Category: 18th century

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Wig/Hair Color Advice Needed!

So I long ago decided to screw the 18th c. aesthetic of disliking red hair and wearing my super bright, very dyed hair color.  But lately I’ve been wanting to experiment with a more period look — specifically, powdering up the wazoo.

I did try a grey wig once, and it was TERRIBLE on me.  I’m a warm color person, and I just looked washed out.

So I thought I’d order a wig in a strawberry blond (my natural hair color when I was a kid) and try powdering over that, hoping that the warm color underneath might help.  I was particulary inspired by the nice results Jen Thompson of Festive Attyre got, and she has chestnut hair.  Also, I loved the super frizzy-ness of her wig, so I bought the same one!

However, the place I ordered from didn’t have strawberry blond in stock, so I got “auburn” instead, hoping it would just be a shade or two darker.  Well, it’s definitely more of a warm medium brown!

So what I’m wondering is, keep this wig and powder over it?  Or will the resulting color be too blah?  Should I instead order a warm blond wig?  I can’t picture myself as a blond… but at least it would be warmer than grey.  I’m worried the powder + medium brown will end up a grey-ish light brown.  I don’t know!  Counsel me!

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Too Subtle?

I didn’t know I was going to make some silly headwear to wear with my 1785ish round gown, until I ran into this silk gauze with tiny gold stripes at Stone Mountain & Daughter!  Oops!  I basically cut a giant circle and gathered it in two places, attached a bunch of vintage green rayon moire ribbon, and some feathers and a vintage rhinestone pin that belonged to my grandmother.  I may need to put some flowers on there somewhere, too!

My husband says that this is the soundtrack for this hat.

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Still on Track!

Lest you worry that I have been permanently distracted from the Maja gown, don’t!  I have been spangle-ing like a madwoman, and am in fact starting to put the jacket together.

I did all the spangle embroidery I could do while the jacket was still in pieces.  So that includes 3 facings (1 waistcoat, 2 jacket), one side of the waistcoat, and parts of the jacket fronts & back.  I’ve been using Peri’s tambour frame (thank you Peri!!) and it’s been working fabulously.  I love having a base to the frame and the ability to flip it around when I need to.  Even tho I’ve been primarily doing this on my lap, not on a table, it’s great to be able to use your hands for the embroidery and not for having to hold the frame.

I’ve been hemming and hawing about whether to make the waistcoat separate or integral.  Separate would be nice because this could end up being a hot (temperature wise) outfit, so the ability to take the jacket off would be nice… but then, I’m never going to do that, because then it won’t look fabulous!  So I decided in favor of an integral waistcoat, saving myself one layer of fabric in back.

I had some debate about the jacket facings & lining.  If you look at the original painting, you can see a black turnback/revers at the top of the jacket on her left (our right) side… but if you look at her right/our left, there’s some black that folds over about 1″.  Obviously the revers flips OUT, so why is that black edge flipping IN?  I did some more hemming and hawing, and looked back through the research I’ve done on the dress style, and everything I’ve seen has been symmetrical in terms of jacket revers.  So I decided that maybe that was the edge of the facing folding around the front, or an artist screw up, or just something that doesn’t work in real life.  I don’t know!  But I’m happy with symmetrical revers.  I did end up deciding to line the jacket fronts, given that you can’t see any stitching from the spangles on the inside of the jacket; I used more of the off-white silk taffeta, because I have seen some things lined with silk where it will show, and this will definitely show, and be much prettier than linen.

Now I’ve got the fronts sewn to the back, so it’s on to spangle embroidery on the seams.  I had foolishly marked that pattern, only to have to futz with various things and then have the pattern no longer be placed correctly.  Yay for water soluble ink!  So I’ve wiped that off and am waiting for it to dry before redrawing those lines.

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Bound! The Stays, That Is

I should mention that I finished binding the handsewn 1780s stays!  Yay!  I finished it on the plane over to Paris, where I ended up having a funny conversation about them with a fight attendant who had a friend who was a stage costumer.

I ended up using the silk petersham ribbon sold by William Booth — it’s REALLY pretty, although a tiny bit more delicate than I would like.  We’ll see how it holds up over time.  I used vintage rayon seam binding for the welting.

Anyway, now all that’s left is lining… except that the front lacing holes are starting to rip!  I’ve NEVER had that happen to me before, but I think it’s because I’ve been using a gros-grain ribbon to lace it shut, and I’ve been wearing them a lot (lots of try-ons lately).  So, I’m planning to restitch the eyelets in front, and then lace a ribbon through each side as a protection against the lacing ribbon.

Speaking of which, does anyone have any good sources for period appropriate lacing?  I always end up using narrow satin or gros-grain ribbon, which works but it’s not the kind of the cord they would have used in the 18th c.  So far, I haven’t found a good alternative except for a waxed cord that is sold for beading, but it only comes in black, which would look bad on these stays!