I finished my “Curtain-Along” dress in time to wear to Colonial Williamsburg, but it rained the day I had planned to wear it, and only donned it for a couple hours, so I thought it a swell idea, given the beautiful Fall colors outside this time of year, to take some nice photos.
Mr. Chris and I went to our favorite local park and took a few snaps. I wore the skirt of the gown down, and dragged it mercilessly through wet grass and dirt, but yay for cotton! it washed right out. I like to see wear and tear on my gowns – Maggie and I call it “patina” – as I think it adds “life” to the dress, or the idea of age and use and authenticity.
The hedgehog hairstyle is done with mostly my own hair – the ponytail down the back is added on with two hanks of “ponytail” hair from the beauty supply. I sprayed just the front of my hair with a spray-on silver color, but it came out too sparkly and shiny for my liking, and I much prefer the white spray color, to mimic powdering.
We were almost a *bit* early for the Autumn colors, but I liked the mix of green and reds, oranges, and yellows, the “transitional” rather than the full-on (that is another photoshoot, with another dress, another day!). I was happy to see the Virginia creepers in full fire – absolutely my favorite sort of vine, so much so I crawled into it for a snuggle.
For accessories, I tried a beret originally made for Regency styles. I took my new historical-dog-headed cane (not pictured), and wore red silk clocked stockings with black Kensington shoes, and Dauphine shoe buckles. You can get the stockings, shoes, and buckles in my shop – www.american-duchess.com
I’m really happy with how this dress turned out. I feel like it’s the first dress I’ve really ever gotten it “spot-on” with, in terms of fit. I can actually raise my arms, such a novelty!
For those of you lovelies who are also making Curtain-Along garments, please post links to your finished or in-progress projects! I would love to see the creative ways you used the fabric. 🙂
19 Comments
Laurie
October 20, 2012 at 7:23 PMBreathtaking!
Lumikettu
October 20, 2012 at 7:47 PMThose colors… <3
Laura Mae
October 20, 2012 at 8:47 PMThis is stunning!
Anonymous
October 20, 2012 at 8:57 PMVery beautiful. I need to make some stays before I can get going on my curtain along dress…hopefully I'll get to them soon.
Rachel
October 21, 2012 at 4:35 AMThese are absolutely wonderful! Mr. Chris does an excellent job. I like that you ruthlessly dragged the dress through the wilderness. Builds character.
Question: How much yardage of 'curtains' did you need for that dress? I wound up finding all of the different colorways at my local Joanne's, and would like to pick up enough yardage for that one-day-shall-be-made-historical-dress. Ha!
Lauren Stowell
October 21, 2012 at 5:29 AMHi Rachel – Jenover on Festive Attyre, the genius behind the "Curtain Along", has a little guide to how many curtains make what kinds of garments. Here is her post on it: http://www.festiveattyre.com/2012/09/the-curtain-along-is-go.html
Anonymous
October 21, 2012 at 5:51 AMPerfection! What a wonderful background for this gown!
Maggie
October 21, 2012 at 2:29 PMWhat gorgeous photos! I love the colors! I had a red bow set aside for my curtain dress too, but I'm sure my dress will be different in style from yours! You look amazing!
Jenn
October 21, 2012 at 7:36 PMLovely photos! Are you going to have more for the rest of the poem? Or are you saving those for winter…that would be awesome!
Lauren
October 21, 2012 at 9:51 PMSo beautiful!!!!
Allison
October 22, 2012 at 4:42 AM….utterly gorgeous
Chelsea
October 22, 2012 at 5:00 AMI must admit, I was not a fan of the creme colorway of these curtains when I saw them at Lowe's… But I love your gown! The autumn colors show it off brilliantly.
Anyway, here's my latest post on my Curtain-Along Cloak: http://chelseascostumeblog.blogspot.com/2012/10/starting-on-my-curtain-along-cloak.html
Lauren Stowell
October 29, 2012 at 12:33 AMLooking great! I really like the black colorway as well as the ivory. It was a hard choice 🙂
Isis
October 22, 2012 at 5:45 AMVery pretty!
Unknown
October 26, 2012 at 11:46 PMI must ask… What pattern did you use? I'm attempting to make a dress for an encampment that takes place near where I live and I absolutely fell in love with this style. If you could help I'd very much appreciate it. ;D
Lauren Stowell
October 29, 2012 at 12:34 AMHi Tara – I draped the pattern for this one myself, but I can recommend JP Ryan's Robe a l'Anglaise patterns, or if you are into pattern drafting/scaling, try Janet Arnold's Robe a l'Anglaise patterns in Patterns of Fashion 1. Costume Close-Up and Period Costume for Stage and Screen also both have Anglaise patterns within. 🙂
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servehairwondepot
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Unknown
July 25, 2016 at 4:13 AMIm a beginner making a polonaise but really love the cut of your gown. I saw where you mentioned jp Ryan robe a l'anglais. I have period impressions #420 polonaise and was wondering if it is similar to the cut of your dress or jp ryan? Are there any easy suggestions you have for making it a similar to the cut and flow of your dress or is it better just to get a new pattern? Thanks so much for any help you can give. I know I'll be consulting your site often.