Back in 2011, a good friend had the awesome idea to make 18th century dresses out of camouflage fabric (yes, I have strange friends). As I am genetically incapable of resisting a crazy idea, of course I had to participate. Moreover, I wanted to try 18th century clothing for some time, and this was the perfect opportunity. If I got it wrong, at least I wouldn't get it wrong using expensive silk and investing hours of handstitching, right?
I quickly decided that it should be a zone front gown, and that I would use classic olive green camo fabric, combined with black poly taffeta. A huge hat should complete the ensemble.
But first - underthings! I decided to try the Diderot stays pattern from Nora Waughs "Corsets and Crinolines", and it worked like a charm.
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| Boobies alarm! It's incredible what these stays do to your décolleté... |
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| Looks good, feels good. Success! |
They are actually comfortable! I know, fabric is wrong, no visible boning channels wrong, metal eyelets wrong, machine stitching wrong, synthetic ribbon wrong.... but hey, the pattern is authentic! And it fits, which means I can use better materials and invest more work next time without risking that it doesn't fit after weeks of handstitching.
Now for the dress: I used an Anglaise pattern from Janet Arnolds "Patterns of Fashion" and altered the front so it would have the "zone gown" look. I decided that I wanted long sleeves, so I used a long sleeve pattern I found in Nora Waughs "The Cut of Women's clothes". For the skirt I used the tutorial at
La Couturiére Parisienne and adapted it so it would fit over a bum pad. I also made a cotton petticoat with ruffles in the back to wear underneath, but I don't think the ruffles add much to the effect.
Anyway, pictures!!
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| The Camococo dress, complete with hair, hat, and nonsense medals I got from ebay |
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| I'm actually not satisfied with the bum pad. It's too small. |
The above two pictures were taken in Leipzig at the
Wave Gotik Treffen, where I wore the dress for the first time. The hair is not at all my own hair, but an insanely curly wig, which adds a lot to the whole ensemble.
I also made the hat from scratch - it has a buckram frame covered with black silk (yes, real silk :D ) and is decorated with organza (not silk), a metal buckle, LOTS of feathers, and a miniature aircraft carrier (which unfortunately isn't really visible on the pictures).
This year, I decided to wear the dress again to
Barockfest at
Schloss Hof, which is more of a carnival than a serious costume event, so I thought the dress would be appropriate. I also wore it because I don't have another 18th century dress yet, but wanted to go to Schloss Hof. However, it turned out to be the right decision, because I totally unexpected scored 3rd place at the costume contest (which I didn't even know about beforehand)! :D
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| I restyled the wig to look more like a "Hedgehog" which didn't work perfectly, but it's still okay with the hat ;) |
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| Relaxing in the beautiful gardens of Schloss Hof |
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| With my friends Eleanor Vivian (middle) and BlackAngel (right), who were both also nominated at the costume contest! Congratulations to us all! :) |
