Monday, July 15, 2013

Dressed to Frill!

After a prolonged bout of whining, I finally managed to compel my long-suffering Manly Person to take a few pictures of the Regency dress that I made for the Historical Sew Fortnightly Challenge # 6. Due to a book signing at work, the annual Mullet and Bullet festival at my favorite local historical site, and this photo-shoot, I've spent three of the past four days in historic dress.

Him: "What exactly are we going for?"
Me: "Pretend like this turns you on."

My inner nerd rejoices. Oh, how she rejoices.

But!!! In addition to pandering to my (undoubtedly) salivating public with soft-focus pictures of myself in Regency drag, I wanted to show off a new piece in my reenactrix arsenal: My frilled collar!


I've blogged about the dress and bonnet before, but haven't had a chance to mention the frill. Here's the scoop: As evidenced by my occasional posts lauding American Duchess (and others), I'm keen on supporting talented, entrepreneurial folks in the historic costuming blogosphere. I purchased this frilled collar from Cassidy at A Most Beguiling Accomplishment a few months ago, and I am so glad that I did! Relentless optimism has its place (in online dating and while eating at restaurants with "B" sanitation grades, for instance), and I'm usually all for trying something that's beyond my skill grade before relenting and sourcing it elsewhere. But, I could not have produced a piece like this. It's exquisitely made, and fits under my modest collection of Regency-wear perfectly.


Cassidy's Etsy shop is called "La Petite Oye". She sells manchettes, collars, and chemisettes (among other things), all of which are made by hand and based on items she has researched. Allow me to repeat that: This is entirely hand-sewn. None of that "visible seams are hand-finished" business. That's classy.


Now, if only I could find an equally unimpeachable source for Regency hairstyling tips for use in 9000% humidity. Seriously... not even a pint of Aqua Net with a dry shampoo shooter can keep a curl crispy in this mess. Just one of the many perks of a day well spent in the hillbilly-scented sauna of South Carolina.

16 comments:

  1. That's darling!

    For curls, have you tried a wet set with setting lotion? That's what I did for mine back in... was in March? The picnic where I wore the red wool Regency. And the humidity was literally 100%, since it was all but misting that day.

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    1. I haven't tried that! I just revisited your March 28 blog post and got a reminder of how nicely your hair turned out. Thanks for the tip!

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  2. You look fabulous! The bonnet is stunning, as does your miracle-yardage dress.
    I, too, have unbelievable trouble getting my hair to keep tight front curls. I've named the resulting look the "Lizzy after a Long Walk Dog-ears." They actually look comely and rather romantic on you.

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    1. Wanton flatterer! Thank you for the vote of confidence. I have never tried Regency hair before. I've got mad respect for the perfect little curls on all the Austenites now.

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  3. Wow! A-plus on so many levels! The dress (love the V of the print in front)! The bonnet! the tucker with the frill on top! (seriously beautiful use of nearly sheer linen, I have to say. Like lingerie, right?) I especially love the 3/4 closeup shot of you.
    Now as to hair. I just heard about something I'm dying to try, and given the wet sponge of humidity (and a 100 degree one at that) that has descended on my hometown, this may be ideal for a trial run... A colleague uses a 50/50 mix of salt water and pump hairspray as a setting lotion. It apparently doesn't work (isn't good for? dunno?) hair that has been colored or highlighted. If you feel brave, give it a shot and let me know?
    Best,
    Auntie Nan

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    1. If it doesn't work on colored hair, I'm out of luck. That lovely red mop is courtesy of Miss Clairol and her band of Hairy Fairies. I'm giving Ginger's ("Scene in the Past" blog) wet-set a try next time, I think. If that doesn't work, I'll do as our ancestresses did and make some falsies to pin over my furrowed brow.

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    2. Oh, yes, don't discount the great effect of falsies! Heh heh! You can always do what we wild 'uns in 1969 did--beer as a setting lotion. No you don't smell like a brewery after it dries! Have you tried tiny sponge rollers--the ones with the attached plastic bails to hold them in place? Also try less hair per roller or pin. If its heavy it won't hold or dry properly. Oh, and the best thing about the dress is that IT isn't wearing YOU.
      Wink,
      NN

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  4. Thank you so much for the review! I'm glad you like it, and that it seems to be working. (You don't think the body needs to be longer or anything?) I'm blushing.

    Love your gown! Where's that fabric from?

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    1. I'm glad you approve of how I'm using it! The length suits this dress and a sort-of-in-production second dress perfectly. Pinning it in place seems to suit my un-ladylike arm motions better than simply tucking it, though. :) I meant to ask you! Does the button go in front or back? I'm not savvy on Regency customs enough to know which is correct.

      The fabric was a crazy-lucky find at Hancock's several years back. I think it's one of the Windham quilting prints that were out about 10 years ago. Hancock's had it on final markdown when I snagged it. (All 3 yards of it... yish.)

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    2. The button's meant to go in back, so you're good!

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  5. You look so fetching. I would totally seduce you a la Mr. Darcy (minus insults to family and arrogant eye-raking) if I were a Regency man.

    As far as hair goes, mine's recently been subjected to dark brown dye, and slippery and straight as it was before, it's now like ultra-fine silk. Like, bad halloween hippie wig straight-n-shiny. I've always hated having straight hair, and heat styling has done almost nothing for me despite enough hairspray to set a pond on fire. The only thing that works for me is, when my hair is slightly damp after a washing, to comb some mousse through it and wrap it in rag rollers (for me, since my hair is down to the small of my back, I've been doing what's called "bandana waves", there's a few tutorials on youtube and it works beautifully). For me anyway, the process holds curl wonderfully, and St. Louis is no slouch when it comes to assaulting you with humidity!

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    1. I like the sound of them there 'nanner waves... Thanks for the tip. I need all the help I can get. I'm shocked that you managed to get silky STRAIGHT hair out of a dye job! Mine gets frizzier, curlier and more "textured" (damaged) when I hit the bottle.

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  6. Dear The Choll,

    Wow, handsome everything! Personally, I think the entire outfit works very well, hair and all. Not everyone had curls during the Regency. Looking at Lewis Walpole prints makes that pretty clear.

    What a lucky strike on the fabric. It's spot on.

    Now, as for hair curling...you know about my experiments. This weekend we'll be having the Grand Experiment in Louisville's version of an SC sauna (with which I'm quite familiar, by the way. My family used to live in Charlotte. Heavens, summer wilt.)

    I'll set my hair with Lottabody, which holds just about anything, and curl it using the papillote method. After that, the curls'll be pinned in place on the head like little snails, and tucked under a net for the night. Most attractive. Saturday morning, will put together the hairdo, and spray it with super-hold spray. Then we'll try it out. Will report on the blog how it works in high humidity. Will it go limp? Frizz? We'll see. Maybe some of the tips will work for you.

    Very best,

    Natalie

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    1. Natalie-

      I eagerly await the results of your experiments! (Anytime "little snails under nets" comes into the lexicon of hair-care, I'm deeply invested.) And while I'd love to take the high road and say that curls aren't essential to my personal Regency-related happiness, it would be a lie. All of my Austen-fueled fantasies require dainty, ridiculous curls to frame my bovine countenance.

      So you see, I'm in deep.

      -Alison

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  7. Your Manly Person takes quite lovely pictures, I must say. And now I want a frilled collar of my own! :p

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