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!