Godey's Lady's Book July 1863

I had to share this lovely resource! archive.org (Lots of old books, and much more).

I figure, I can't get a well rounded vision of an era until I've been exposed to a large dose of all available resources: photos, paintings, fashion plates, books, magazines, clothing, etc, etc. Basically, got to live it! (I wish...)
       It's like learning a foreign language, at first a lot of things don't make sense, but eventually you start comprehending it, faster and easier. I've spent the last five years looking at CDV's and women's clothing, but have sorely neglected the literature of the early Victorian era, and boy! what a wealth of information it is.
       One thing I find (again and again) is that they weren't much different from ourselves. It seems that people's relationships were the same, we feel the same way about fashion and trends, and there is a mix of honorable and unsavory ;) characters out there. Their inventions and discoveries are part of the foundation of today. I wouldn't be surprised if in a hundred and fifty years, our future generations will think us complete idiots... But we're not!!! (I hope... Hehe).
       So to wrap it all up, instead of jumping to conclusions (as is so easy to do!), we could seek a good understanding of our ancestors and, though they are long gone, respect and honor them.

Pattern Review: Swiss Waist, Heidi Marsh (swiss body)

I put this together a couple years ago, it was intended to be worn at that years Candlelight Tour, and I did make it, but barely. I find myself often sewing late into the night before an event. When will I learn?!

I started out with Heidi Marsh's Swiss Body pattern, but after putting together a muslin version, I made several alterations. Mostly in regards to fitting, but I also made the V waistline in the front a little shorter.
    Would I make it again, definitely! I love the look of the swiss waist. The only thing I would change, is I wouldn't use velvet. It's really a beautiful fabric, and looks really nice after I go over it vigorously with one of those sticky lint roller things. But it was a pain to sew with, shedding all over the place! And now it has a tendency to collect dust. I think I'd go with some nice black taffeta instead.

The neckline, waist and armhole, are all edged with piping. And since the velvet was shedding so badly, I had to cover the raw edges with bias tape.

These are the altered muslin pieces.

The image on the left is from Gazlay's Pacific Monthly, Volume 1, 1865 (page 268). And the other is apparently the fashion plate that this pattern is based on, it came from The Peterson Magazine.

And here is some original garments that gave me a lot of inspiration. I found these images at thegracefullady.com, where there are several other examples.

The only place I was able to find this pattern for sale, was at jamescountry.com.

Fashion Plates!

I came across the University of Washington Libraries site while I was searching 'Fashion Plates' on google. They have a great collection, with fashion plates from several different eras.

Empire (1806-1813)
Georgian (1806-1836)
Regency (1811-1820)
Romantic (1825-1850)
Victorian (1837-1859)
Late Victorian (1860-1900)
Edwardian (1901-1915)