Merry Christmas!

We shot some pics with the ball gowns on Friday but with all the Christmas dinners and family gatherings I haven't been able to post about it. 

You'll notice it all looks very spring-themed and stuff, that is because we're in Majorca and the mean temperature is 10-15 Cº in December.

These are our dresses; mine, as you know, it's the Milka chocolate brand colour, and The Seamstress of Rohan's dress is absolutely marvellous in light pink.

We made this lovely swing and I added bows to my skirt, as in the original dress I got inspired from and some lace in the neckline with another pleated trim and a small bouquet of flowers. I also changed the sleeves.

All pics are by Roberto Llull, and you can find some more in my Flickr and DeviantArt galleries and also at the Anacrónicos Recreación Histórica Facebook page.

There are some more pics to post yet, they're inspired by the Cottingley Fairies pics, but this will be in a Victorian setting. We're very excited to see them!

Merry Christmas to you all and now, on to finish the tartan 1860s dress!

April Love (in December...)

Hi there! I've finally got to take a pic I've been planning to take for more than a year. Someone pointed out for me in a Flickr comment that I should try and re-enact Arthur Huhges' April Love (1856). And here it is:

I think the fabric is pretty similar and although I couldn't find this kind of gate as the one here I tried my best. I also made the shawl myself to have it as accurate as possible. As you may guess, I used my future crinoline dress here; in a few days I'll have it finished (I'll change the sleeves for other historical ones and add the decorations), so keep an eye for new pics!

Special post!

Today I won't talk about seams and pleats, I should, but I won't. Two days ago was my boyfriend's birthday and I'd like to thank him for aaaaaall he's done for me. Without his help, many or nearly all my pics wouldn't be possible! He is a huge part of this project we started about a year ago along with my mum :)

To begin with, I'm a complete mess regarding technology and internet and practically everything that involves computers. I can't even buy stuff with Paypal or my Visa. I think all my supplies (fabrics, props, even books) are in my possession thanks to him.

Also, he drives me everywhere, and we look for locations. He is incredibly talented taking pics and I was greatly impressed with how he managed to make our Lizzie pics very similar to the drawings. He's ace!

He took me to the Lizzie Siddal talk back in February and to the Tate's Pre-Raphaelite exhibition! Tell me that's not being awesome?

And he got me the American Duchess Victorian button boots for my birthday! He's like, my hero, not only because of the things the does "for me", but also because of his own personality of course. I won't make a list of his charms but I just wanted to remark how important he is in my life and for this project :)

Thank you so much and happy birthday my love!

tehehe the boy fell asleep as soon as we unpacked last September in London :P

Trying to keep projects up to date...

...although I still don't have my camera and I have to use my phone. That means EVEN MORE shitty pictures but *sigh* I'm poor, I can't do anything right now. First, things that are finished: the skirt! And the petticoat too, but I don't have pics, anyway it's just a plain cream petticoat. I love the pleats in this.

Things that are in process: the bodice.

I had never boned a bodice like this before so this is a mock, do not scream. I'm experimenting with spare fabrics and looks like it works. I'm still putting the whole thing together but it won't be long.

More, things that weren't expected:

American Duchess shoes in the mail! Yay, thanks to my boyfriend for getting them for me ^^ Well, I know I'm doing an Edwardian outfit sometime but I still haven't decided the exact thing. They won't be white, I can assure you :D

Like my anachronistic socks? ;)

Guggums at last!

Gosh, I am so sorry I haven't updated in so many days but it wasn't because of laziness...my camera won't accept the SD card so it cannot store any pics. I'm waiting till it's repaired... Meanwhile, see the Instagram button at the right part of the page? Yeah, you can follow me there or just have a look to check quick updates. I still can take pics with the pone! Phew!

Moving on, yeah, the Lizzie Siddal v.1 dress (there will be another dress) is finished and my boyfriend brought his camera to take some pics! *happy dancing*

All the pics are uploaded on DeviantArt and Flickr with links to the original drawings we got the inspiration from. We did our best and I tried to edit them to make them look more like drawings. We had a great time!

I took the artistic licence to add young Gabriel in a necklace and a laudanum-reminiscent bottle. What do you think? :) Check the rest of the pics if you're interested, it's just my little homage to this great woman!

See you soon, hope I've finished the Victorian dresses next time! 

Stuff gets done!

Well, sorry again for the incredibly horrible pic... I just don't have any other place to take them! But leaving that aside, I'm very proud of the dress! It just needs some buttons and that will be it. I've attached a laced collar too, which I did after taking the picture so... You'll see it when proper pics are shot.

More:

Now that I know how to cartridge pleat I'm going to make my life difficult and knife pleat. It's actually easier than cartridge pleating  (for me) but I wanted to change a bit, this will be my third 1850s dress so, yeah. Variety!

The bodice will have a more opened neck line (compared to the black one), showing a chemisette I'm still tacking. This just feels very "Christmas time" and "Dickens themed", I don't really know why. I just know I'm making a nice capelet to wear in the snow :D

A bit on everything.

 So... the Lizzie costume is practically finished, the purple ball gown is on its way too:

I just needed to see how it looked like with the hoop skirt, petticoat and everything! But of course when I get to wear it, I'm going for the "Lizzie look".

This is barely tacked and needs some urgent ironing too, but it's starting to look as a proper dress.

And then, some days ago, my mum came home with this fabric! Apparently she'd heard I'd love a tartan crinoline dress. She found this super cheap cotton fabric and got it for me but I wasn't very sure about the colour...

So we dyed it! :)

My hands are blue now but I'm quite content with the result. I can't wait to start with this project, as if I hadn't millions of dresses to make!

Again, sorry for the horrible pics but my brother has to take them cause I really can't take the pics myself while wearing the huge hoop skirt.

Pleased with pleats.

This is how the skirt from the Lizzie Siddal dress looks so far. I'm very pleased with the result: that's 6,5 metres of pleated fabric . I think I'll wear a petticoat (there's no petticoat in this pic), but obviously no hoops. I'll wear a corset cause I'm not as thin as Lizzie... :P

I'm also making a green one, but I want the black one finished first!

Working and working...

So I've started classes at uni which means I can't work that much as in summer, but well... I do as much as I can!

First of all, I made an extra bodice for the Elizabethan dress, with the upholstery fabric I used for the petticoat and sleeves. Here's an awesome pic Roberto Llull took last weekend when we met for a quick photo shoot:

The bodice is beaded with pearls at the vertexes of each rhombus shape, forming a triangle of pearls; although you can't see it in this pic. I used the same golden trim for the bodice and skirt (on the skirt it's also pearl beaded). I added these shoulder pads so fashionable at the era, which also have pearl beaded golden trim. I like the result in this bodice better than the other one because this fabric is heavier and causes a great effect.

This is just an horrible "in process" pic so you can see the bodice properly.

Now, moving on, I'm working on the Lizzie Siddal dresses, but I don't have any pics yet. Although I can show you the bodice for the 1850s ball gown:

I made this just to have a fitting, actually it's the interlining fabric, but I think it looks fine at the moment. I have to add boning etc. Hope I can work a bit more this weekend! :)

One year old and updates!

Oh my Lord! Time goes by so fast! It's been a year since I wrote my first word here. I've learnt a lot and done a lot and yet there's so much to do. I love making costumes and I wish I'm learning more and more in the next year. I also want to explore more dresses from Pre-Raphaelite paintings than I did last year and what not, I want to do so many things! Also, thanks a lot to the readers and visitors who take the time to come regularly! ;)

In other news, there's a ball in November so I hope everything works for me and my boyfriend to go. Yay, I convinced him! I'm so happy he's coming, maybe I will make him a proper re-enactor with this experience.

I was putting that ruffle in place when he just came with my new corset, that's why it's unfinished. As I don't have the time to make it myself I preferred to buy it so I can dance comfortably :)

And this is some pleated fabric that eventually will be my crinoline skirt. Oops sorry,  forgot to mention it's a 1850-60s ball.

This is the dress that inspired me, but I'm not doing that black parts of the skirt. I will decorate it, but differently.

As for my boyfriend, he will dress up in a military uniform but I prefer to tell you more about that in another post when I have more info. Also, this will be my first man's outfit and also uniform so...*excited dance*!

Perfume dress.

No, the dress smells as my other dresses haha, I'm talking about the Laure Richis outfit. I'm generally very satisfied with it, never done an 18th century jacket before. The stomacher was a bit difficult, wasn't too sure about how tight it had to be so it ended up a bit baggier than it should. But well, everything can be made smaller! Let me share some of the pics we took that day.

As you can see the jacket doesn't fit perfectly but the overall result is good enough (for me at least, I'm still learning!) Aaaand also Pomps!

I love this one! Very "Perfume" reminiscent, as when they're playing hide and seek in the maze. My friend copied her golden dress from a Madame de Pompadour painting, you can see more pics of it in her gallery

 

I tried! :)

This is Lady Diana's amazing robe a la française worn a la polonaise. Hers is an original design I think.

Not as beautiful as Rachel Hurd-Wood but I had lots of fun. You can find some more pics in my DeviantArt and Flickr galleries. I'll be soon sharing some new stuff about my first crinoline project! :D

Re-enacting an 18th century toilette.

I've been finishing my 18th century outfit during the last few days so I hadn't the time to post. We took some beautiful pics yesterday, when they're sent I will be posting about them. But meanwhile I want to show you our version of 18th century women at their toilette.

I had a big empty room an my granddad's furniture which generally looks a bit period correct. We covered our walls with fabrics and put lots of props in the right places: a vanity set, a jewel case, feathers, a violin, an 18th century ship miniature, shoes etc. We looked at paintings for reference and saw ladies had lots of stuff all over their rooms, so we went for the same.

Young Woman at Her Toilette, attributed to Niklas Lafrensen, called Nicolas Lavreince, ca. 1780s,

(Found at http://18thcenturylove.tumblr.com)

I think it looks rather nice, taking into account that this is random stuff I had at home! Even the footstool is very similar! As you can notice, the dressing table is covered with fabric, that's because they did the same (at least, that's what we can see in some paintings).

For example in this one, from http://www.flickr.com/photos/imagination-historique/. The description reads:

The woman is wearing a peach satin dressing gown with a hat of plumed feathers & pink flowers. The lace shawl over her shoulders was one that women wore to protect their clothing as they powdered their hair. Before the woman is a vanity table of sorts - she would eventually apply white powder to her face and heavy spots of red rouge to her cheeks.

So I used a vintage looking shirt to "copy" this shawl and well, let me show you some of the final pics:

Yaaay, with my Pomps!

Hmm which one goes better with my outfit?

Some final touches....

And now, a bit of waiting till someone comes to see me! *sigh*

As always, there are some more pics in my DeviantArt and Flickr galleries, go and take a look if you're interested!

Ironic.

I had been expecting my American Duchess Pompadours for the last week, and just when I landed in London my mum sent me this pic...

Sorry for the bad quality, it's from her old mobile phone.

And of course, first thing I do when I get back... I LOVE THEM! They're perfect. These are the ribbons I'll be using, because they're part of the Laure Richis outfit and these are the colours of my fabrics.

A bit more detail and flash light. I couldn't love them more! I'm so happy, the bad thing is that I don't think the silk stockings are here in time for the shot but well...

Pre-Raphaelite Avant-garde.

Sorry for the lack of posts but I've been busy this past week. Apparently, my boyfriend knew how much I wanted to go to the Pre-Raphaelite exhibition so he booked the flight tickets for us. I went to the Tate Britain yesterday and it was amazing. Pictures weren't allowed but I bought the exhibition book so I can share with you some pics.

The exhibition is divided in these sections:

I liked this distribution; of course some works could've been in other rooms too but they highlighted some aspects of the work so it could fit. I particularly loved the first, second and seventh rooms.

When you first go in, you see these beauties. I was so shocked because one is so used to see their faces and then you're there, seeing them live knowing they practically painted each other. I must say I loved the Lizzie drawing. How many times have I stared to that young gorgeous Rossetti? Sigh. There where also some paintings that were considered from influential movements for the Pre-Raphaelites, some Ford Madox Brown etc. time for that when I'm back at home.

Loved to see these "Paolos and Francescas" both in painting and sculpture form. The second  room had some Lizzie works that were worth staring to for hours.

Delighted to see they included furniture. This is from the Beauty room, I think.

The Morris family bed was astonishing, here in its original setting. Loved to contemplate every single stitch of it. In the exhibition, the bed is in the Paradise room.

This was huuuuuge and splendid, from the last room. I'm so sorry for this shabby pics, I could've looked for them on the internet and posted them with better quality but I wanted to take them from MY book haha. I'll be posting about the exhibition in more detail back at home, as said before.

Ugh, and the shop, oh my goodness! Spent a fortune there, I wanted everything. Make sure you take money with you! Have a nice weekend and go to the exhibition!