Manchester Gallery of Costume Research Trip

Last week I traveled to Manchester with my Dad to see the gallery of costume. From the reviews I saw, I wasn't expecting much, as quite a few of them seemed to be rather negative or indifferent - but when I got there, I was pleasantly surprised by how much better it was than I imagined. For one thing, it was much bigger than the reviews made out, and the costumes were absolutely gorgeous.
I was floored by how wonderful the costumes were, as they had everything from the 1600's-1960's (though unfortunately no 1950's dresses that would help with my college project). My favourite was the Victorian room, as everything in there caught my eye and made an impression, but I also loved the 17th Century and 18th Century displays.
There was an exhibition downstairs centred on Mary Quant, a designer from the swinging sixties, which I also particularly liked as it was bright, featuring quotes and day and evening dresses from the Ginger Group collection. She was one of the designers I researched at one point to see which era of fashion I wanted to explore for the final project.

Playsuit by Mary Quant, black with white stitching - 1968-70.

Two mini dresses, one black and white cotton ticking (1967), and the other acrylic/wool grey check tweed (1967-9). I love these two dresses, and can imagine wearing them with some brightly coloured, bold tights. Maybe mustard or burgundy?

Sac coat, 1967-69. Dogstooth-check rubberised wool.

Then came the Victorian room, which I ADORED. Here we have a day dress from 1863-65 made from tartan glace silk. It's a two-piece dress, trimmed with silk piping and black and white satin bands. I can also see some kind of colourful tassels on the shoulders, though I didn't get a close up photo of it.

Sorry for the bad photo here, I couldn't get one that wouldn't reflect on the glass because of the windows. This is a day dress from 1855-56, made from white muslin, and printed from a roller in purple spots and a floral pattern. The flounces were printed à disposition, meaning that the pattern was printed to fit the flounce. 

Now this 1870s dress was my absolute favourite in the whole museum! I love the 1870s and princess line dresses, as well as the duck egg colour of this gown, so it was just my cup of tea! It's an afternoon dress from 1878-80; the description says that it's a trained princess-line dress made from pale green wool/silk mixed fabric, trimmed with blue satin and silk embroidery.

Isn't the embroidery and shape divine?

Even the train is embroidered.

Afternoon dress, 1883-85. It's a two piece gown fashioned from green/grey silk satin with a boned bodice and trimmed with beige lace.

Detail of the bodice. I really like how the colour goes with the lace.

Day dress from 1894-96, in two pieces with a very pale green flecked and corded silk, trimmed with a darker green velvet. I couldn't get a good photo that had all of the gown included, but it is just plain/the same fabric as the rest of the skirt all the way to the hem, without any trimmings at the bottom.

Corset, crinoline, chemise, drawers, and cap. 1860-70. The red is very fetching!

I just love this demi-bust corset, the colour is fabulous and it has cute diamond-shaped stitching patterns! Looks like I've found a new dream corset.

A man's doublet. 1625-35.

I think the fabric is all hand-done French knots from what I can remember, though I may be wrong!

A gorgeous pair of stays with a stomacher, 1620-40.

A pale pink woman's bodice embellished with black beading. 1650-60.

The feathered details, which were apparently uncommon for clothing at this period, but featured heavily in home textiles such as curtains and rug designs. I think it looks beautiful and delicate with the pink.

I didn't take a photo of the date or description of this one for some reason, but I wanted to include it because I really liked the shape and embroidery of it!

Is this called blackwork embroidery? It has tiny little sequins/spangles too.

Two candy-coloured men's waistcoats from 1780-1800. Love the salmon pink and pale blue!

This was my second-favourite dress in the whole museum, and one that received a lot of positive attention on the 18th Century Sewing group on Facebook when I posted it. It's so delicate and sweet in a shade of powder blue. Sackback dress, 1766. Striped blue and white figured silk. Trimmed with silk fringing, silk flounces, ruched bands, and double-tier silk sleeve ruffles.

I had to get many photos of this for all the details and because I adored it.

Chintz dress, 1775-80. Open robe of glazed cotton, printed with rows of stylised sprigs in India and then printed again in England with alternating bands of floral wavy lines.

Skirt looped up à la polonaise style.

I don't think I got a description of this one, but I'm guessing that it's a round gown from the early 1790s with a vandyked flounce at the neck, drawn together by ribbon through a channel. Sorry if I'm wrong, please correct me.

Evening dress, 1798-1800. White cotton muslin open robe, embroidered with tiny metal stars all over, which the sign remarks would have been very costly at the time to make.

Open robe of brown silk satin, 1793-96. It's printed with a warp print (chine) motif in stripes of white and green.

All together! It was crowded, so you might see why it was hard to get good photos, and I was also pushed for time. Which gown is your favourite? Comment below!

My Final Project for College

I knew I wanted to do a costume project for the final project, as previously I had been doing print and illustration, and I'm not quite sure that it makes me feel all warm and passionate, as fashion and costume design do. In a previous project, we had been doing a period of research/self-study and I had looked through my inspiration journal and found that a lot of my research and print-outs tended to be centered around fashion of the 20th Century, from the 1920's-60's.
I researched a vintage fashion exhibition in my hometown, and an exhibit at the Lady Lever gallery of 1930's fashion, but it was a visit to the Walker gallery in Liverpool that made me realise that I had my heart set on the 1950's.
In there I saw an extant Dior dress, which you can see below. I've always been a big fan of Christian Dior, and especially after reading his book The Little Fashion Dictionary I began to crave the New Look of the 1950's. It really inspired me, and I was so excited to see a Dior dress in person. This was what made me narrow down my choices of the whole 20th Century to the 1950's.

My photo of the Dior dress at the Walker Gallery

But then my tutors suggested I make my costumes for a production of something specific. Obviously I don't have the time/funds to produce a movie for my costumes, but then I thought back to my writing of my novels When the Summer Ends and Mansions of Glass - WtSE is set in the late 1950's and also has a character that likes historical clothing and costume design! I got the idea to produce and design costumes based on what my characters of When the Summer Ends would wear - specifically Aika and her mother Celeste Fleuri, as both have styles as different as night and day.
Aika is fascinated by the past and wears clothing to reflect that despite standing out. She wears Victorian dresses and 18th Century clothing based on fashion plates that she collects. Her mother Celeste is an extremely fashionable model, wearing the latest trends of the 1950's, and often has designer clothing.

For my final project at college, I'm planning on making a small collection of garments fit for use in film or theater performances based on the middle of the 20th Century, and what my characters would have worn. I'm going to base the clothes on their personal tastes, personality, and fashions of the time and past eras. Expect to see a lot of my progress on here in the upcoming weeks!

Plans for a New Year of Sewing

2017 is nearly upon us! That means making sewing plans, yay! I thought I'd share with you some of the things I wish to sew next year, which is really exciting.

• First on the list is a waistcoat. I already have some plaid wool left over from a project which I shall be blogging about soon, for my waistcoat. This should be achieved by February, though preferably sooner.
• Secondly comes my long-neglected 18th Century Indienne gown, which I shall also make stays, panniers and a shift for (good Lord, this is going to be a killer of a project, especially seeing as I dislike making foundation garments!). I love the 18th Century, but let's hope it agrees with me to cooperate and go to plan! 
• Then I'm planning on finishing off my 1860s-70s Prague Opera Gown with the bodice and a fluffy petticoat. This should hopefully be done by May, though I may have to abandon my 18th Century project for a bit to get this done.
•  I'm thinking of making a range of six or seven 1950s and 60s dresses for every day of the week in summer, so that I don't have to think about coordinating things much, or worry about getting too hot, all whilst being effortlessly vintage. There are some designs in my sketchbook, inspired by images on Pinterest that I have saved. 
• Then there is also the 1900s "Autochrome" Fairy gown that I had described in my last post.
• Also, the 1860s Sunshine Yellow Quadrille Ballgown that I've had planned and designed for a while now. Because you can never have enough ballgowns from the Victorian era. 
• And for winter, I have a 1870s Monochrome Day Dress, which consists of a black velvet or cotton button-up dress with a striped black and white petticoat or skirt beneath, inspired by the image below. 

Circa 1868 

Writing a list of all the things I want to achieve for 2017 was something that really set my mind at ease, especially with all my unfinished projects that are begging to be put out of their misery and photographed, ready for my costume portfolio! I think 2017 is going to be a year of finishing off costuming projects, as well as building a bit of a vintage wardrobe, perhaps with some Lolita and lingerie thrown in.

Edwardian Photographic Inspiration For the "Autochrome" Gown

For 2017, I really want to get more into photography, as looking through my pictures of Prague (which I have yet to post on Miss Morris!) and some old photos I took in the local graveyard, I remembered how satisfying it is to get a good shot. Being honest, photos of people interest me more than architecture - the emotion, the makeup, the clothes! - especially if those photographs happen to be Victorian or Edwardian. I have a whole board on Pinterest dedicated to photography, and most of those images happen to be of pretty ladies in costume.

Whilst I was showering this morning (yep, I get my best ideas in the shower, which is actually quite inconvenient as I can't write them down whilst I'm in there) I remembered this photo that I took of myself on my phone (a selfie, okay... I hate that word).

I'm wearing a vintage Laura Ashley dress in bright pink with a sailor collar, which reminds me of Edwardian children, and a gorgeous flower headband that Rosa made me for my birthday. I purposely styled my hair and makeup to look as natural as possible, whilst being slightly curled and ruffled, which is something that I've noticed in a lot of Edwardian photos. The photo that I took reminded me of an Edwardian fairy kind of look - which sounds kind of vain now that I think about it - and makes me want to take more in the same kind of style, in a new costume.

Looking through Pinterest and Tumblr, here are some images that I will use as inspiration for my future gown. I want something flowy, fairy-like, ethereal and soft, like an Edwardian peignoir or something.

Miss Phyllis Monkman above and below.

Portrait - c. 1910 - by Reutlinger

The hair here really inspires me, though I know there's no chance of me getting a wig or something like that! Mary Garden as “Melisande” in Pelleas & Melisande - Davis & Eickemeyer - c. 1908

Above and below, Delores Costello from the 1920s.

Maude Fealey.

Photographer F. Künzl, České Budějovice/Budweis (Bohemia, Czechia) - Cabinet Card, circa 1905

And some inspirational gowns! Evening dress ca. 1915 From the MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY. I love the colour, and texture of the bead-work and fabrics here.

Fairy gown by Zuhair Murad. This definitely isn't Edwardian, but I love the look and feel of it.

This is one of my main inspirational gowns. Evening dress by House of Clergeat, 1890s.

As you can see, the eras of my inspirational images are all over the place, so I need to find a pattern that settles on the year. 

This will be a project for the new year, possibly in spring! I'm quite excited to see how I can pair costume-making with my own photography, rather than relying on somebody else to photograph my costumes.