period is the silhouette, or shape of the figure/shape of the dress. So many poorly done period dramas will slap a dress on a person without the correct undergarments, and it will look too loose or too tight in the wrong places, baggy, wrinkly and so on.

This is the silhouette of the 1860s.
View attachment 35786
What makes this different from the modern silhouette? The most important thing is that there is a smooth, gently curved line from the waist to the bust. The bust also sits rather high up. (Another important thing with the 1860s silhouette is the dropped shoulder, meaning the shoulder seam is about an inch away from the actual shoulder, resulting in the appearance of broader shoulders. But that relates to the cut of the dress, not the corset.)

Compare that to the modern silhouette, which has a severe, abrupt line at the underbust.
View attachment 35787

So, you think you could achieve the 1860s silhouette with modern undergarments? Absolutely not!!

Also, a few years ago, I made a little video on Instagram showing what one of my 1860s dresses looks like without a corset.

View this content on Instagram

View this content on Instagram

A tightly fitted bodice WILL look wrinkly and stupid if you are not wearing a corset. On the contrary, when you are wearing a corset, the bodice looks so fitted and smooth. I can tell immediately in period dramas if the actress is not wearing a corset because of the smoothness or wrinkliness of the bodice.

Lastly, for the purposes of evaluating a historical silhouette, please ignore the size of the waist in these fashion plates. Any figure, whether large or small, can have a historical silhouette with the right undergarments, because people of all shapes and sizes have existed throughout history. Having a small waist is not that important for an 1860s silhouette. What is important is the smooth, gently curved line from waist to bust, and the bust sitting up fairly high. Any woman can have that as long as they have a corset made to their measurements. Also, those fashion plates are exaggerated. Pretty much nobody had a waist that small. Kind of like how nobody has legs that long in the modern silhouette.

Also, regarding that 1860s fashion plate I edited with the black silhouette, here's the unedited version.

View attachment 35788

It's very nice to have all this information from someone who tries these things out practically and in person. I wouldn't normally think about reading up on this online, because it's not a usual interest of mine, and I wouldn't know where to look or how accurate the information is. 😊

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

Sounds like a great time, Maedhros, except for the tiredness and lack of sleep -- which is me, after a science fiction or wargames convention.

they play that military wake-up call thingy on the trumpet

You mean "Reveille"? 😄

I can hear the Master Sergeant now: "Bugler, go play that wake-up call thingy!". 🤣

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

You mean "Reveille"? 😄

Yep, that's the one!

 

[Firiel23]

this is so awesome! I keep an eye on this thread. Thanks for the details; I've always wondered what it would be like being part of one of these reenactments. I love history and camping, so it's totally something I'd do, given the chance. Too bad you couldn't put out a call for help to break down your campsite! I'd have loved to help out!

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

this is so awesome! I keep an eye on this thread. Thanks for the details; I've always wondered what it would be like being part of one of these reenactments. I love history and camping, so it's totally something I'd do, given the chance. Too bad you couldn't put out a call for help to break down your campsite! I'd have loved to help out!

Glad you're enjoying the thread! Well, some people did help me tear down my tent a little, but they were all busy with their own tents, so I didn't want to bother anybody too much. This is why I wish I had a family member or someone to do it with!

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

I've always wondered what it would be like being part of one of these reenactments.

I'd suggest checking for various reenactment groups in your area; there a wide range of historical periods covered, besides the Civil War. I'd pick the American Revolution myself, though at my age, I'd probably have to be an old militia member. 😄

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

I'd suggest checking for various reenactment groups in your area; there a wide range of historical periods covered, besides the Civil War. I'd pick the American Revolution myself, though at my age, I'd probably have to be an old militia member. 😄

Sadly, there are no reenactments I know of for my favorite time period, the Edwardian era! I know there's a big Titanic event at the Grand Hotel at Mackinac Island, but I'm not sure if there are actually any standards of authenticity.

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

Hmm. There may be some in the UK, although that wouldn't help you much. There are some for the later Victorian period; there was a pretty big Battle of Rorke's Drift reenactment not far from me some years ago. You could have played the preacher's daughter!

I don't know if they'd have allowed it, of course, as she wasn't actually there. 😄

 

[Vorondil]

Hmm. There may be some in the UK, although that wouldn't help you much. There are some for the later Victorian period; there was a pretty big Battle of Rorke's Drift reenactment not far from me some years ago. You could have played the preacher's daughter!
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It's not fair! You guys get reenactments of stuff that happened on the other side of the globe, while we don't even get reenactments of our own history! Oh no, Precious, no reenactments for you! You don't have any fun.

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

You could have played the preacher's daughter!

Her outfit is not very historically accurate, unfortunately... The time period is supposed to be 1879, right?

 

[Vorondil]

The time period is supposed to be 1879, right?

That is correct.

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

Yeah um, that hat... is Not what people would have worn in 1879... The hairstyle is pretty modern looking too.

From Godey's Lady's Book, July 1879.

 

[Vorondil]

Yeah um, that hat... is Not what people would have worn in 1879... The hairstyle is pretty modern looking too.

View attachment 36242
From Godey's Lady's Book, July 1879.

Well I can't argue, I know absolutely nothing about modern fashion, let alone women's fashion from 1879.

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

Some other examples of fashion from 1879. It's a very narrow silhouette with no bustle. There was usually a lot of layering and complexity in the shape of the skirt. Bustles went out of fashion for a very brief blip in the late 1870s and early 1880s.

This one reminded me a bit of the movie costume Squint posted. It's from 1877, but still pretty close. So that dress should have been more like this, though without the train, since it's a day dress meant for outdoor walking.

 

[Vorondil]

From Godey's Lady's Book, July 1879.

The hat she wore certainly looks more suited to the climate of Natal. Correct me if I'm wrong, but those hats from Godey's Lady's Book, really don't look like something you would want to wear in Zululand.

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

The hat she wore certainly looks more suited to the climate of Natal. Correct me if I'm wrong, but those hats from Godey's Lady's Book, really don't look like something you would want to wear in Zululand.

Perhaps so-- Godey's is an American magazine-- but still, this issue is from July, so many of those hats would have still been worn in hot weather. And the movie hat still looks way too modern to me. If there were wider brimmed hats in 1879, I've never seen them and don't know what they looked like.

 

[Squint-eyed Southerner]

I have no idea what a missionary's daughter would have worn at the time. Inaccuracies wouldn't surprise me, though; there were several errors with the British uniforms as well.

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

I haven't had time or energy to sew anything lately, but I have been finding crocheting to be very relaxing and therapeutic. I consider myself fairly new to crocheting, even though my mom taught me the basics when I was a little kid and I would make little clothes for my stuffed animals. But as an adult, I never crocheted until recently, and now I'm very glad to have it in my arsenal of hobbies. I get to fidget with a string and a stick, and get a Warm Cozy out of it?! It's a dream come true for my (likely neurodivergent) brain! It's a wonderfully low-effort thing for me to do while watching TV with my parents or listening to an audiobook or whatever.

Here's the most recent project I finished.

I learned a lot from this project. First of all, I realized I had been doing some basic stitches wrong (oops 😬)! I also kind of wish I had made it out of thinner yarn so there would have been more iterations of the flower pattern. And as a result, I know understand what a gauge is in crochet and why it's important.

Despite the mistakes, I think the cardigan came out very pretty, and it was so much fun to make.

 

[Andromadus the Invictus]

I haven't had time or energy to sew anything lately, but I have been finding crocheting to be very relaxing and therapeutic. I consider myself fairly new to crocheting, even though my mom taught me the basics when I was a little kid and I would make little clothes for my stuffed animals. But as an adult, I never crocheted until recently, and now I'm very glad to have it in my arsenal of hobbies. I get to fidget with a string and a stick, and get a Warm Cozy out of it?! It's a dream come true for my (likely neurodivergent) brain! It's a wonderfully low-effort thing for me to do while watching TV with my parents or listening to an audiobook or whatever.

Here's the most recent project I finished.

View attachment 38832
I learned a lot from this project. First of all, I realized I had been doing some basic stitches wrong (oops 😬)! I also kind of wish I had made it out of thinner yarn so there would have been more iterations of the flower pattern. And as a result, I know understand what a gauge is in crochet and why it's important.

Despite the mistakes, I think the cardigan came out very pretty, and it was so much fun to make.

That looks really good, great job!

 

[Maedhros_Nelyafinwë]

That looks really good, great job!

Thank you! I'm pleased with the result.