About the Seamstress

Kendra Van Cleave has been sewing since she was a wee lass, when her mother taught her sew on her Singer machine. Her first big project was a purple calico sundress for 4-H. Little did she know that she would have to participate in a judged fashion show wearing this sundress (evil fascist 4-H!), where her hem was determined to be sub-par. Her hems sucked for a long time after.

Later forays into sewing were relatively unsuccessful, such as the upsetting-to-remember tiered iridescent lace skirt made with her mother’s help (after sewing wrong sides to right sides too many times, they swore that next time they’d just buy the damn thing).

Kendra discovered the joy of sewing late in high school, when a friend (very sweetly!) made her a very badly fitting Renaissance Faire bodice. She thought, “I can do better than this!” and lo, she could! Her first bodice (bright blue cotton, coffee dyed to pass costume approval, and smelling of coffee forever after) was a success, and she was soon suckered into creating costumes for other Ren Faire friends. She quickly developed a need for a new costume every year, and when she started dancing at historic balls, a dark path opened before her.

Kendra primarily creates historic costumes for herself (she has sewn for profit before, and could be talked into it again for the right amount of money). She is a certified member of the Costume ADD club (ie she likes pretty much any era), although she’s particularly fascinated by the 1770s-1790s, 1870s, and 1910s; she’s been spending the last couple years really geeking out on 18th century costume. She has an almost unnatural passion for stripes, thinks that all clothing should include box pleats and massive amounts of piping, and would be inordinately happy to spend her life on the couch hand sewing. Her DVD collection includes an entire shelf of what is known to her husband as, “Girlie Costume Films.”

At the same time, Kendra has merged her interests in social/cultural history and fashion. She studied European history as an undergrad, then received a master’s in history focusing on American social history (along with one in library science). She now works as a librarian at a university, and pursues scholarly research in the history of fashion. She’s published two scholarly articles, both on fashion among students at Smith College (a Northeastern US women’s college) in the 1920s. She’s now working on a research project on the 18th century robe à la polonaise (with Brooke Welborn) — hopefully soon to be published? — and another on the robes à la turque and circassienne.

Kendra has taught numerous workshops on the history and how-to of fashion and costume, primarily for the Greater Bay Area Costumers Guild and Costume College.

CONTACT THE SEAMSTRESS

Questions? Email me (Don’t forget to change the “at” to an @!).
I love getting email about this site and costuming, but be forewarned that I’m not always prompt about writing back (job, life, sewing, etc.). It’s not that I don’t care, it’s that I kind of suck!

ROUGH COSTUMING PLANS FOR THE NEXT MILLENNIUM:

2011:

• another 16th c. corset
• red/gold 1550s Venetian
• 1784 round gown (Charlotte, Princess Royal of England)
• 18th c. embroidered waistcoat

Distant but will probably happen:

• 1560s-ish German wool gown and kirtle
• c. 1765 French court gown
• 1770s cherry stripe robe à la française with 1778 coiffure à l’independence
• 1780s robe à la turque or circassienne
• 1780s robe parée
• 18th c. Turkish outfit
• mid-Victorian corset
• 1909 suit, complete with new fancy embroidered/trimmed undies (specifically, corset cover and petticoat; maybe drawers) and recovered parasol; coordinating 1909-10 hat

Someday:

• 1480s-90s German gown
• 1530 Catherine of Aragon gown with gable hood
• 1680s pink gown with crazy wig
• 18th c. quilted pockets
• 1730s-40s stays
• 1730s mantua with embroidered stomacher
• 1790s interestingly pleated dress (or 1790s drop-fronted gown?)
• 18th century man’s suit as woman’s riding habit
• 1850s jacket bodice & striped skirt
• Late 1870s natural form gown
• Satin and velvet 1880s afternoon dress
• 1890s brocade evening dress
• 1909ish striped day dress
• 1916-17 evening dress
• 1920s day dress for the Gatsby picnic

AWARDS

• Best in Show for The Empress Eugenie Surrounded by her Maids of Honor, 1855, Costume Con 26 (2008)

PUBLICATIONS

Scholarly writing & presentations related to costume:

• “Fashioning the College Woman: Dress, Gender, and Sexuality at Smith College, 1920-29.” Journal of American Culture (March 2009).
• “‘A Style All Her Own’: Fashion, Clothing Practices and Female Community at Smith College, 1920-29.” Dress (2005): 56-65.
• “Fashion (WWI),” and “Fashion (WWII).” In The Home Front Encyclopedia: United States, Britain, and Canada in World Wars I and II. James Ciment (Ed.). Santa Barbara, Calif.: ABC-CLIO, 2006.
• “Moral and Dress Reform Movement, 1800-1869.” In The Encyclopedia of American Social Movements. Immanuel Ness (Ed.). Armonk, NY: ME Sharpe, 2004.
• “‘A Style All Her Own’: Fashion and Gender at Smith College, 1920-29.” Western Association of Women Historians Annual Conference, 2004.

Frock Flicks: the costume movie podcast. Contributed to these podcasts:

• Charles Shyer’s The Affair of the Necklace
• Mira Nair’s Vanity Fair
• Wait Wait, Don’t Frock Me (from Costume Con 26)
• Shekar Kapur’s Elizabeth
• Justin Chadwick’s The Other Boleyn Girl
• Sofia Coppola’s Marie Antoinette

Your Wardrobe Unlock’d: online magazine for historical costumers.

• 18th c. skirt supports (rumps)
• Four part series on research
• Co-authored article on stripes

COSTUME RELATED ORGANIZATIONS/EVENTS/AFFILIATIONS

Current:

• Performer, Bella Donna Venetian Courtesans
• Instructor, Costume College
• Member, Costume Society of America

Past:

• President, Greater Bay Area Costumer’s Guild (2004-2007)
• Board of Directors, International Costumer’s Guild (2004-2007)
• Historical Masquerade Judge, Costume Con 23 (2005)
• Performer, Oliver Twist, Dickens Fair ( 2007-2008)
• Performer, Fezziwig’s, Dickens Fair (2003)
• Performer, Merrie Pryanksters, Renaissance Pleasure Faire (northern California) (1994-1996)
• Performer, St. Cuthbert’s Guild, Renaissance Pleasure Faire (northern California) (1993)