#historical gowns – History On A Budget

The Edwardian Gown

With my undergarments complete I was almost ready to wear my real antique dress! Before I could I added two small strips of insertion lace to the back of the gown where I could sew new buttons on to make the dress just a little bigger. While I could technically get the dress buttoned with it’s original buttons the addition of new undergarments made the fit a little too snug and I didn’t want to put stress of something that is over 100 years old. I made sure to very carefully baste the added piece on so it is easily removable so the dress can be returned to its original state. This way I can give the dress a new life by actually wearing it, but I can also preserve the history of the garment.

The dress was probably made sometime between 1900 and 1910, though I don’t know an exact date. I wish I could know the story behind this dress like who made it and where it’s been but there’s no way to tell. I am happy to give it a new life here in 2020 though!

In this photo you can just see the slight color difference between the original gown and the panel I added at the back.

My hat ended up a happy accident that I absolutely love! The base is a cheap straw hat from a craft store that I’ve had for years. I meant to cut it up for another project years ago but I never got around to it and now I’m glad that I didn’t! The flowers are the giant flower crown that I made for a renaissance fair last year and it fit perfectly over the hat. I originally put it there just for storage but I liked the way it looked and it was perfect for Edwardian so I kept it on there!

The dress is light and comfortable for the summer and feels perfect for any sort of Edwardian picnicking or adventuring!

My dog, Whitacre, agreed that picnicking was a good idea! The dress also goes wonderfully with my great-grandmother’s stereoscope. A Stereoscope allows the viewer to see three-dimensional pictures of far away places and was a fun pass time for Victorians and Edwardians when it was invented in the 1830s. The stereoscope is especially appropriate as I made and wore this at the beginning of quarantine so it gave me a fun way to see places from the safety of my own home!

Me using the stereoscope. It still works great!

I’m so glad to have been able to give this dress a new life and to have a little piece of history right in my own home. Now all I need is a suffragette sash to go with it!

Love always,

Victoria

Linen, linen, and more linen!

There was a big sale on linen back in March or April so I went to the fabric store and quite literally bought it by the bolt. 100% linen is a more expensive fabric, especially compared to my normal recycled bed sheets, but it is the king of all fabrics in my opinion. Not only is it actually historically accurate, it also is a natural fiber which means it is breathable and cool in the summer months. The more wash linen, the softer it gets so it makes great shifts and petticoats, and it’s also incredibly strong and durable so it will last a lot more wears than other fabrics. Like I said, king of the fabrics.

Part of costuming on a budget sometimes means I use less desirable materials because they are cheaper, but another great way to keep in budget is just to wait for sales or use coupons. This isn’t a groundbreaking tip, but it really makes a difference.

So with my yards and yards of newfound sale linen, I got to work. First, I made myself two new shifts and an 18th century petticoat because these are things I needed made out of linen the most. My previous shift and petticoat were made of a poly/cotton blend which meant that they were really hot to wear in the summer. I still kept them, despite their polyester-ness, because they still work on days that aren’t as hot and it is always nice to have extra!

I made the shifts without sleeves, which is not accurate for the 18th century. I decided not to go for accuracy though so that I could use the extra fabric for other projects and also so I could make an “era-neutral” shift. Shifts or chemises are used in all historical eras and while they did change slightly overtime the basic idea stayed the same so I wanted something that I could easily use with any of my historical costumes. 18th century shifts have sleeves, but Victorian ones don’t, so I just left the sleeves off. Since the shift is the bottom layer of clothing no one sees it so I don’t mind this glaring inaccuracy for some eras.

From there I started making Edwardian undergarments to go with the corset I had just made. For the Edwardian era I needed a corset cover and a petticoat. A corset cover is basically a top which goes over the corset to help smooth out the hard edges of it so you don’t see them through the gown and an Edwardian petticoat is shaped very differently from the 18th century petticoats I have so I couldn’t reuse what I already had.

For the corset cover, I went for what is historically known as a handkerchief corset cover. It was called this because women could quite literally use large handkerchiefs to make some of these. Basically you cut the fabric (or handkerchiefs) into large triangles and connect those with some pretty insertion lace to make a kind of tank top shape.

I then put some hooks and eyes on the front for closures and it was done! It’s a simple corset cover but it does the job and I am very happy with how it turned out.

and side of the corset cover. These show off the lace nicely.

Sadly, I didn’t take any photos of the process of making the petticoat, mostly because I was just winging it. I didn’t have a pattern and decided that it looked simple enough so I just kind of went for. I didn’t right anything down so I don’t know if I could ever remake it but I remember I basically cut some very large and skinny triangles so make a kind of skirt shape. It was a very inexact science but it worked and I am happy with the result.

Now happily clad in my linen I was was almost ready to finally wear my antique dress and see what it would have looked like on someone more than 100 years ago. The big reveal coming soon!

Love always,

Victoria

Diving Into the 2020s by Dressing Like the 1920s!

So since I’m still playing catch up on my posts this post is from New Years and I’m only now getting out and it’s March… whoops. So ignore the Christmas decorations or enjoy a little bit of Christmas in March, your choice.

Seeing as I we were jumping into a new decade I decided that it was the perfect time to make a fun 1920s dress to celebrate! This was a quick one day project just for fun. The fabrics are modern and I drafted the pattern based on some photos I’ve seen of 1920s dress patterns before. It was just something quick and fun for myself!

As you can see from my photos I was incredibly professional throughout this process. Top notch sewing on display.

These- unorthodox techniques actually worked pretty well. I used old bed sheets, as usual, for the slip layer and then found some fun art deco fabric at Joanne Fabrics for the outer layer.

I am really happy with how this dress turned out and I felt wonderfully dressed for to ring in the New Year. It was like I walked out of an episode of Downton Abbey.

One last silly photo of my feeling dramatic for fun!

The dress is super fun and now I have a nice vintage evening look in my collection.

I hope you are enjoying your 2020s and having lots of good vintage fun!

Love always,

Victoria

A Real Antique Gown

Since I dove into the historical costuming community on Instagram more in the past year I’ve been able to see a lot of people’s work and meet some super talented costumers. Recently, I saw a post about someone selling an Edwardian gown.

The post was by @morgan_fae_couture who is super talented at restoring old pieces. I figured the dress would be way too expensive for me to ever afford but I kept thinking about it and coming back to it and the measurements looked like the dress would fit me. I ended up finally messaging and asking about the dress and before I knew it the gown was in the mail on its way to me and I couldn’t be happier with it!

This dress is Edwardian and likely more than 100 years old so it is crazy that it is in such great condition! If only dresses could talk, I’d love to know who owned it and where it went in its lifetime.

When I tried it on I was nervous because it’s for one, over a hundred years old, and two I wasn’t sure if it would actually fit. I put on a corset (not quite the right era, I’m working on making one that is actually Edwardian but it’s not done yet and I wasn’t going to wait to try this thing on) it fit pretty darn perfectly which was so exciting!

Excuse the fact that I’m wearing leggings instead of a petticoat or anything, like I said, I was just excited to put it on.

You can see a few of the buttons pull a little bit in the back so I might add a small amount of fabric there in the back so there isn’t any stress on the material but I won’t worry about any of that until I can fit it with the right undergarments.

The insertion lace details are just beautiful. I am so glad I got this dress. I really wanted to make some Edwardian stuff and was just starting the planning process of that when I found this dress. It was perfect timing so I decided it was meant to be! I am so excited to give this dress new life a hundred years (or more!) after it was first made.

Love always,

Victoria

Embarking on My Doppelganger Dress: The Corded Petticoat

The first step to making any new era of dress is the undergarments! Even though in my doppelganer’s painting you can’t see what’s underneath the gown (or even the lower half of her body) I want to do it right so I have to make some things. I am planning on cheating a little. I really don’t want to make a new corset for this era since I will probably only make this one dress for the 1830s (as I mentioned before, it’s not my favorite era. Maybe that will change after this but for now it’s not). I decided to use my regency stays with this outfit. The regency stays don’t look horribly different from the 1830s corsets since regency stays were used up until about 1820. Now this is still a ten year difference so it is wrong, but since it is what came directly before fashion wise there is some correlation and it isn’t impossible that some women used their regency stays closer to the 1830s. Unless you were rich, you wore things until they couldn’t be worn anymore so it’s not the biggest leap to say maybe someone put there had outdated stays. Now the woman in the painting, Caroline, was rich so she would have had proper undergarments unlike what I’m doing. Anyone who is a stickler for historically accuracy would probably hate that I’m doing this but sometimes the historically accurate way is not the budget friendly way, and this is history on a budget! So I’m breaking the rules of history and making it work.

What I do need undergarments wise is a corded petticoat. Corded petticoats are literally a petticoat with cords (basically rope) sewn into it to help give it stiffness and hold the skirts out giving the desired poofy skirt silhouette. They are the precursor to hoop skirts and basically do the same thing only they are heavier and not as large as a hoop skirt or cage crinoline. To get the proper silhouette for the 1830s a corded petticoat is a must so I decided to suck it up and make one.

It turns out they are actually really quite simple to make. I used this YouTube video from American Duchess as my instructions. My materials were slightly different as I decided to use what I had at home so I could make the budget-friendly version.

I quite literally used some old boating rope that I found in my garage as the cording making sure to use the thickest rope at the bottom and using the thinner as I moved up the skirt. The fabric is, once again, old bed sheets. This particular sheet actually had some lace already on one edge so I made sure to position it so the lace would be on the bottom just for a little flair.

I then started the tedious process of shoving rope between the two layers and sewing each cord in place. I ended up with 14 rows of cording in my petticoat (which is honestly on the light side of cording). I used to know the exact yardage of what that is, but I made this at Christmas and honestly can’t remember anymore. It’s a lot. The nice part of making corded petticoats is you get to choose how much you want to cord them since there are lots of historical examples with all amounts of cording. So if you only do a little, you’re historically accurate, if you cover basically the whole thing, you’re still historically accurate. You can’t really do it wrong.

I carefully measured the spaces in between the rows in order to make sure the gaps were even as I went.

The process was very repetitive and a little tedious but really not too difficult. I think I made this whole petticoat in about a day or two. I took over the dining room table while I worked so I tried to be speedy so as to not be in the way for too long.

I’m really happy with how it turned out! The petticoat would now be starched to give it even more stiffness and shape, but I have yet to do that. I figured it can something I do once I start on the outer layers. You can see in my photos how the cording helps the skirt keep its shape and stay out away from the body.

It was a fun project and I’m excited to keep going on my doppelganger dress! This was a project I thought I would never have the patience for so I’m really proud of myself for doing it. Lots of first this year and we’re hardly into it!

Love always,

Victoria

A Winter Photo Shoot

While I was home for the holidays I decided it would be a great time to get some winter photos of some of my gowns out in the snow! My family had just moved to a really great property which had some amazing photo locations and at the time our neighbor also had horses so I had the opportunity to get some pictures with them too. It was fun, even if it was a little cold, and my mom did a great job taking pictures and running in and outside so I could warm up and look at the photos to see what we still needed.

Get ready for a bunch of photos!

I got some great ones with the horses which were beautiful and I loved petting their fuzzy noses so that was an added bonus.

Next up was some photos by the wood pile. I absolutely love how these turned out. I also loved it because it’s one of my simpler outfits so it more represents what a general person would wear and do.

Next was my regency ball gown since I really wanted some nice photos of it before it completely falls apart (it is not the strongest thing I’ve ever made). I looked ready for a winter’s ball!

Last was some old pieces I’ve had for ages but I paired them in a way I never have before so it felt like a whole new outfit. That is one of the best parts about now owning so many historical pieces, I now have the ability to make new outfits by pairing things in new ways. This outfit made me think of the show Outlander (a show and books that are really great if you’re looking for a good read!).

Lastly, a few fun pictures of me playing in the snow for you! A snow ball fight:

And catching snowflakes!

I hope you had some nice snowy days this winter!

Love always,

Victoria

Making a Regency Ball Gown

Wow I have not posted on here in a long time! I have been in a busy part of my life for the past months (and am still in it) so I have a lot to catch up on here on my blog! Stay tuned as things happened! If you follow my instagram @historyonabudget then you’ll be mostly up to date with my historical costuming adventures but on here I will take the time to go more into depth about everything I’ve been doing! So I promise posts will come again and the blog is not dead, it’s just been a little slow lately.

So back in October I had my first reenactment coming up and there was a ball for the reenactors during the event so I realized I needed to hurry up and make a new gown. Now I have not made a lot of regency items so I know there is a lot of flaws in my work but I am learning as I go.

This was one of my first attempts at draping a garment so it is faaaarrrr from perfect but overall I think it went well considering I had no idea what I was doing.

The fabric is some leftover table cloth material I had from my RAD Dress. Since the fabric is white and really thin it was perfect for a regency ball dress because white practically see through dresses were very popular at that time, especially for balls. I ended up doing a lot of the sewing on my room floor which maybe isn’t ideal, but it worked out just fine. You do what you have to do in college.

I’m really happy with how the back of it worked out, I think it lays really beautifully.

I added a red ribbon to the waist and my grandmother’s Latvian vest! The vest is not historically accurate for the regency era, it is a traditional Latvian vest that my grandmother had and my aunt used for Latvian folk dancing as a child. The vest is a little too small on me but it really reminded me of the regency era because of the gold almost military like details and the shortness of it (though that is probably just from it being too small on me). I figured even if it isn’t historically accurate it gives the vest new life and connects me to my family so I thought it was a perfect finishing touch to the outfit! (It also conveniently covers some not so great seams!)

With that the dress was ready to wear for my first ever ball! I don’t have any photos from the event but I did take some later on in the snow that show the finished product!

Stay tuned for A LOT more catch up posts to come!

Love always,

Victoria

A Historical Weekend

I’m a member of the Indiana Historical Costuming Society and we recently had a weekend retreat. This was one of my first major costuming events and it was so much fun. I found the Indiana Historical Costuming Society on Facebook and was able to join. I highly recommend finding a group to join in your area because costuming with friends is so much fun. The group of us met for a weekend of hanging out in our historical clothing and getting to know each other better.

We stayed in a lovely historical house which just added to the atmosphere.

We also got to eat together. We’d all brought food and were able to eat wonderfully all weekend. As a college student, I especially appreciated all the good food.

For the first day I went for a very pastoral look which was fun to wear around. It was my casual 18th century wear. We got the chance to take so many great photos over the weekend and had fun seeing the local sights.

I especially liked taking photos in a public garden that was there because it went with the pastoral look I was going for.

And we all always had time for some silly photos too!

The weekend was great because it was a chance to learn from others and connect with others who enjoy doing the same things I do.

Later we all got dressed up and went to dinner in our formal wear.

After dinner we changed again (there was a lot of changing because it was a good opportunity for me to wear as many of gowns as possible!) and went for a ghost tour which was pretty fun. I did find one picture of myself from it that I couldn’t resist turning into a meme because I felt like I could just read my thoughts in it.

The last day we were there was really hot so I got lazy and didn’t do my hair which is not historically accurate at all but I was going for the romantic heroine look.

There was even some hedges for me to dramatically run through.

We finished off the trip with some lemonade and a walk through the local museum.

All of us dramatically looking out from the stairs.

It was a great weekend and I’m so happy that I got to go. It was great to really get to know others who have some of the same passions that I do.

Go out and find others with your same passion, it makes everything ten times more fun.

Love always,

Victoria

A Historical Picnic!

I recently got to go to my first historical event as part of the Indiana Costuming Society. We had a lovely picnic and went for a stroll. The amazing pictures were done by Lisa Renee Wilson photography!

There was so much food for us to enjoy, and everyone looked so lovely!

After eating we went for a stroll around the grounds which was a fun chance to really show off our lovely gowns. We had quite a few people stop us and take our pictures along the way too.

My lovely roommate Emma borrowed one of my gowns and came with me to this event which made it extra fun! It also was nice to have someone I knew since I had never been to one of these events before. Everyone there ended up being so nice though and I had such a good time making some new friends.

Then entire group looking very dignified.

We also got a traditional shoe shot to show off our lovely shoes!

It was a lovely day and I can’t wait to go to more events in the future!

Meeting new people and joining a group is terrifying at first, but it feels so good to have a group of friends who enjoy making historical clothing just as much as I do. I encourage you to jump in and join a group near you. You’ll end up with people you can have fun with and who can help mentor you in your work.

Love always,

Victoria

Pretty Pictures for the Underthings Too

This thing about historical costuming is you often spend a lot of time and effort into making beautiful pieces that no one ever sees. The undergarments for historical garments are incredibly important for achieving the correct silhouette of an era and historically, they were often quite pretty. Because of this, I wanted to be sure and get some good photos of them too. Warning, by 18th and 19th century standard these pictures are horribly scandalous! You’ll see my stockings, gasp!

First up we have the 18th century undergarments.

I couldn’t resist a little mirror primping photo!

This is my absolute favorite corset I’ve ever made. It’s so comfortable and I think it’s also really beautiful.

My embroidered pocket is one of the pieces that I am most proud of but is never seen. I hand embroidered this pocket myself and absolutely love it, but since pockets are worn under the skirts, I’m normally the only one to ever appreciate it.

My beautiful stockings are also and item that aren’t often seen but that really complete the outfit. These ones are made by American Duchess.

Now onto the underthings for Frankendress, my not historically accurate 1865 ballgown.

I actually use the same shift for most eras since even though there were differences, they were minor enough for me to get away with it and the shift is never seen. A new era also meant a new hair do! Once again I have some amazing stockings that go with this outfit.

My corset is not historically accurate. It is actually a modern, commercially made corset that was gifted to me. It ended up being too large so I ripped it apart and used the materials to remake the same corset in my size. While it isn’t accurate, it was once again cost effective and also gives me the same general shape I need for most of the Victorian Era.

Lastly we have the hoop and petticoat, which are just wonderful giant! You can actually fit about 4 people underneath this skirt (yes, we’ve tested that theory, it was very funny). The petticoat is so ruffly and beautiful that I often wish I could wear it and the corset out in the open like this, however, that would be much too scandalous!

Every now and then it’s nice to give the undergarments some love since each piece is so important to making a truly beautiful historical garment. Looking like you stepped out of a painting is largely to do with silhouette and that is all achieved through good underthings so give your underthings some love today!

Love always,

Victoria