A Brief Costume History

If you haven't already gathered from my blog, I love costumes. I would love to be a costume designer! I would like to give a brief history of costume. I will be using the eras dictated in the book Historic Costumes for the Stage by Lucy Barton. Many people have differing opinions of when fashion eras begin and end; I have chosen to follow the outline of this book because it is detailed and well-documented. I have made some minor changes to a few of the names and dates of the eras, but for the most part I followed the book. My favorite eras are the Regency and Early Victorian.

Early Gothic 1200-1350

Late Gothic 1350- 1450

Renaissance 1450- 1550

Elizabethan 1550- 1625

Charles I and Commonwealth 1625-1660

Restoration 1660- 1700

Early Georgian/Baroque 1700- 1750


Late Georgian 1750- 1790

1775 Marie Antoinette^

1775^

1789^

1750^

Hats, hair, and shoes 1770's and 80's^

Movies: Part of Amazing Grace (2006), John Adams (2008)

Regency 1790- 1815

1810^

1812-1813^

Movies from this time period: Most Jane Austen movies. Pride and Prejudice (2005) reflects the lower, natural waistlines of 1790 whereas the typical regency waistline is higher. As far as costumes go I recommend Emma (BBC 2009), Pride and Prejudice (BBC/A&E 1995), Sense and Sensibility (1995), Persuasion (BBC 2008).

Romantic 1815-1840

1836-1840. Photo taken by Valerie McGlinchey^

1841^

Movies: Wives and Daughters (BBC 1999)

Early Victorian/Crinoline 1840-1865

1844^

1855^

1862^

1865^

Movies: North and South (BBC 2004), The Young Victoria (2009) The first part of Little Women (1994), Gone with the Wind, The King and I, most Dickens adaptions.

Late Victorian/Bustle 1865- 1890

French Woman 1874^

1874^

1881^

1882^


1888^

Movies: The Second part of Little Women (1994).

Fin de Siecle (End of a Century) 1890- 1900

1890-92^

1892^

Edwardian 1900- 1910

Three sisters in 1902^

A beautiful gown from pre-1905 here

Summer evening in 1906^

1906^

1909^


1909-1910^

Movies: My Fair Lady, Anne of Green Gables


A time line of period dramas can be found here.


Most pictures found at commons.wikimedia.org

I will be adding more to this page later!

....And the Day Finally Came!!

I went to bed in our hotel room at 10:30 after adding the final touches to my dress. After a night of fitful sleep, I got up and got ready for the play. The play started at 1:30 so there was plenty of time to take pictures at the park near the Oregon Shakespeare Festival campus.

I love that door^

"I declare after all there is no enjoyment like reading! How much sooner one tires of anything than of a book!" -Pride and Prejudice


The play was marvelous! The actors were superb, the costume were gorgeous, and it was well worth paying the high ticket price! I wish I could see it again!

As for the dress, there are several things I would like to change on it, I want to make the sleeves tighter and more puffy. I also need to fix the lining, it is not wide enough at the hem; I tried to jump over a puddle and ending up falling into it! Also I do not understand how the costumes in the play were made because I can detect no side seam on their skirts! The skirts in the play also were much fuller. Oh what I would give to talk to the costume designer!! :D

{Photos by Craig B.}

In 3 days I am going to see the closing night of Pride and Prejudice in Ashland :D

Today I stayed home and got alot of work done including:
*Finishing the bodice


*Sewing the sleeves to the bodice
*Re-serging the lining

I am so tired! I spent at least 5 hours sewing today!
Tomorrow I plan to finish the dress completely.
Today I also played around with my hair to see how I want to wear it.

This link has some pictures of the play! I can't wait.
http://ashlandlink.com/Pride-and-Prejudice-2010.html

Anticipated Event: 4 days....

So some days I stay home and sew, listen to music, make patterns, and get inspired (after school of course!). But other days I go to Homesource and learn many things. Guess what kind of day today was? I got up at 8:15, went to Homesource then at 11:30 I went home, had lunch and later went and volunteered at Kidspace an after-school program for elementary kids. Then I had dinner and went to Bible study. Soooooo I didn't get to work on my dress today, *tear* but I will {hopefully} finish it tomorrow!!

Pride and Prejudice Countdown: 5 days

Today on my dress I:
-Cut out the front lining
-Cut out the back lining (it fit!!!! Yay!!)
-Sewed back darts, front lining pleats, shoulders, and side seams.
-Serged part of lining

A lovely Regency lady ^

Ashland Countdown: 6 days!

Six more days!
Progress on my dress up to now:
~Bought fabric and thread
~Finished Pattern!
~Cut out skirt, skirt lining, sleeves, sleeve lining, bodice front.
~Sewed skirt lining together

Work done today:
~Bought lace for sleeves...





...and I bought ribbon for the waist



(I was having fun with the pictures) :D

The sad news is that Joanns is out of the denim silkenessence. :( That means my lining will have to be pieced together because I don't have enough fabric. I am just a little mad with Joanns since they were not very helpful and they couldn't tell me when they would get more of the fabric in. Professional sewers that sew important things must not buy their fabric there.... haha, Oh well it will work out!

~I sewed my sleeves




The sleeves are fully lined



This is the flat cording I used to gather the sleeves, elastic isn't authentic!


I also:
~Sewed the skirt sides together
~Cut out and sewed darts on back
~Did lots of thinking!

Inspiration for Regency Dress

This is my inspiration for a regency dress I'm making to wear to see Pride and Prejudice in Ashland on October 31st.

This is Charlotte in the BBC version of P&P. An interesting character with a gorgeous dress!


Unintentionally I ended up buying fabric that is very similar in color. It's a great blue/gray/sky color called denim silkenessence. It has the feel of silk without a shiny finish. It is 100% polyester. It is the 4th color down.

I want the back and sleeves to look like this:



I need to make some adjustments to the pattern and then I hope to cut it out!