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Sacque gown, partially deconstructed, 1765-69 - National Trust NT 1350856 |
Some of my favorite museum pieces are 1840s gowns made from great great grandma's old 1740s Spitalfields brocade. Can you imagine slicing into a century-old textile and refashioning it into a gown for yourself?
It was common and expected, though. And pretty cool! It's like dress history geology - a core sample of sedimentary mantua-making rock revealing layers and layers going back in time to the origin. Just how many incarnations has one silk fabric undergone? {nerd moment}
This year for the Costume College gala I want to finally make my version of the Madame Guimard portrait.
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Portrait of Madame Guimard by Jean-Baptiste Greuze, c. 1790 - LACMA |
I happen to have a yellow gown already. Or, well....I had.
My Costume College gala dress last year was a 1750s gold shot taffeta English gown. I loved it, but I also love cheese and Starbucks, so I can no longer get the thing on (along with most of my other costumes. Joy). Here enters the idea to pick apart and re-make it.
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Alas, this gown - in this incarnation - is no more. I still have the petticoat and stomacher. |
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The English gown picked apart. I left the creases in to show what everything used to be. There's quite a lot of textile here waiting to be refashioned. |
I'm sure it'll be cool but...*sobs over the destruction of the yellow gown* I would have taken iiiiit :'(
ReplyDeleteOh but think of the lovely Italian gown it will become! :-D
DeleteThat will be really fun to wear, looking forward to seeing it come together.
ReplyDeleteI don't know why, but there is something very satisfying about remaking a gown. Maybe it's the part of me that loves Tetris but I love re-jiggering it all and transforming something that didn't fit or I wasn't happy with into something new and exciting.
I agree, very satisfying. I put just the two back pieces together last night and I already feel very excited for what's to come :-D
DeleteOMG this is so exciting. That outfit is madass! I can't wait to see it in its many textiled fabulosity!
ReplyDeleteALL the layers! I'm worried I won't get them all done, so the plan is to get the yellow gown out of the way and then if I run out of time on everything else I can wear just the yellow gown to the gala.
DeleteOn a MUCH smaller scale, I've been planning to do the same thing to two knee length skirts that I made 5ish years ago. The waist bands are too small and I've already stolen the buttons off one for another project but I realized that the skirts could easily be reset into new waistbands and I can change the pleat pattern if I wish. The only thing holding me back is that I don't have enough of the original fabric to make new waistbands but I could cut the old very wide waistband down and piece it or find an appropriate match/contrast.
ReplyDeleteKeeping something that doesn't fit, or getting rid of it doesn't help you at all. It's great that you'll get a new gown out of the fabric. Plus, you can't wear the same gown out again can you? someone might notice ;).
Such a cool project!
ReplyDeleteEven though I could never do something like this myself. I'd feel pain for every sticth I unpicked, thinking about all the hard work that is going to "waste" (I know it isn't, but that's just how I feel). I sometimes get in ball gowns or wedding dresses to be re-sewn, and I even feel bad for the original designer, unpicking all their hard work.
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